Boston area Zoo Reviews?..Stone or Franklin Park

[chocovrdmicears]

We typically take our kids to the Roger Williams Zoo in RI...We love it there. But we are looking to maybe visit one closer to home this week. We have never been to The Stone Zoo or Franklin Park Zoo.
Anyone have any reviews or suggestions as to which one would be better?
TIA!

 

[liamsaunt]

I like the Franklin Park zoo. They have lions, gorillas, giraffes, a butterfly garden, a petting area and barn, etc. You can bring in food if you want and there is a picnicking area.

Have fun!

 

[diesel]

I've never been to the Franklin Park Zoo but it has to be better than the Stone Zoo

 

[okeydokey]

The Stone Zoo was taken over by some other organization some years ago because it was so poorly run and I haven't been there in years. It is on the small side but as a kid I enjoyed it. The Franklin Park Zoo is bigger but not world class and you have to drive into town to get to it.

 

[kirbydog48]

I vote for the Franklin Park Zoo. Not sure where you're located, but we love the Southwick's Zoo in Mendon. It's not huge and much of the property is in the woods, so there's lots of shade. If your kids are younger, I would highly recommend Davis Farmland in Sterling; it's very interactive, lots of cute baby animals and other great playground stuff, plus a splash park. Have fun!

 

[clori]

The Stone Zoo is a small zoo. It tends to have more of the smaller animals. It also has a small playgroundish area and a building that offers some educational hands on things to do. It has a small petting area which isn't always open. The Stone Zoo was closed down for some years and will probably never return to its hey day of years ago. Since it reopened I think it is the same company as the Franklin Park Zoo. According to my 85 year old father it was nice a very nice community zoo that went down hill. If you have young kids right across the street is a nice playground and Friendly's is right down the road. The zoo is in what is considered a nice safe neighborhood. We live locally so we occasionally go here but I don't consider it a tourist destination.

The Franklin Park Zoo is bigger and has more of the bigger animals. The negative is that is isn't located in what is considered a nice safe neighborhood but we have never once experienced any issues driving or taking the t there. It is more of a tourist destination if compared to the Stone Zoo but not compared to most city zoos. I know lots of schools go to the Franklin Park Zoo on field trips. There are some play areas and there are also some pay extra things like a train ride and carousel ride.

 

[Pooh's Pixie]

As we speak, my DS9 is at Franklin Park Zoo at ZooCamp! While FPZ isn't in a great area, it is a gem in the Emerald Necklace of Boston...beautiful golf course next door, and the Zoo is really good. You can't see gorillas like that many other places. And they have Tigers now (as part of camp, my DS is actually making a paper mache deer to stuff with meat for the tigers to play with!).

Stone Zoo is in a nice area, and is right off the highway, but there isn't much there. Southwicks is also nice, but a bit far from us. I also think their habitats aren't as nice or authentic as the FPZ.

Enjoy, we love Zoos!

 

[MerMom60_94]

I haven't been to the Stone Zoo since I was a child. Franklin Park Zoo is nice, but have you considered Southwick Zoo in Mendon? I am not sure if that is too far away for you but that is my favorite of the area zoos. They even have a deer forest where you can walk through and if you are still the deer will come over and let you pet them. It's very nice there.

 

[dakcp2001]

I would recommend the Southwick Zoo! Franklin Park is an ok zoo, but not a great area to be in, and def do not plan to stay after dark. They do have a baby giraffe and a great gorilla exhibit.

 

[JESW]

Come out and visit us in "..the little town of Mendon.."

http://www.southwickszoo.com/homePage.html

We are members and visit the zoo quite often. How old are your kids?? There is a new sky ride (extra $5 charge) that is pretty cool. It is a nice, clean, well-run zoo where you can easily spend several hours.

Jill

 

[chocovrdmicears]

Thanks for all your replies and info...
Our kids are 6 & 7.
Looks like we will cross Stone Zoo off our list.

I have it "narrowed' down to 3 places. The price difference is pretty significant so I am not sure what to do.

admission for the 4 of us...
Franklin Park: $40.00
York Zoo in ME (dh just mentioned this today): $68 (includes rides)
Southwick Zoo: $96.00 ( includes rides)

We have never been to any of these. Southwick Zoo looks great, but $96.00 seems like a lot...not sure what to do.

 

[MerMom60_94]

Just a thought, but I know my public library has discount tickets to some of the zoos and area happenings (i.e museums, Plymouth Plantation, etc). You amy want to check if your library has any discount passes available to try to cut down on the cost. I hope you have fun wherever you end up!

 

[cepmom]

I would also recommend Southwick Zoo...we love it there. I've never been to Stone Zoo, but haven't heard anything good about it. Try looking into a membership somewhere; many of them allow reciprocal visits at other zoos and museums as a member. Franklin Park membership is $70 for family and also allows you to visit Stone Zoo, Capron Park Zoo, Roger Williams and some others. Roger Williams Membership is closer to $79 also allows you to visit Franklin Park Zoo, Stone Zoo and the Museum of Science for free, which is a huge savings. I could not find any info on a Southwick membership though.

 

[JESW]

Another thing about Southwick...

They do have memberships and you can find out more information at www.earthltd.org - but right now the site is down. You may be able to call the zoo and get put through to the membership office.

The cost for your two kids with rides would be $24/each. For you and your dh it would be $18.75 since the two of you are too big for the kiddie rides. If you print out the coupon on the front page of the site you can get $2 off your two tickets...bringing your total cost down to $81.50.

Still pricey so I would maybe look into a membership for your family. See how many times you would need to go before it paid itself off. We are fortunate as we live about 10 minutes away so we go whenever we want and sometimes just stay for an hour or two. And as a member you can also participate in special events. Dd10 & I recently went to an after-hours event - almost like emh's at Disney but with no rides! It was great to see the animals at night and have no crowds. Last week they had a members-only cook-out that we couldn't attend.

Hope you have fun wherever you decide to visit!

Jill...who now wants to go to the zoo..