How much time at the San Diego Zoo?

[mAlien13]

I never have much luck with the search. I am sure that all of these topics have been covered over and over again, so I'm sorry if this is repetitive.

We are going to be at the Zoo on Friday, May 9th. We are driving from Anaheim (we are staying on Harbor Blvd) and I know that traffic can be a major factor in how long the drive is. I have three major questions:

1. I am assuming that we need to arrive early in order to avoid a line and get started right away. We are planning on leaving the hotel at 6:30am. The Zoo opens at 9:00am, will that give us enough time to arrive, park, and get to the gate by 8:30?

2. My DM and I have been there, but it was so long ago I can't even picture it. This will be the first trip for my DH and DS's. We are trying to make a somewhat abbreviated tour, focusing mainly on the things that are unique to San Diego Zoo, not so much the animals that we can see at our local zoo. How long does it actually take tour 1/2 to 3/4 of the exhibits? Is there anything that is a "must-see?"

3. Since it will be Friday afternoon when we head back to Anaheim, can anyone tell me when rush hour traffic will happen on I-5 North? Is there a way we can skirt or avoid it?

Thanks!

 

[Monkey Monkey]

I don't think it will be necessary to get to the zoo right at opening, especially on a weekday in May. It's not like DL where you need to beat the rush. That said, it's good to get there in the morning, because that's when the animals are awake and most active.

Traffic is definitely tricky, but again, you don't have to get there at 8:30. There probably won't be a line to get in, or at least a long one. The busiest day I've ever been there was a Tuesday in March, during spring break, and it took me forever to find a parking spot at noon, but there were maybe only 5 people in front of me in line to get into the park.

I have to run now, but I can tell you more later!

 

[mAlien13]

Thank you, Monkey Monkey! I will definately look forward to hearing more from you. Esp. about the traffic back!!!

 

[Monkey Monkey]

Well, I'm usually doing the reverse trip (SD to Anaheim and back), but on a Friday, rush hour is going to start around 3pm.

My best advice is to have dinner in SD before heading back. That way you will probably miss the worst of the traffic.

There was a recent thread about can't miss animals at the zoo, I'll see if I can find it and bump it for you.

I would recommend the pandas for sure, and maybe take a look at sandiegozoo.org and see what animals they have that your zoo doesn't.

The thing that sets the SD Zoo apart from many others is not necessarily that they have different or "better" animals than other zoos, but their habitats are more natural (for the most part), and the scenery is breathtaking. There are parts of the zoo where you can see over the trees to downtown San Diego, which is literally just minutes away.

 

[tink too]

We are not hiring a car when we visit DL, so I was thinking about taking the Pacific Surfliner down to SD. How easy is it to get to the zoo from the train station - could we walk it or should we take a cab?

I was also considering leaving the zoo at around 2pm and heading out to see the Midway. Would it be expensive to take a cab or is there a bus service we could use?

We'll only have 1 day available to visit SD, that's why I'm trying to fit so much in!

 

[bumbershoot]

Pandas, definitely.

We found the zoo to be an all day event, mainly b/c it's just so big.

Monkey, has your experience with the pandas been that you should get there earlier rather than later? I read that earlier is better, b/c sometimes they close the exhibit for some reason later on.

 

[Jake's Mom]

We are not hiring a car when we visit DL, so I was thinking about taking the Pacific Surfliner down to SD. How easy is it to get to the zoo from the train station - could we walk it or should we take a cab?

I was also considering leaving the zoo at around 2pm and heading out to see the Midway. Would it be expensive to take a cab or is there a bus service we could use?

We'll only have 1 day available to visit SD, that's why I'm trying to fit so much in!

We did the reverse of this trip last October (SD to Anaheim). The train ride is just over two hours and the station closest to the zoo is about a 10 minute drive away from the zoo. Don't think you want to walk it. I believe our cab fare was about $10-$15. Probably won't see alot of the zoo if you plan to leave by 2pm.

 

[ScooterL]

Has your experience with the pandas been that you should get there earlier rather than later? I read that earlier is better, b/c sometimes they close the exhibit for some reason later on.

That's been my experience, though mostly because there are fewer people around if you go first thing, and also because you have some chance of seeing the pandas actually moving instead of just sleeping. First thing in the morning the adults are usually eating their bamboo, and sometimes the baby is moving around or climbing.

Since your time is short I would advise you to consider taking the bus tour of the Zoo - you can see a lot of the exhibits and learn some interesting things, too. There's also the "Express Bus", which has 5 stops around the Zoo, and you can get off and on at the different stops, which will save you some walking.

We can do most of the Zoo (skipping the aviaries and the reptiles) in three hours, but we walk pretty fast, and we don't stop to look at all the animals...though we do spend time watching our favorites.

 

[mAlien13]

Well, I'm usually doing the reverse trip (SD to Anaheim and back), but on a Friday, rush hour is going to start around 3pm.

My best advice is to have dinner in SD before heading back. That way you will probably miss the worst of the traffic.

There was a recent thread about can't miss animals at the zoo, I'll see if I can find it and bump it for you.

I would recommend the pandas for sure, and maybe take a look at sandiegozoo.org and see what animals they have that your zoo doesn't.

The thing that sets the SD Zoo apart from many others is not necessarily that they have different or "better" animals than other zoos, but their habitats are more natural (for the most part), and the scenery is breathtaking. There are parts of the zoo where you can see over the trees to downtown San Diego, which is literally just minutes away.

I have to admit, we were hoping to be back in Anaheim in time to go to DLR and see at least Fantasmic!, if not also the fireworks. I am thinking if we got to the park by 8:00pm, we would be fine to see both. What time would we need to leave San Diego, in your experience, to be at DLR by then? Approximately when does the rush hour traffic begin to let up that direction? Also, can anyone recommend an economical place to eat that is very close to the Zoo? I don't want to risk getting lost, and would like to eat close to the zoo and/or freeway.

 

[Monkey Monkey]

I have to admit, we were hoping to be back in Anaheim in time to go to DLR and see at least Fantasmic!, if not also the fireworks. I am thinking if we got to the park by 8:00pm, we would be fine to see both. What time would we need to leave San Diego, in your experience, to be at DLR by then? Approximately when does the rush hour traffic begin to let up that direction? Also, can anyone recommend an economical place to eat that is very close to the Zoo? I don't want to risk getting lost, and would like to eat close to the zoo and/or freeway.

If you leave SD at around 6, you should be back in Anaheim with no problem by 8pm.

There aren't many restaurants close to the zoo - there is the Prado in Balboa Park, which is a very nice restaurant, but it's a bit pricey.

If you got on the freeway going north before eating dinner, you could stop in La Jolla and have several good options for food.

 

[ScooterL]

Hmm...leaving San Diego at 6:00 I think you'd be cutting it fine to actually be *in* Disneyland by 8:00. You have to take into consideration the amount of time it takes to park and ride the tram/shuttle (or walk, depending on where you're staying) to the park. If you leave San Diego at 6:00, I think it'll take you most of the two hours just to make the drive. The problem is that you either need to leave by 3:00, which means cutting your day at the Zoo short, or don't leave until 7:00, which means less time at DL, though you should get there in time for the 9:25 fireworks, and could do the late showing of Fantasmic! also.

There's no really easy-to-get-to restaurants near the Zoo - though there are a ton of restaurants within 1-2 miles of the Zoo, they are all off of surface streets and not really easy to describe.

If you want to drive a little bit up the freeway, there's an Islands and a California Pizza Kitchen just off Nobel Drive. Might be busy on a Friday evening, though.

 

[mAlien13]

Thinking it over, it seems like it makes the most sense to leave the zoo early. Scooter, when you say 3:00, do you mean we need to be on the freeway by then, or that we need to exit the zoo by then?

Thanks everyone, for all the help. I really want to make sure my kids get to experience the unique aspects of the SD Zoo. My DM and I haven't been in so many, many years that we are just clueless on how to plan it! We would be lost without the DIS!

 

[mAlien13]

Bump! I just want to see if anyone has a strong suggestion of what time I need to make it out of the zoo on Friday afternoon if I want to miss most of the traffic?

 

[ScooterL]

I would recommend that you be on the freeway by 3:00. It takes 5-10 minutes to get to I5 north from the Zoo parking lot. You're still going to hit traffic, and it will still take you close to 2 hours to get to Disneyland, though. But you'll miss the worst of rush hour getting out of San Diego, though you'll still hit it in Orange County. Hope that helps!

 

[mAlien13]

Thank you, ScooterL! We will just plan on leaving at 2:30. Hopefully that will give us time to get to the car and then to the freeway close to 3:00.

 

[SnowWhite12]

We went on a Sunday almost 2 weeks ago. Got there about 30 minutes after opening and were done by noon. But then we decided to eat there and take the bus around (for about 30-45 minutes?). So we were still done after all that by 2:00. Think we saw pretty much everything.