Recommendations for San Diego Zoo visit?

[tink too]

After reading some of the other threads on this board, we have decided to visit the Zoo rather than the Wild Animal Park as we only have 1 day available during our vacation to visit San Diego. We didn't even consider Sea World for this trip as we have visited the Florida park many times and although we love SW, we wanted to do something different on this trip!

What are the best exhibits to see and are there any we should skip or at least leave until later in the day?

As a family we love primates and cats (of all sizes) so we'll definately be checking them out.

Our DD is 6 y.o. and loves animals - anything especially interesting for her age group that we should not miss?

Thanks for you help

 

[PrincessAbby'sMom]

We just got back from the Zoo last month & although I can't give you any great advice (as we live in Illinois & have only visited once), I will give you a few tips that I had.

I was told (since we were going to SW the day after our Zoo trip) to skip the Sea Lion show, not really worth it. But since you are not going to SW and have time, maybe try it.

There was another show (only 2, Sea Lion & this one) it was called something like Ledgens & Loors (I know I am mis-spelling that one) and was told to see that one. It was neat - they brought out a cat (lepard or something - not house cat) on a leash & showed some of its abilities, birds (big & little) and just told you the truths about some & what are just myths that we hear.

I loved the layout of the Zoo, it was very senic & easy to get around. I really enjoyed the nursery in the Children's Zoo part. At that time they had a baby monkey of some type & were bottle feeding when we were there.

The Koala's & Panda's were neet to see too, but not very active at all. But never seen before in person - so cool.

We actually didn't see the cats - time crunch to hit our bus. But I had read that they just had (I think) 6 or more baby lions, so they wouldn't even be on view anyway.

Any other "?'s" just PM & I would be happy to answer.

 

[tink too]

Thanks for your help, Princess Abby's Mom.

Thanks for the tip about the nursery over at the Children's Zoo - we'll definately check it out to see what type of animals they have there during our visit.

We'll also go to check out the pandas and koalas - there isn't much of them here in Scotland! I'm sure DD will be thrilled to see them.

We'll be taking a bus tour to San Diego so time will be limited as to when our bus will be leaving, too.

I think your tips will be a great help to let us plan out our day at the zoo!

 

[mindylovesmickey]

If you want to see the polar bears up at the very top of the park, the best way to do it is to hop on one of the busses or pay to ride the sky tram up and back. The hill to walk up and back down are scary steep, steeper than the one where the cats are located. Most of the animals (primates, gorillas especially) and polar bears are best viewed first thing in the morning, so as soon as you get there, I would make it a point of doing those as soon as you can get around. The nursery and Children's zoo are good pretty much any time. But since most of the animals get fed in the morning, that's usually when you are going to get the most out of seeing them. That's what we found, anyway.

 

[PrincessAbby'sMom]

True, the hill to the Polar Bears, etc are steep, but if my 69 year old Dad that has had 5 heart attacks, bypass & knee replacement can do it w/a few breaks in between - you should be fine!

We too wanted to ride the sky tram - but with the rain that day, it was down.

Enjoy!