san diego zoo - worth a one day tour??

[alicia1506]

carlo has decided he *must* see san diego zoo while we're in california.

for those that have been... is it worth it? i enjoy the sight of a cute animal or a mini wildlife safari or some such for a small amount of time -- i burn if exposed to the sun for more than 15 minutes and i'm not a huge 'outdoors' kind of girl... so if we're going to San Diego for the day and he wants to spend the majority of this time at the zoo -- is it worth it?? or is it comparable to say... western plains zoo in Dubbo, NSW or other zoos we have here?

i hate the idea of flying so far around the world to see something great & it turns out to be a total let down

but if it's fabulous and get's the Aussie & NZ Disers's tick of approval... then i'll gladly add it to the itinerary..

so...

opinions please!!!

 

[aussietravellers]

It was worth the day trip for us. We did the Grayline tour. The only problem for us was that it was raining and FREEZING! We will go again next trip and I will make sure that we go on a sunny day. Freezing we can handle, a coat, scarf and gloves fix that, but being wet and freezing was not pleasant.

If it's a fine day, then I say yes it's worth it! It's a lovely zoo and it's big and very hilly. Certainly wear comfortable shoes and you'll work off everything you eat for the rest of your holiday

 

[PrincessInOz]

Yes. Reputably the best zoo in the world because of the breeding program they undertake and also because of the way they started the change in zoo enclosures for animals. It's the zoo that the rest of the other zoos aspire to being.

 

[Caroline NZ]

We definitely thought it was worth the visit.

 

[alicia1506]

yeah, we're looking at doing the grayline tour as well... i just went on their website and they seem pretty awesome, and i like the look of the restaurant on their premises, rather than the usual burger/fries/fish/sandwiches you tend to get in the parks.

seems i'm planning a san diego zoo tour now too so many things to do, so little time

 

[aussietravellers]

yeah, we're looking at doing the grayline tour as well... i just went on their website and they seem pretty awesome, and i like the look of the restaurant on their premises, rather than the usual burger/fries/fish/sandwiches you tend to get in the parks.

seems i'm planning a san diego zoo tour now too so many things to do, so little time

We had dinner in the nice restaurant and it was good (and lovely to get in out of the cold and rain).

One problem we did have, was about 2.30-3pm we were really cold and wanting a rest. There was literally NOWHERE we could go and sit inside for a coffee.... Nowhere! Everywhere was closed and what was open, had outdoor seating And it was pouring. Our only refuge from the rain was to go and walk around the shops, but we really just wanted to sit down and have a hot chocolate and a coffee. As soon as that table service restaurant opened, we were barging the door down almost to get in so we had somewhere warm and dry to sit and rest

Remember with the Grayline tours, if you have an RACQ card, you can get the AAA discount off their tours, gives you 10% off We got that with all of the tours we did with Grayline Anaheim.

 

[Sugarglider]

We spent the whole day at the Zoo - it struck me as very similar to Taronga and as others have said it has always been one of the great zoos of the world.
They have two - the city zoo (like taronga) and the open plains - like dubbo or Weeibee - at which we also spent a day.
I particularly loved the hummingbird walk through aviary - I saw a hummingbird tongue!

 

[alicia1506]

ooh i love hummingbirds -- i'm sold!!

 

[miss.potatohead]

We did the tour through Grayline as well. We thought it was well worth the trip; at first I was under the mindset that 'all zoo's are the same' which they are, but I quite enjoyed San Diego Zoo. There are lots of things to see and do, although there is a lot of walking involved and it's built on a slant...

The bus safari was a good way to start the day, you go around the park on the bus (double decker one!) and they give you some tips and facts about the zoo.
If you have a spare day, I'd definitely look into doing it

 

[periwinkle20]

Remember with the Grayline tours, if you have an RACQ card, you can get the AAA discount off their tours, gives you 10% off We got that with all of the tours we did with Grayline Anaheim.

aussietraveller - we are thinking of using Grayline for the Universal/LA Combo Tour - did you book online and enter somewhere for the AAA discount or book by phone?

It is a good saving that I would love to take advantage of
Thanks

 

[aussietravellers]

aussietraveller - we are thinking of using Grayline for the Universal/LA Combo Tour - did you book online and enter somewhere for the AAA discount or book by phone?

It is a good saving that I would love to take advantage of
Thanks

I did both. I booked our first tour from home online (SD Zoo). Then the other two tours, Legoland and the LA City Tour, I booked the day before we went each time, over the phone from Anaheim.

When I did it online. I visited here www.grayline.com/aaa There I selected aaa member, put the 3 digit club code (even though it asked for 6) from the back of my RACQ card and my name and it came up with the discount code and said I am now in the members area. I added the tours to the basket with the code and it didn't seem to add the discount, but then on the check out page, there was another space at the bottom to enter the code, which I entered and pressed recalculate and the discount was applied .

When I did it over the phone, I told them I had an AAA card. I didn't have to pay over the phone, the bus collected us the next morning, drove us to the central depot and I paid for the tour there, showing my AAA card and getting the discount.

If you go here you can see all of the places in Anaheim were you can use your card for the AAA discount http://ww2.aaa.com/travel2/sycs/mem...=&club=700&lang=EN&memid=&conversationId=1914
(anybody going to other parts of the USA, you can do a new search from there for that certain city to see where you can get discounts by showing your RACQ/RACV/NRMA or other motor association card)

 

[periwinkle20]

Thank you so much for the info aussietravellers