Thoughts on San Diego Zoo

[Albertan mom]

We were at San Diego Zoo last Sunday.
It was really nice.

We printed off the save $8.00 coupons, which saved us $32, so we got in for $99.

We started the day with the bus tour, which is a great way to start. That gives you a nice overview of the place, so you know where to go. Because it is huge!!!

My son was so excited to see the Pandas. The mom and baby were there for viewing, but their backs were to us and the baby was sleeping, so we couldn't see them really well, which is too bad after standing in line to wait and see them (they are behind a wall, so you have to wait, you cant just walk up like to all the others)

We ate at the Treehouse, and the food was really, really good. Expensive, but good.

The sky gondola ride was lots of fun.

All in all, it was a good day. Nice place, really good service, good food, very nicely landscaped, and the animals looked happy. As happy as an animal can be in a cage anyway!

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

I'm glad you enjoyed yourselves! Thank you for the information and reviews. I'll have to look into the Treehouse. I was wondering where you found the printable coupons? We are heading there before we go to Disneyland. TIA!

 

[Albertan mom]

Here:

http://www.visitcalifornia.com/media/pages/funspots/2009/SDZoo09coupon.jpg


I just printed it off, took it to the cashier, and got the $8 off per ticket. My aunt bought hers ahead of time, and used the coupon right away when she bought it, and it took the money off. So you can use it either way. Though when I tried to use the coupon at the same time as buying the tickets through San Diego Zoo.com, it did not work for me.

 

[VictoriaAndMatt]

Here:

http://www.visitcalifornia.com/media/pages/funspots/2009/SDZoo09coupon.jpg

Thanks so much!
I just printed it off, took it to the cashier, and got the $8 off per ticket. My aunt bought hers ahead of time, and used the coupon right away when she bought it, and it took the money off. So you can use it either way. Though when I tried to use the coupon at the same time as buying the tickets through San Diego Zoo.com, it did not work for me.

Thanks so much!!

 

[ScooterL]

Thanks for the review - I'm so happy to hear that you had such a great time at our Zoo!

 

[redsox721]

Thanks for the review. We are planning to go to the zoo in May.

Roughly how long does it take to see everything at the zoo? I'm sure it is an all day trip. How early should we get there for a Saturday visit?

 

[ScooterL]

Roughly how long does it take to see everything at the zoo? I'm sure it is an all day trip. How early should we get there for a Saturday visit?

It can certainly take all day if you want to see everything. I recommend getting there at park opening just because a lot of the animals are most active early - the pandas, the tigers, the big cats and small carnivores. Our usual technique is to walk down Tiger River and see the tigers, tapirs, and hippos, and the otters and monkeys, and at about that time the panda exhibit opens. The pandas are usually eating, so you can actually see them moving around a bit instead of sleeping. And there's very few people so you don't have to stand in a long line to see them, and you can take your time viewing them because there aren't lots of people waiting behind you. Then we usually go see the cats and the small carnivores. If you're doing a Zoo bus tour, I would recommend doing it after that. This will involved a fair bit of walking, but it's almost all downhill, and you can take an escalator most of the way back up to the top (where the buses are).