Kristy Silver

Review of Zoo Atlanta

Wow. Went on a Wednesday afternoon during a schoo...

Wow. Went on a Wednesday afternoon during a school week, so not crowded. Had never been but decided to get season passes for my family. The sales girl tried desperately to get me to buy a bigger package for other people who may or may not one day visit my family and just have to go to the zoo. I'm talking a desperate sales pitch, I felt like I needed to go into the family dynamics of why we don't need tickets for grandparents....ridiculous. Well, the state of the parking lot should have explained why they try so hard to hit you up. The sidewalks are so overgrown with grass and inches thick of red dirt that you can barely walk on them, much less push a stroller or chair comfortably (thankfully not our concern). Don't expect anything but red dirt, overgrown weeds, and tree roots exposed in the parking lot. The zoo is small, you can walk it pretty quickly. Any exhibit with glass viewing, expect the glass to be covered with handprints so bad that it makes viewing difficult. There is a smell in the air, of trash cans that need emptying and animal poo. The elephant exhibit smelled so bad that you couldn't even look, it was mid afternoon and they were cleaning the inside house and the elephant was not on exhibit, it was locked in the back....but the area is way too small, the smallest I have ever seen for an elephant. Sad. The otters my goodness, what a sad little area and boy did they smell terrible. There was trash on the grounds and I saw a ton of employees walking around but not once did I ever see anyone keeping the grounds neat, no one with a broom except in the petting zoo to get poo. The interior exhibits smell bad, it is stinky. Around every corner there is some sort of coin collection thing begging for change for animals. I found many of the "cages" for the birds to be way too small, the huge horn bill birds need room. Basically this zoo is small and old and dirty, you won't want to take your hands out of your pockets. Sad that this is the best Atlanta can do. Go to Jacksonville Zoo for a pleasant experience.