I hadn t been to this zoo in 15 years but decided ...

I hadn t been to this zoo in 15 years but decided to take my daughter here for her birthday. My kids and nephews are 10 and under and absolutely LOVED it. I had an amazing time, too. It is so different from what I experienced as a teenager. Some of the enclosures are gorgeous and the animals look so happy and engaged. The bear areas look kind of sad and exactly as I remember them from 15 years ago but I m honestly not sure what qualifies as a quality bear enclosure.

The aviary blew me away. The entire tiger/hippo/aviary trail is exciting. There was a huge crowd around the baby hippo and a rude family who laughed about their kids shoving to he front of the line and then blocking everyone s view for 5 minutes but that s not the zoo s fault.

What secured an enthusiastic 5th star from me is the fact that the woman ringing up our lunch saw my empty water bottle and offered to fill it up for free, completely unprompted. I m so used to parks/theme parks that feel so stingy and money hungry that this simple act of sharing cold, clean water with everyone made me feel really good about this zoo. The free parking is also a huge plus.

I would definitely come back here with or without my kids and look forward to trying the safari park next time.