My family and I did the longer zipline "safari tou...

My family and I did the longer zipline "safari tour" at The Wilds near Cumberland, Ohio. The zipline was fun and the guides were great! (There were 3 guides and they wore masks for COVID). We zipped through some woods and over 2 ponds that did have some animals nearby to view from the towers or while zipping (if you are paying attention to the scenery while flying through the air).

However, we paid for a 2.5 hour zipline tour, and it lasted only about an hour for 10 zips. The 5 zip tour was rated at 1.5 hours, so probably would have actually been over in 30 minutes. I believe that we got done so fast because there were only 5 of us, and they normally would take 9. They are limiting to 6 people per session, due to COVID. Let me tell you that the 10 zip tour is well worth the additional $30 per person, if you can afford it. I will note that you do not get to see all of the animals on the zip line tour, like the giraffes and rhino. You have to book a bus tour to see most of the animals. The thrill and scenery of the zip line make up for that, though. (Tip: Take binoculars or a high zoom camera, and you can see many of the animals from behind the visitor center at the top of the hill. That view is free, except for the $6 parking fee.)

We did encounter some confusion when making the reservations. The Wilds is now run by The Columbus Zoo. When I called to make reservations, I was told that the daily bus tours were booked for our date. So we could not do that. However, when arriving at the parking lot, the very nice attendant said, "Sure, we can get you on the last bus tour." By that time, we had paid for the longer zip line tour, and had to be somewhere else later in the day, so we opted out.

Would I do it again? Maybe in some years down the road, due to the cost and not seeing as many animals that we would have liked to. We had not been to The Wilds in 12 years, and again, 9 years prior to that. It helps to keep time between visits so that you enjoy it better, as it does not offer the amount of animals that The Columbus Zoo does.