I was really excited to see the "world famous" San...

I was really excited to see the "world famous" San Diego Zoo, but left the zoo quite disappointed.

First of all, the tickets are way overpriced at $50 (with my AAA discount). I wouldn't complain about the price if the zoo really lived up to the hype, but it didn't.

The environment in there is actually really nice. It's built nicely, and the trees are beautiful. So you would expect good air quality at the zoo, but that's not the case. The guided tour buses have DIESEL ENGINES that are loud and visibly pollute the air. It's not safe for anyone to breathe when those buses drive by, especially for the children. The observatory shuttle is Los Angeles has switched to electric, and a zoo that's supposed keep its air clean and noise level low hasn't? The buses also share the road with the guests on foot. The bus drivers however are pretty nice, and they are decent as guides.

Navigating the zoo is not that easy. The zoo map was drawn by a 9 year old. The more you try to find your current location on the map and try to get to the next destination, the more confusing it gets. And on top of that, the driving by tour buses.

According to Wikipedia, the San Diego Zoo has 3,500 different animals of 670 species. That is not what it actually looks like. There just aren't enough animals to see. The animal closures aren't big enough, despite the area of the zoo. Only two lions, four elephants, one cheetah, and countless other examples like that are really disappointing. The animals often get shocked by the loud noise of the buses. There are some exotic birds, but in a very small number. I expected the "Reptile Center" to have at least 20-30 different types of snakes and other reptiles, but there are only 6-7 types we've seen. On a warm day, most animals might hide inside, but of course that's nothing to complain about. There is a small 4D movie theater inside for some reason, that shows an OK 4D movie using really outdated technology.