Aramark at the Maryland Zoo Review

Easy to walk around, plenty of parking. Some animal spaces too small, but the animals appear to be well cared for. Surprisingly good pizza.

Off the beaten path. Tons of non-endangered animals to see. Worth paying extra to pet the penguins.

Had a great time and staff was great. Animals looked happy and were well taken care of! Thanks again!

It's an awesome zoo to visit. But would be better without covid-19. Kind folks work there, very educational.

Have always loved the zoo and the events there. A good day trip for family, a date, alone, or with friends. A bit costly unfortunately, but if you are really into it the season passes can be more reasonable. Good variety of animals from frogs to rhinos to monkeys to polar bears. The map and website offer a lot of extra helful information as well!

A nice place and environment for kids but a little pricey.

Still an amazing Zoo. Handling Covid measures very well. Animals and staff always seem happy. Wonderful family spot. Looking into becoming a member now!

Love the zoo. Have a membership. Great fun to take the kids there.

Staff is very nice and helpful! Penguin experience was amazing!

Awesome place! Lots to learn for the whole family and it's in Baltimore so you get fantastic people from all around the world. The staff is friendly and talkative and made our experience memorable. The 5th star may be filled in at a later time when some of the interactive exhibits get some much needed repairs.

Well maintained. New penguin exhibit is awesome. Pokemon destination for those so inclined.

We love this zoo!! Awesome for kids in every way except that the carousel should really allow one free ride at least to members! It's $3 each ride! Overall it's fine as we're happy to support the great work this zoo does to support endangered species and welcome families to learn. This is a wonderful place.

We've been members for 6 years and the kids still love going here! Brew at the zoo is very crowded and I'm not crazy about most of the craft beers they offer but it's a lot of fun. There is also an adult event on Valentines day weekend with food and drinks included. And you get to learn about animals sex habits and rituals lol.

So lovely, lots of things to do and see - and fun stuff for children, including petting goats, and sliding down an awesome slide that looks like a giant tree stump! Loved it and highly recommend it!

It's getting better, once the exhibits are updated over the next few years it should improve.

The zoo is always clean and the people there are always helpful. No complaints.

Had a really nice visit. Staff was helpful and friendly. The penguin exhibit is one of the best I've ever seen!

They have liqueur. Wat a wonderful thing. We were there last year and loved it. Animals n pens were great. Loved feeding the Giraffes... Planning another trip back today. Can't wait

Purchased a membership only to find the lions, elephants, and giraffe enclosure are unavailable. Not cool.

Happy animals, good events, and knowledgeable keepers and staff.

Nice because it's so convenient for a Baltimorean. The volunteers are excellent with knowledge and a willingness to help. Great customer service as well as very kid friendly.

But it's not really a great value and it's probably the worst zoo I've been to when considering the animals and the means of which to view them.

I went in the winter for St. Patty's day and they had tattoos for the kids and free cake and cookies.

The Maryland Zoo is well maintained and the Keeper Chats are informative and educational. Getting there using navigation can lead you through some sketchy neighborhoods though.

Clean and pretty nice. I'm not av huge fan of zoos (would rather see them in the wild) but the animals seemed well cared for and the path was clean. We were disappointed that we didn't see the baby chimp or polar bears. Also, a few restaurants weren't open on a Saturday afternoon in the summer and the train wasn't running. Over though, it was a nice trip to the zoo

Beautiful relaxing and educational place to take the kids.

Brew thru at the Zoo was lots of fun. Kudos to the staff for hanging out and bringing you the animals car side for a close up look. Lots of cool swag too.

Interesting but some exhibits closed so somewhat disapoo4

Early in the season so only one cafe open. Sunny but cold so many of the animals inside - some not available to see! Huge construction work being undertaken - new buildings, pathways & walkways, but this obviously affected things. Probably worth the other two stars in a year or so when the building is complete. Worth a visit!

We had a great visit in mid April. It is definitely the time of year when the animals are most active. Every animal except the rhino was not only out, but getting up close and personal. It was also the weekend of their Easter event which was a good time. A few extra bucks if you want to play the games, but a nice addition to celebrate the holiday.

We took my granddaughter to The Penguin Encounter. An amazing going behind the scenes to interact with penguins. Loved it.

Great but they really need improve the ticketing process. Too many people getting season passes hold up the line and it takes a long time to get in. Once in, it has many bottle necks and seems designed to frustrate you more than anything else. That being said once you get to the penguin, bear and Safari exhibits it is truly spectacular.

The zoo is nice and easy to navigate. The kids loved seeing the animals, the caves and the tree slide. There's a food court and a horse carousel.

Nice, small and well maintained park. Perfect sized for young people. The staff are incredibly friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable.

one of the better zoos i have been too. not the cleanest but the animals are so happy here and they are running around very lively. staff is doing a great job taking care of them. kids had a great time

Pretty cool zoo. Love the earth scaping to contain the elephants and rhino's. Creates a great natural way to see them.

Don't waste your money if you have small children! The only thing nice about this zoo is the employees who park you, get your ticket, and work by the animal displays. This zoo is a major hassle for parents. Have to take a tram car to get into zoo or walk a mile around the park to get in. The walk wouldnt be so bad if animals where along the way but no yiu are by yourself along wooda with your babies. Going in downhill, leaving a syraight up climb pushing a double stroller! If you choose the tram instead of walking beware the tram is awful!! You have to take your kids out of strollers and all your bags then collapse the stroller. The employess (at least the two I encountered) where rude!! I had plenty off room with no one else near me to at least put the stroller on open but no they still made me collapse everything as they stood there watching me hold a baby in my arms and telling my toddler not to move. All while trying to pull bags out and collapse a stroller. I can't believe a place for children would be so un-kid friendly. Not only that but all the money and hassle to see a couple of animals. Polar bears weren't out, lions area was closed, etc, etc...what the heck is the senae of being open!! Just an awful experience and will never go again!!

This is a well kept, small zoo (in terms of numbers of animals). As one of the oldest in the country, I wasn't sure what to expect. Some of the animal enclosures do seem small, but they are working on expanding the giraffe and lion habitats. I'd say this is a great zoo to take young children or a good place to get a walk in. We enjoyed it, even in December when not all of the animals were out.

Great place to take the kids. All the staff were friendly and helpful. Good amount of stuff to see for the price. Especially goats!!!

Been taking my kids here since they were babies. It is a great place for small kids as it is not overwhelmingly large. Nice and shady.

The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is a lot of fun for the whole family. We look forward to returning in the very near future.

Delightful zoo in the middle of Baltimore -- you would not even know you are in the city! I especially enjoyed the swimming Polar Bears, the Emus, and the gloriously Pink Flamingos. The magic tree with it's Snake and Reptile habitats, and the Frog cave were unexpected and fun. I will be back!!

We LOVE this zoo! Very easy to navigate and plenty to see. We always see a great variety of the "main attraction" animals. There are always a few not visible, but that is any zoo.
I wanted to post a pic of the lion viewing window that is MUCH bigger than any windshield. (someone was negatively commenting about it and it being smaller than his windshield)

Excellent customer service outanding above and beyond.

Great place to bring the whole family! Fun for everyone!

Way better then expected. Very helpful staff . Much closer then National Zoo. Need more bears.

What a great Zoo! The polar bears were out and active as well as the brown bears!

Polar bear is amazing was a ladt minute descion and a very good one plenty of shade great things for kids to learn

Great place. Go in the summer when the Lions and elephants are out though

Feel like they could add a lot more animals with all the empty areas

The new giraffe area is nice. The hike to get to the actual zoo is hard.

I was a little disappointed that the giraffe feeding and elephant enclosure was closed, but they are building a better one- so I suppose I shouldn't be complaining! :) I went with 4 other people and they enjoyed it as well.
Everyone who worked with the animals were very friendly and went out of the way to come see the kids and give them fun faqs about the animals. Even my 14yo started to show some interest! They had the same hands on approach as the tiny, Plumpton Park zoo in Elkton, Md. (Which is very much worth stopping by, if you like the up close feel!)
Overall this zoo has definitely been evolving since the first time I was there, 4 years ago... I can't imagine how much better it will be in 4 more! :)

Random, but helpful for anyone with a gluten allergy or celiac- bring your own snacks/food (non of the food places we went to offered anything GF, except Dippin' Dots).

Visited during December and had a blast! To be fair, I had low to zero expectations. Why? Because it's winter, cold outside and because I hadn't ever heard of Maryland's zoo. Baltimore in known for its mega aquarium, but not for it's zoo.

Regardless, since it's winter, it's cheaper to go and my significant other and I wanted to take the niece and nephew out to see some animals (they are at that stage were they love all animals and go crazy for them).

Parking was easy, getting in was a breeze and finding out way to a trolley in order to go to the zoo area was easy-peasy.

After a short 3-minute ride on the trolley, we made our way in and immediately saw the penguins!! Too cute! Afterwards, we went to the African exhibit in which you could see the classic "Big Five"! To my surprise, we were able to see all the animals. Even the giraffes who were indoors! After that, we went to the Polar/Arctic exhibit and saw everything but the polar bear, which was hibernating.

All animals looked well kept and fed. They all had big areas to roam about and did not seem aggressive or ill.

All in all, pretty decent zoo with friendly and eager-to-talk staff that were ready to give us interesting details on each animal. Would highly recommend it!

I finally got to take our own little girl during Labor Day Weekend (COVID)! No slides down the Great Tree or jumping on Lilly Pads, but it was a great time.

Four stars only because of the extended time of construction. We bought a membership in 201i because the cashier said the remodel would be complete Sept 2018. Its May 2018 and it's still not near complete. Otherwise, the exhibits are interesting and the animals seem well cared for.

What a nice place for a leisurely stroll with the family. There's all sorts of activities and a lot of ways to keep the little ones interested. If you're looking for an outdoor activity for the family, it's a nice place to visit.

They've done a great job! I haven't been in awhile. Really enjoyed it!

Nice day trip. Start early and take your time. Lots of walk

I really want this place to be awesome, but it is not. It just feels.. empty, lacking in visitor experience. It made me more sad to visit this place than anything else. Zoological parks need to go in a different direction if they want to survive. Why not make this a place that celebrates and educates citizens about the environment here in Maryland. Why put polar bears and penguins in our summer heat????

Also, the tram operator was rude to me over the intercom: quick to lash out about rules.... but I was the only person on the tram and seated right behind her. Rude enough that I don't wanna come back.

God social distancing is maintained. Decent cleanliness. Giraffe feeding is the best

Great place for a quick day trip. I love this zoo and its very affordable. There's a nice variety of animals, and they seem to be growing all the time and making significant improvements. Love the Giraffe House it was a neat experience. The staff was quickly available at all the superior exhibits.

We love this zoo! The children's zoo wilderness area is such a fun trail to walk, make sure to check out the otters and explore the cave and under the tree slide! And you end at the barnyard where you can brush and pet the goats. Feeding the giraffes is another special experience ($). We have had a membership for several years and drive 1.5 hours to get there. Parking is free and you can pack your own lunch. They have a play area at the entrance but we've never had enough time to play, there is so much to see in the zoo! The new penguin exhibit is beautiful.

One of the best family destinations , even when your a local. Not super cheap but tons to see and do. Skip the tram and walk down to the main entrance its worth the walk.

Great visit to an historic zoo during its celebration of bears! We enjoyed antics of a polar bear, penguins and otter, who seemed to enjoy a cool and sunny day. Children will love farmyard animals, cave creatures, The Zephyr, and big slides! Staff and volunteers are cheery and helpful. Visit, soon!

Great exhibits, friendly staff. Perfect for families.

Absolutely loved this zoo! Great exhibits, animals looked healthy and well cared for, loves seeing some rescued animals. The snake/spider exhibits were really cool inside the caves and trees.

Maryland Zoo is quite nice! Although there's construction going on and can't wait until it's completely finished. You can still see majority of all the animals. I love the Maryland Zoo especially spring/summer with the Carousel and train ride.

I really like how many hands on things there are for kids. Also the play grounds are a great touch for younger kids. Farm exhibit and penguins are my toddler's favorites