Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens Review

Our family loves this zoo. It is on the smaller side, which makes for an easy and casual day.
The food is decent and there is an option to picnic at the front of the park.
It does get quite hot in the summertime, but they have a splash pad for the kids and Italian Ice food truck to help cool down.

Small zoo, lots of unique animals, great splash pad and playground!

Came down from Strasburg Virginia what a amazing place. So much fun thing to see.

i went into the park optimistic of its content simply because i love a good walk through the zoo with all the different sounds and sights that a diverse zoo can bring, but it was a solid let down. There were many exhibits down for refurbishment and many exhibits were too small for the animal it contained, notably the cloud leopard and the black bear but these were just some. the black bear exhibit seamed like it was built to advertise anti-bear home security equipment, not to take care of the black bear. there was even an obviously fake exhibit of frogs which was covered in spider webs! (frogs EAT spiders) As for the "botanical garden" it was a sad display of various plants that had been shoved in a hole in the ground and forgotten and watered with the same 15-5-15 bag of fertilizer you find at menards. nothing except the chaty crowd of tamarin got me smiling there, as they seemed to like the crew simply for their relation to their food source, everything there was depressing. only positive take away was the lady at the front desk with a great attitude. as for the so called "zoologist" that care for these animals, i can only hope that they are not to blame for the vast mistreatment of that entire place. i was vastly upset at how tired and worn down that place was. it is sad that the locals in Florida have to rely on a place like this to represent wildlife in this beautiful world, i only hope they go ANYWHERE else. i hope this place closes down for destroying some of the valuable lives they imprison.

My nephew & I had a great time! Everyone was nice & answered my nephews many many questions. He enjoyed the train ride the most the train conductor made his day.

I see alot of complaints on line about the small enclosures. The cats looked well cared for yes some of their pens are small but they have a better chance of survival here than in the wild since most of their kind has been hunted to the brink of extinction.

We took our daughter here and she loves animals fun time just another nice experience with our family she loved it wanted to see the Gators and got a stuffed gator she still has that reminds her of our visit Alon with some great photos we got

Smaller zoo but still a good amount of animals to see.

The kids loved it here, tons of activities, and easy to get around.

Nice enough place. $20 to get into the zoo. Rhino was sleeping. Giraffe was cool to see.

Great with the kid, have a season pass and it is a great value.

There is nothing like the zoo. Lots of new exhibits.

Had a great time exploring and seeing the animals with the kids!

Had fun watching the animals and learning about them. Only downside was we didn't get to feed the giraffes but the worker that was by the enclosure told us that the noise from the remodeling that was taking place was putting the giraffes on edge so we were okay with just being spectators. We also learned a lot about their behaviors from the worker. All in all, we enjoyed ourselves.

Very small zoo. The employees were unfriendly and seemed really unhappy. The enclosures for the animals were quite small. At $19.50 per adult the ticket price is very high for a very small amount of exhibits. The bathrooms hadn't been cleaned in some time and were in really rough/dirty condition.

So many cute animals!!! A great place to go with family, friends, significant others or even by yourself! They even have cute little statues to take pictures with or of. There's also a butterfly bench that makes it look like you have wings when you sit down!

This is a fantastic zoo. I first came here at, if I had to guess, a year old... And it's exactly as fantastic as I remember it - now multiple decades later - if not mentally moreso. Memory and nostalgia not-withstandinging. They're also accredited with AZA, which generally means that they truly care about the animals in their care and and doing what they feasibly can to provide healthy and happy lives for them. Your children will love this experience. You will love this experience.

Love it! Had a fun time with our kids. It is cleaned and the animals are well taken care of!

I was depressed to see how small some of the big cats cages were :(

My granddaughter bday is today.so that's want she wanted for her bday to go to the zoo they had lots of fun

I've been to tons of zoos and aquariums, and this one is a sleeper. It's easily one of the top 10 I've been to. The snake exhibit has species I've never seen at any zoo. The bear habitat was also something I've not seen before. I have a 2 year old and she loved it.

Nice and quaint. Feedings are closed which was upsetting and staff did not dry the playground areas but a really nice visit

I enjoyed myself, nice and quiet, but on the smaller side.

Nice place to so
spend time with kids

They really need to update this zoo or power the price. A lot of the animals are hidden away and some of the decor is super outdated. Mainly appealing to small kids. Not a terrible experience.

Horrible experience couldn t stay child got sick exhibits were closed they were not welcoming horrible customer service wouldn t rain check or refund us after being there for 45 min. Laughed and joked about me and my children when they were upset will never return to this establishment

Most of the animals weren't shown on the day we went for whatever reason. The food is pretty good, I'm glad they have beer and wine. The water area for kids is really cool. I just didn't feel like I got my money worth overall because a lot of animals we're missing or not out.

Much smaller than expected. We were able to see the whole place in half an hour.

I've been coming here since I was a little one and now I get to bring my son. Truly a wonderful place with genuinely kind staff.

*If I could leave -5 stars I would*
Dino,
We met earlier on the afternoon of 9/10/20 (I just now realized I was mainly speaking with you the entire time) and I just wanted to briefly express again my disgust in how the situation with my family was handled. To begin with, Jessica Johanson, your "Guest Services" rep, was clearly looking for a confrontation. I have zero reasons to lie at this point and I gain nothing from it. When she asked everyone to put on their masks, we put on our masks. I turned around, looking into the direction of the giraffes and when I turned back around, she was still standing there, staring at me. At this point I asked her to leave me and my family alone - this was obviously extremely triggering for her, as her next reaction was to get on her walkie-talkie for backup. She then told us we had to leave, so we proceeded to leave. As this wasn't bad enough for my 5 year old to see, apparently everyone who was working at the Zoo had to follow us out. Granted, I get it, I'm sure you have certain protocols for certain insane hypothetical situations, but this was poor discretion on everyone's part. No one was a threat and everyone was walking out, but yet 8+ people needed to be around us.

I also wanted to mention that one of the officers that spoke to me, stated that there was arguing back and forth. Yes, there was, after we were already thrown out of the Zoo. Again, this needs to be hammered in - we complied, but Jessica lingered, seemingly wanting to get into a confrontation. I wanted to be left the hell alone. I do admit, some immature words were stated (not by me or the individual who paid) and a few of us apologized on his behalf - but it needs to be noted for the record that those words were used, after we were already kicked out. Still doesn't make it right/acceptable, because it is not, but it does give the situation proper context.

Lastly, I just wanted to point out the extreme hypocrisy your staff and even yourself either stated or did while we were at the Zoo.

1). About every 10 feet or so inside the Zoo, we all are reminded to "social distance". Well, your employees didn't practice that, as I have pictures of them congregating together. Also, I found it interesting that one employee, Stephanie Williams (Zoo Director), while escorting me out, was probably no more than a foot away from me and I asked her why she wasn't social distancing from me and her reply was laughable, "Well, because I am wearing a mask". Now, obviously you are a reasonably intelligent man Dino, therefore, I don't need to flesh out as to why that statement is beyond contradictory to just about everything the Zoo and the entire World is doing right now. Maybe take down the silly signs if that is the case, people are wearing masks inside the Zoo, correct? Therefore, by this "logic" that Stephanie used, one doesn't need to "social distance". Although I greatly differ from probably everyone on your staff's outlook in regards to how Government is "handling" the Covid19 situation, I do respect consistency in logic and reason, even if I do disagree.

2). Before Jessica approached us, my family and I were actually having a conversation with one of your employees at the giraffe exhibit. The conversation was totally normal and pleasant. However, looking back...she WASN'T wearing a mask and she was helping out the giraffes. Now, I do reflect Dino that you were attempting to inform me that the mask wearing was not only protection for me and others, but for the animals. My suggestion, have your team follow the strict rules you want to enforce so badly (to the point of wasting the time of men with guns escorting us off the property) and get those giraffes tested for Covid stat. Again, I would respect the consistency.

Great zoo!! Hoping to try the Zipline when the kids are older

Very cute little spot. The grounds arent that large as the bigger zoo, but it's good. The kids love the train ride and I did too actually. You have to be sure they do the train ride at least once. The exhibits are cool. They dont seem to restrict you from bringing snacks for your kids which is pretty good. Feeding the giraffe is a must! Too cute!

Nice collection of exotic birds. Fantastic fabrications of animals, birds, reptiles, butterflies and flowers.

Very good for kids! Splash pad, short zip lines, train ride and animals. Teens would be bored. Staff was very friendly. It's too bad they don't have larger enclosures. Felt more farmlike.

Everyone was friendly and very helpful and gave us some much information on the animals

Very small zoo. None of the concessions were open but that may be because of the season. They do have a small petting zoo section with goats. Felt admission price was expensive for size of zoo.

The zoo has many upgrades this year lots of new additions recommend for young and old for a reasonable outing.

Lived in Orlando for 21 years and decided to try this zoo and compare it to Lowry Park in Tampa. My navigation system took me off I-4, 2 or 3 exits where I should have gotten off. Called and asked about nearest intersection to get to the Zoo. All I got was go back to I-4, no other information was given like nearest intersection, besides it's off US 17. There were signs through town pointing this way but no mileage indicators. Once found there was a very small dirt parking lot. Very nice splash pool for the kids so bring bathing suit and dry clothes with towel, seats for the parents to watch. Park is very small with animals which is kept very clean. They also have a zip line that looked like it was nothing but walking on boards 20 ft over head. After seeing at all the animals in 1 hour, we ate at the snack bar which took just as long to order, wait, and eat the food. Great for small kids, but Tampa Lowry Park wins hands down.

It was an experience of a quant, friendly professional zoo. It was packed with fun things to do. For adults and children. The staff took time to explain about the animals. It reminded me of the movie "We bought a zoo."

Nice shaded walkways, and a good presentation of animals. They all looked healthy. I recommend going when is cooler though, the animals were all lying around trying to beat the heat today.

Great place to take family to see and interact with animals.

Very nice updates done throughout. Also zip line courses are perfect for the kids of every age.

Beautiful smaller zoo. The bear exhibit was unlike anything I d ever seen. I felt this zoo was overpriced for the attractions available, but I still enjoyed my time there.

We enjoyed the rhino up close encounter and feeding the giraffe.

A great zoo and employees have awesome information about the animals.

Great homeschool family programs. And the most reasonable mask policy out of anywhere weve been lately. Fantastic zoo.

The worst junk food ever!!!
Is it possible that there is only one place to eat inside and the food that selling there is disgusting. I ordered an steakburguer with cheese and I got a black carbonize meat with a low quality cheese and bread. I ate at the Sonny's BBQ.
Why is this monopolio?? allow other franchise to work inside that really care about costumers !

Nice, small and easy to navigate. They also have zip lines.

Had a lot of fun and the meal from the Sonny's BBQ food stand in the picture below only costed around $9, and it tasted pretty good so its a good price! But that makes me wonder why the Gatorades are so expensive at another food stand that I went to. 4 Gatorades for $14? That's a biiiit overpriced lol, I could get them $1 each at a store. So I suggest you should bring your own drinks. Other than that its a fun experience.

Really great little zoo. Good place to spend maybe 2 hours with the kids. Only reason I gave 4 and not 5 is the zoo opens at 9 but almost no animals out until after 10.. zoo keepers/staff cleaning all of the cages and enclosures at opening. Obviously something that needs to be done but would be better with an opening at 10 instead of walking in circles for an hour waiting.

Not very good for the price. The train ride at the zoo only goes around the parking lot! I am sorry I took my granddaughter who was visiting to this zoo.

Cute place. Not real big.. . But the zoo keepers answered all of our questions.

Love this place. Small but great place to take the littles.

We love this place. Wonderful paths, splash pad, and children's play area. I love the butterfly garden!

I loved it and my children alike, we had a lot of fun in the water jets and knowing the animals of the zoo, we will definitely return

They are recovering from Irma. Animals seemed healthy and fine. The zoo just has a lot of work ahead of them. There were volunteers there that day to help with clean up.

This was a very small zoo for such a large city. The animals did not look happy. The best part was the train.

We took our son for his 4th birthday..he had fun; loved the train ride.

A great family outing, very low cost for a great time and we truly appreciate their military discount.

Beautiful displays, such a lovely walk around the zoo.

Smaller zoo. It takes about an hour too go through it.

Quite a smaller zoo I must admit, but they do a good job at it. Some areas are kind of decapitated but it's not bad. The staff is what makes the place. Very engaged and love the animals. The "Keeper Talks" are entertaining and informative. The place wasn't crowded either which makes it so much better. Plus you can pet a real rhino and feed giraffes, I liked it. It would be a good place to fill a few hours that are open on your itinerary.

Small, simple Zoo.

Nice variety of animals.

Well-kept attractions, lovely ambience.

If they provided other gloves i wasn't allergic to or at least allowed people to provide their own gloves i would return. Was a lot of fun tho