Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens Reviews

Well managed mid-sized zoo, with lots of Florida wildlife. Great for small children, including train ride.

Fantastic experience! The animal encounters are well worth the price.

Good zoo, great for kids, got to feed some farm animals, just kill the bees I got stung.

Great for little kids all year round. Splash pad, petting zoo, play ground, exploration area with giant sandbox & other play areas, train & merry-go-round. My 21 month old is asleep be the time we leave the parking lot. Can't wait for the bear exhibit to open!

Fantastic, lots of kids on field trips, very behaved, a beautiful day, loved it

My husband and I went for Sunset at the Zoo and had a great time. Such a nice date night, very inexpensive and fun. No kids, no bugs, no blazing sunshine... Awesome!

My only downfall about this Zoo is that I wish there were more animals to see, there weren't any elephants, lions etc. And the total look seemed a little outdated in terms of the carousel, train ride and some exhibits but overall good experience for families with young kids

Zipline course was fun for all ages. Wide variety of animals for such a small zoo.

Great place for kids and family to share. Also for birthdays.

The Asian Lantern event was so beautiful! There's one more week..... Go, if you have the opportunity!

Great time at sunset in the zoo. Happening till October.

A very bare bones experience. It is a good zoo for what it is, and it doesn't claim to be anymore than that, but it will still make you leave wanting more. There wasn't a whole lot there and it was very small. The animals look happy and the zoo keepers are very friendly and are absolutely full of information. It's a good place to take your children if they are under 2, but any older and you might want to take them somewhere a little bit bigger and more stimulating to them.

Very fun place for the family or just a daily adventure

Loved it! Great animals to see, not a large zoo by far, but supporting them to care for the animals and creatures there helps conservation, and I'm for that! We are going to try the iZoom? I think it's called. I have two kids under 10 and if you have an annual pass, you get 10% off the fun activities out front.

This is a beautiful place. It is definitely for the whole family.. it's very convenient of a location and would definitely be return again. I must say my kids and neices and nephews had a great time. It's a memory that we will be able to keep with us for a long time.

Had a good time but signage is very confusing and not up to date as they have been working on a lot of it. Splash pad was wonderful!

Usually I don't like going to zoos but this one felt more personalized and the keepers truly care about their animals. It was a good close up interaction with lots of keeper meet and greets.

Took our granddaughter here and though we enjoyed it there aren't a lot of exhibits to see. Many animals were not viewable either. Her highlight was the splash pad.

We participated in a special educational program for second grade. Our students learned so much about habitats & basic needs. Hit so many standards.

So many fun exhibits for the family to see. Our little one had the best time in the kids water area

Great family activity. Wonderfully intricate displays.

Your price is high and there is not very many animals

We ve been annual passholder a for 6 years now, still enjoy visiting and spending time with family. A lovely little zoo perfect for smaller children or elderly to stroll around.

Love this place and so do the kids. Always very informative, wide range of animals, exhibits and things to do.

If there ever was a good time to go out and get some fresh air, see exotic animals, and enjoy nature, now would be the perfect time. It was not crowded at all and my 2 year old absolutely loved the playground and the water splash areas. Great experience!!!

Many of the animals were in the deep recesses of their pens and much of the zoo was under construction, none of the concessions were open, the little train wasn't running, even the gift shop wasn't open. 4/16/18

The place is really good option to visit with family. I went here with my family and the children in our family were very happy with this place. They enjoyed themselves and got to learn so much. The kids were so happy that they keep on asking about our next visit. This is a wonderful place.

The animals are well cared for. The grounds are lovely. The splash pad was a fun place for the kids to cool off. The area for petting and feeding goats and llama was adorable.

Staff were super friendly. The entire facility was very laid back but still profrssional. I had a wonderful visit with my family.

I was there as part of a school trip. Our guide was very nice and knew a lot that kept the students engaged. The zoo is preparing for an event that I can not wait to go back to see completed.

Very personal zoo, smaller which I like you can see the animals better and you don't have to wait in lines for everything.

I really don t understand why anyone would rate this zoo anything higher than 3 stars. The animal selection lacks diversity. When one thinks of a zoo, some of the first animals that come to mind are: lions, elephants, zebras, giraffes, and chimpanzees and gorillas. Of all those animals that I just mentioned, CFZ only has one; giraffes. Additionally, the food selection isn t all that great, and to make matters worse, they don t even have a place to eat indoors with air conditioning. The small area with tables at the Sonny s BBQ stand don t seem to be air-conditioned. The bathrooms don t have air conditioning, either! If I can suggest how to improve this zoo right away, it would be to invest in an indoor, air-conditioned restaurant. Heck, maybe Sonny s can make that their contribution to the zoo! Second suggestion would be to improve the animal exhibits, and perhaps try to get a larger selection of animals, if possible. It s 2018, there s no reason why this zoo should offer amenities as if we were still living in the 1950 s.

It's a smaller zoo but was just right for our visit, grandparents and young children. Check out their website for prices and exhibits so you are prepared. We knew it would be a little pricey but understood the money helps the zoo.

Great employees, they've really raised the bar at this Zoo in recent years!!!

Place is awsome,lots of different animals and activities for the whole family.

Nice little zoo for the kids. It was worth the BOGO value they were giving for two adults to visit. Not sure if I would have been happy paying full price. Keep your eyes open for the various areas - we nearly missed a big chunk of the zoo due to lack of a map.

Nice visit to the zoo. Was anxious to finally see the black bear exhibit. Zoo was very crowded as it was Saturday of a holiday weekend. Several docents out talking about exhibits. Very proud of our Zoo!

Love this zoo. It wasn't to small. We will just be ready next time for the splash park..

It was fun and very warm today. Fun though the animals looked too hot to run around .

Nice day. Small zoo. I was hoping to see a few more animals but the grandkids had a blast in the splash pool . There is a Sonny's bbq concession stand and a small souvenir store inside the zoo area. There is an area where you can feed the goats and llama. The zip line is outside the zoo area and not to bad. It only has 1 long cable and several obstacle course things up in the trees.

My favorite zoo to visit. I have always loved this zoo since I was a little girl. The employee's are all approachable & educational. I love the zoo's commitment to conservation and connecting people with wildlife. The Zoo~keepers really LOVE their animals and provide the best care possible. Always happy to spend a day at the Central Florida Zoo

Nice little zoo. Not too many animals and only took 1 1/2 hours to walk through. Has a Sonny's on site for food. Nice little water park for kids. Train was broke down so we didn't get to try that.

Great place to walk. Plenty of shade, even at midday.

Went downhill over last ten years. Sad to see bears in such a small enclosure. Not much to see, train broken, and they call themselves a theme park, so with it being located in a very moist, humid area, the mandatory mask is absurd. No one there. Very dreary, and just felt depressing, so we won't be back.

Took my eight year old and had a blast. Plenty of stuff to keep the kids occupy and adults interested.

Awful experience! This place is very run down, neglected and depressing. Waste of money. Very few animals.. NO elephants, zebras, sheep, gorillas and many more. The animals they do have there s only one per pin, very lonely animals with awful habitats. Kids were very disappointed. Also no bird sanctuary like other zoos. No staff around to ask any questions about the animals and the staff u did see here and there were very rude. Would not recommend. Bervard zoo 100% better. Not worth the price of admission. I would call this a abandoned nature trail NOT a zoo!!

You will love the shade from the trees. Go in the morning when the cats are active!

Very friendly staff, I skipped with a dude that works there. Also, the $3.50 cup of mac n cheese i got was totally worth it.

Very nice zoo with a good amount of animals to see. A little small, but its a good way to spend a nice afternoon.

Love this zoo. You can walk through it in a few hours but there is also a playground and a kids water park area they can play in for hours. Always very clean

Dont go here, ..the place isnt worth the money everything is spread out and if you have a young child its dangerous. .there are some areas with water that aren't closed in. The picture i attached. The area is close to .these animals. Save your money and go to the safari, at least you can see the animals from your car

great place to go with young ones.it has lots of fun activities apart from regular zoo like zip line, splash pad, etc.

Didn't have all animals - no kangaroos. Most if the snack stands were not open.

Was really nice. We did the two hour class and loved it for homeschoolers. Instructers very knowledgeable and nice. Kids enjoyed very much.

A nice family zoo overall. Exhibits are well kept and the area is clean. Fun splash pad and kids digging area, as well as a giraffe feeding station. The lantern festival is also worth it during november through january.

I would highly recommend a trip to the zoo! It may not be as big as the 1 in Orlando or Miami but it allows the staff & volunteers to spend more time introducing the wide variety of their animal ambassadors they have to everyone!!!

It is a nice zoo, limited in size but big in animal display. Lots of fun for the kids.

Just a few of the beautiful animals at the Central Flordia Zoo & Bontanical Gardens. We went in the morning & saw all the animals out.

Great place for families. The splash pad next to a Sonny's is awesome.

The zoo sucked..most all the animals were not out..wasnt happy with this place at all..was gone in and hour..

CFZ is a nice place to visit. Relaxing as you stroll through the beautiful grounds. Nice assortment of animals, mammals etc., food available, splash pad for the kids. Walk and zipline through the trees.

My 1st time and I enjoyed it. The animals were hot , and the botanical garden helped with the bug levels, the temp. was helped by the trees