Central Florida Zoo and Botanical Gardens Review

Probably good for beginners but the courses were very similar to each other, if not exactly the same. Some of the lines that are supposed to be above you were too low. To the point of having to duck down during obstacles. The latch system wasn't bad but it wasn't as secure as other courses I have been to, with magnetic clasps. As I said it is a good course for beginners but if you are looking for more advanced and more variety I would recommend Tree Trek.

My family and I spent the day here and had an amazing experience! The food was great, the park was beautiful, and all of the animals were gorgeous! We met and were able to interact with the rhinoceros named PJ, and fed the giraffes, llamas, and goats! My daughters were so excited to see every animal around every corner! The staff and keepers were very friendly and knowledgeable teaching us all about the different species. The keepers were even able to do enrichment so some of the animals would come out of their dens. It felt personal being able to be so close with some of the animals. It was an awesome day from start to finish! We will definitely be returning! Many times!!!!

Great little zoo in the middle of Florida. I went for the Asian Lantern Festival. It was great.

I love this place got a family pass and go often but having seen other zoos the cost for a day pass seems too high when compared to places like Central Park , Oakland and San Francisco zoos which all charge about the same for a day and have better offerings and unique features

There aren't variety of animals. Good place to spend a while better to do rapel with kids.

Quaint zoo, not many animals but enough space for each species.
Quiet and relaxed, very hot bring your lotion.
Feeding the giraffes for $5 yes please.

Great splash pad for the kids to play and pretty nice Zoo they also have an additional play area for the children pretty awesome

zoo is very neat and clean!! the zoo is not very large, took our family of 6 roughly 3 hours to see all the exhibits but the zoo was not busy due to overcast weather and occasional rain shower (didn't think admission was to bad /, even offered aaa discount). they have animals we don't get a chance to se in zoos around Michigan. I would like to send my extreme gratitude to Mr. Kramer (the manager of the gift shop) my son loves the fossa, and when we went to purchase a stuff animal of it from the gift shop they had sold out that morning, Mr. Kramer went above and beyond customer service and let us pay for one and then shipped it to our house roughly a week after we visited the zoo!!! you can see they are making improvement's all over the zoo and we will definitely be returning to see the improvement's and Mr. Kramer..

good place to take the kids. watch the website for special events especially at Easter and Halloween.

A perfect place to take the kids. It's the perfect size to spend a few hours. Staff is super friendly and currently they are taking lots of precautions with covid. Always an amazing time.

Really awesome place and exceptional staff!! Would have like to try the ropes course but too pricey for me... $45 per person to do entire course.. Looks pretty cool though..

Awesome Zoo! The animals are always lively and seem happy. It is never too crowded. The only drawback is that it is a little small as you can walk it in an hour.

They have a splash pad so be sure to bring a change of clothes for your littles!

I wouldn t really consider this a botanical garden. There were a few plants with signs attached to them along the walk ways. It definitely is a zoo albeit a small one. We are used to the free zoo in St. Louis and the San Antonio zoo, two of which are some of the best in the country. This kinda just feels like their smaller cousin with an emphasis on random plants. My 3yr old son had a blast, he didn t really care one way or the other. I was just disappointed for the price... we paid $30 for both of us to get in and there was enough to do for about 3.5 hours. There are some animals and we spent the majority of the time (1.5 hours) at the splash pad. Many of the people who come seem to be locals with season passes who want to take their kids to the splash pad. There is a ropes course, train, and carousel you can pay extra money for. You can feed the giraffes for extra money and the llamas/goats as well. Parking was free. You can keep a cooler full of food in your car and leave the park and eat in the picnic area. I think this spot is great for locals but I wouldn t consider it a must see destination. We had fun, don t think we will make the trip back though.

I love this zoo! It's on the smaller size, especially compared to the Lowry Park & Brevard Zoo, but it has lots to offer. There's an area where you can feed the goats & llama, you can feed a giraffe, there is a neat train ride, carousel, zip lining, and a nice playground and splash pad as well. The concession area offers Sonny's BBQ which is a big plus. Parking is free and easy. You can get through the whole zoo in an hour but there's so much to do you can make a day of it!

Not enough to see and food is too expensive. The kids only enjoyed the water park only. The train ride wasn't all that.

I have visited Zoom Air twice this year for my daughters birthdays. My youngest turned 10 in April and my oldest turned 13 in August. The customer service was great both times. Safety briefings were clear and concise which helped my daughters relax. They has staff staged along the course to ensure safety and help those on ththe course. The staff encouraged and reassured my daughters as they encountered areas that cause them fear.

We completed all three sections of the parked and my daughters enjoyed each and every obstacle. It was hot and muggy in august and then equipment shack had cold bottled water for sale. There was a brief period when we had to get off the course when a thunder storm passed over the park.

They do have a lower course for the younger kids. Both times, we saw a number of families on the kiddo course.

We are looking forward to our next visit.

Nice and shady for walking around. Lots of birds and feeding the giraffes was fun. No elephants. Kiddie train ride was so so.

Nice little zoo. Not very big so you won't spend all day there. They have a big splash pad for the kids in the summer.

It's small, but worth it in my opinion. A very nice place to spend the afternoon.

Small place but fun for the kids just wish they had more animals for the price we paid to get in

I m very disappointed in this zoo and to hear that it is accredited scares me. There is a severe lack of enclosure space for these animals. We witness many animals pacing back and forth which is a common sign of distress. I have visited other zoos that provide way more space to their animals and they felt more ethical. Not the case with Central Florida Zoo.

Cool, nice for little and grow ups, has two different field for little kid that you can see from the bottom.

Need way more bathrooms and places to cool off. And the splashpad was closed and you guys should put that on your website

I have been visiting this zoo since I was a little boy, now i m grown with children of my own and am still enjoying as are they like it s my first time. They have done a lot to keep this place fun and relevant. I appreciate all the work that s gone in. Wonderful place to spend the day with your family or friends. I highly recommend it, not pricey for a days worth of fun

Pros:
It was clean, staff was friendly, and it peaceful and quiet(both good & bad).

Cons:
Not really anything to ride home about just a bland almost depressing place to be because it was so quiet and barely any other people around; Even the staff seemed to not be around.

Enclosures for certain animals are a tad small, great children play areas. Games throughout are awesome.

A lot for children to do. Be sure to feed the Giraffes .

We used an Orange County Library Pass, and it was a really nice outing. Well kept. If somewhat small, maybe. The baby loved it.

Worst zoo I have ever been to...extremely over priced no animals.. Probably great to take a 3 y/o, kids any older will be miserable..

Cute medium sized zoo. Great for families with kids. Water feature for hot days and parents have chairs in shade! Petting zoo, interactions with real zoo animals, sitting and eating areas everywhere. Shaded walkways. Animal in plain view in their own habitat. Not crowed...observe an animal as long as you like. Loved it...we will go again!

What a great family fun time. Nice enclosures and knowledgeable staff. We had a great time feeding the giraffes and exploring the zoo. It was a good zoo for kids. You can spend all day or just a few hours and still have a great time. They have changing rooms and bathrooms centrally located by the splash pad and food is from Sonny's BBQ and we'll priced.

Fun, fun ,fun! The zip lines stop selling tickets @3pm, get them early.

Went with my family. Had a lot of nice exhibits. There were a few down and some of the animals were hiding, don't think they liked the cold much. Overall there were plenty of activities for the kids. Food and drinks are way overpriced, per the usual with an attraction. The zoo staff was super friendly and answered all my kid's questions in an easy to understand way. Will be back!

Was so disappointed for the price paid. There was a lot of artworks, but didn t really see the money s worth. Almost everything was out of service including the train, the photo booth......

Nice zoo. Plenty to do for almost a days worth of you have small children. (We don't but plenty of parents with them.) Nice layout.

They were out of pet food for the petting zoo and had almost no petting animals. Couldn't even see some animals...disappointing.

Great place for the kids to have fun and learn about animals.

My little girl 3-12 years old, has decided she loves porcupines. Closest zoo I found with porcupines, over 2 hour drive from my home. So I called and left a message to make sure they were available to see, I received a call a little later and was assured they were. The following morning I received another call and was told that someone would meet me at the exhibit to insure my little girl wouldn t be disappointed. She brought some food and spent a lot of time feeding them, explaining them and even had some porcupine hair and quills for us to experience. Awesome zoo, awesome people, awesome porcupines and best reptile and amphibian exhibit I ve ever seen.

Small zoo, seems a little bare for the price you pay. Was hoping to see one of the shows but that area was being remodeled when I was there. Seemed like none of the food and drinks stands were opened either.

Enclosures are way too small for animals and you can tell unhappy they are because of that and dont have many animals outside of the monkeys doing alot of construction so hoping they are changing all that

If you like waiting over an hour in the heat and humidity to get up into the actual course, this place is for you.
If you have shoulder or back issues and enjoy a (used to be) child like designed harness sitting on your pain areas, this place is for you.
If you enjoy having a complicated clip to work with, that will probably give people an extra 3 minutes to figure out how to use on the course only delaying your time and enjoyment, this place is for you.
If you like holding onto your keys possibly dropping it in the large lake that you zip line over and never getting the chance to return home because everything you own is in your car, this place is for you.
This place used to be great (once upon a time) i have been here 6 times prior of last year, but now the management runs it like a clown fiesta.

If you are familiar with the older zoom air then don t bother coming to this one, it is a waste of time and money.

I have been an annual pass holder for 4 years and have always enjoyed visiting the zoo with my grandchildren. Today we experienced the Story Time.....It was wonderful! Visiting the animals is always great but I was very disappointed when we went to the Splash Pad. It is in terrible disrepair. Many sprayers were not working, 1 of the fountains that shoot from the ground was not working, the alligator, frog, and hippo had large holes in them showing the filler (dirty) and the alligator was not spraying.
I hope that the Zoo is planning on keeping the Splash Pad and repairing it! It is great on a hot day!

great little zoo. We managed to walk the whole thing in a couple hours. The animals were pretty active and there were a bunch of zoo volunteers our with animals to observe and pet. definitely worth a trip!

My husband (!!!!) and I had our wedding at the Central Florida Zoo and it was absolutely the most perfect day imaginable! The staff (Alex, Destiny, Bry, Dawn, Mary, Courtney, and Kaeli in particular) were simply amazing. Alex helped us plan the entire event from beginning to end and she made sure every single detail was taken care of. We couldn't have picked a better place to celebrate our wedding and I'm so thankful for all the hard work the staff put in to make our wedding day a dream come true!!! <3

It was a nice little zoo. We came to visit while on vacation. We got to see animals we didn't normally see at our local zoo. There wasn't much in the options for food/drinks and the bbq place was expensive. We didn't realize there was a water area for the kids before we came so they didn't get to play in that due to not having swim clothes. The staff we interacted with were friendly.

Decided to visit the zoo on my vacation. Just to come to find out it's a big waste of money ! There are hardly and animals, no big cats, elephants,monkeys,zebra, and so on. They have plenty of snakes and lizards. Paid $3 extra dollar to go on the train ride thinking that I would be able to see more animals and all you get is cardboard animals. Would skip this attraction it's a waste of money and only good for burning a hour of your time. Very disappointed as a animal lover!!!!

Many areas were shut down or had limited access due to maintenance. The selection of animals was very disappointing. There were no lions, tigers or elephant's. We didn't even see any monkeys. I admit that the train was really neat, the kids liked the ride.

Beautiful local zoo. Small enough that you're able to see everything in one day but still has a lot to offer.

Great for a nice stroll. Need more signs to direct people who have never been there before to front of place,to get in to see the animals.

No animals!!!! Very small zoo !! No shows !! A poor zooTerrible zoo!! Save your money !!! We fee frustrated for what we paid.

I love bringing the family here. Tonight we went to the latern festival, it's beautiful. I hope they bring it back every year. Don't miss it!

Lots of shade. Two kids play areas. Sonny's BBQ was very good. Wish there was a 3rd bathroom for little ones. Would definately go back again.

A great zoo that is actively improving itself with new features and construction projects for future animals.

Small sized zoo with a fair collection. Reptile building had some rare snakes. Good for small children, especially with the water park.

Been going for many, first zoo I ever even remember going to. It's a clean place, not very big, but big enough to see a kinda diverse group of animals. I will admit, half of the property, I can take you steps from my house to see the same exact habitat. But for the out of towner trying to see our swamp land and throw in some other animals, it'll be a great experience. They seem to be doing better on attendance cause it was the most packed I've ever seen it today, kinda threw me off. Was really looking forward to a quiet not so crowded stroll, but that's good for them. I had to laugh at their new black bear exhibit, it's just like living in seminole county seeing them go thru the yard. Great job on that sanford zoo.

Only went there to take an out of town visitor. The zoo was small. Animals looked sad. I felt real bad for the cougar, it was in a small enclosure and it was pacing back and forth. So was the tortoise. The cheetah had a bigger enclosure. The zoo needs to be updated. The staff need to be friendlier. $5 for 3 pieces of lettuce to feed the giraffe?? No thanks. The barnyard consisted of 3 goats and one donkey. They charge you for everything, zip line, carouse, train, feeding the animals. Will not go back again.

The zoo is very spread out with what seems like not as many animals as advertised on the website. We're from Indiana and I guess we're spoiled with the zoos up there.

My 2 year old and 4year old and a blast looking all all the types of animals.

Cute small zoo with a play area, interactive zones and splash pad for kids. They also have a changing area for families.

I have been visiting this zoo since I was a little boy, now i m grown with children of my own and am still enjoying as are they like it s my first time. They have done a lot to keep this place fun and relevant. I appreciate all the work that s gone in. Wonderful place to spend the day with your family or friends. I highly recommend it, not pricey for a days worth of fun!

Exhibits are somewhat underwhelming and there aren't that many overall, but by far the worst part is the lack of food options. There is one restaurant and one outpost that basically just serves ice cream. No matter where you go, all of them lack any sense of urgency. It's like they're doing everything with one arm tied behind their backs. It's the slowest food line I've ever been in and that includes pretty much every theme park in Orlando.

A great place to take the kids. Will definitely be back again

Great for a Sunday family trip! Brought my mother-in-law here so that she could get some great photos of the animals and plants with her new camera. She enjoyed it very much!

We really like going to the Central Florida Zoo. We live locally and the zoo is a great way to spend a portion of your day. Whether it be walking through the shaded, natural, boardwalk path looking at the animal displays, letting the kids cool off in the splash park, or completing the extensive ropes course, it seems there is something for everyone here. The prices are reasonable and we have purchased the family pass multiple times now. The zoo itself is smaller than the big name zoos around the country and you can make it through most, if not all, of the exhibits in a couple of hours.

Great night at Sunset at the Zoo. Not crowded, adult beverages for the stroll to see the animals followed by Sonny's BBQ with live music.

Well kept with lots of well-looked after animals. It's on the smaller side but I would still recommend visiting.

Of all the zoos I've been to so far, this one has some of the most open layout. I also love the fans for the animals! Great job!!

Great for young children and field trips. It's small enough to take your time and see every exhibit in 30 minutes, so that is both a good and bad thing. They have informative live shows to teach about the animal life in different habitats. There is a cute little splash pad and also a zipline course if you want to do extra along with a tiny petting zoo.