Houston Zoo Reviews

We love the Houston Zoo! It's kept clean and the staff are very friendly. There's lots to do & see. And as a bonus, the Cafe has great food with gluten friendly options!

Had a lot of fun! Sucked that we paid full price when a lot of the animals were not present but what s new.

Hot beautiful day Sunday 06/02/2019. Enjoyed my visit to the zoo.

Great, took my fiancee for her first time going and we had a blast. Gorilla exhibit was awesome

The zoo is nice, but there was a lot of construction going on during our particular visit which was unfortunate.

My biggest complaint about this zoo is that it is so difficult to navigate without missing anything. It is literally like walking through a maze rather than a path.

Take one star away for parking troubles. Went during spring break, I knew better but little one wanted to go. Got there around 10am parking already full, parking garage by museum full. Had to go to paid off-site parking and take free shuttle. Stood in some sort of line most of the time there -food, restrooms, shuttle back. Not sure when I'll go back again. Worse times to go are the free days, spring break, summertime. Was impressed with the medical folks. While waiting in line for lunch a guy a little bit in front of us collapsed. The medical team was there with their bags in no time. The first thing they gave him was water and then something sweet. Best would be to plan going on an off day next time.

Great fun place for kids and adults food and events here as well come for birthday or even Christmas they have tons of lights really fun not that expense good prices

If you are from Houston or visiting Houston and don t know what to do, I would say check out the Houston zoo. They have some really cool exhibit of awesome animal species placed in man made habitat suitable for them. The kids would absolutely love it. It s surrounded by Herman park where you can always sit down for a picnic with family. I ll definitely recommend this.

Best zoo I've been to and is laid out impressively with most of the walkways being covered or shaded for the most part. I'd say the only downfall is the same as every zoo. There's always a renovation going on where you cant see a certain animal type which sucks and also, this zoo is in HOUSTON TEXAS, get some more shade for the animals. Alot of them you couldn't see bc they were hiding in shade, but regardless, very diverse zoo and still got to see a great deal for the money.

Was there for Zoo Lights. It was spectacular and the lights around the zoo did showcase the class Houston has to offer us.

Having a great time with my husband! We came here to celebrate our 1 year anniversary. We came early and brought our ticket online. Just thankful with great weather and memories we made here.

Good people doing the good work of conservation. The animals are simply representatives of those suffering in the wild. Let's do our part to save them!

The Houston Zoo is amazing! They have a good variety of exhibits and get new animals often. I really enjoyed our visit during Cool Nights where they stay open later to let us avoid the summer heat. They always have fun kid activities going on. The membership will save families a ton too and gets you access to other zoos in the country.

This zoo is huge! You need a whole day to go through each exhibit. I had a great time. Would recommend.

I dint like it....its boeing and lacks the wild life a zoo would have...

Amazing place. I know some people hate zoos, but this place, I think, really cares about animals. The construction is over, they have a new cafe near the pond now. Personally I don t like their food inside the zoo. So we always take our food to eat there. Other than that, it s perfect place to spend time with your family!

What a blessed day at the Zoo with my family. So much to see and do. A special blessing to the gentleman at the Dots by the playground. He was so kind to my family, it set the tone for what made a wonderful day. Please give him my blessing. The best part was that outside the Zoo is a beautiful public park and huge playground with a children's train and a replica of the Washington Mall. Great job to whomever designed it. A must do in Houston.

Visit for the first time with my service animal, they didn t allowed me the entrance because accordingly to the supervisor Depression is not a disability is emptional support, she told me to look information about it wich i did and my service dog and me have the right to go in, plus in their web page it says they allowed service animal, i brought my ID service dog card and still got denied because accordingly to her that s emotional. Depression is a disability and im so disappointed of the treatment.

This is an excellent zoo. It is quite large and would take a completely full day to cover the entire zoo but it would likely be more realistic to take several trips. They have done a fantastic job with this one. The elephant exhibit is the largest I have seen and you can get quite close to them. They have a huge variety of large cats, primates and exotic birds. There are multiple indoor exhibits that were very well-designed, including a paranha tank that children can tunnel through. The kids play area and petting zoo is fantastic! I was so impressed with the playground designs because the way they have it set up the parents can still check out some animals while the kids play. The rock walls and props in the animal pens are also quite well done.

Theres a little thing for everyone, not the average zoo only for kids. Love this place and the membership is not too expensive if you plan on visiting multiple times a year. And I think you can bring a guest too at no cost. The animals and birds are very well fed and maintained. They don't seem out of zone at all. Thank you Houston

Great family fun, a good amount of staff to answer questions the children have. Good exhibits. Clean restrooms. A lot of shady spots.

Loved this zoo I just wish everything was open but hey it s a pandemic right

We went for light festival and it was just a beautiful experience. A must see during holidays! Took a star off because $17.99 too much for entry ticket

Great shows and animals. Its a beautiful place to go

Great place with many different opportunities to feed animals. It was a really good the place. It is clean and the employees are friendly the trainers really care about the animals.

The one downside is that it took forever to park...only because everyone else agreed it was a great day to visit the zoo! But once inside we never once felt trampled or rushed by a crowd. There was plenty of room on the orderly paths to navigate the zoo at our leisure. All the animals were active and well cared for. Definitely will be back!

We love this zoo! It feels like you are almost visiting the animals in their natural habitat.

We arrived early and we were happy when we left because there was so many cars as we were leaving. Crazy thing is with so many people in the zoo it did not feel crowded at all.

The lions were very playful and happy, tons of new baby animals all the time and always see something new. My daughter also got to pet a leopard tortise and a chinchilla.

Great setup. Right in the middle of the xirlty, yet still has plenty of space for the animals.

Their focus is the animals... not upselling 50 other attractions like some other zoos....

I went to zoo lights on a very pleasant evening. Should visit at least once!

While many of us are able to enjoy the wonderful zoo, many are not around Houston cuz they've priced it so high that most low income family cannot afford to take their children. The price of their tickets are why I gave them 2 star. Its shameful.

I truly enjoy the zoo. the exhibits are beautiful, the educational material is inviting. I bring my daughter, my parents, and nephews, we all have a great time. the spray park and petting zoo are big hits. and u can bring in your own food an drinks. I am not a fan of caged animals but it seems these are treated well.

Took my step-daughter and enjoyed it very much.
Very clean and easy to move around.

Great place, lots of shade in the summer, and a awesome collection of animals that you want to see

The show of lights tonight was very nice. The place was extremely crowded. Parking was a bit nightmarish, though early in the afternoon the overflow parking behind the Miller theater was a good choice.
The crew is very friendly and the organization very good.
We recommend the holiday zoo lights. Very nice and beautiful along the whole pathways of the zoo.

Love visiting the zoo and surrounding park. Never had a bad day here but they could do with some better food options.

Legendary small zoo with lovely staff and beautiful animals. I highly recommend a visit. New exhibits all the time.

The Houston Zoo is a really nice place to go spend the day.
Pros: There are plenty of places to eat and buy souvenirs.
You can relax and let your kids play in certain areas.
There are great attractions like the aquarium and reptile house. As well as birds and other exhibits.
Cons: Parking runs out quick. For this I recommend going a bit earlier in the day. Leaving the house at 9am should get you there at a good time. Or you could try to visit the Zoo on a week day like Wednesday when everyones at work.
Another con would lines to enter but honestly they're not really too long of a wait. Sometimes they can be though, so to skip the lines I recommend going to your local Feista Mart and buying tickets there. It's cheap and when you get to the entrance you can avoid the lines and get your tickets stamped immediately.
In conclusion, the Houston Zoo is really nice I recommend it to family's and tourists.

Love the zoo! Pretty expensive to go on the weekend and parking is horrible but once you get past that, it's great for family time!

This was my first visit to Houston,and the zoo was my first stop....I love writing reviews, Houston Zoo was awesome, it was clean and easy to navigate, being disabled that was a huge plus. The animals were close and easily accessible for great viewing and pictures.

Pretty decent place. A tad over priced. The leggo exhibit was neat. Gorillas are hard to find. Maps could be better

Houston Zoo is one of the best places to visit in the Museum District.

All the exhibits are too small, and the way it's set up makes it hard to see a lot of animals. Really bad zoo compared to all the other zoo's I've been to.

Got to visit on a Free Ticket Tuesday and had a great time. They were remodeling a lot of things and made it harder to get to certain areas of the park. A lot of animals still aren't out yet but they added new birds in the Tropical Bird section. Understandable since spring isnt here yet. Don't forget you can bring your own food and coolers. Will definitely have a picnic next time I visit.

My family loves all the new exhibits. Only down side is that there aren't enough bathrooms, in my opinion.

Go with lots of water bottle space to fill because there is a lot of exposed walking! But it is beautiful and educational, and there is a student discount as well as UH students (and maybe others) getting free regular admission always.

Becoming a member was worth every dime. Free entrance and once a month you get in an hour before its opened to the public. They allow coolers with food and drinks so you can have a little picnic by the fountains. Exhibits are better than other places I've been to. A great family adventure that you and the kids will love or a perfect first date location.

Great day for the zoo. Animals were out and about.

We go to the zoo every year but this year the parking was so horrible we had to park almost twenty minutes away but other than that the line wasn't too bad some animals you couldn't see or you just had to wait until the crowd moved but we enjoyed ourselves

It was nice to do and enjoy the holiday lights. I think tge children that go expect to see animals ( live ) and not realizing they are put up for the night. Otherwise it was very enjoyable.

It's best to go as soon as they open. They usually feed the animals at that time and they have talk to the keeper time. I also appreciate that they have employees for minor emergencies walking around. My son was stung by something on his ear and it got swollen and someone was there to help very quick.

It's just ok... all the money in this city and this is the best the zoo can do? I don't see how people can give this 5 stars. They must not go to zoos in other cities.

We always have a great time at the Houston Zoo. The exhibits are relatively simple but catch a zookeeper talk whenever you can to bring layers to what you're witnessing. Feeding the giraffes is a must-do (11a and 2p for $7 per leaf pair). Don't worry if you're not in line on time for the giraffes; they'll sell leaves as long as the giraffes show interest. We didn't see it today but we will be returning for the Wetlands and Dinosaur exhibits.

Great zoo has totally remodel and the animals seem to be happy in there wide space.

I love how there is so much for kids to interact with. One of my favorite places to go!

understand the Houston zoo Christmas lights are only for Christmas lights. The animal exhibits are not being made available for viewing.

I Loved it here!! The food was great and the animals we're beautiful. I recommend the Houston zoo to all animal lovers.

Love the houston Zoo. So many great things that the zoo has to offer. So many improvements going on it will be amazing this summer.

This is our first year to become ZOO members & so far it's been worth every penny! Went to our 1st event for ZOO members & they had so much extra stuff for the kids to do. Absolutely loved it & the staff were so pleasant.

It's been years since I had visited... I had a wonderful time bringing my grand daughter. She enjoyed the animals so much

Good place to spend an afternoon with family. Close encounter with all the animals, very nice (compared to other zoo, you can watch them from far away).

The lights were amazing. The weather was perfect. It was great!

Great day at the zoo. Though you do have to reserve a time online. Most exhibits were closed and the lines to get into the exhibits were kinda long.

One of the best places to go while in Houston! Loved it

Took my girlfriend here for the night and it was really cool

Very nice. Large zoo with a wide variety of animals. Each species is kept in a very natural environment. All the staff were very nice and helpful. Short list but good food choices. Great for kids. Parking is free but prices are high for food and drinks. Definitely recommend. Good place to take visitors to Houston.

I love this zoo! By far one of the best I ve ever been to.

Today the zoo was free and it was amazing it wasn t to crowded I guess because it had rained a few minutes before we arrived but it was awesome seeing all of the animals me and my boyfriend had a great time

The new layout is very efficient and effective way to see all the animals!! I left my phone on the carousel and your employees returned it to me immediately!! Definitely will be seeking membership.

It's not at the level of Zoo Atlanta by any means. But we had loads of fun. Elephants!!!