Houston Zoo Reviews

Great place for an afternoon with the kids. They love it.

Our group came for a science project for UHD-NW: NS3310: Our research project was based on Animals in the wild vs. Animals in captivity. The answers we received were very informational. Thank you!!

We visited the Houston zoo for our anniversary... We relived a few memories we enjoyed back during our high school days 45 years ago... The zoo was a regular date stop on Sunday afternoons... The grounds were clean and enjoyable...

It was a good day with my visiting family. The zoo is looking a bit shabby though. Hmmm. Where does the money go that is donated for such renovation projects. Not nearly enough drink stands. Bottled water was warm. Come on Houston, don't we need to shine?

The Houston Zoo was nice. Just be patient with parking..

If you love animal's, you will also love the Zoo! Lot's of different breed's of animal's!

Great zoo. The chill zones are placed great and made a hot day easier

Very cool zoo. Lots of exhibits and animals for the kids. Good mix of outdoor and indoor to escape the heat if you need. Have good baby amenities and activities for the kiddos.

We have a family membership and love the value of being able to spend just an hour or a full day without feeling pressured to see everything in one visit. We generally save the indoor exhibits for summer when it's hot out, and visit the outdoor exhibits during the milder temps. Great food options, lots of areas to sit and relax, and we love the open play spaces, especially the Wild! Nature Play area.

Beautiful zoo, set right in the heart of the city, with very nice exhibits. Plenty of cover for the hot days and water refill stations all over the place. Definitely worth going and exploring!

One of the finest zoos I've ever had the pleasure of visiting. Great for families. Wonderful, well maintained exhibits. Excellent layout.

**URGENT ALERT TO ALL HOUSTONIANS **
YOU HAVE A ZOO IN YOUR BACKYARD!!
PUT DOWN YOUR MOBILE PHONES AND GO CHECKOUT THE HOUSTON ZOO!!

Love the new natural play area, my son was so excited to dig, stack logs, and splash. We had to pull him away. I am hoping construction wraps quickly. Lots of animals were either not out or in visible signs of distress due to the construction going on by their habitats

Always a great time seeing the animals! We love it!

The Houston Zoo is a wonderful place to see been going here since I was a kid, absolutely wonderful sights to see, my favorite since I was a kid is the girraffes!

Because the pandemic most exhibitions are closed. Look the prices went up. So to support the zoo is good to go, but no much to see.

We are members so we love the zoo. We try to go often when it is cooler. The Big bug exhibit is now open. $4 for members and 5 for non members to see the "big bugs" and you get unlimited carousel rides with the purchase

Definitely a top 10 zoo of the United States I've been going regularly since the late 80's and it's improved immensely, from a tribute to old concrete-and-bars design to larger habitats with solid theming and focus on immersion for both visitors and animals. PROS: African Forest expansion (gorillas, rhinos, giraffes), elephant exhibit, World of Primates, flamingos, Natural Encounters, children's zoo. CONS: Sea lion exhibit (ugly concrete), bird garden (small cages), hoofed animals (empty and sad looking), general landscaping (empty, open areas, especially in older parts of zoo). Love the focus on enrichment and conservation. Dining options have improved too. Eager to see more.

Awesome even during this pandemic! Plenty to see and lots of hand sanitation stations, One way paths set!

This was my first visit (but not my last) to this zoo. It missed the 5-Star mark ONLY because they are constructing a new area, which caused a bit of backtracking in the journey. Otherwise, they have a beautiful selection of animals and it's well-shaded. The animals are obviously well-cared for. Great place for a family outing!

Great experience in the Zoo Lights Night! Very enjoyable walk

Nice place For a family time..!!
Sunday closes at 4pm

Yes is a good place to take the kids do a little walking place to relax good place a enjoyed

This place was insane. I highly recommend paying 7 dollars to feed the giraffe. A very good walk and very close to other museums so you can get full value of the city pass

Great place to visit. Always nice and friendly people. Different activities and exhibits everyday. My kids never get tired to go to this place.

Everything about it is awesome. Love the new Gorilla exhibit. Fun for all ages.

Ps. I thought Storks were mythical creatures, like unicorns. Lol. Apparently I was wrong! This little guy (pic posted) , my friends is a Stork.

Kids always have so much fun. We love supporting the zoo

Was there for the Zoo Lights. Great fun for the kids. Most of the animals are already in bed, but we did see some giraffes. There's a variety of food and drinks about as well.

Great place, but currently a lot of construction sites inside the zoo.

Enjoy seeing all the animals with my family can't wait for the next exhibit to open in may

Get a zoo pass. It is definitely worth it if you live in the general vicinity. It makes it a lot more palatable than the 20 dollar admission fee per adult. It is also nice to have because sometimes, parking is absolutely impossible, and you're forced to leave without visiting. Aside from the occasional parking fiasco, this is a nice and shady zoo. They also have St Arnold's beer, which I cannot fault.

Great fun for the family. Took my wife and nephew to see the newborn elephant. Had a lot of fun seeing all the animals, though would recommend wearing sunscreen and bringing your own water source. Makes it easier to enjoy the animals instead of worrying about sunburn or searching for water fountains.

They let us see a close up on the tiger or what ever you call this animal

I think they do a really great job of looking after the animals and their habitats.
Joe would love this place. It has all the greatest exhibitions especially the monkeys.

We love the red tail catfish. My son spends a whole lot of time with it. The employees here are very polite and efficient. Lines move really fast unless people are not ready with their tickets andnor IDs. It's better to go early morning. The animals are more active too as well and it is not very crowded. Currently the dragon exhibit is pretty cool. We miss feeding the giraffes though. Hopefully thats up and running again soon. Just going round the zoo once is a pretty good walk

Favorite place to go when im free on weekends, enjoy the atmosphere and love zoo workers

we be here at 3:00 pm but they won't let us go in the zoo although we brought ticket already. They just let only member go in. i fly from another state to visit here but i get nothing. I don't want to come here again.

The Houston Zoo is a nice place to visit for full family. There is a variety of animals, birds, reptiles and sea animals that can be seen. They also have a petting zoo with few slides and kids fun things along the way. We found it to be very engaging for our 2 year old. The parking is big but you must get there early in the morning to get a spot. We had to park on the road further from the entrance since all the assigned parking was full. On weekends, the street parking is a good option and easier to get out from there since Downtown gets busy in late afternoon. The food options were limited but overall a must go place when in Houston.

This zoo is amazing. The membership is worth it if you live nearby. Great way to spend the day.

Nursing Mom alert: nursing room is available but there is only one at this giant zoo. They should install more because the privacy and A/C away from the crowds is a good retreat if you are traveling with a newborn.

Decent availability of food. You can pack your own cooler, this I definitely recommend for drinks and snacks. Then enjoy lunch at great nearby restaurants. My favorite is Katz Deli.

Great zoo in the city. Lots of animal and room for little legs to run around.

Excellent excellent excellent zoo! Beautiful construct. Very family friendly. A absolute must

Admissions too expensive
bring your food.
Animals,majority of time, are asleep or not there so zoo is too expensive to walk around and not see animals

A bit of construction going on but it's only to better the park. Always enjoy going there. If you like to Walk around and enjoy a good day at the park than these is it. The only downside is the parking situation it's too small for the amount of people that visit... That's why I give it only four stars.

Was organized but felt very commercialized. I was looking for a Austin Trail of Lights equivalent since we just moved here but this wasn't it. I guess I'll keep looking.

Hermann Park is far superior than Herman Munster, and the zoo is nice, too.

Went to see the Christmas lights at the zoo while visiting family. Definitely one of the best light displays I've seen. The staff was friendly and was fairly inexpensive to walk through. Captured some good photos and memories for Christmas 2017. It's something every family should do if they are in the area around the holiday season.

Free parking lot, great food inside, great Customer service and lots of healthy animals. Gift shop is fully stocked and lots to do.

Very nice. Love to walk around. Love to see how the elephants have so much space to play.

The volunteers are so knowledgeable and kind and love telling visitors about the animals. It's probably best to go on a day that not too hot so the animals are more active.

We go every year to see Zoo Lights with KIPP Schools. Great family event!! Great Christmas lights!!!

I ve brought my kids here so many times. It s a great place, so many animals, so much fun

I love nature and animals and the day I went every animal was out!

My family and I loved it here. Even though it was 100 degrees we had tons of fun learned a lot and I really appreciate that you can bring your own food and drinks if you desire.

I have lived in Houston my entire my life and I barely went to the Houston zoo this past week! They have such a diverse scenery. I love elephants and giraffes and even got to feed one. It was a little too hot for my liking but they did have some great snacks around. Will be bringing my grandkids where when they visit.

Kids were really happy and it was a good time with family and friends.

Suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks dont waste time or money. Go to Moody Gardens.

Great to see the.new 4 month old baby elephant, Tillie. The new bear area is nice, too. The Houston Zoo is one of the best.that I have ever visited.

Attended a private event here which was really nice. They brought in different animals for a great interactive experience.

Love coming here. Come here almost every other week. Animals are diver and fun, the reptiles and elephants are fantastic. A family favourite

Very nice zoo! Animals seem to be well taken care of. Parking is a bit tight

This is the best zoo in Texas. I have been to almost all of them, and Houston Zoo beats them all. You can bring some food/drinks in especially if you have a child with special dietary needs. I love the new children s nature play area! Rock fountain to splash in, sand beach to dig, logs to climb! Perfect for tots to 7 or 8 yr olds. Lots of seasonal nature items to play with. Right now it s pine cones, massive acorn tops, spruce branches and fluffy cotton. Petting zoo included, and best play area I ve ever seen. I will get my zoo pass just to go for a park trip to dig in clean sand and climb on a playground surrounding a penguin exhibit! Oh and of course the cheap carousel and train rides!

One of the best zoo's I have ever been at. The train is a must do and I love the pond with the paddle boats.

We had a great day at the zoo. The new wetland exhibit was really beautiful!

Great zoo! Hate that terrible round a bout lol! Good customer service. And great learning experiences. I went alone as an adult learned a lot and had to a of fun. Worth a visit. I squeezed it in on a work trip to Houston.

My daughter and I love coming here we get a season pass and spend all day here! The food sucks though so we bring sandwich and water bottle!

Great place to take the kids to learn about animals

We had a wonderful day a the zoo. I definitely plan to go back. There's so much to see!

There are wheelchairs, strollers, and wagons available for rent.

Be prepared to spend some time trying to park. Parking is free.

Bring a cooler with drinks to save some money.

I really appreciated the fact that there were so many restrooms and water bottle filling stations.

A neatly organised environment with an impressive variety of animals... Most remarkable was the cozy wedding reception we chanced on right inside the zoo

Super zoo and pro tip: get there first thing! Not only do you not have to fight for parking but you also get to see the animals moving around more, since they re getting fed. We ve been super close to active lion, orangutan, cheetah, jaguar and giraffes.

Other tips:
1. You can bring in your own food and drinks. Do it!
2. Get a map. Man, we ve still be discovering new areas we haven t seen.
3. Consider a membership. We got the premium family one....we can bring up to 10 guests any time. Say what? Lol we got our money back after 2 visits.
4. Get there first thing. Crowds are less and you can see many more animals.

Good size with some large animals. You will have to pay to even get close to the giraffes. A money pit. Go to virginia if you want to see a rally nice zoo with lits to do.

All the animals are close views. But its a huge place. Lines are long at entrance but it goes by pretty fast. The photographs are so sweet good prices for family pics.

So thankful for the free day. We checked our daughter out of school for her birthday today and surprised her with a trip to the zoo. We had the best time and she says it was the best birthday ever. We walked around to see everything quickly in 2 hours. We will be returning for an all day trip to take our time and really soak in all there is to learn about each species that lives here. There is also a splash pad for the kids so keep that in mind for the hot summer months.

We love the zoo. Especially my lil girl. Not her first time nor her last. She always takes it as her first time there

Wonderful Zoo! Organized, clean and family friendly. You can bring in your own food and water. Also, bring a swim suit and towel for the splash pad. There are cooling mist stations around the zoo as well. Great way to spend some time in Houston. Would recommend getting there right at 9am when they open before it gets too warm.

Animals great food. Fun for all the family. A great way to spend the day

My family loves visiting the Houston Zoo! Their wide range of animals let s us have a different experience every time we go. The gorilla exhibit is a wonderful addition to the zoo. The kids love getting to watch them play and run across the huge enclosure. When we visit in the summer, we always take bathing suits to let them play at the splash pad. There are nice changing rooms so that we can put them into dry clothes before we head home.

Had to come for a class assignment and it was very interesting. Learned about a lot
Of species and very informative. Came on the first Tuesday and it was free had to reserve the ticket on their website!