One of my favorite Michigan zoos. Hadn't been in a few years. Was excited to see how it had changed. Was not disappointed! Everything looks brand new. Very walkable zoo. Parking is easy, a little walk from the entrance. Very friendly staff. Accessible exhibits. Definitely a must visit.
my favorite is the red panda, totally worth the long walk.
My neice had a great birthday there with her baby cousins
Love the zoo. 3rd year as members and highly recommend, especially if you have a big family.
Great zoo that I have been going to since I was a kid. They are expanding and updating it a lot so it has been getting better and better each year. Highly recommend if you are visiting GR or a local resident!
Great place to take the family for a day. Easy access for all ages and abilities. I really like the layout of this zoo and they have a nice selection of animals to see.
The park seemed to go above and beyond to make sure everyone was being safe with masks when needed and not having huge groups of people, even tho a lot was closed down due to covid, it still made a fun day for my 4 and 2 year old. Loved all the LEGO animals they had around the Zoo! Definitely would go again
The kids love it. It's big enough with plenty variety of animals to see. Fun to walk around. Burgers are not good.
We always have fun when we go to the zoo. I have two very young children so I bring a double stroller and there's always a ramp option to go up the hills so we can see the animals. It's a very clean zoo and all the staff and volunteers are very friendly.
John Ball Zoo is a great place. We have 3 kids and buy a membership each year. It's the best investment since we go nearly every week in the summer.
I liked the roads and that people donated to the zoo. Beautiful animals and valuable information.
Loved my visit! This Zoo has all the animals that you want to see... Bears, Lions, Tigers, etc... It's compact enough that it is not overwhelming for parents and children. I loved how interactive the staffing is and how they actually take the time to explain the animals habits. This was definitely an educational and fun experience. We will return.
It is a peaceful environment and the animals are amazing. The bears were our favorite. I have been to Binder zoo which is 100% better because their animals have a lot more space and they have giraffes. We will be back...
Fantastic zoo. Great use of space. Animals looked well cared for.
It was a wonderful experience. All the staff were very polite.
We had a great time, enjoyed the zip line, and tried the ropes course. Food prices are outrageous but at least the ice cream was good.
Great place. Get ready for a challenging walk. Lots of fun for kids.
Really nice experience clean workers very helpful animals well taken care of! An awsome lil zoo!
This is a great local zoo that is transitioning to more natural feeling habitats. Look for food trucks at the top of the hill.
Face painting employees were very sweet and friendly. Did a good job with granddaughters faces.
Very nice place to take the grandkids we all had a good time
I have a membership pass and it is worth every penny. We love the funicular rides to the top of the zoo and then love to walk down from there. Staff is kind and very informational. Clean. Nice kids area to let them play and unwind. A great selection of animals. However, i see a lot of remodeling happening currently so some animals are not in their exhibit. I, however, see this as a wonderful opportunity for the animals.
This is a great place to take your kids. I've been here as a little kid and loved it. Ppssibly also just a great date location.
Lots of animals and loved the Lego statues depicting each of those animals.
They was open early in May. They did not have all the animals out yet but we had a good time dispute that.
Lots to see.love that they are always adding attractions
Kids have fun here. Ridiculous for all the "stroller parking" spots. Single dad of three, one with special needs and cant walk, and I couldnt bring the kids into the petting zoo part because I couldnt leave one kid in the stroller outside of the fence.
With the covid-19 precautions, it will benefit buying tickets on line for a scheduled time otherwise you will wait a while to get in
Great zoo for families and small children. Stay is super friendly, process are decent. You can send an hour there or all day.
Great zoo. All employees seemed happy and helpful. Lots of shade
My kids love it there. If we didn't have a membership I would never go though. Is not worth the individual ticket cost or other associated costs (interactions, food, funicular, adventure park. They are all very overpriced). The staff is always super friendly and helpful which is nice! It is worth it to pay for a membership if you go often enough. We live close by and definitely get our monies worth by going often, even if we are only there for an hour.
Love the staff and volunteers! The exhibits are very nice. I love the giant tiger display
Had a great day at the zoo with the kids. Many interactive choices (e.g.petting Stingrays) and regular schedule of displays and talks make this fun for the kids. Discounts offered to members of some other zoos.
This is in my mind the best zoo around. The animals are clean and look healthy. They do a nice job keeping up on things
Very cool animals a great place to go and have fun!
The visit was mostly good everything was ok but when I went on the zip line in the zoo I hit the fencing behind it and injured my upper stomach but I'm pretty sure its just because of my weight. Anyway the animals were never threatening and my whole family had a good time.
The Boo Zoo was great, but I found the tiger cage upsetting. The tigers paced aimlessly.
An excellent local zoo and a fantastic family experience. I hadn't been to the zoo in a few years and just went back again this weekend. Many updates and great animal enclosures. Highly recommended!
Didn't go to the zoo, but we had fun in the park there! Small play area.
It is not as nice as it used to be. Too much walking. Few animals
It's amazing how many animals the zoo has it's also fun to walk the whole place to see them all. My son's reaction every time is priceless. I remember the first time that we went to family day at the zoo my son kept trying to join the animals in their habitats and his dad had to stop him every time but the most enjoyable part of visiting the zoo is seeing the smile on my son's face every time we go there.
This is a great zoo with good animal exhibits (they are usually out and about) and plenty of shady areas for hot days. Also, the food is pretty good for being a zoo and the staff is very friendly.
Nice place to spend time with family. Specially zip line is awesome and adventurous.!
Had a great time here with my boyfriend today! Matt at the penguin exhibit during the feeding time was incredibly knowledgeable about the exhibit and penguins themselves. Decent prices and plenty to see here. Animals all looked happy and in good health too!
Would love to adopt all the zoo animals and take them all home with me!
Food and drinks are a bit pricey however it is still a good place to visit
Some many great animals to see and the whole place is stroller accessible!
Always a great family time going to the Grand rapids zoo. The trails are great exercise as you walk from exhibit to exhibit. Amazing views are around each corner as you wind your way up the hillside. We don't usually eat there but today we tried the food. It was better than expected at reasonable prices. The kids loved sitting outside and watching the monkeys while we ate. I would definitely recommend for a family adventure.
Seniors can get free days through the Summer months
Took my family to the zoo on a whim. My niece is up at gcsu so we took her as well. To keep covid at bay, you buy tickets for time slots. There doesnt seem to be anyone kicking people out but they are limiting the number of people in.
The first thing you see in the zoo are large Lego animals. I'd suggest loving them because the live animals are far apart. There is a lot of walking between. Also some how everything is up a hill. Even when I was leaving. It felt like a grandparent telling me how they went to school.
We were able to take notes and have a much better route planned for the next visit. Also I'd suggest getting a membership.
Very nice! Beyond expectations. Very good organized for kids!
Zoo areas were under construction but there are plenty of animals to see! Coffee, soda and pastries available in AM and many food choices for lunchtime. Can bring own food, too! Has membership for joining to support Zoo!
I like going here a lot. Only issue is parking can be difficult at times.
Yesterday we attended an opening for John ball Park zoo for members. We were told that people would wear masks and social Distancing would be in effect. The staff at the zoo were friendly, were wearing masks and encouraging using sanitizers. However it was impossible to socially distance there were so many people that were let into the zoo. And at least half of the people that I saw were not wearing masks nor were encouraged to do so. There were some paths with two way traffic where it was impossible to socially distance. Also people were standing right next to each other and exhibits without mask.Maybe it would be helpful to have one-way traffic movement on paths and some signage to separate people at the actual exhibits. John ball park zoo is a great zoo but their attempts to keep it safe in the Covid crisis appear to be falling short. I would highly recommend you do not go to the zoo if you have a medical condition are prone to illness illnesses. Thank you
S Vitto
Great kids activity. Wish they didn't charge so much for everything inside the park
We took the kids here this summer. We entered excited but left sad and depressed. The animals look so depressing. I would not recommend this zoo to anyone I know and love. I want them to be as happy as possible, not miserable like the poor animals in here.
Very nice Zoo. On the small side but loved how close all the animals are.
jbzoo.org
