Rosamond Gifford Zoo Review

Always a great place not matter the time of year or situation

Wonderful venue for evening adult party and catering was amazing.

This is very well maintained small zoo. The reason I gave them 4 stars instead of 5 is because many if the animals weren't available for public display, and there were no explanations given. Also, the food in the restaurant is average. Still, if you're looking for a pleasant afternoon, and you enjoy zoo's, you will like this place. Thanks for the great day.

Perfectly sized zoo to entertain the kids. Great variety of animals.

Went to a wedding there the venue was very nice and the staff was very good

We go frequently to this zoo. The kids love the penguin exhibit, monkeys, and lions. The new Pacific octopus is cool. The staff always is friendly. Every time we go we learn something new. If you have a chance to go on a colder day do so! The animals are extremely active.

Not worth the price, you're better off going to the chittenango wildlife Park, way better then these empty enclosures.

Definitely family friendly, nice exhibits. Wish i could have saw more animals but over all the experience was

It was sooo fun! All of the wonderful animals to see! Amazing food too. Gift shop is pricey, but was also great! Sadly, I heard that both of the lions had passed away, is this true? Other than this, my family and I had the time of our lives

Have been a member here for 4 years now and we go multiple times a year. The family loves it!

Were from rochester. I havent been to another zoo ...ever ,so we decided to come here. It's nice and clean and looks pretty new. Buuuut, not a whole lot of animals. But besides that...the kids loved it

Currently at this zoo and it's amazing! Decently priced, very clean, and organized. Will definitely be coming back! Shout out to the red pandas.. they were super cute

They have a great selection of animals and it's great for kids.

Loved it! The food place could of been a bit cleaner. Over all great place

Beautiful zoo. The animals look very well taken care of. Didn't try any of the food offered but it smelled good.

It's a nice, little zoo. And that's not a negative. Our main experience is with the National Zoo in DC and that can be overwhelming for kids and parents alike. Free parking, reasonable prices for concessions are also a plus. There is a nice mix of indoor and outdoor areas so if the weather isn't perfect you can still have a fine time.

This zoo has a nice variety of animals. What I like about it is that you can see all the animals in about 2 hrs and you won't be tired of walking around.

The Syracuse Zoo is amazing, for a small city zoo. It is obviously not on scale with big cityzoo's, like San Diego, Cincinnati.... etc. But the people are super nice. They also allow Active and Retired service members in for free, no strings attached. The food is not bad and they allow you to bring your own into the zoo. Since I am a retired vet, we take our kids several times a year, since it is open all year round and they have a blast. For a small zoo, they have an incredible variety of animals and they all seem happy. The vast majority of the animals interact with the kids, especially the penguins. We have been to many many zoos and I've never seen penguins that happy and energetic on a regular basis. They also have tons of room for the kids to run around in and have a nice amount of play areas. I actually think it is the best zoo out of Syracuse, Buffalo and Rochester... I've never been to theb Albany one and dont know if they even have one (those are the 4 non NYC city's for any non New York state residents reading this. I can think of any meaningful negative comments about the zoo. I highly recommend it to anyone with small kids!

I was extremely disappointed is see all the water features for the animals empty and the glass that was all over on the way to the tiger exhibit. And the fact that every thing was blocked off so u do alot of back tracking. The picture spots are closed off because of covid.

It has been many years since our last busy. Today's was amazing, our granddaughters 4 & 3 enjoyed the animals and the dinosaurs nice job. For reason we did not get a map so figuring out what was where and restrooms locations were not posted along the way.

An excellent Friday spent looking at animals and enjoying their company on a cold Syracuse day!

Love seeing the animals. The staff does a great job caring for the animals and educating the public about them.

Always a great place to take the family looking to get out and about!

Because multiple issues with my young adult with disabilities, we arrived from a two hours trip to the zoo at 4:10pm. We just needed a walk and not get in the car again, because he was expecting to see some animals. He s a member in 3 others AZA zoos (Utica, Seneca and Buffalo) but didn t bring the cards. They just kept insisting the only way to get admitted was paying $18 for 20 minutes left. No considerations, just a cold heart sending us away like we don t worth anything if we didn t pay. Not a discount, not any deal. My nonverbal son tolerated to come back, thank God with no self injuries inflicted. How sad is this zoo management staff. I feel pity for their greedy souls. I always visit places before purchasing the memberships. You lost that purchase trying to get $18 just for not being reasonable human beings.

Need more attractions but was fun with the babies that was the octopus sweet

The place was very nice and large with lots of exhibits! Some animals were closed from viewing due to construction or covid. I really liked the outdoor hike. I only wish some of the animals had more room to move around in- their enclosures seemed too confined. Still a great experience.

I went with my girlfriend and had a blast!! The zoo was very clean and easy to navigate with multiple areas for viewing animals. So we never really had to wait to get up close to the attractions. A smaller area with mini goats, alpacas, pig's, and a donkey that you could touch and interact with!! The goats are too cute! All the animals looked so happy and peaceful which makes the experience more enjoyable, and we saw a few employees taking out a huge Owl and we're allowing it to fly back and forth between them. I like it that the animals are so well taken care of and it shows in their actions. My favorite place was the Aquariums, the salt and freshwater ecosystems they have developed are very detailed and visually stunning. Many different species of aquatic life are available for viewing even an octopus and huge puffer fish!!
The parking was easy and wheelchair accessible parking available. Concessions stands were easy to find and offered snacks as well as meals. Restrooms are clean and located throughout, with family and wheelchair accessibility. There is a photo booth for couples pictures and have different animal-related themes and could be printed out, as well as text or email options to receive copies.
the tickets were only $9 per adult (18-61), $5 for youth (3-17), and children and active military and U.S. Veterans are FREE!! Great way to support the men and woman, who keep our country safe and allow us to enjoy activities like taking our loved ones to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo!
This was a great experience that earned my 5-star rating from start to finish.

Always enjoy this zoo no matter what happens or time of year! Great excuse to get out and see some extraordinary animals and go for a walk.

Although I am not a fan of zoos in the first place, I must say that this changes my perspective a little bit. I have always imagined zoos like a place that doesn't treat the animals well, and I have unfortunately stumbled across some exaples of this before. However, this is not the case for Rosmond Gifford Zoo! I saw that the workers really cared for the animals well-being and that the zoo was designed for the animals best. There were huge paddocks for the animals so that they could move freely. Also the temperatures were matched with the normal temperatures the different animals live in. This makes the enviroment good for the animals, which also makes it a good zoo!

The family loved it! We were suprised at how good their eatery was. The prices were decent and the food tasted better than most of its type. We were also surprised at how big it was considering how unassuming it appeared from the outside. The exhibits did appear to be well maintained and the animals cared for. It was such a great time!

Priced right and worth the time. I drove from Buffalo, N.Y. to Syracuse to see the zoo and was worth it.

My grandson and I had a awesome time here, alot of walking they have a couple elephants in the maternity ward right now was cool to see. Batu was our favorite to see he is a baby elephant. Only cost 12 for both of us. The workers at gift shop are amazing grandson took his zoo train out of package and piece was broken the quickly exchange it....next time I'm in Syracuse we will definitely be going back

My Daycare kids love going to see the animals, we make a whole day of adventure.

Had a great time with my grandchildren. Came up from florida.

When I went here several months ago, on a rainy afternoon, we were the only ones there. It was peaceful and they had a huge range of things to see. The sloths were very interesting surprisingly enough.

I love it see the different animals in my daughter loved it just years old and she was very very entertained I've never seen her so good and be into something she was so good. There's a lot for her to see and she loved it and we enjoyed ourselves

What a great place to check out with the family. Just over 20 bucks to get in for a family of four and there is so much to do and check out. That have a great variety of animals and birds to check out. I recommend stopping by and checking this place out.

It's actually a great little zoo. I do wish the buildings were better air-conditioned. It was a bit rough coming into a warm humid building from the warm humid outside.

Under construction was very disappointed not much to see

Lots of things to explore, they even had educational stations outside to show bone structures of different animals.

This Zoo has came a long way. A lot of activities for children. Price is great for admission. I love fish and they have great fish exhibits.Only complaint is the Jungle Cafe. The food is mediocre to poor and quite pricey and the service is quite slow.

Very little open not many animals to see. Kind of disappointed

The animals were really active when we were there, unfortunately a few of exhibits were closed.

For a city zoo not bad. Animals were out and good dinosaur exhibit

Rosamond Gifford has done a wonderful job making a fun, covid-safe space. As of 1/10/21 only the outdoor exhibits and primate area were open, but it was still well worth it. Masks on at all times, and so far it is the only covid- friendly activity I've found aside from walking/hiking regular parks!

Small and not many animals. Lots of construction. Elephant exhibit is the best part.

It's a great place :) under a lot of expansion when I went today. Looking forward to more renovations in the new future!

The animals seem very content and well taken care of, they have been remodeling (atleast during fall when we went) very nice and kid friendly. Just please don't leave wrappers around they have a fairly open pond with plenty of diverse waterfowl; long story short someone had thrown a wrapper in, one of the ducks went for it and they had to find the duck and whatnot it could have been worse please be responsible ^.^

This place is awesome. Feel a little guilty going and seeing the animals caged up in small exhibits but its nice for the kids to see animals they wouldn't get to see in the wild

Several areas closed with no pre warning going in. Little skimpy on animals

Our go to place in Syracuse..Has a bit of everything. Will come again for sure.
Love from !!

A wonderful place to visit. Beautifully landscaped, animal conservation work is most impressive, animals well taken care of and a competent and ver friendly staff. Onondaga County is fortunate to have this zoo.

Free for Military and Veterans!! Kids love it and it doesn't get old. Thank you Onondaga County for respecting the men and women who served and are serving!

Love the experience. Was very impressed with the elephant enclosure. I've been to alot of zoo's but one was great