The Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens Reviews

They changed half their parking to preferred parking so they can charge you $10 when their lot quickly fills up.

Went for LA Lights. I have a broken foot and a walking boot. Called ahead to make sure I could rent a wheelchair. Had Uber drop me off in the front to be told that I have to walk to the end of the line. I explained I could not walk that far. The worker explained well you have to wait on line. So I went to the front and had to stand on my foot cause there was no where to sit, no handicap entrance while my boyfriend waiting a half hour in line. Then I had to walk up two sets of stairs to get to the place where they rent wheelchair. Just not worth it.

Bad display and half of animals are hidden or not there.

Awesome, that bench I was sitting on was very comfortable.

Overpriced beer, and animal exhibits seem a little small and sad as they are only here for our entertainment in contrast to the efforts of San Diego Zoo's Safari Park. However, this is a wonderful place to see and learn about our planets beautiful wildlife. I only wish they kept the facilities maintained and up to date.

Our family lives the zoo. We are zoo members so we do come frequently. There is always something to do and see. My kids ranging in age from 2-11 always have a blast. We always end our route at the playground, which has water sprayers to enjoy on super hot days.

This is one of the favorite places to visit for our family. The zoo features a petting area where kids can groom the friendly goats there. So much fun.
Our kid enjoyed the Merry Go Round. It features a great variety of animals to ride on. The staff is friendly. The ticket is $3. Its not cheap but hey it benefits the zoo animals.
Another favorite was the Cambodian Pavilion. Its a great place to rest and watch Asian elephants. We are members of the zoo thanks to our generous uncle.

Update on 6/21/20:
The Zoo is still closed due to Covid19. We miss it very much.

Update on 11/13/20:
The Zoo reopened a while ago. It graciously extended our 1 year membership beyond the 1 year mark due to Covid19.
Entrance tickets are free for members. Advance reservation is required online due to Covid19. Member tickets tend to sell out quickly though. I recommend booking 1-2 months in advance. It is also worthwhile to call the membership hotline and ask for tickets for the same week. The Reps tend to be helpful.

Thank you and cudos to the staff that work so tirelessly during the Covid19 pandemic.

went for the Christmas light show. no animals just lights. great place to take pics.

I'm going next Saturday! I would like to know if outside food allowed?

My lil one mother and I enjoyed it. Lots of hills prepare to walk.

I liked this zoo. Definitely worth the visit. It's not the best zoo I have ever been to, but it's very good and has various species on display, so if you haven't been to a large zoo before I definetly recommend visiting this one.

Went there for zoo lights. It was a great deal and super fun. The light tunnel and the water show were the highlights. My 8 year old niece enjoyed meeting Santa. First time ever she wasn't scared or too shy. Would definitely come again next year.

Not a lot of exhibits are open ..and they are still charging full price. I think if you can't see all the animals why pay the whole amount we should pay half because we only got to see half the animals.

Went for the halloween event and it was good there was activites, shows and candy. I just wish they had more candy stands and different variety of candy to give out. But besides that it was a good experience. I would definitely do it again next year.

Love going to zoos. Very big. Lots of animals. Staff was friendly and helpful.

Highly recommended. Children should be taken there to see how animals truly live and behave instead of their experiences on social media and video games. we highly recommend taking the tram at the beginning to get the full zoo experience and then return to the areas of your highest interest.

LA Zoo Lights overcrowded. Nearly impossible to enjoy.

Enjoyed the family trip to the zoo, some exhibits only had one or two animals but overall a good time

Love the outdoors and my kids love seeing all the animals as well it's great to get out and see new things

I understand that they've provided with the most convenient environment for animals, I do agree they've culled off the most exquisite species from all around the globe. But still I can't realize just why, for especially 21 bucks a person I wasn't able to spot most of inhabitants? Bear, snow leopard, condor, gorillas even lions were found either concealed, absent or barely seen due to inconvenient spot they've slept into. How? Whether this is so much difficult to get an animal exposed someway? Glass back wall, whatnot a something. Dont lie you disagree this is obvious either this is an animal show or park with the environment resembled close to the natural habitat.

Good place to visit with family and friends, very accessible from Glendale.

I miss the Zoo because of the pandemic. I was just thinking about it, and that we can't go because it is closed due to the pandemic. Can't wait until it opens again. It is a Fantastic place to take the wife and kids. We love it for two reasons. The kids are totally entertained and we all get a lot of exercise. It is a big place, so be sure to wear your running/walking shoes. They have so many animals, a good variety. And, you are really close up to most of the animals. They all look healthy and well taken care of.

Good to spend as a family and have a good time but very few animals I would have liked to see more had many empty habitas ivania c Sandoval Instagram

Animals of all kinds, world of birds show, what's not to love?

Always fun and you can bring food inside there is a playground for kids very clean place and amazing animals

Haven't been there in years and I loved the way they upgraded a little. Although some of the animals did not look like they were in their natural habitat but I hope they can fix that one day. but I still give it five stars only because my daughter loved the zoo and the giraffes.

Very fun time alot to see. The zoo bigger than I thought so allow yourself the whole time the zoo open to be there. I did see people bring some food and drinks from outside. Lots of fun .

I took my kids to the zoo last week and they absolutely loved it. My son was happy that it was a nice warm day got to enjoy the whole park.

We loved visiting again after the extended closure. We made our reservations on the date they opened up. Reservations do book up very quickly when they are released. We had absolutely no issues during our visit. We are members, and the membership entrance had no wait at all. The general entrance did have a line and it looked like a wait time to enter. There was only the one shop open for souvenirs near the main walkway, but it also was a very rainy and windy afternoon. The staff we encountered were all very helpful.

Ratio walking to visible animals way to high. Not sure the attention and health of the animals is good.

Great place to bring little ones, both of my sons enjoy it very much. I can't say it is the best zoo I have been, but it has good for some sight seeing for young ones and a great place to keep them entertained for some times. I have been the member since last year, it provides some discount for the annual LA Zoo Lights and many other zoos

Cool zoo, great place to bring kids and plenty to see.

Most of the activities are closed due to the pandemic and they do not have some animals such as lions, tigers, hippos, the truth is not recommended.

I didn't go here, Google just thought i did when i parked outside of it and gave me an option so pretty cool

I am a zoo lover, but was disappointed in the quality of this zoo. It wasn't expensive for entry, so I don't regret going, but I expected more from the City of Los Angeles.

First of all, bring cash! Many of the snack stands and vending machines don't have card readers, so if you don't have cash you might be going thirsty until you find one that takes cards and wait in the line.

The map was next to useless, and to my knowledge there is no app, which surprised me. The map was not up to date, so certain exhibits had moved since it was created, and there was no key. Only the main exhibits are represented on the map, but if you're standing by a less popular exhibit, it probably isn't on the map, therefore you can't tell where you are or navigate to where you want to go. This coupled with the lack of signs and numerous different paths at any given moment you can take made for a few missed exhibits and a lot of frustration.

The shows were also disappointing. At other zoos the shows are excellent and there are a hand full to choose from. They did have a few discussion times with zookeepers, which was nice, but ultimately I think more scheduled programming would be good for this zoo.

Ultimately, I recommend skipping this zoo and spending your time in LA in another way.

I love the LA zoo. Great place to go for the day. Try to avoid going on hot days as the sun beats down pretty hard. Over fun with the family. Try the candied almonds!! There great!

Loved seeing all the animals. You can learn so much it's amazing. Loved being there with friends and learning with them! There are some animals that you may never see but if you go to the zoo you can see them. Just one thing I wish is that if they are going to be closed in a space it should be more "homey". So it's like they are living in their habitat. The zoo does a pretty good job of doing that but maybe a little more should be put into that.

Lots of animals, but small enclosures. A lot of hills, and a lot of people. Food is expensive and not too great but not bad. Had a good Sunday with my daughter.

It was ok. Very organized but they make sure you leave behind every dime u brought with you

Worth visiting one time and you can cover in 2 hours

We went to LA Zoo today and honestly we were so disappointed. Half the animal exhibits were closed and the half was just so disappointing, and depressing. Seriously LA Zoo needs to let people know this beforehand and also offer discounted prices. Not worth it!

What a lovely, low key zoo! Well layed out, employees are all very friendly. A must

Kids would love this place. I saw a rare species, Okapi . The park is well maintained and easy to navigate. In 5 hours you could easily cover the entire park.

Amazing zoo they have a park there with a picnic area and allow you to take your own lunch it... so worth it for you to take a break there and eat. Then continue to walk the zoo

We went there for lights show not so much for the zoo. The lights show was ok. I was expecting more, so I wasn't really impressed.

My son was delighted with the diversity of animals they have there I recommend it

Our children love zoos, so every place that we travel we try to go to a zoo. We've been to so many zoos in the country but the LA Zoo was by far the worst we have ever been to. Our child was so excited to see the elephants that's pictures were plastered all over the fliers. We went to the Elephant exhibit 3 times and never saw a single one they were locked behind three different cages and were so far back you couldn't see them. We saw twice as many vendors as animals, except of course the bees that were everywhere!!! There was very little shade. Do not waste your money, drive to San Diego instead.

Check their website for the times of various activities to assure you see as much as possible.

Great place to explore and very easy to get around in.

You can see more in Petco than this Zoo...!! animals mostly are depressed and sleepy, they just opened more gift shops, & restaurant, after 5 years, also asking you to buy foods for their animals. WOW

My kids loved it! It's a nice place for the family. You can relax and take your time walking around. Fun place to see and learn about all the animals.

I remember going as a kid in the 1960s ! I had a great time especially going to travel town !

Not a large variety of animals... they look lonely.

Fun with the family and I love the animals they are awesome, they do so much for the animals and they all seemed very content (the animals) with their environment.

We enjoyed the zoo and bought a membership. It was a great place to take the kids. It's not well laid out and there is a lot of hills.