The Oregon Zoo Reviews

It was great to get to see and learn about these animals from all over the world and I was also really nice to see the breeding programs they have for many endangered species.

Zoo lights is amazing, best thing I've done in a very long time

Hours of fun and the best times to go are when the light show is going on around chrismas time great for little one and teenagers they have plenty of things to do but most of the anamails are put up during light show so get there a little earlier

The animal exhibits themselves are great but the zoo itself is pretty meh... We got there around 2 and they didn't close till 5 and we planned on eating lunch there but they closed the restaurant and there was nowhere to sit and get a bite More

Love this zoo and so do my kids! Fun place to see lively animals and friendly people.

Sad to see such beautiful creatures confined in such small places

The Oregon Zoo is always a fun time! The animals always look well taken care of and happy. Never a bad way to spend a day!

I was not impressed with paying 17 dollars and only seeing 4 animals and all that walking. Not worth the money at all. Theses 2 of the 4 animals we saw. Need to advertise the zoo as a hiking park not a zoo.

Love that members get to go in early! Very helpful when taking my 3 year old!

Went here middle of afternoon in middle of week on a nice day with my infant. Lots of moms out but not too busy. Tickets are about $18 for adult, if going often best to get a annual pass, less than a $100 for family of 6. We saw tons of animals, great intuitive path through zoo. Saw bears, bald eagle, giraffe, big cats and the elephant exhibit is amazing! They have feeding rooms for breast feeding moms. Spent 2 hours there and could have spent all day there. Will be going back!

The pay to park is just silly. Just sneak your own adult beverages and eat beforehand. I really enjoy the concert venues here.

Had a super time walking the trails and seeing the animals. Next time I go to the Washington Park Zoo I will have lunch before entering the zoo. The prices at the grill we're more than my favorite fine restaurant.

A cute zoo with lots of little info signs and extras for the kids

The place is clean and organized with fun little spots for kids to play while adults chill. A lot of maintenance thing happened today (5.16.18) which means we missed a lot of animals. Food could be better including the prices and option.

Love the zoo, though many animals we're out for viewing when last there. (It had to be the heat). Can be challenging to get around on busy days. Food is a bit spendy.

Fantastic zoo all around, a great place for a day outing or date!

Beautiful zoo. Love the natural feel and look of the zoo.

not much animals there, it almost seemed like all the animals were so young.
but they are working on improving it 2020. great walking paths to walk around on.

My first time eating Thai food and I found it pretty good. I had the drunkard noodle, sooo good. The staff was really friendly. Will be returning here soon.

it was awesome . me and my kids and my mom had sooo much fun

It's one of the best zoos in the country, below the Omaha zoo, St. Louis zoo, and San Diego zoos. The new elephant area is great and the Africa exhibit is pretty nice too.

We went to the zoo lights this year and it was very beautiful, unfortunately it was cut short due to the zoos reconstruction. Overall experience was awesome!

I wish they would fix the train it's so short now and super expensive for what you get on it. I remember it use to be quite a bit longer and wish my kids could enjoy what I use to when I was a kid.

Been a while since I've been in, glad to go again. The animals always seem healthy and happy, and they have food carts now! Food and such are expensive, and it's a little hard to navigate around (we got lost and backtracked a fair bit), but maybe once the wing they are rebuilding is done it will be easier

this was a beautiful zoo and I've seen quite a few zoos but this one was excellent plus I lost 6 lb while being there!

I love the zoo but when they get rid of their parking in their future plans. I will discontinue my membership

Wait until the remodel that they dont post publically is finished. And be prepared to explain sex to your children. It was turtle waiting season apparently when I went last. Otherwise when all exhibits are open...awesome experience

Still closed, rightly so. I just wanna see walk through the zoo for the memories of when I was a kid. Excited for when they re-open so I can go be a man-child for a day. :):):)

We had an entire school go together. It was a great day for the kids and we enjoyed the animals and exhibits. Unfortunately there was a bit of construction for the future so we missed a few of the bigger attractions (no thinks, polar bears, etc.). Still a fun place and should be even more awesome in 2020 when it is done updating.

Great animals to view but some exhibits didn't even have any animals in it..

Very cool, loved the exhibits. Sad that the polar bears and the rhino exhibits were under construction, but the bats (my favorite exhibit) and the zoo lights definitely made up for it! I definitely recommend going to see the zoo lights during the winter months.

It kinda is a let down all the safety precautions that COVID-19 makes us have to put in place... but compared to every other place I looked onto spending the day for my 5 year old birthday. This was the best option and everyone was happy with this choice. And the fact that they are open during this stressful time made it all the more enjoyable... even if some parts of the zoo were not assessable.

One of the best zoos I've been too! Loved that the animals were close enough to see and out so you could enjoy them. They all looked happy and content. Walking around in a lot of it almost felt like you were out hiking.

The Oregon Zoo Lights have become a family tradition for us since we moved to the area in 2016! The majority of the zoo gets decked out in millions of lights, including the train - which takes passengers through a special path to see some of the biggest displays - and numerous other regions that include some of the animals, like the elephant exhibit.

The only downside is the cold at night around Christmas time (which can't be helped) and that they needle visitors for photos that cost as much as a theme park like Disneyland. The same is true for the Santa's Workshop that they set up near the Africafe, in which they don't allow you to take pics with your phone, instead offering photo "packages" that start at $30 and go up quickly from there, though they are nicely done.

The zoo is great. The parking another story. They may have to many parks in 1 location and not enough parking.

Train ride horrible.....half the anmals were not on display do to remodel.....should be half the price for half the animals

My first trip here. There's construction but what I thought was totally awesome was that they actually made an exhibit of the machines! Food stands and restaurants are strategically placed around the park so there's always something to eat and drink when you need it. The trip around the zoo took us about 3 hours at a leisurely pace but if you have kids try and bring the stroller. All together a great experience and one of the better attractions in Portland.

Ambiance was good....nature friendly....cool place to hangout on oregon

Love this zoo and the program that they started called zoo for all

Well I'm very disappointed that I have to give such a bad rating...But our zoo is very substandard... Not many animals here anymore and many of the exciting animal exhibits were closed... It was boring. But there were a few big animals out so it wasn't a total loss...Maybe it will be better next time

The Oregon Zoo should be a go to destination all year long. We took the family and used the OHP discount which if you qualify makes it $5ea. If you have Oregon Health Plan call and ask about the discount. Look up the times for the animal talks given by their staff. We sat in on the elephant talk and it was very entertaining and educational. There is a lot of construction but it does not take away from the experience. It will only make it better zoo.

Very expensive. $17+ for an adult ticket. Animals are not always easy to see. I have gone multiple times. Parking is expensive too and the machine to pay for parking does not accept bills. It also has problems charging cards.

Support your local zoo! This place really cares about teaching conservation and learning about the stuff that's in our backyard. It's not a massive zoo but definitely enough for kids to wander around and explore until they're tired, eat lunch, then explore some more. We spoke with some of the staff and they're all very outgoing and excited to tell stories about the animals.

Fun place to visit with my young kids. Unfortunately several large areas are under construction, the primate area and the polar bear area. My daughter really loved the tigers.

Confusing one way paths...easy to miss exhibits with no way of backtracking.

Currently lots of construction but its winter so I expected it. Fun place.

Bad very bad all the exhibits or closed except for elephants and a couple others :-( :-( :-( terrible we traveled from Utah all the way to Oregon to see the zoo and it was terrible

It's a must see place in Portland area in my opinion! Great atmosphere, cool animals and friendly stuff. Summertime try to go there on cloudy weather or early morning, when animals are out. From end of November till New Year is a Zoo Lights time, just fantastic! Parking is not free and usually difficult to find place, so come earlier or just take a Max (train).

Only zoo we have in town. Friendly staff. Excelent summer concert series

We went to zoo lights on a Saturday night. Worst idea ever. We had to park 2 exits away and walk 1.5 miles with small children, because the shuttle would have been a two hour wait. There were too many people. And yes, we did get there early. So disappointed.

one of the best zoos, clean, organized, lotsa clean washrooms, great family activity, variety of food from 3rd party vendors

I've gone to the Zoo Lights a couple years now, and I've enjoyed it each time!
It's a great way to spend some quality time walking around and talking with friends, while having some fun decorations to look at.
There aren't many animals to check out at night though, but bats are always fun to check out, especially since they're nocturnal.

Small, few animals died recently, poor food. Seems like it will be better in 2020. Its under construction.

The staff here was great. Just when I thought I could find the giraffes, there was a helpful staff member there to point me in the right direction.

The new elephant area is larger and more amusing to be at.

The Zoo, under normal circumstances, is a beautiful place that is well kept and seems to treat the animals fairly.

However on the night of zoo lights it's a veritable hellscape of screaming children, angry parents, and not enough liquor in the world to get you through it.

Whether you spend two plus hours looking for parking, or jam yourself into the excessively packed max lines - you can be sure that your experience will start to sour well before you step foot into the zoo.

Upon arrival you'll be greeted with incredibly long lines at every snack and beverage stand and throngs of people so thick it becomes slightly anxiety inducing.

And then, lastly, you realize: "it's just lights". And yes, that's precisely what you signed up for - and your disappointment is well deserved.

Super fun experience. Will be a lot better when the new exhibits are done!

Zoo lights is a little over priced in my opinion but if you have a membership then it s not too bad. $4 per person for the train ride. The lights are gorgeous though and the tunnel of lights is the coolest!

Wow great zoo in the mountains with fresh air my kids loved it

Best Zoo in the USA! They really care about the animals and making efforts in conservation. Best exhibits especially the new Elephant lands!

The music venue was amazing and so was the bluegrass

Was having fun until I saw the babadook. Very unpleasant. Wouldn't recommend. I managed to pass the curse on to a small child before I left, so all in all a pretty decent trip. Thanks oregon zoo! 4 stars.

Love going here to see the river otters. They are so playful. The layout of the zoo is a little difficult. It feels like you have to do a lot of backtracking to go other places.

It was a very nice trip and they have done amazing improvements. These are the pictures I have tooken of various animals.

Cuz it's beautiful and fun for family and friends it's fun for you all to learn thangs

Today was great. Almost every exhibit had the display of the animals it housed. We walked casually through in about 4 hours and even stopped in the main cafe by the concert stage to eat and didn't feel rushed. We beat the traffic to return to Vancouver by leaving at 2:35pm. It was a great father-daughter day.

The Zoo is one of the best places to take your kids on a good day. Get there early because it gets packed quick after opening. The Zoo is upgradung someo to enclosures (eg Rhino, Hippos and others). The diversity in animals isnt amazing, but there is a good mixture. Cafetria and food is one the expensive side, but it goes toward a good cause. There is an open area to have picnic so you can bring your own food. During the summer parking can run out and you end up having to shuttle

My daughter and I attempted to bring my grandson to the zoo Tuesday July 14th. We came from Washington and were ready for a great day at the zoo. There was no parking so we had to go to Shuttle area. When we arrived the line waiting for buses was very long. Though they had people there to direct us to wait for the buses, some people were cutting in the front of the lines and getting on buses before other who had been waiting their turn. Finally after an hour of waiting we left what a terrible experience for my four year old grandchild. Also I have C O P D and not able to walk up hills or long distance. I was disappointed with lack of accommodation for people with disabilities. There was one lady in a wheelchair that had to wait quite a while because the bus had a malfunction with the ramp.

Actively using visitor limits, warning against using interactive displays and enforcing masks. Also the primate areas are still under construction but great for a day out and getting the niblets to burn some energy during quarentine