The Woodland Park Zoo Review

Beautiful place, animals look really healthy and lots of green to enjoy!!

Even if there were no animals it would still be worth it to spend the day wondering through the Woodland Park Zoo. The grounds are gorgeous, it's like walking though an enchanted forest or botanical garden. The animals are also pretty great though, some of our favorites were the penguins, otters and gorillas. The time of day you go makes a difference in what you see so if you have your heart set on seeing a specific animal it would be worth it to find out when they are most active. Stroller/wagon friendly throughout makes this a great trip with little ones, you can also set up in the grass for a picnic. This zoo never disappoints.

The Woodland Park Zoo is one of my favorite places to visit in Seattle. The park itself is gorgeous and I always see something new. I've been a member for over 5 years and will continue to be for as long as I live here!

It's a huge zoo! It's beautiful. Will definitely need more than a day to explore.

Our favorite zoo! My kids love the play areas. The zoo is well taken care of

It was a very nice zoo, with zookeepers actively going around telling and teaching us about the animals. I loved getting close to the Tiger and other animals. We didnt get to see the Snow Leopard but even the lights at night were great.

They packed in a great amount of animals in the space they've got.

Its so clean, staff is friendly and helpful. Felt very safe with their pandemic prevention

A great place to see a variety of animals. No elephants! Plenty of room for guests to get close and observe God's creatures.

Great Zoo. Lots of fun. Pretty crowded though. And very expensive

The zoo area is lovely and those animals we saw were adorable and fun. Still, it might be better to visit this zoo in the Summer. We happened to come in October and most of the animals were hiding in the warm dens. From the other hand, it's great that they care about the animals to have some warm options.

Love it. Had a great time, zoo has plenty of parking and a staff with a good sence of humor. Also the Tapir is very photogenic.

Lovely place. Had a lot of fun with my granddaughterand son

Some nice enclosures to get up and close to the animals including the beautiful gorillas, lions and grizzlies. Our favourites though were the toucans who were trying to retrieve fruit that dropped in amongst some plants. They were fascinating to watch. We didn t see everything due to most animals being indoors due to the cold/wet.Only criticisms were poor selection of healthy foods in canteen and around site and displays could have done with more information on the animals/countries.

This is a great zoo. Nice size, not too big, not too small. Kids love the Zoomasium once they max out on watching animals. Cool carousel.

I have been a member of Weekend Park Zoo for 6 years, and have frequented many zoos all over the West Coast. Woodland Park is one of my favorites, and the zoo I am proud to call "my zoo." Wide variety of animals, helpful staff, and a great way to get outside and get a few miles of walking in. Membership is an AWESOME deal, especially with 2 half priced guests every time, which I often use with friends and out of town visitors looking for something to do. I love my zoo, and will always be a member.

So many different kinds of animals to see and learn about. Caring staff, beautiful grounds and thoughtful displays.

Even though a bunch of stuff is closed off due to COVID or renovation there's still tons to see and a bunch of animals. I think it's worth a visit and it's sheltered ish from the rain so it's fine to visit on a rainy day as well

What a great way to spend an afternoon. One of my favorite places

One of the best experiences with my kids, missed the elephants though.

Enjoyed our trip to the zoo. The weather was great that day. Didn't see the bear was our only disappointment.

Bigger than it looks. Many attractions are temp closed. Tickets are sold out in the afternoon.

Very enjoyable experience, even though it rained for a portion of our visit. Wide range of animals and exhibits. Even with a map it was sometimes difficult to navigate around, especially with all the exhibit construction and modifications. The baby gorilla was absolutely adorable and the wallabies and kangaroos were in the top five. Definitely check it out if in Seattle!

Wow zoo had lot of species and well maintained garden structure worthy watching. Kids will enjoy

One of the nicest zoos we been too like top 5 in our list

Large clean zoo. Great exhibits. Great with the kids. Really enjoy coming here.

I was here for a special event so I'm not sure how the zoo is during regular hours, but I can say this: the exhibit design was absolutely phenomenal, the zoo is very sustainable, the trails were nice, and they've got cute gift shops. They have not only recycling bins but also compost bins, refillable water stations, reusable bags, and they sell a lot of sustainable and recycled stuff in the gift shops. The collection of animals is great and I saw a lot of enticement. Fantastic facility!!

So surprised at the size and conditions of zoo! It is wonderful and an excellent day trip! Nice little food stops in zoo as well. Good ice cream :)

Save the trip and hassle. Pay parking is horrible and spots are non-existant
As far as zoo's go, sorry to say way below average. Have a much better world class zoo in Wichita Kansas with a large elephant exhibit, Gorilla encounter and all glass lion exhibit. Parking is free too!! Welcome to visit anytime!

For a city the size of Seattle we really expected much more from the zoo. Pathways are narrow and packed with people and strollers. Exhibits that were open have small viewing and some animals not even out. Exhibits and layout in dire need of refreshing for your citizens. Call Sedgwick County Zoo for tips to improve your zoo!!

The otters were a big hit with our twins. The zoo does a wonderful job keeping the animals happy and healthy. They ensure they're well entertained.

Nice casual place to visit with ok selection of animals

Great zoo! It looks big but actually the animal enclosures are just massive! Like another reviewer said sometimes the animals hide do too the enclosure being so big you wont get to see them but this helps the animals have a better life I think! We walked the whole zoo and saw all but maybe 3 animals in about 3 hours.

What a great zoo! Everyone we talked to was happy and kind,. The park was well organized, clean and beautiful. Animal exhibits were very nicely constructed and truly appeared natural. High marks, we upgraded our day pass to annual passes on our way out and were SHOCKED to find that we got 2 half-price guest admissions EACH VISIT! Huge win!

Lots of animals in large enclosures. All the animals have "hidden" or private sections that are nonviewable for their own health, but despite this it's still very easy to see the majority of animals whenever you visit (especially if the weather is good). Park has always been clean whenever I've visited and there's lots of amenities (including groups of educational volunteers).

The giraffe feeding and tiny Pygmy falcon showing off was everything!

Loved the light display. They changed it around this year so was fun to look for familiar displays and changes. But what happened to the peacocks?!?

The kids had a really good time if you like nature you'll love it here

The workers were kind, letting us know when an animal nearby had just been fed or telling us about the fish in the tiger's pond. There were alot of animals out roaming which is what you hope for with a trip.

A great place to take the kids and run around. Check out the zoonasium if you want to escape the weather.

Amazing ZOO, you need at least 4-6 hours if you want to see everything. Only one thing I don t like -$8 parking fee.

A nice sanctuary in the city. The animals and grounds are well kept. They have interesting items in the gift shops. The ZooTunes concerts are a lot of fun.

Fun for the kids and adults lots of animals to see to much to see with 3 crazy kids, had alot of fun entry is affordable. Walked around for 3 hours and didn't see everything. Not all the animals were out and about witch is actually kinda cool because it means the animals have privacy if they need it.

Need full day to cover all exhibit and enjoyable for kids.

It's an ok zoo. Nothing spectacular, but an enjoyable experience nonetheless. I did enjoy the bears and wolves.

Staff was helpful helped us save money on a membership so that we can go back as we live in the area and have great savings! The trails are beautiful and the animals all seemed happy and not too confined in there habitats

An excellent place to relax. Saw animals and compared them to politicians here in Seattle. The only problem, the animals are smarter than Councilperson Sawant or Mayor Murray. See for yourself...

I absolutely love this zoo! We like going in the fall when the zoo is quieter and the animals are more active, but we still have some decent weather. It's pretty spread out so I suggest bringing strollers or carry packs for little ones to rest when they get tired. There's a great play area that is like a playground built into a forest. My kids could spend hours running around that play area.

The woodland park zoo is one of the best zoos I've ever been to! There are immersive exhibits for all ages, interactions with animals, and the staff is all knowledgeable. The zoo is also one of the only three zoos approved by the humane society, which is so important to the health, happiness, and safety of the animals. I recommend going here to support this kind of zoo!

It is the best place to appreciate nature and animals around us.

Wonderful place lots to enjoy but put on your walking shoes because it's quite the hike to see it all!

Very nice zoo with wide range of animals put into settings of their local habitat.

Took the whole family! Our boys all have special needs and we had plenty of space to take rests when needed. The loved the exhibits and the indoor Zoomazium play center. Highly recommend!

Very beautiful park, and plenty to explore! The staff is very friendly, and wished us a well welcome. Each section is designed wonderfully, and I loved the information for each animal.

Loved the Lion, penguins, hippos, bird feeding (which is amazing), white tigers, penguins, giraffes and each and every animal.. Thanks to the zoo management for keeping it so safe, beautiful and tidy.. kudos to the management

We love it but it is soo expensive. Why is a key chain $20? Guess you gotta empty your wallet for a few memories (ha ha) Probably won't be back until our 3 year old son's 10th birthday, but it was nice to see the animals.

Great place. Definitely will be back. Official proud member baby!!!

A wonderful zoo! I have a pass and I go at least five or six times a year. There is a baby gorilla, a baby giraffe, a baby snow leopard and I think I saw a sign that a brand-new animal is coming! I was in San Diego recently and I didn't even bother spending $50 for that zoo just because I come here so much.

there's a lot to see in this amazing zoo, since the bugs to lions even rhinos, get lost in the city, every crew member was nice, the installations were clean, and the day was sunny

Would have liked to see more room for some of the animals. Witnessed one bird flying back and forth, the longest distance in its enclosure. Also while standing in line some people had trouble keeping their masks on their face/had halfassed masks and there was no one to enforce the mask policy.

The best zoo I have ever been to. Habitats were impressive.

The Wildlights were spectacular. I loved the variety of colors, and the animals in lights were really cute. The snowmazium area was really fun with stuffed animal wolves and a fake snowball fight area. My son really enjoyed that part. Overall, a really enjoyable evening.

Amazingly well kept, great animals, and amazing staff. Food and drinks are expensive, but you can bring your own in.

Heavy duck populations span multiple exhibits! There were some animals sharing these exhibits with the water fowl that I didn t care for, but overall a great zoo! Would ve liked to see more fledging.

Always wonderful and different ar wach visit. The animals have large enclosures are are clearly content and well cared-for.

Brought the kids here for the first time and they loved it. Very reasonably priced and the staff are very knowledgeable about the exhibits.

What a great zoo! I enjoyed my time there so much and especially the carousel. It was impressive because of the history of where it came from. I definitely recommend visiting this zoo.

This is a nice place to spend a morning or afternoon but not worth $15.50+ I've been to free zoos that had as many attractions

Amazing zoo with lots of unique animals. My friends and I got there a little late so we weren't able to see everything but that didn't matter. There are so many different animals here and will definitely be going back!

Had soooo much fun. Beautiful animals, very clean, everyone was happy.

Even in the rain, this place was worth the visit! Buy the membership if you are a local, it pays for itself by the 3rd visit. You can bring in your own food & if you're lucky (& early) you can find street parking!

Went during re-opening during pandemic so will update review later when no longer relevant.
They were super good setting up the zoo for social distancing! It's streamlined going in one direction to encourage the flow of traffic. Everyone is required to wear a mask and the staff were super kind.
Hand sanitizing stations throughout and easily accessible and they're being actively cleaned. The exhibits that are within buildings are closed but this zoo has most animals outside anyways
I do recommend making a reservation for an AM slot if possible

Wow! Who knew such an expansive zoo could be right in the middle of the city. A great day time escape! They have so many animals and many aviaries. Staff was nice and informative. Wear your walking shoes!

Nice place to enjoy with family. Free parking. Beautiful lights.

Affordable, Kids loved it, Rainforest cafe in zoo and cool gift shop. With different areas of the zoo resembling the animals habitat. Lots of animals.

This zoo has many seasonal events and is worth a visit. There is a wonderful playground on the north side of the zoo, several fun family friendly restaurants walkable from the north entrance (Red Mill Burger or Market Pub), and the usual host of animals. My family especially enjoys the tropical indoor bird exhibit.

Now I know I give a lot of 5 star reviews, but this place was iconic from my childhood. I used to go here with my parents and my sister every 3 months to see the animals and now that my sister is college it's hard to go to but we went and saw the baby gorilla and it was amazing. This place is recommend to anyone. Family, alone, couple, you'll all love it.

Such a fun zoo! We got there right when it opened and there was no line! We went in October on a Saturday so we had the zoo to ourselves for a little while in the morning. They had so many different types of animals. Highly recommend!

Nice zoo and facility. The bathrooms around the park were clean and stocked. Animals were out for you to see at all but two exhibits.

This was the best visit yet, all of the animals were active and within sight. The Wild Lights were also beautiful.

Fun place, cool animals, big enough to do in 3-4 hours

Very beautiful, so much fun, a lot to see and also very easy to get around. Lots of amazing and beautiful animals to see.

Clean park and welcoming staff. Great family atmosphere

Great care in how the animals are treated and presented. Very educational.

Great exhibits for the animals and viewing areas for the humans. Very kid friendly.

Nice compact Zoo, had great fun here during our Seattle trip! Parking was a pain though as the lot got full since it was summer holidays and had to spend an hour to find parking

I had a hard time to understand how can this place receive so many positive reviews. I took my family to this zoo at 2pm Sept 24, 2016 (Saturday). It was a good day with clear sky and beautiful sunshine. We, a gang of four human, were able to found 16 animals in total--- that's roughly $1 per animal for each person. The zoo does a wonderful job at separating animals from visitors so that animals have a happy, natural living space. But, maybe you want to install a few cameras, that way people and kids won't stand in front of an empty window and have nothing to talk about.

I love all the variety of animals and the events that happen often.

Had a great time with all my kiddos, pretty packed on the weekend but Tuesday is better!

Great enclosers, nice shaded walkways, good food options.