Indianapolis Zoo (Portland: appointed, living in, shop)

[kattygirl27]

I LOVE a good zoo. I have spent the last 10yrs living in Oregon and the Portland Zoo there was a terrible disapointment. IE: Some of the animals were stuffed. Sooo is the Indianapolis zoo any good? Do you like it and is it worth the money. I will be spending next week with my 4 nieces and have been trying to think up things to do.

[PixiStix]

Love, love, love going to the zoo Don't forget stopping by the White River Gardens while you're there. Of course, someone will post that Indy's isn't as good as X Y Z zoo- but I've never been disappointed in the Indy zoo. It's a great afternoon of entertainment. No stuffed animals (except the gift shop)

[domergurl]

We've been members of the zoo for many years now. During the summer, White River Gardens has butterflies flying all over the place. The zoo itself is nice, nothing stuffed as far as I can tell ... hmmmm. I like it because we can take our kids there and see everything in a couple hours. They have a new shark touch tank and the dolphin show, in my opinion, is much better watching it from underneath.

[hapaleeretired]

IMHO Indianapolis Zoo is sorely underrated. Last year we visited the San Diego Zoo which is something we have always wanted to do. I am more impressed with Indy's than what we saw in San Diego. Get a membership and visit when they have the Christmas lights.
We are moving back to Indy and a zoo membership is at the top of our "to do" list.

[PixiStix]

Halloween at the zoo is really fun too

[domergurl]

My kids love Halloween at the zoo! They are also revamping their little sprayground, so that will be another great reason to spend some time there.

You can't really compare the zoo in Indy to the one in San Diego ... but hey, they are letting Indy borrow 2 of their koala bears this summer so don't be hatin'! I would compare Indy's zoo to St. Louis or Lincoln Park zoo (both free btw ) It's every bit as good as those.

[Mi_Mom]

We went there in October with my brother and family and the kids had a GREAT time. It's a privately owned zoo which surprised us. The shark tank is WONDERFUL and the kids really had a great time in there trying to touch one of the beasts. They have a cute little train and carousel my kids loved. Ours are 7, 4, and 2 at the time. And my brother had his 2 daughters (1 and 2.5). Had a great time. 2 thumbs up and definitely worth a membership. My kids also liked the petting zoo they had there too!

[A2DAC1985]

Originally Posted by kattygirl27

I LOVE a good zoo. I have spent the last 10yrs living in Oregon and the Portland Zoo there was a terrible disapointment. IE: Some of the animals were stuffed. Sooo is the Indianapolis zoo any good? Do you like it and is it worth the money. I will be spending next week with my 4 nieces and have been trying to think up things to do.

The zoo is pretty cool with the dolphin sphere. Be forewarned: Don't be loud in there, it will scare the dolphins and yourself. The reverberations are wicked, but sound kinda cool if you're whispering.

And 4 nieces? Any age? The Children's Museum will please 3-70 year olds. Guaranteed.

[Jillaceae]

LOL. This thread made me laugh because I'm from Portland and I think Portland's zoo is one of the best in the country. Ouch!

I do like Indy's zoo, though. And while I prefer Portland, something the Indy zoo does do better is that the exhibits were designed so you can actually see the animals most of the time. The newer Portland exhibits are much better with this, but the older exhibits were designed with lots of large areas not viewable to the public. It makes sense from the standpoint of the animals' comfort, but what animal likes being gawked at? So there were certain animals that you pretty much just never saw because they have perfectly lovely places to be where no one was staring at them. (Though in Portland's defense, I've been to that zoo many times over the last 28 years and I've never seen a stuffed animal that was supposed to stand in for a real one.)

Another thing I like about Indy is they have Red Pandas. Yay red pandas! The dolphins are pretty neat, too, especially given how far we are from the ocean!