Is a visit to the zoo worth it? (San Diego, Monterey: movies, tickets)

[Ernie4]

MISSIONHOME, Your so right about wearing comforable shoes. I would also advise that you should take a daypack with lunch, snacks and plenty of drinking water/energy drinks. There are a lot of hills to walk around and there are plenty of places where you can sit and enjoy your favorite animal and have a munchie break.

Also bring a hat, sun glasses and suntan lotion. A great place to have a day hike with your friends and family.

I would also suggest to go to the Wild Animal Park in San Pasqual Valley/Escondido. You would take a tram that goes all around the park then you can enjoy the smaller enclosures in their inner village. A marvelous day.

If you are a real animal lover and enjoy what the ocean offers, you can visit the Birch Aquarium in La Jolla.

Enjoy your day!

Originally Posted by missionhome

The San Diego Zoo is awesome! It is one of the finest zoos in the world and its a fun thing to do for a day. The pandas are so beautiful to see.

Originally Posted by RD5050

San Diego Zoo is great. Easily worth the admission.

It's a tropical paradise, filled with palm trees and exotic plants, and fantastic animal exhibits. Watching the orangutans play is one of my favorite things to do at the zoo.

The zoo is filled with many steep hills to walk up and down, so wear comfortable shoes.

You also have the option of paying $10 per adult to ride on a double decker tour bus (open on the top) which takes you around the entire zoo. A tour guide rides on the bus and tells you about each exhibit as you pass it.

There is also a monorail which crosses high over the top of the zoo, and can take you from one side to the other.

Also, look for discount coupons to save on zoo admission. You can usually find them inside tourist coupon books (freebies) at the visitor centers throughout San Diego.

Another thing to mention, the zoo is located within Balboa Park, which also contains many beautiful buildings (incredible Spanish architecture) and museums. These museums are within walking distance from the zoo entrance.

[kelb]

If you just have the one day to kill, Balboa Park is another option. There is no admission charge just to stroll around, and just strolling around can probably kill an entire day. Do not go without a camera. If you want to dig deeper, there are 15 museums within the park.
If you can handle the tab definitely grab lunch on the terrace at Prado - just named by SD Magazine as the best outdoor dining in SD. Request Bobby as your waiter.
We had time to do both a day at the zoo and a day at Balboa. If we could only do one the slight edge would go to Balboa.
We were at the zoo on a perfect weather day, and it was memorable. Someone mentioned high food cost, but we thought the little cafe right at the zoo entrance was reasonable, and delivered very good food.
By the way, parking at both the zoo and the park are free - how cool is that?

[ALA2009]

Get the Go San Diego card---it will get you into the zoo & a bunch of balboa park museums, etc for a discounted rate. You can get it on the site or through Costco. We used it for our trip to San Diego and it was nice--it will give you some extras at the zoo including the bus ride and gondola ride for free

[T. Damon]

Wow, revived from the dead post 10 years old! $25 admission? How quaint. $50 today but it’s still worth it.

[RosieSD]

Originally Posted by ALA2009

Get the Go San Diego card---it will get you into the zoo & a bunch of balboa park museums, etc for a discounted rate. You can get it on the site or through Costco. We used it for our trip to San Diego and it was nice--it will give you some extras at the zoo including the bus ride and gondola ride for free

The GoPass is nice for out of town visitors to have for other reasons, but the skytram and bus tours at the Zoo are now actually included with the regular Zoo 1-day pass. You don't need the GoPass for those.

If you really want to go all out at the Zoo, you can spring for the VIP experience for $650 per person for the day, or play "zookeeper for a day" for $850 per person for the day. Gulp.

I agree with T.Damon though. The basic pass is still worth it, and the zoo is a lot of fun!

[cruitr]

I took some out-of-town guests to the zoo last month. Luckily I am a 'donor club' SD Zoo member so the cost for all of us was zero. It was an OK experience. The line to see the pandas was over 2 hours long. We skipped the line, jumped the fence at the panda park, and watched the panda cam on our iphones.

Our Safari Park in Escondido is a much better zoo experience. Just don't go in the summer months because the Safari Park can be hot hot hot.

[bloom]

Yes. I currently like the zoo when non-crowded like at end of day and just walking a part not all of it.

[bloom]

It's all happening at the zoo

[1AngryTaxPayer]

Dang 166 bucks per couple for the year? Ouch. It sure went up.

[Jenkay]

Originally Posted by 1AngryTaxPayer

Dang 166 bucks per couple for the year? Ouch. It sure went up.

Yeah but it's $50 to get in, so you only need to go a few times to pay for it (plus you get extra free passes, etc). I have the same deal except instead of a couple I have my own pass and I can take anyone I like in with me anytime I go. I go probably once a month and if I'm by myself I always ask some random person standing in line for tickets if they want to get in free as my +1, so my pass is paid for over and over and over every year