Nashville Zoo (Memphis: appointed, living in, fences)

[tngal22]

How is the Nashville Zoo? We love going to the Memphis Zoo but with our up coming move to Middle TN, our visits will be no more. Our daughter loves to visit the animals so I hope the zoo is nice. Is it safe, clean, fun, etc?

Thanks in advance.

[vivelafrance]

Originally Posted by tngal22

How is the Nashville Zoo? We love going to the Memphis Zoo but with our up coming move to Middle TN, our visits will be no more. Our daughter loves to visit the animals so I hope the zoo is nice. Is it safe, clean, fun, etc?

Thanks in advance.

It is safe, clean, and fun...especially the Lorikeet interactive experience! But...
It's not as nice as the Memphis Zoo.

However, the Zoo has an excellent long term forecast...there's a lot of room to expand and if the new African section is any indication, they will do a great job with the rest of the expansion.

[BirdieBelle]

Yes, if you've been to other zoos, you will be disappointed at selection of the animals.
The Memphis Zoo has a much wider variety of large animals, while the Nashville Zoo has a lot of smaller animals and birds. The large cats are in heavily wooded natural enclosures, which is better for them but makes them hard to see. The giraffes and elephants are in very large enclosures and occasionally come out in full view.
However, the Nashville Zoo has a beautiful layout and is wonderfully designed. It also has an amazing playground.
It also is very safe.

[tngal22]

Thanks! We weren't that impressed with the St. Louis Zoo...the idea was there, just didn't meet our expectations. But our daughter still had fun and that is the main thing. I was reading about Nashville's Master plan and it sounds great. We have a membership to the Memphis Zoo so at least we get 50% off until that runs out and I will know if I want to invest in membership with the Nashville.

I guess Memphis Zoo has us spoiled! We can spend 4hrs there easily and not see everything.

[WUSTL '14]

We weren't that impressed with the St. Louis Zoo...the idea was there, just didn't meet our expectations.

The St. Louis Zoo is free, though.

[tngal22]

Parking is not free and any exhibits are not free...ie the Children's Zoo, or Stingray Cove. We did like the shaded trails but the variety of animals was not like we were used to. If the Memphis Zoo took the shaded trails with their variety, it would be an amazing zoo. But I am sure we will enjoy the Nashville Zoo...we had fun at St. Louis, just wasn't what we were used to.

[tabbva]

If you didn't like the St. Louis Zoo, one of the best in the country IMHO, then you definitely won't be pleased with Nashville. (BTW, if you ever go back to the STL zoo I can tell you how you park for free and you get into paid areas free for the 1st hour)

What Nashville has is good. Personally, my kids and I love the natural environments that they have created for the animals. Sure, it's harder to find animals sometimes than if they were in a big open field, but watching them stalk, hide, jump, and play makes up for it.

Nashville does lack a lot of the variety of other zoos in similar cities because it is relatively new and it takes a long time to build.

We have a membership and we would usually look at animals for an hour or two and then go play in the amazing jungle gym. It was a great way for learing and burning off energy at the same time!

[Big TR]

Living in Chicago for many years and visiting Lincoln Park Zoo and Brookfield many times, I can say I enjoyed taking my son to the Nashville Zoo. We all had low expectations going in, so we were pleasantly surprised by the size of the zoo, how well kept it is and the animal habitats.

Obviously it's not the best thing going, but if you don't expect something out of this world, you will enjoy your visit.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by Big TR

Living in Chicago for many years and visiting Lincoln Park Zoo and Brookfield many times, I can say I enjoyed taking my son to the Nashville Zoo. We all had low expectations going in, so we were pleasantly surprised by the size of the zoo, how well kept it is and the animal habitats.

Obviously it's not the best thing going, but if you don't expect something out of this world, you will enjoy your visit.

Agree. We were there recently and found it an EXCELLENT zoo in all respects.

The elephants were in a multi-acre area. We stood at one vantage point, looking uphill for at least a hundred yards and did not see the usual massive fences that comprise many elephant enclosures. All we could see was grass and trees, point being that it seemed we were on a safari in Africa, not in a zoo.

Lots of restrooms, good food stops, things for kids to do, etc. WORTH a visit.

[citymama]

Clean, beautiful, safe and plenty for the kids to see. We love the gibbons right as you enter. Food is good, and yes, the playground is really, really neat.