Yes, I know its not an "amusement park," but I hear its the best zoo in the country. Any of you Californians been there? We are planning to check it out (after DL, of course)next month.

It's a very good zoo, but huge. Tough to see everything in one day. They offer a tram ride for extra money to help you get around. I've never taken it though, so can't say anything more about it. They have been advertising special entertainment after dark, but I'm not sure if it goes past Labor Day.

Of course the most popular attraction is the pandas, which are very cute. I like the meerkats a lot too.

I'm kind of biased cuz I live in SD, but we do have the BEST zoo. Lot's of animals, beautiful plants, and of course, the pandas are worth the trip. The Zoo is open after dark until Labor Day right now, and it's pretty cool. Enjoy your trip.

We also have two exceptionally cute baby polar bears and a baby hippo right now - check at the entrance for their exhibit times, they are not out all day. There are 2 different bus tours, one is a standard tour around 50% of the park and the other is a Kangaroo tour which allows you to get off and back on at certain stops so that you can take an extended look at some of the animals. Tip - bring your walking shoes, lots of ground to cover and some steep hills too.

A great zoo. We have APs and they allow you to go to the zoo and Wild Animal Park. One of the best deals around.

If you go, try to go in the morning when they first open. Cooler and less crowded then. It is rather large and if you are trying to see all in one day, consider the bus tour. If you have kids, the children's zoo is really great and includes recently born animals and a petting zoo.

The pandas are ok, I'm not much for Pandas, but the hippos are cool and the viewing area is good. I recommend bringing comfortable shoes and A LOT OF WATER (or at least a bottle you can refill).

Thanks for the tips, everyone. Hey, EandCDad, did you know you can deduct your AP cost on your tax return if you itemize? It counts as a charitable contribution because the zoological society is a non-profit org. I bought the AP because like you said, its a great deal. We hope to have time for both "parks."

we have APs too they're great

Just wondering if the tram ride (and don't they have a monorail?) price is included in the AP? We will definitely take the tram no matter what, but what a bargain that would be! :D

the Zoo doesn't have a monorail, but they have a bus tour
i dont think its included in the AP but you get coupons for it
the Wild Animal Park has a monorail which is free
oh yea the skyway is free with APs too

I just went to the zoo back in February. I hadn't been since I was a "wee bairn".
I thought it was beautiful. Like everyone previously said...even if you take the tram, there is still lots of walking. Luckily they have escalators to take you up and down the big hills. We took the Kangaroo tram, where you can get on and off at different stations...and even though things are mapped out fairly well...I still got turned around and confused as to which way to go.
But, the Hippo exhibit is the best I have ever seen. And the Panda exhibit is nice. Again, as said earlier, get there earlier in the day, more animals are out.

Right now the Wild Animal Park is open at night (as is the Zoo) and Joan Embry is doing shows in the evening--we are going out Friday. We have never seen her in person but admire her very much--it would be worth a trip out there--esp. at night when things cool down. It's boiling in San Pascual (sp.) right now :eek:

www.sandiegozoo.org/wap/parkatdark_joanshow.html

Originally posted by Mburk
Just wondering if the tram ride (and don't they have a monorail?) price is included in the AP? We will definitely take the tram no matter what, but what a bargain that would be! :D

Wackokid is right. If you get the APs, just keep the coupons they give you for the bus (not tram) tour. The monorail is at the Wild Animal Park. Its a rather long ride around the enclosure and if you go at night during a cool time, BRING A JACKET, it can get cold.

The Wild Animal Park tram ride at night is a whole different experience. Last time we went on it we sat in the very last row. You really couldn't see many animals but the small bats that kept dive bombing the tram were interesting. The most exciting part was when the tram stalled half way around and all the lights went out. I had brought a flashlight for my youngest and that was pretty much the only light we had for about 15 minutes. The only problem with it was that the bats were attracted to it and kept buzzing us. I just couldn't resist reaching around behind my daughter and grabbing her neck, she screeched and managed to set off a stampede of a small group of antelope - my bad. The tram stalled a few more times and we thought we may have to walk back in the dark but we managed to make it back eventually. Normally the tram is a 50 minute ride but our trip lasted about 90 minutes. It was the WAP's version of Indy.

I would recommend the Wild Animal Park over the Zoo. The animals are more casual and comfortable because they aren't so much "locked up" in cages like at a zoo.

You do realize you're answering a question that was asked 3 1/2 years ago, right?

The San Diego Zoo is probably one of the finest zoos worldwide. I actually prefer the Wild Animal Park instead, however. (remember to bring comfy shoes and drink lots of water!)

You do realize you're answering a question that was asked 3 1/2 years ago, right?Ya, but I thought I should answer the question just for the heck of it. :fez:

San Diego Zoo should certainly be on your list when visitng SoCal. I'd heard a lot about San Diego Zoo over the years and was very glad I took the time to go. Being from New Zealand we have some very good zoos but compared to San Diego they are very small and normally have a small slection of animals and specialise in on species etc (Which they normally do very well with as far as conservation efforts go which is the main point of our zoos). A brillient zoo and I'm sure the whole family will have a brillient day if you go.

However....

As a New Zealander it hurts me to say this but the best zoo I have been to in the world (And I have been to many zoos in 5 contients over the years) is (oh how this hurts) Taronga Zoo in Sydney Australia.

It would have situated on some of the prime realestate in Sydney with views over the harbour to the Opera House and Bridge. It is designed so you criss cross down the hill towards the harbour which makes it a nice easy walk for all. With a 5 minute ferry ride from the center of town you are at the zoo and then take a gondala up the hill to the entrence of the zoo to begin your trip down. They have some brillient exhibates and vertually all the animals are housed in state of the art open range type enclousers. The varity of animals is brillient and the staff run some great tours and talks for those interested. All in all a brillient zoo. (Well done my ANZAC brothers and sisters :))

:D HELP!! :D

I am trying to find an inexpensive (CHEAP) hotel/motel near San Diego/Oceanside/Camp Pendelton. Searching online, I have only found ones wich are quite high in price!
This is a sort-of unexpected trip (end of April) and I am not working at the moment, so we are truly on a tight budget.
ANY help will be appreciated!!!!

I don't mind driving to get to Camp Pendelton, wich is where we are ending up at, for a Marine Corps graduation. :D

my advice to you in terms of finding an inexpensive hotel is to check the usual suspects: orbitz, expedia, travelocity, whatever. find something doable, and then check with the actual hotel's website. more often than not (at least with the chains), booking through the hotel's website is cheaper than the search engines. the same actually goes for flights as well.

there's also a multi-site search engine called travelaxe (available from travelaxe.com) which seems to work well enough, altho a lot of times it appears that it misquotes the lowest available price, so just be cautious before actually booking.

of course, there's always the old adage about getting what you pay for.

If you don't mind staying at a Ramada Inn Limited there is one located on San Marcos Blvd in San Marcos. It's right next to the 78 on ramp and off ramp. If you want a shortcut to Carlsbad you can head west on San Marcos Blvd and it will automatically turn into Palomar Airport Road that leads right into Carlsbad and dead ends into the I-5 freeway. You could also hop on to the 78 and go east about five miles and hit the I-15 to get to SD Wild Animal Park or the Zoo.

If we ever go to SoCal...I will definitely be visiting this Zoo and the other park...I just love Zoos and any sort of Animal Parks...