Website: The Philadelphia Zoo
Season: The Philadelphia Zoo is open every day of the year except Thanksgiving Day,
December 24, 25 and 31, and January 1.
Cost: In season, $18 for adults over 11, $15, ages 2-11 and under age 2 free. There are other plans and winter rates. See all ticket prices here. Become a zoo member for even more discounts. Expected Length of Visit: You could spend all day here.
Recommended Ages: All ages
We visited the Philadelphia Zoo just a couple of months before my younger son was born in 2008. It was May but it was hot - 80+ degrees hot. It was a Saturday but for whatever reason I didn't expect it to be so crowded. The zoo was a zoo that day! We ended up parking on the zoo road on the far side of the zoo but we were lucky to get parking anywhere near the zoo.
Coming in, we hit traffic not too far from the zoo exit (Girard Ave) on 76. We crawled through traffic for quite some time. (When we left in the afternoon, traffic in that direction was backed up nearly to the turnpike booths so we were more fortunate than the people headed to the zoo at that time.) We bought our tickets and paid for parking online so that probably saved us a little time getting in to the zoo.
Getting into the zoo (the drive, parking, going through the admission gate), was a bit of work but once we got in there, it was nice considering how packed it was. You didn't have to fight anyone to see the animals or anything like that. There was room to walk around. We're fortunate to be early birds and we ate lunch early. Later, the refreshment stand lines were insane. I do believe they let you bring your own food. You really can't leave the zoo to eat since the area surrounding the zoo is a bit, um, rough.
It's a great zoo. It's got the elephants, giraffes, gorillas and all the other big animals we don't get to see locally. My son loved it! The animal exhibits will take up a good portion of the day. We could watch the gorillas for quite some time.
There are other activities too. There's a children's zoo with a petting zoo, a duck pond and a tractor. My son could have played on that tractor all day.
There were pony rides, face painting and swan boat rides. These activities were pricey (I think they were at least $5 each, per person) so we only did one -we rode the swan boats for my son. We won't be able to do that again. Next time we'll be a family of four and we won't fit into that swan anymore.
There's also a hot air balloon for an additional fee but we saved that for another day. I was too exhausted and we had spent enough money.
I remember waiting in line for quite some time to use the restroom which isn't fun when you're 8 months pregnant. My advice - don't wait to use the bathroom by the main entrance on your way out since it was the most crowded.
We had a heck of a time finding our way out of there, back to I-76. I knew where to go but pointing ourselves in the right direction was a problem. The road signage around the zoo did not help. Fortunately I went to Temple and my dad often took that same exit when driving me back to school so I didn't panic when we ended up driving around in a not-so-nice neighborhood (is 'ghetto' no longer a politically correct term?). Or when we ended up driving in the trolley lane (hey, I wasn't the only one!) We eventually got home alive.
I don't know how often we'll return. The zoo is not that far from Harrisburg. It's an easy daytrip down the turnpike. The zoo isn't extremely expensive either and if we became zoo members we could visit quite a bit for our money. It's the hassle of getting in and out of the zoo that turns me off on the idea of visiting again, although I'm sure we will. Unfortunately, if you want to enjoy the big attractions, you usually have to deal with things like traffic and crowds. Hopefully next time we go back it won't be as crazy. I wonder if the fact that the shore season hadn't opened yet ande it was an unusually warm May day made it more crowded. After Memorial Day, many people around Philadelphia head to the shore on the weekends. Just to be safe, I would suggest getting an early start.
Please add your comments regarding this activity or let me know if you have any questions about it that I might be able to answer.
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