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| - Mostly appealing with a few boring and sad displays...
Overall, we were pleased with this place - I'm being a little generous with the 4-stars, I'd probably give it closer to 3 and 1/2 stars, if that were possible. My wife and I have been to both the Phoenix Zoo and this place, I'd give the nod to the Phoenix Zoo simply because everything is generally cleaner and newer and more "professional-looking." However, I like the open feel of this place. There were not big crowds to deal with - of course it was the middle of June (!) so I'm sure that had something to do with it, but with the Phoenix Zoo there are a lot of narrow concrete sidewalks, whereas this place has wide dirt roads to walk, and some boardwalk areas, which makes it feel a lot more open. There were many places we were able to set up the tripod and take photos of ourselves without anyone around! No way that would happen at the Phoenix Zoo.
I would say the nicest areas of this zoo are on the East end - specifically the Aquariums and the African Safari part of the zoo. These are the newer exhibits and are the highlights of this place without a doubt! The safari theme is particularly well done - you feel like you are having a mini adventure. And it's nice to see that the animals in this area, the giraffes, the ostrich, wildebeests, gazelles and deer all have a nice amount of space to run about.
As some reviewers that have given this place one or two stars have pointed out, there are some "sad" and dirty areas - most notably the Small Mammal exhibit (located near the West Entrance) features a handful of small mammals in small plain rooms with vinyl tile floors and nothing else in the room except pea-stained towels on the floor. I've never seen animals look so pitiful before! The exhibit has a terrible urine smell as well, which you will surely notice as you enter the exhibit. Feel free to skip this area, or visit it and write them a letter or email urging them to move the animals out of this exhibit or remodel it! They are spending $$$ on a new Sea Lion exhibit, but perhaps they should resolve some of the older areas of the zoo before moving onto new ones. Nothing against sea lions, but the small mammals deserve a new home first before bringing in new exhibits. Although I'm sure it's a $$$ driven decision.
The entrance fee for (2) people with a ValPak coupon brought us to $60, which is a bit pricey I think, but you do get 4 hours of entertainment here give or take. Maybe longer if you move about more slowly. Another $20 got us a cheeseburger and chicken salad and large coke for lunch at the Safari Grill. The food was pretty decent for zoo food, but although the outside of the Safari Grill is cute, it is a bare bones, vanilla plane cafeteria style inside! How about some cool Safari theme items inside for decorations? I like to feel like my $60 is being put to more than just profit.
A few tips: you can bring in your own water, and I carried in a backpack which they didn't check so I guess you could probably bring in a few snacks as well. You have to park at the main entrance, which is the East entrance - visitors are not allowed access through the West Parking Lot - at least not when I was there. The East entrance is where the new attractions are - the Aquarium and African Safari - so some people might wish to start there. Although on the other hand it's kind of nice to save the Aquarium for later in the day when it gets hot, at least you will be inside where it's cooler. We started moving west from the entrance and moved to the old areas of the zoo first in the morning and then looped back around to the newer exhibits and the Aquarium in the afternoon when it was hottest. Give yourself 4-5 hours to see everything, including a lunch stop. There are places to eat and vending machines located conveniently throughout the property. $2 for a can of coke in the vending machines. The eateries do not provide straws or plastic lids for your cups. There are little 50 cent machines you can buy food to feed some of the animals, so bring quarters if that's your kind of thing. No elephants. Expect a lot of noisy kids running about which is much more noticeable inside the Aquarium rooms.
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