rev:text
| - Vegas doesn't have a zoo, so residents have to settle for small places like this that feature only a few animals. The Secret Garden is composed of several large pools with dolphins (and an underwater viewing area) and five feline enclosures. All said, you probably won't spend more than half an hour here, making the $20/adult ticket fee pretty absurd. The Mirage property graciously gave away free passes to local teachers, which is how I attended.
The Garden area is nice, with plenty of foliage and trees for shade. The lion and tiger enclosures were not particularly large but they had ample water features, ground cover, toys, and plants- these were some o the nicer enclosures I've seen even compared to some zoos. But the space is a lot smaller. The enclosures are shallow, so viewers are fairly close to the animals. In mid-May on a cool day, 3PM, about half of the animals were active and half were napping. Roy himself was there, signing autographs and speaking with visitors, which was a nice touch.
The dolphin area was a bit underwhelming. This isn't SeaWorld, so don't expect to see tricks or anything, but you may catch a trainer out answering questions and demonstrating some activities with the dolphins. The underground viewing area is surprisingly spacious, but overall there are few informative plaques or educational components to this attraction.
|