Sometimes I take the zoo for granted because it's always been around and it's always been free. That's pretty phenomenal considering it's not just a little petting zoo with one or two sad animals. I went on another walk-through a couple weekends ago and was impressed to see things have gotten even nicer since my last visit.
The big new draw is the new arctic area featuring underwater viewing for the polar bears and seals. We were by the polar bear glass at the right time and I can't lie, it's pretty cool having a giant bear swim up to you and launch itself back through the pool off the glass. The bears are free to roam through a grassy area that seems a lot more humane than the barren ice & snow-motif concrete I remember with a giant chasm between their space and the crowd railing.
I also checked out one of the indoor buildings I'd never made it into before and it featured a range of creatures from the adorable (tiny frogs!) to the stuff of nightmares (cockroaches, centipedes).
Because the zoo is free and on the smaller side, there are some bottlenecks and you're constantly tripping over small children, but a little patience will take you a long way.