America's 100 Must See Exhibits

pachyderm pro said:
There's also an informative eight minute short film that visitors can watch before approaching the gorillas which is just one of many superb educational and interpretive elements included here.
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Does anyone know if they still have the screen open up to reveal the gorilla enclosure at the end of the film? Seeing this exhibit as a kid really blew me away and that little screen trick really iced the cake. After winding up the exhibit path, seeing all the other animals knowing the "grand finale" could be right around the next bend in the trail, taking a moment to watch the film and have a better understanding of what it all means, only for the screen to go black and open up on the gorillas themselves is (or was?) in my opinion the greatest zoo experience I have ever had.

For that matter, are there other exhibits like this elsewhere? I remember Wild Arctic and the Manatee Encounter at Seaworld Orlando having film components. The Manatee Encounter felt especially similar to Congo Gorilla Forest to me as a child. They both had a conservation message that really impacted me.
 
CMTM said:
Does anyone know if they still have the screen open up to reveal the gorilla enclosure at the end of the film? Seeing this exhibit as a kid really blew me away and that little screen trick really iced the cake. After winding up the exhibit path, seeing all the other animals knowing the "grand finale" could be right around the next bend in the trail, taking a moment to watch the film and have a better understanding of what it all means, only for the screen to go black and open up on the gorillas themselves is (or was?) in my opinion the greatest zoo experience I have ever had.

For that matter, are there other exhibits like this elsewhere? I remember Wild Arctic and the Manatee Encounter at Seaworld Orlando having film components. The Manatee Encounter felt especially similar to Congo Gorilla Forest to me as a child. They both had a conservation message that really impacted me.
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I have no idea what you're talking about, so I'm thinking no?
 
TinoPup said:
I have no idea what you're talking about, so I'm thinking no?
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At the time of my first visit, around summer 2003-4, the film was part of the exhibit path. After all the other animals you would enter a theater where the film would be shown and then at the end the screen would part like a stage curtain to reveal the gorilla enclosure. After a few moments of wonder, the exit doors would open to the first proper viewing room and guests would be ushered out of the theatre for it to re-set for the next group.

The same visit I saw World of Darkness as well as my first (and last) Sumatran Rhino.
 
CMTM said:
At the time of my first visit, around summer 2003-4, the film was part of the exhibit path. After all the other animals you would enter a theater where the film would be shown and then at the end the screen would part like a stage curtain to reveal the gorilla enclosure. After a few moments of wonder, the exit doors would open to the first proper viewing room and guests would be ushered out of the theatre for it to re-set for the next group.

The same visit I saw World of Darkness as well as my first (and last) Sumatran Rhino.
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Nothing electronic really works there now :D This definitely no longer exists, though I can't say when they stopped doing it.
 
TinoPup said:
Nothing electronic really works there now :D This definitely no longer exists, though I can't say when they stopped doing it.
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The theater is still there, but the room is optional and it can be easy to miss. On my most recent visit, they were prepping the theater and making sure the video was working properly for when Congo fully reopens (hopefully it will be warm enough very soon!).
 
CMTM said:
At the time of my first visit, around summer 2003-4, the film was part of the exhibit path. After all the other animals you would enter a theater where the film would be shown and then at the end the screen would part like a stage curtain to reveal the gorilla enclosure. After a few moments of wonder, the exit doors would open to the first proper viewing room and guests would be ushered out of the theatre for it to re-set for the next group.
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I had the exact same experience during my one and only visit to the Bronx Zoo in the summer of 2008. It was an absolutely incredible journey to go down the path of Congo Gorilla Forest, enter a theater and watch the 7 or 8 minute documentary, and then the grand unveiling of the amazing exhibit would be like an incredible magic trick. Voila...here are 20 gorillas! I heard people gasp behind me. Back then, the zoo also had the World of Darkness, Monkey House, Rare Animal Range and Skyfari ride. All gone.

On a side note, the cream is rising to the top of this thread, with 5 selections each from San Diego, Omaha and Bronx, and 4 from Saint Louis. It will be sad when it all ends. Perhaps @pachyderm pro can keep going until he hits 500 "must see" exhibits. Alas, by then we'll be down to corn crib cages. :p
 
snowleopard said:
I had the exact same experience during my one and only visit to the Bronx Zoo in the summer of 2008. It was an absolutely incredible journey to go down the path of Congo Gorilla Forest, enter a theater and watch the 7 or 8 minute documentary, and then the grand unveiling of the amazing exhibit would be like an incredible magic trick. Voila...here are 20 gorillas! I heard people gasp behind me. Back then, the zoo had the World of Darkness, Monkey House, Rare Animal Range and Skyfari ride. All long gone.

On a side note, the cream is rising to the top of this thread, with 5 selections each from San Diego, Omaha and Bronx, and 4 from Saint Louis. It will be sad when it all ends. Perhaps @pachyderm pro can keep going until he hits 500 "must see" exhibits. Alas, by then we'll be down to corn crib cages. :p
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I've always wondered what the best corncrib cage is though. ;)
 
ZooElephantsMan said:
The theater is still there, but the room is optional and it can be easy to miss. On my most recent visit, they were prepping the theater and making sure the video was working properly for when Congo fully reopens (hopefully it will be warm enough very soon!).
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I thought the theater was still there but wasn't positive about my memory lol. I rarely do movies, and I've never seen anyone watching it (like most movies in zoos).
 
Neil chace said:
While I think most would consider Congo Gorilla Forest as a shoe-in for this list, I'm honestly surprised that none of those other gorilla complexes were considered "must-see" on their own right. When designing my list of guesses for inclusion, I included five exhibits featuring gorillas. Congo Gorilla Forest and the previously included Center for African Apes were two of them, and the other three were mentioned in this post as well- with the exhibits at Columbus, Houston, and Disney's Animal Kingdom.
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Something I made sure to remember when making this list is exhibit diversity. It's important not to include too many exhibits that focus on the same species, which is why the similar exhibits section is useful to still give those exhibits recognition. Three exhibits that focused on gorillas were included in this thread and they each provide different experiences. Woodland Park's gorilla enclosure is historically significant, being among the first of its kind and inspiring all of the exhibits mentioned in that last post. Lincoln Park's Center for African Apes is the best traditional ape house in the US, a type of exhibit that has mostly been phased out of American collections. Bronx's Congo Gorilla Forest may very well be the single greatest gorilla exhibit on the continent and is unpaired in presentation, immersion and pure quality. While the others mentioned as similar exhibits are also excellent and definitely worth seeing, they don't stand out in the way the three that were included do.
snowleopard said:
On a side note, the cream is rising to the top of this thread, with 5 selections each from San Diego, Omaha and Bronx, and 4 from Saint Louis.
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The craziest part is that all of these zoos each have at least one more exhibit left to go. :p There's no shortage of fantastic exhibits and zoos in the US, but it really seems these four are the places to be for top notch exhibitry. Much different than the Europe list which had Arnhem leading the pack with just five exhibits, but since there are less zoos to choose from it's natural the "must-see" exhibits will be more consolidated as a result.
Pleistocene891 said:
Unless they were recently removed, there is also an exhibit for pygmy marmosets.
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I forgot about the marmosets. I think I just blocked them out of my memory so I could pretend the exhibit lacked a blemish on its geographical focus, as ridiculously minor as it may be. ;)
 
pachyderm pro said:
The craziest part is that all of these zoos each have at least one more exhibit left to go. :p There's no shortage of fantastic exhibits and zoos in the US, but it really seems these four are the places to be for top notch exhibitry. Much different than the Europe list which had Arnhem leading the pack with just five exhibits, but since there are less zoos to choose from it's natural the "must-see" exhibits will be more consolidated as a result.
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I think Columbus is on the same level as those four places as well, making a "Big 5" of American zoos.
 
My first immediate impressions of Congo Gorilla Forest during my visit a couple of years ago:
- Worth the hype, but getting a bit long in the tooth
- No Congolese venomous snake? Shame...;)
- Charging extra for an exhibit complex within a zoo is kinda...surprising? greedy?
- That okapi seriously needs some hoof trimming (based on more recent photos, that has been taken care of).
:p
 
Pleistocene891 said:
I think Columbus is on the same level as those four places as well, making a "Big 5" of American zoos.
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Agreed. This may be personal bias speaking, but I'd argue Columbus is even better than the other 4. Problem is, with both potential options similar exhibits (Polar Frontier and Congo Expedition), the only other option for this list I can think of is Adventure Cove. But alas, we'll have to wait and see.
 
Pandamich said:
Agreed. This may be personal bias speaking, but I'd argue Columbus is even better than the other 4. Problem is, with both potential options similar exhibits (Polar Frontier and Congo Expedition), the only other option for this list I can think of is Adventure Cove. But alas, we'll have to wait and see.
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Has the Roadhouse been featured/mentioned yet? That one’s a “must-see”, in my opinion, but that’s coming from possibly the biggest nocturnal exhibit fan on this website.
 
Pandamich said:
Agreed. This may be personal bias speaking, but I'd argue Columbus is even better than the other 4. Problem is, with both potential options similar exhibits (Polar Frontier and Congo Expedition), the only other option for this list I can think of is Adventure Cove. But alas, we'll have to wait and see.
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I think Asia Quest could make the list. I love the biodiversity and strong conservation theme of that exhibit.
 
Corangurilla said:
Has the Roadhouse been featured/mentioned yet? That one’s a “must-see”, in my opinion, but that’s coming from possibly the biggest nocturnal exhibit fan on this website.
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I thought it was a really cool exhibit, and the design is fun....but I am personally not sure it is a "must see" other than if you are in Columbus anyway. But I can see why people would think it is, it's just not in my top 100 exhibits.

Pleistocene891 said:
I think Asia Quest could make the list. I love the biodiversity and strong conservation theme of that exhibit.
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The one section that I largely missed when I was there....I just ran out of time, but a good excuse to go back.
 
SwampDonkey said:
I thought it was a really cool exhibit, and the design is fun....but I am personally not sure it is a "must see" other than if you are in Columbus anyway. But I can see why people would think it is, it's just not in my top 100 exhibits.
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It's one of the largest nocturnal houses in the US, with kiwis, wombats, and many very active Feathertail Gliders. It's a slam dunk pick, for me anyway.
 
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