Which zoo's to visit in Florida

IceQueen

IceQueen

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
Dear Zoochatters,

It's been a while since I posted something, but I really need some help from American Zoo experts :)

We might have the opportunity to go on vacation to Florida and therefor we would like some insight in the Florida Zoo's. I've searched for info on this forum, but here are too many threads. I've also checked out the photogallery and have visited some websites of zoo's in Florida.
We are looking for the best zoo's to visit in Florida. We've seen a lot in Europe (visited more then 150 zoo's) and it would be nice to see some animals that we don't have here in Europe.

Disney's Animal Kingdom is already on our list.

Other zoo's that sound interesting:
Zoo Miami
Jacksonville Zoo
Lowry Park Zoo

And we're thinking of also visiting Big Cat Rescue (wild cat fan)

Is Seaworld Orlando worth visiting? I really dislike shows with animals and orca's in captivity, so they must have something worthwhile to see to overcome my dislikes. I saw a picture somewhere of false killerwhales, do they still have those? And more important: can you see the animals outside of the shows?

Are there any other zoo's worth visiting in Florida? It doesn't matter where, we'll hire a car and we don't mind driving 3 hours to get somewhere, as long as it's worth the visit.

Thnx in advance for the help:)
 
The four zoos you mentioned already are all excellent choices, if you are going to Lowry Park Zoo then you will be in Tampa and you should go to Busch Gardens Tampa as well, it can be considered the major zoo facility missing from your list.

It sounds like you should not go to SeaWorld Orlando, the false killer whales are only on display during a show. Their manatee habitat is currently closed (it may be open when you go) and their excellent penguin and alcid exhibits have been demolished. They have some nice aquariums but it does not sound like that is your passion.

A smaller zoo that I enjoyed in Florida is the Palm Beach Zoo, if you have time for a smaller facility (you will probably be passing by it on your way from Orlando to Miami) then you should see it too!
 
I've been to many zoos in Florida. Lowry Park and Zoo Miami are both very good, as is Busch Gardens and Sea World.

One zoo I have visited a few times is Central Florida Zoo, though it's monumentally smaller then some of the others. It's reptile house however has a lot of nice species, especially of venomous snakes. The whole zoo is in a swamp like setting with spanish moss high in the trees. The only negative is due to finances some of the exhibits are not as large as I think the zoo wants them. They are working on improving that from what I have seen.

Another nice place is the St Augustine Alligator farm, as it's an actual us historic site, and has every species of crocodilian in the world. It also has birds, king cobra, komodo dragon, etc.

From what I have seen online, Brevard is also a very nice zoo.

As you can tell by my nick, I love Animal Kingdom, and be sure to visit the lodges if you can, and you'll probably want to go on Kilamanjaro Safaris several times if photographing as the jeeps don't really stop. You can watch videos on youtube though to get a heads up on the order of the exhibits. The walking trails and Rafikis I very much enjoy, and the photo ops are plentiful.

Also, if you can find the time, Atlanta which is a short drive away has the Georgia Aquarium and pandas at Zoo Atlanta.

If you have any questions about the specific zoos, though I can try to answer to the best of my knowledge.
 
I too am a massive fan of Animal Kingdom, the Gorillas are especially worth seeing as they currently have an 18 month old. The Kilamanjaro Safari ride is a must but can be extremely difficult to get photos from. A tip would be go to it as soon as the park opens, I have found the animals most active in the morning.

I have also visited Lowry park, Miami, Busch Gardens and Seaworld, they are all excellent and would recommend them to anyone, but also agree that perhaps Seaworld isnt for you.
 
I believe there is a bat collection which looks pretty good - can't recall the name [somebody may?] but I believe they have spectacled flying fox. I think you have to book a guided tour of the place in advance.
 
Thnx for al the replies! :)

Very usefull tips for visiting Disney's animal kingdom, thnx for that! :) It looks like such a large place for a one day visit!

I've read a bit about the Busch Gardens, but was not sure what to make of it, it's pretty expansive, but then again, it's also a themepark. We'll definatly consider it, it depends a bit of how many days we're able to go to Florida.

I've also put Central Florida Zoo on the list, cause we love reptiles :D

We'd love to go to Georgia Aquarium as well, it all depends on how many days we can go (if we can go, depends on a few things). Any idea how long the drive will be from Florida (we'll probably have Orlando as basecamp) to Atlanta?

Anyway, thnx so much for all your input, we have a lot to think about, but that's the fun in planning a zootrip :D
 
Here is how we would rank the Florida zoos we have visited.

1.Busch Gardens- Its fantastic we we strongly suggest a visit however our visit was in the fall and it was not crowed at all this could be a factor as we have heard that summer crowds can be horrible here.

2.Zoo Miami-I (Marty) have been here several times Bonnie has not its a very nice zoo with a decent collection.

3.Lowry Park Tampa-Very solid zoo would recommend it to anyone.

4.Big Cat Rescue - While its not a traditional zoo and all its enclosures are chain link fenced exhibits it serves a great purpose and we felt strongly that all the cats were cared for well by a very passionate staff.If you are into Big Cats its worth a visit.

Florida Aquarium (Tampa)-Its very kid oriented would not recommend a visit.

Team Tapir
 
I have been to Big Cat Rescue a few times in the past and it used to be good. But today I would not put one penny towards that facility. The owner (Carole Baskin) is using it as a platform to ban ALL ZOOS in America and to ban ALL animal breeding. She is an extremist and I have seen several outright lies printed in their quarterly magazine. If you like zoos you WILL NOT go there and will not pay the entry fee to help further their anti-zoo agenda.

Disney Animal Kingdom is the most overated zoological park in America (and perhaps the biggest ripoff). I know most ZooChatters disagree and seem to love it, so we will just say that it must be a quirk of mine and chances are you will like it as well.

Lowry Park Zoo is great, Palm Beach Zoo is very good, Busch Gardens is good. Miami Zoo looks very good, but I have not personally been. Central Florida Zoo is a bit of a disappointment - if you are limited on time that is the one I would cut out (assuming I cannot talk you out of Disney). Florida Aquarium is very good and is in Tampa, the same city as Lowry Park Zoo and Busch Gardens. Another really fun experience in Tampa is canoeing on the Hillsborough River - local outfitters drop you off upstream and pick you up downstream a couple hours later - good chance of seeing wild alligators plus numerous birds.
 
I do understand why some people are not as overly impressed by Animal Kingdom as much as other zoos, especially for the price. One reason though is Animal Kingdom is a lot more then just a zoo, and so paying for Expedition Everest, or Dinosaur can be very costly, and that means they don't have as many animals as zoos routinely do. Also many of the animal exhibits are the same since the park opened, so they haven't had the opportunity to get rarer animals. Back when AK opened a Komodo Dragon was uncommon, but now it's pretty common. There are some rarer smaller animals, but not really headliners. That being said though I always enjoy it, and the rides and such can be fun. I'm not too giddy about the idea of an Avatarland being added, but I guess they feel that's what they need to add to get attention. Some of the exhibits though like the Tigers, Gorillas, and the Tree of Life area are very nice. Also Disney got into the zoo game quite recently, as many of the zoos and parks mentioned are far older then Animal Kingdom. Also, remember to visit Animal Kingdom Lodge, as you can see various kinds of wildlife on a few savannahs. You can get to AKL by way of bus at Downtown Disney.

In relation to Central Florida Zoo, originally the first time I went I wasn't too impressed except with the reptile house. I think things there are improving though over time, and the reptile house I still feel is one of the better ones I've been to for it's size. If I were spending a very few days down in Florida, I probably wouldn't go to it, unless I had a free afternoon. For example the reptile house, though nice is pretty small. I have gotten great pictures though from that reptile house as the animals look healthy and well cared for, and there are cobras, rattlesnakes, mambas, vipers, and though it sometimes isn't on exhibit, a terciopelo. I don't want to give you the wrong idea though as the reptile house isn't as large as some of the uber-zoos, but it's a good representation. One advantage to it is it isn't too crowded and due to the spanish moss there is shade. In honesty most the zoos in Florida are very nice because of climate and tourism, though I'm a person who tends to look for the good in places as apposed the negatives.
 
Arizona Docent said:
I have been to Big Cat Rescue a few times in the past and it used to be good. But today I would not put one penny towards that facility. The owner (Carole Baskin) is using it as a platform to ban ALL ZOOS in America and to ban ALL animal breeding. She is an extremist and I have seen several outright lies printed in their quarterly magazine. If you like zoos you WILL NOT go there and will not pay the entry fee to help further their anti-zoo agenda.

Disney Animal Kingdom is the most overated zoological park in America (and perhaps the biggest ripoff). I know most ZooChatters disagree and seem to love it, so we will just say that it must be a quirk of mine and chances are you will like it as well.

Lowry Park Zoo is great, Palm Beach Zoo is very good, Busch Gardens is good. Miami Zoo looks very good, but I have not personally been. Central Florida Zoo is a bit of a disappointment - if you are limited on time that is the one I would cut out (assuming I cannot talk you out of Disney). Florida Aquarium is very good and is in Tampa, the same city as Lowry Park Zoo and Busch Gardens. Another really fun experience in Tampa is canoeing on the Hillsborough River - local outfitters drop you off upstream and pick you up downstream a couple hours later - good chance of seeing wild alligators plus numerous birds.
Click to expand...

Had no idea about Big Cat Recues anti zoo agenda which is truly a shame to hear considering we enjoyed our tour and thought everyone we talked with to be very genuine animal people.I guess things are'nt always what they seem.

Team Tapir
 
jusko88 said:
@arizonadocent: are there any other places that you know that are anti zoo?
Click to expand...

Not to this extent, although I think the Shambala Preserve in southern California is a little bit. I know their director (Tippi Hedren) went on record against the new elephant exhibit at the nearby Los Angeles Zoo.
 
Tnnx again for the replies.

The trip is almost a go, just thinking some things through before deciding.

Sorry, Arizona Docent, Animal Kingdom is a must for us. We think the price is crazy, but not going is just not an option for a European Zoofreak ;) We also have some zoo's we don't like that other people find must sees, so I understand where you are coming from.

The plans so far:
Disney's Animal Kingdom
BuschGardens
Seaworld (my partner really wants to go because it's an experience we don't have here in Europe and we'll do the combiticketdeal with Buschgardens, so I'll just have to deal with the orca's, I survived Loro Parque as well ;))
Miami Zoo
Lowrypark
Jacksonville

And the plan is to drive to Atlanta and visit Georgia Aquarium, sleep somewhere and think about a short visit to Atlanta Zoo before driving back to Orlando.

I've got two more questions.
Some of you reccommand a visit to the Animal Kingdom Lodges. Is that possible without staying at the hotels? And do you have to pay extra for that?

Another question. Does anyone of you have experiece with seeing manatees in the wild? That's also something we would love to do. We don't want to swim with them, we just want to see them.
 
IceQueen said:
I've got two more questions.
Some of you reccommand a visit to the Animal Kingdom Lodges. Is that possible without staying at the hotels? And do you have to pay extra for that?

Another question. Does anyone of you have experiece with seeing manatees in the wild? That's also something we would love to do. We don't want to swim with them, we just want to see them.
Click to expand...

Animal Kingdom Lodge is free, just hop on a bus from any Disney park or Downtown Disney, there are viewing area from all over the hotel that look out onto the animals.

As for Manatees, when we did Lowry Park Zoo we paid extra for the Eco River Cruise, this is a boat trip that takes you up the Hilsborough river, during our trip we passed a number of springs and a family of 3 manatess that followed the boat.

Failing that we did a trip to Homosasa Springs, they have a manatee rescue center there, they had a few there but behind it runs a river and we also saw lots of wild manatees.

Hope this helps
 
I can't help you with the manatee question, but as for Animal Kingdom Lodge, the above poster is correct. The easiest way to visit Animal Kingdom Lodge is to park at Downtown Disney near one of the bus stops and get on a bus at the Animal Kingdom Lodge bus stop. All the bus stops are marked as to what resorts they service. Downtown Disney is free to park at, and you don't have to deal with the other parks when you use it's stops. There are 3 stops at Downtown Disney, one in the Marketplace, one in the middle near Planet Hollywood, and one on the far side of Cirque de Soleil. When done at AKL, you can simply take the bus directly back to Downtown Disney, get in your car, and there you go.

There are now 2 Animal Kingdom Lodges, as there is Jumbo House, which is the original, as well as the new Disney Vacation Club Resort, Kidani Village. In terms of animals, Kidani is the only one that has Okapi. Hope that is helpful. The busses labeled for Animal Kingdom Lodge go to both resorts. You can use the parks to get to AKL as well, but I think Downtown Disney is the easiest and cheapest, as parking at most theme parks has a charge and usually a large parking lot. Downtown Disney early in the day is pretty vacant as most people are in the parks, however in the afternoon and night Downtown Disney can get very crowded as well. I usually visit around Christmas, as that's one of the busiest times of the year, but you might not have problems in terms of crowds.

Hope this helps. You might want to try to do some research to find out what times the buses operate from Downtown Disney as they may not be as early as some of the other buses.
 
disneyzoofan said:
You might want to try to do some research to find out what times the buses operate from Downtown Disney as they may not be as early as some of the other buses.
Click to expand...

From the disney hotel the buses run to all parks and downtown disney an hour before they open and two hour after they close
 
IceQueen said:
Some of you recommend a visit to the Animal Kingdom Lodges. Is that possible without staying at the hotels? And do you have to pay extra for that?

Does anyone of you have experiece with seeing manatees in the wild?
Click to expand...

Yes, you can visit the lodge without paying extra. I went there just for dinner - they have a very nice (but expensive) all-you-can-eat buffet. The lobby is very impressive and before or after dinner you can go out on the overlook behind the lobby and watch the savanna animals. In my opinion this is actually better than visiting the real park (because it is free and because you can stand and watch the animals instead of being whisked by in a truck). There is also a nice gift shop inside the lobby.

I may have seen a manatee splash once. I took a canoe ride on the Little Manatee River (south of Tampa) where the animals do occur and I saw a large splash, but waited and never saw the animal come up. However, at the pickup point downstream, a couple who were in a canoe about ten minutes behind me said they did see one. I have also read there is a powerplant on the gulf coast (also south of Tampa) where they congregate for the warm water. I am sure an internet search will bring this up.
 
Worth the trip

Go to Dade City's Wild Things. We are a 22 acre sanctuary with over 200 exotic animals on display. We have guided tours and animal encounters from bearded dragons, Capuchin monkeys and potbellied pigs to black bears, Alligators and Siberian tiger cubs. It is an beautiful and amazing place where you get within 3 feet of so many animals including Roy, a 1000lb Siberian tiger. Starting May 19 you can actually swim with tiger cubs !!


Dade City's Wild Things
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top