Dumbest One star zoo reviews

Let's take a look at some from the Philadelphia Zoo:

"No gorrelas and no chimps disappointed"
At least they have gorillas . . . :p

"I was very disappointed after visiting your zoo. I my children expected to see the difference between European and American zoos, but there was only an unpleasant aftertaste. More than half of the animals are not available for viewing. The goose is correctly called Sevastopol's goose and you have a mistake in your tablet. It's a shame! The name comes from the city in Ukraine Sevastopol, not Sebastopol. And then, stop lying that animals can catch the coronavirus. Coronavirus is not transmitted from person to animal, especially through open space in the open air"
The goose breed is in fact called Sebastopol Goose . . . Not sure why they're writing a one-star review for one letter being wrong (even though it isn't). Also this person needs to take a look at the many captive big cats and handful of gorillas at SDZSP that got COVID. :rolleyes:

"Very disappointed hard to get around
And dont have alot of animals..
Like the bear exhibit one bear..
Bronx zoo much better."
They have 6 bears. Only the Spectacled Bear is kept alone, which is fine since they're solitary. The last part is the only thing that's true in this review.

"The animal habitats hearken back to the days of concrete cells with iron bars. The animals in any building of this zoo live on tile floors with plastic milk crates and even plastic garbage cans as their "enrichment". There is metal scaffolding in a few instead of creating a naturalistic climbing experience for the animals. The children's area is JUST A FEW CHICKENS AND A FEW GOATS. That's it. I will say there are many beautiful sculptures of animals in the zoo. It is the oldest zoo in America according to a sign there: the parking lot shows it! The spaces are not large enough for today's vehicles. 2 SUVs or minivans next to each other and you CAN'T OPEN YOUR DOORS ENOUGH TO GET OUT! Sorry to say, I do not recommend this zoo."
There are no concrete cells or iron bars at all. The metal scaffolding is part of the theming of the primate house. The "children's area" is an award-winning exhibit that has many more species outside such as ducks, Alpacas, Sheep, and Horses. There's also a large indoor area with insects, guinea pigs, Budgerigars, finches, a bearded dragon, and an aquarium. Maybe they should have looked harder. :p If the parking lot is too small, there is a parking garage.
 
Found this review from the Detroit Zoo

Am I the only one that thinks that $88 for a family of four to look at lights is outrageous? I can go to the Toledo Zoo for half the price. This is crazy.

Looking at the ticket prices for the Toledo Zoo, the price for a family of four (I'm assuming 2 adults and 2 kids) is $90. So not half the price at all.
 
Here's some from CMZoo:
We did not order tickets online in time to visit. Absolutely my fault, grandkids were disappointed.

WAY too expensive.. Animals were few and some looked terrible.. Definitely never going back.. Scenery was nice, though.. Pueblo Zoo is a much better experience, and affordable

so umm like there hills like 200000000000 of them and I was dying! Also their water fountains were broken at least 1. also the sinks their sinks were fancy so five stars for that. But there caramel wasn’t fast . follow my insta and Snapchat warrior_pablito . So umm the giraffes were cool oh but THEY WOULDNT LET YOU TIDE ON ANY OF THEM ( including the fake ones) that made me depressed.

Zoo was amazing however might watch out for the souvenir cups the only thing my wife and I purchased food wise and we have been in the bathroom all day...

Nope too hot

Denver Zoo:
That was the most depressing zoo I’ve ever been to. The animals looked undernourished, almost all with skin conditions. I understand they could be rescues, but it was almost all of them, and they looked straight up defeated and sad. Almost no water, and the penguins weren’t even in a climate controlled enclosed area. They were in an open, warm, foul smelling pathetic shelter. All those names they so proudly broadcast should be ashamed of themselves.
Context: Denver only has Humboldt and African Penguins.

I have always enjoyed the zoo... this time we went in November and it was fairly nice out so quite a few of the animals are out. They have created directional paths for walking and everybody does have to wear masks.

Always getting yelled at by staff in the park to put my mask over my nose even though I have asthma. I guess they want me to die.

Visiting from DC, just looking for simple attractions to visit. To sum it up, this zoo should be free. You’re charged admission for a zoo with little to no animals, majority birds. Better off going to the Botanic Gardens if I wanted to see empty displays with plants.

Also really sad to see so many 1 star reviews because people could not read signs or check the website to see that timed tickets are required. Fortunately it does not seem to affect their overall ratings as CMZoo maintains a 4.9/5 and Denver a 4.6/5 on Google.
 
Almost all of the 1 star reviews for my local zoo (St. Louis) are because they had to wear masks at the time. Note: most of these reviews were from around a year or months ago, when COVID was still strong.
 
Echobeast said:
Visiting from DC, just looking for simple attractions to visit. To sum it up, this zoo should be free. You’re charged admission for a zoo with little to no animals, majority birds. Better off going to the Botanic Gardens if I wanted to see empty displays with plants.
Click to expand...

Botanical gardens still cost money! :D

~Thylo
 
Echobeast said:
I have always enjoyed the zoo... this time we went in November and it was fairly nice out so quite a few of the animals are out. They have created directional paths for walking and everybody does have to wear masks.

Always getting yelled at by staff in the park to put my mask over my nose even though I have asthma. I guess they want me to die.
Click to expand...

I hope there is a bit of irony in that comment :rolleyes:

Echobeast said:
so umm like there hills like 200000000000 of them and I was dying! Also their water fountains were broken at least 1. also the sinks their sinks were fancy so five stars for that. But there caramel wasn’t fast . follow my insta and Snapchat warrior_pablito . So umm the giraffes were cool oh but THEY WOULDNT LET YOU TIDE ON ANY OF THEM ( including the fake ones) that made me depressed.
Click to expand...

Quick everyone ! get on snapchat and instagram and follow "Pablito the warrior" to hear about his next intrepid adventure ! :rolleyes:
 
What a fun idea for a thread! The following three are some I found back in January for Chehaw Park & Zoo:

"one baby rhino in what looked like a horse stall" (includes photo of a full-grown Black Rhinoceros in an open field)
"there were 4 meer cats in a crappy little enclosure" (includes photo of Meerkats in large sandy enclosure with multiple fake termite mounds)
"snake" (animal is a Colorado River Toad)

All of the above were posted by the same girl who specifically joined TripAdvisor to review the zoo :p

While I know this is about 1-star reviews, I find these 5-star reviews for Chehaw to be equally amusing:

"Newly renovated BMX track" (posted by user Chehaw Park & Zoo)
"Zoo"

Now some from Bronx (of course):

"Worst zoo!! Because of covid 19, they designed a unfair reservation ticket system. If you had membership with them, all weekend tickets are not available to reserve now. All Oct tickets are gone!!!! But if you purchased the normal daily tickets, you could get any. If the zoo really wants to limit the people because of covid 19. Why only limit the membership group??? what is the real reason for reservation. limit people or make more money???" (I have a membership and have never had trouble reserving tickets during COVID-19 when I have attempted to visit except for one instance, where I tried booking tickets on a Saturday, day of. At that point membership tickets were unavailable (this being day of, they had been available for the Saturday a few days earlier) and they were only accepting ticket purchases.)

"There is a seal with a huge brand on its back!
They say it’s because the seal was hunting endangered fish.. but why would you burn numbers into its back and have it swimming in a pool that is way too small? This needs to be addressed" (The zoo's male sea lion does indeed have a number signed onto his back--I don't know if it's branded there, though--which was done by California authorities who identified him as a problem animal for getting too friendly with people.)

"Please stay away from this zoo until they allow Happy the lone elephant go live among other elephants at a sanctuary. They are not thinking about what is best for her. Somethings are more important than money." (Obligatory Happy the elephant misinformation)

"Expected so much more! Sadly it's nowhere near what is was twenty years ago. Hope it gets back in shape, or closes." (an opinion shared by some on here as well, though I found the "or closes" part funny)

"We flew into NYC for a short weekend, one of the highlights was suppose to be the Bronx Zoo. We had been to most of the major zoos in the US and a few internationally and my 2 year old LOVES zoos more than anything in the world. As we she was sitting in her stroller as I bought a pretzel, another small child came over and started to try to gouge her eye out with his nails. At first I thought this strange kid was just playing until I saw that my daughter was bleeding. We got her cuts cleaned out and ran out of the zoo. When I called the zoo I was told "no refunds"...no refunds? My child was randomly attacked by another visitor... I thought the BRONX WAS SAFE, IT IS NOT!"

"It is such a shame that the people who run this atrocity keep all of these beautiful animals in such a horrible place. It is packed with people and screaming kids - and no-one is thinking about the animals. It is a dirty, filthy jail for animals. It should be closed immediately."

"What is a major disappointment. I thought we lucked out by getting in in two seconds but apparently that’s not a good thing. It was terrible and it wasn’t even that cold. 95% of the animals were not viewable and it was only 45°. And a lot of the places were closed. They should not even have the It opened at this time of the year or not charge to get in!" (posted in December, why would you expect all the outdoor exhibits to be open? The zoo's website and maps even state many outdoor exhibits are closed during the winter)

There are also several 1-star reviews complaining that the zoo doesn't enforce its COVID restrictions. I find it strange, as I have seen Bronx enforce mask mandates, social distancing, and limited building capacities more so than any zoo I've visited since the start of the pandemic (which tbf are very few). On every visit I've made I have seen workers across the park enforcing new rules and workers stationed at the entrance to every indoor exhibit (as well as CGF and the Children's Zoo) to ensure that only a specific number of people are indoors at any given time.

Beardsley Zoo:

"Nothing Out of the Ordinary ,Cleanliness And Garbage issues If not for Convenience Certainly Not Recommended"

"There is nothing to see there , it looks like a farm , most of them are domestic animals, no elephants no lions.
Don't go there."

"No Bears, Many Empty & overgrown cages with posters promising that certain animals are 'Coming Soon'.
Did not see any monkeys, nothing to really "Wow" us. The Bison, alligators, and tigers were good. But not worth the $14 admission. I would have been happy paying $5 for this zoo.

Also, there is the usual "Save the earth" crap posted everywhere. And lastly, they have utterly demonic & occult figures in 2 places in the zoo... Zombies coming out of graves and a 'halloween king'...I had to distract my children so they did not see these awful images."

"Zoo awful small all they have is birds and squirrels trash ever were ask zoo keeper Greg were the apes were he said qoute go outside there plenty of them out there they ruin everything" (freakin' Greg)

"I considered reporting this Zoo to the Animal rights people for the deplorable conditions I witnessed at this Zoo. The bird building stunk so bad you could not breathe. None of the cages were very pleasant to look at much less an animal to live in 24/7!!! This place should be shut down!" (posted by a woman named Karen if that means anything to you. The zoo doesn't have a bird house)

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
What a fun idea for a thread! The following three are some I found back in January for Chehaw Park & Zoo:

"one baby rhino in what looked like a horse stall" (includes photo of a full-grown Black Rhinoceros in an open field)
"there were 4 meer cats in a crappy little enclosure" (includes photo of Meerkats in large sandy enclosure with multiple fake termite mounds)
"snake" (animal is a Colorado River Toad)

All of the above were posted by the same girl who specifically joined TripAdvisor to review the zoo :p

While I know this is about 1-star reviews, I find these 5-star reviews for Chehaw to be equally amusing:

"Newly renovated BMX track" (posted by user Chehaw Park & Zoo)
"Zoo"

Now some from Bronx (of course):

"Worst zoo!! Because of covid 19, they designed a unfair reservation ticket system. If you had membership with them, all weekend tickets are not available to reserve now. All Oct tickets are gone!!!! But if you purchased the normal daily tickets, you could get any. If the zoo really wants to limit the people because of covid 19. Why only limit the membership group??? what is the real reason for reservation. limit people or make more money???" (I have a membership and have never had trouble reserving tickets during COVID-19 when I have attempted to visit except for one instance, where I tried booking tickets on a Saturday, day of. At that point membership tickets were unavailable (this being day of, they had been available for the Saturday a few days earlier) and they were only accepting ticket purchases.)

"There is a seal with a huge brand on its back!
They say it’s because the seal was hunting endangered fish.. but why would you burn numbers into its back and have it swimming in a pool that is way too small? This needs to be addressed" (The zoo's male sea lion does indeed have a number signed onto his back--I don't know if it's branded there, though--which was done by California authorities who identified him as a problem animal for getting too friendly with people.)

"Please stay away from this zoo until they allow Happy the lone elephant go live among other elephants at a sanctuary. They are not thinking about what is best for her. Somethings are more important than money." (Obligatory Happy the elephant misinformation)

"Expected so much more! Sadly it's nowhere near what is was twenty years ago. Hope it gets back in shape, or closes." (an opinion shared by some on here as well, though I found the "or closes" part funny)

"We flew into NYC for a short weekend, one of the highlights was suppose to be the Bronx Zoo. We had been to most of the major zoos in the US and a few internationally and my 2 year old LOVES zoos more than anything in the world. As we she was sitting in her stroller as I bought a pretzel, another small child came over and started to try to gouge her eye out with his nails. At first I thought this strange kid was just playing until I saw that my daughter was bleeding. We got her cuts cleaned out and ran out of the zoo. When I called the zoo I was told "no refunds"...no refunds? My child was randomly attacked by another visitor... I thought the BRONX WAS SAFE, IT IS NOT!"

"It is such a shame that the people who run this atrocity keep all of these beautiful animals in such a horrible place. It is packed with people and screaming kids - and no-one is thinking about the animals. It is a dirty, filthy jail for animals. It should be closed immediately."

"What is a major disappointment. I thought we lucked out by getting in in two seconds but apparently that’s not a good thing. It was terrible and it wasn’t even that cold. 95% of the animals were not viewable and it was only 45°. And a lot of the places were closed. They should not even
There are also several 1-star reviews complaining that the zoo doesn't enforce its COVID restrictions. I find it strange, as I have seen Bronx enforce mask mandates, social distancing, and limited building capacities more so than any zoo I've visited since the start of the pandemic (which tbf are very few). On every visit I've made I have seen workers across the park enforcing new rules and workers stationed at the entrance to every indoor exhibit (as well as CGF and the Children's Zoo) to ensure that only a specific number of people are indoors at any given time.

Beardsley Zoo:

"Nothing Out of the Ordinary ,Cleanliness And Garbage issues If not for Convenience Certainly Not Recommended"

"There is nothing to see there , it looks like a farm , most of them are domestic animals, no elephants no lions.
Don't go there."

"No Bears, Many Empty & overgrown cages with posters promising that certain animals are 'Coming Soon'.
Did not see any monkeys, nothing to really "Wow" us. The Bison, alligators, and tigers were good. But not worth the $14 admission. I would have been happy paying $5 for this zoo.

Also, there is the usual "Save the earth" crap posted everywhere. And lastly, they have utterly demonic & occult figures in 2 places in the zoo... Zombies coming out of graves and a 'halloween king'...I had to distract my children so they did not see these awful images."

"Zoo awful small all they have is birds and squirrels trash ever were ask zoo keeper Greg were the apes were he said qoute go outside there plenty of them out there they ruin everything" (freakin' Greg)

"I considered reporting this Zoo to the Animal rights people for the deplorable conditions I witnessed at this Zoo. The bird building stunk so bad you could not breathe. None of the cages were very pleasant to look at much less an animal to live in 24/7!!! This place should be shut down!" (posted by a woman named Karen if that means anything to you. The zoo doesn't have a bird house)

~Thylo
Click to expand...
Of course, some people will rate zoos low for even having COVID restrictions. That’s simply no way for any business to avoid complains right now.
 
I often wonder if many of these reviews mentioning things that seem out of place really just posted the review to the wrong zoo and didn’t notice (or care).

A one star review for the NEW Zoo talked about how much worse it was then the nearby De Pere Nature Center, which doesn’t (and hasn’t ever) existed.
 
birdsandbats said:
The person may not have even thought that timed ticket would be a thing. I'm certainly not a fan of them. Personally I don't think that I would call that review dumb.
Click to expand...

For 1-star, I would. I do find reserved timed tickets to be extremely frustrating and limiting, though. They're probably the one COVID restriction I'm most looking forward to going away, though I do understand why they've been important.

~Thylo
 
ThylacineAlive said:
For 1-star, I would. I do find reserved timed tickets to be extremely frustrating and limiting, though. They're probably the one COVID restriction I'm most looking forward to going away, though I do understand why they've been important.

~Thylo
Click to expand...
If you had no idea timed tickets were a thing, hoping to take some children to the zoo, then get turned around at the gate? Not saying necessarily agree with the one star but it's understandable.
 
birdsandbats said:
If you had no idea timed tickets were a thing, hoping to take some children to the zoo, then get turned around at the gate? Not saying necessarily agree with the one star but it's understandable.
Click to expand...
But it is not a good reason to rate an entire facility 1 star when in a pandemic it should be at least known to check the website or something to see what restrictions are. Not the facility's fault that people don't check.
 
birdsandbats said:
If you had no idea timed tickets were a thing, hoping to take some children to the zoo, then get turned around at the gate? Not saying necessarily agree with the one star but it's understandable.
Click to expand...

As @Echobeast said, during a pandemic people should really know better than to think they can just show up at the gate. It only takes a few moments to find a zoo's COVID rules page, it's usually the first thing you see nowadays.

~Thylo
 
For the Greensboro Science Center:

They have free range chickens that walk right up to you. my adult daughters picked one up for the children to pet and an employee accused her of harassing the animals. Yelling at her across the yard. I was videoing and have it on video. I'm thankful I did not purchase a membership that day like my daughters did because it was unacceptable.

Unfortunately this person did not include the video. I would like to see that!!
 
For the Greensboro Science Center:

Extremely disappointing! The aquarium regularly stinks. On several occasions I've seen sick and dying fish in the tanks. I wasn't crazy about the paleontology area, which would have been another one of my favorites. I like the idea of the 3D displays but the voice is too muffled and you can barely understand what the host is saying. In the cafeteria the prices were too high. I was extremely annoyed with the gift shop. Again the paleontology items would have been my favorite but they were selling what were very obviously fake fossils. There were several of different kinds that were absolutely identical in every way. I've watched 2 movies so far, in the "OmniSphere". The movies are such poor quality it's hard to even make out what is going on at times and the content is mostly speculation. Now they have connected the Natural Science Center to Country park, with no handicap accessibility. They also closed Country park entrances, making even some of the simplest things, like going fishing, impossible for anybody in wheelchairs or with physical challenges. I will not be renewing my membership to the Natural Science Center again and will never be back to Country Park.

Ok let me break this down.

"The aquarium regularly stinks. On several occasions I've seen sick and dying fish in the tanks."
There have been several complaints about this, however, it literally just smells like an aquarium!! Also with as many fish as the GSC has it is very possible to see sick fish (which I have never seen, but if it happens, the staff would be working to help said fish

"I wasn't crazy about the paleontology area, which would have been another one of my favorites. I like the idea of the 3D displays but the voice is too muffled and you can barely understand what the host is saying. I might just have EXTREMLY good hearing, but I can hear the host very well.

"In the cafeteria the prices were too high." The prices are NOT bad at all!!

"was extremely annoyed with the gift shop. Again the paleontology items would have been my favorite but they were selling what were very obviously fake fossils. There were several of different kinds that were absolutely identical in every way." First off, annoyed with a gift shop!? Second why would you expect them to sell you REAL fossils, do you not know how extremely valuable those are? Third, the fossils are ALL labeled REPLICAS!!

"I've watched 2 movies so far, in the "OmniSphere". The movies are such poor quality it's hard to even make out what is going on at times and the content is mostly speculation." It's not like there's a narrator for every single one or anything:rolleyes: also there is not much speculation in these at all. The one about black holes has the most, and it is still based on FACTS!!

"Now they have connected the Natural Science Center to Country park, with no handicap accessibility. They also closed Country park entrances, making even some of the simplest things, like going fishing, impossible for anybody in wheelchairs or with physical challenges. I will not be renewing my membership to the Natural Science Center again and will never be back to Country Park." They have connected it WITH A PATHWAY!!!!! The country park entrances haven't closed, and even if the did, the GSC has NOTHING to do with this!!!!!!
 
Here is a 1-star review about Colchester Zoo:
The zoo is wonderful but at the time of our visit it was too crowded (despite the requirement to book a slot), no social distancing, and most people were not wearing masks indoors. No-one was there to ensure that the Covid measures, advertised on the zoo website, would be taken seriously. Please respect visitors by ensuring everyone's safety.

How can the zoo be wonderful and only gain 1 star?

Here are 2 1-star reviews about London Zoo@
There was no animals - WE WERE HERE FOR 3~4hrs and saw only Giraffe, Camel and butterflies …
TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE !!!!

Apr 2021 • Family
Went to the ZSL London zoo today with family. What a waste of time and money! No animals, all indoor things closed. Please don’t waste your money. One gorilla, couldn’t see him, one lion asleep couldn’t see him, one tiger somewhere couldn’t see him. Absolute rubbish for one of London’s main attractions. Gift shop is a rip off, so is food and drink! Please don’t visit! Absolute rubbish! Such a disappointed family today. Go elsewhere where there are actual animals to see. Shocking that they call this place a “Zoo”

These people must have avoided several places in the zoo
 
Paignton Zoo in May:
Terrible! no animals ..... understandable there are restrictions to areas etc but there are literally no animals, the ones you see look unhappy pacing, poor enclosures and in disrepair.
 
Dassie rat said:
Here is a 1-star review about Colchester Zoo:
The zoo is wonderful but at the time of our visit it was too crowded (despite the requirement to book a slot), no social distancing, and most people were not wearing masks indoors. No-one was there to ensure that the Covid measures, advertised on the zoo website, would be taken seriously. Please respect visitors by ensuring everyone's safety.

How can the zoo be wonderful and only gain 1 star?

Here are 2 1-star reviews about London Zoo@
There was no animals - WE WERE HERE FOR 3~4hrs and saw only Giraffe, Camel and butterflies …
TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE !!!!

Apr 2021 • Family
Went to the ZSL London zoo today with family. What a waste of time and money! No animals, all indoor things closed. Please don’t waste your money. One gorilla, couldn’t see him, one lion asleep couldn’t see him, one tiger somewhere couldn’t see him. Absolute rubbish for one of London’s main attractions. Gift shop is a rip off, so is food and drink! Please don’t visit! Absolute rubbish! Such a disappointed family today. Go elsewhere where there are actual animals to see. Shocking that they call this place a “Zoo”

These people must have avoided several places in the zoo
Click to expand...
How do they know that there were only one of each animal if they couldn't see them? Also how did they know the lion was sleeping?? I feel like they might be lying here.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top