Easily a one day zoo. Even having taken that bts tour of the Asian exhibit and having done an animal encounter, I managed the whole park fairly easily with time for a second go on the safari.
~Thylo
Two-Day Zoos
- Thread starter snowleopard
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Easily a one day zoo. Even having taken that bts tour of the Asian exhibit and having done an animal encounter, I managed the whole park fairly easily with time for a second go on the safari.
~Thylo
@ShonenJake13 one interesting note is that you would probably have been able to finish Leipzig, Wroclaw, Prague, and Berlin Zoo significantly quicker had you visited by yourself, as I take much, much longer than you in aquariums and reptile and invertebrate house.
~Thylo
~Thylo
Give me some creditPrague, Berlin and Wroclaw I would take my time with
Of course, I just remember taking over twice as long in Berlin's aquarium as yourself and David
~Thylo
Whilst some of the answers are contradictory on whether certain zoos are one day or two day affairs I think this thread is invaluable. Once you find someone whose answers are consistent with your own for how long a particular collection (or, ideally, more) takes you can then pretty much rely on their timings for other collections you're yet to visit. Brilliant bench-marking. 
I’ve been visiting STL my whole life and for me it’s more of a half-day zoo. During the winter (like my most recent visit) it was especially sparse- I finished in less than 3 hours, even spending a far more significant amount of time in the reptile house (for photography) than I usually would.
Taronga Western Plains Zoo (aka Dubbo Zoo) doesn't have a huge number of animals - but they are quite spread out, and there is a lot of area to cover - especially when doing it by foot or by bike.
Our first trip there we did over two days, including staying overnight in their "safari tents" - and we were certainly not bored - the extra time gave us plenty of opportunity to explore some of the walking trails most visitors wouldn't see and spend more time watching the animals.
Also, tickets are valid for two consecutive days - so they actually encourage you to come back a second day!
The zoo can certainly be done in a single visit - but it's nice to take your time and do it over two days.
Our first trip there we did over two days, including staying overnight in their "safari tents" - and we were certainly not bored - the extra time gave us plenty of opportunity to explore some of the walking trails most visitors wouldn't see and spend more time watching the animals.
Also, tickets are valid for two consecutive days - so they actually encourage you to come back a second day!
The zoo can certainly be done in a single visit - but it's nice to take your time and do it over two days.
Wow, that's very little time. I'll grant you that it definitely wouldn't take me a full day in winter (I've typically only gone in spring/summer/fall) but when it's not cold outside it's always easily a full day for me.
General breakdowns for me are:
Children's Zoo: 20-30 minutes
Insectarium: 15-20 minutes
Penguins & Bears: 20-30 minutes
Apes: 30 minutes (up to 45 if there is interesting behavior)
Reptile House: 45 minutes-1 hour
Primate House: 20 minutes
Bird House & Gardens & 1904 Flight Cage: 1 hour-1 hour 15 minutes
Big Cat Country & Red Rocks: 1 hour
River's Edge: 1 hour
Not including time spent walking between locations, eating lunch, and using restroom, that equals a minimum of 5 hours 30 minutes. That makes sense to me, as I would normally get there between 9 and 10 am and leave between 3 and 4 pm. Sometimes I would skip the Children's Zoo, Insectarium, Big Cats, or Flight Cage, in which case it would be shorter or I'd spend more time watching animals elsewhere.
I really like that! More zoos should consider something like this; the percentage of people that would spend two days in a zoo is undoubtedly very low so I doubt it'd really cause for any relevant loss on that front, but it does encourage people to consider overnight stays, and has the potential to generate extra profits from people spending extra on meals/parking fees/etc.
On my visit in 2017 Bronx actually had a similar system in place; it wasn't advertised well, but on the receipt there was a link and code to a site where I could fill in a rather elaborate review and get a free ticket for a next visit within a relatively small time frame. I don't know if it's a temporary or permanent thing, but I definitely made good use of it! It's definitely an interesting and encouraging way to get more in-depth information from the visitors' perspective (of people that like the zoo enough to want to spend multiple days there).
Not to mention it can feed money into the local economy, if people stay in the area longer and pay more for lodging/food/other recreation.
On my visit it was something like:
CZ: none (it was closed for a few days. Generally 20-30 minutes)
Insectarium: 10 minutes (just checking for additions since last time. Found out the arctic bees on exhibit aren’t alive- hadn’t looked closely enough before)
Penguins/Bears: 15 minutes (king eider would’ve kept me another 10. The bears were nowhere to be seen)
Apes: 10 minutes. All indoors and next to no activity.
Reptile House: 1.5 hours. I wanted decent photos of some of their rarer species and was having problems finding two of the amphibians (unfortunately never ended up doing so)
Prímate House: 5 minutes (I see all the species pretty regularly, with the exception of spectacled langur and black lemur. The langurs are still roped off and therefore hard to even see, and the lemur was unsigned and not found)
Bird House/Gardens: 30 minutes. Far less species than normal, indoors and out.
Big Cat Country/Red Rocks: 15 minutes. Cat Country was closed, and a sweep of the Antelope House brought me most of the species (I did briefly check outdoors). I see almost all of them regularly.
Rivers’ Edge: 15 minutes (again, nearly everything was nowhere to be found).
These are all estimates, though they do add up to about 3 hours. I definitely would spend a lot more time in River’s Edge had the species been out, same with Red Rocks. I also probably would’ve taken a bit longer on a normal visit but I had a very busy day so I just wanted to make sure I got in and out quickly (while still enjoying myself, hence the time spent in the Reptile House inside from the cold weather). I’d say a more normal visiting time for me would be about 4 hours, which is still a lot less than most people.
Good to know.
FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
I was there last July. The Zoo closes at 18:00 and the Night Safari starts about 19:30 so there's no overlap.
I spent the day at the zoo, but left early - around 16:00 - to include the River Safari, which I rushed through. Although it closes at 19:00 many of the attractions (like the Reservoir Cruise and the Amazon River Quest) close early.
So I left the Zoo early in order to see the River Safari. I could have spent longer at the zoo, but as the day had gone on and the time was approaching to leave for the River Safari, I started to hurry past some densely vegetated exhibits - like the primates - and in some exhibits where I couldn't see the occupant I just kept walking. As it was, I missed a Penguin exhibit and I suspect a couple of other exhibits too. So I could have happily spent another half day at the zoo, then spent a relaxed half day at the River Safari, instead of racing through it before darkness fell like I did this time.
I made the mistake of doing the Zoo, River Safari and Night Safari all in the one day. 20 years ago I could have easily managed it, but this time I found it too much and I left the Night Safari at 9:00pm after only about 90 minutes, completely exhausted and with some aching muscles. Next time I'll do the Night Safari on it's own.
Hix
I think the zoo deserves a whole day and at that point most people will be tired from the heat. Much better to twin Night Safari with River Safari, for a relaxed afternoon and evening of zooing. Given the relative inconvenience of the reservoir site I think three separate trips is undesirable (which makes me really hope some affordable accommodation will be found much closer in the future).
FunkyGibbon
Well-Known Member
If you book two nights at Dvur Kralove's campsite then entrance to the zoo is free for the duration of your visit. The zoo certainly doesn't need more than one day, but the extra late evening and early morning really allow you to enjoy the best parts of the zoo. And it's cheap!
Of course, I just remember taking over twice as long in Berlin's aquarium as yourself and David
~Thylo
There are significantly worse places to linger over!
I realised I would not see everything in one day, and I had seen this section of the zoo soon after it opened (ok 20 years ago). I also planned not to see the giant panda and the old section with bears etc, however I ended up walking through on the way out. Plus my priority is good smaller exhibits (not tigers or hippos) and birds, but now I guess you are going to tell me that there are now some fantastic exhibits down that way... But more to the point re this thread I could have seen this if I had not gone to the three big walkthrough aviaries twice so that does make it a day for the zoo if I had decided to go that way.
I've done this before (though just for one night) and, yes, it's well worth it, at least once.
Interesting stuff.....
I've visited most of the '2-day' zoos on this list, and have seen pretty much everything in one day. Paira Daiza was the only one that I missed anything of note...and that was partly because I spent a lot of time early on trying to get photos of the macaws.
That said, 'seeing' isn't 'photographing' and I'm not one for simple written lists...I want to get at least a passable photo of everything I haven't seen before (or haven't already got good photos of). This can burn large amounts of time...especially for birds, small mammals, reptiles, etc. where patience, return visits and difficult photographic conditions are involved.
Another factor is how far I have travelled, how much I expended in getting there and the likelihood of a return visit (at least in the near future). So, for many of these zoos, I have visited over 2 days, but spent the first day 'seeing' and photographing the zoo itself, and the second day on particular species. For example, I did two days at San Diego Zoo last year instead of doing at day each at the zoo and safari park........
I've visited most of the '2-day' zoos on this list, and have seen pretty much everything in one day. Paira Daiza was the only one that I missed anything of note...and that was partly because I spent a lot of time early on trying to get photos of the macaws.
That said, 'seeing' isn't 'photographing' and I'm not one for simple written lists...I want to get at least a passable photo of everything I haven't seen before (or haven't already got good photos of). This can burn large amounts of time...especially for birds, small mammals, reptiles, etc. where patience, return visits and difficult photographic conditions are involved.
Another factor is how far I have travelled, how much I expended in getting there and the likelihood of a return visit (at least in the near future). So, for many of these zoos, I have visited over 2 days, but spent the first day 'seeing' and photographing the zoo itself, and the second day on particular species. For example, I did two days at San Diego Zoo last year instead of doing at day each at the zoo and safari park........
Of those I've visited, I'd say Toronto and Bronx both require two days.
I visited Toronto at least a half dozen times while dating a Canadian and we never managed to do the entire place in a single visit, even with getting there at opening in both winter and spring. I always had to see the cheetahs and australia building, beyond that I've seen the other sections 1-3 times each.
I've been to Bronx once and didn't fit it all in, though I did lose 2+ hours at the beginning due to doing a behind the scenes thing (had to meet 45 minutes after opening so didn't really have time to do anything). Waiting in line for the monorail eats up time, as does simply walking to and from each part. Because of the way the zoo was built and added on, there is no way to do the paths without repeating at least one or two sections.
I was able to do Omaha in a day, even though I have trouble getting around; the only thing I didn't do was the butterfly/insect building, but I left 90 mins before closing. I spent a large amount of time in the dome and the jungle, and took several breaks to eat.
For me, the National/Smithsonian Zoo is a struggle to do in one day because of my health. I've given up on being able to do it all at once again. You can sort of do it in a loop but it's all on a major slope. Of all the zoos I've been to, it is the most difficult.
I visited Toronto at least a half dozen times while dating a Canadian and we never managed to do the entire place in a single visit, even with getting there at opening in both winter and spring. I always had to see the cheetahs and australia building, beyond that I've seen the other sections 1-3 times each.
I've been to Bronx once and didn't fit it all in, though I did lose 2+ hours at the beginning due to doing a behind the scenes thing (had to meet 45 minutes after opening so didn't really have time to do anything). Waiting in line for the monorail eats up time, as does simply walking to and from each part. Because of the way the zoo was built and added on, there is no way to do the paths without repeating at least one or two sections.
I was able to do Omaha in a day, even though I have trouble getting around; the only thing I didn't do was the butterfly/insect building, but I left 90 mins before closing. I spent a large amount of time in the dome and the jungle, and took several breaks to eat.
For me, the National/Smithsonian Zoo is a struggle to do in one day because of my health. I've given up on being able to do it all at once again. You can sort of do it in a loop but it's all on a major slope. Of all the zoos I've been to, it is the most difficult.