Which zoo's to visit in Florida
- Thread starter IceQueen
- Start date
disneyzoofan
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A few more helpful hints, as I was just in Florida visiting a few locales...
If you visit Animal Kingdom Lodge, which I would suggest as it is very nice, at Jumbo House, the main resort, you can also view all of the wildlife from various stairwells that can usually be found at the end of the different arms of the resorts. Pretty much all the "appendeges" have stairwells that are outdoors, and give nice viewing areas of the various savannas.
Central Florida Zoo I also went to. It now has a lot of zipline activities for kids, I think partially to raise funding for exhibits. That being said, I only had time to visit the reptile building, and all looked nice. One thing I do enjoy about this zoo is the snakes are very active and look well taken care of. Some of the exhibits for other animals though should probably be bigger, though it's a small humble zoo, and is trying to raise money for better exhibits.
Animal Kingdom theme park mostly has animal exhibits in the front area Oasis part of the park, which is the entrance. Animal exhibits are on both paths, either right or left. Also The Tree of life has many exhibits including porcupine, lemurs, Galapagos Tortoise, macaws, nene goose, etc. There is also two exhibits in Dinoland USA of live animals, including the american crocodile (not alligator), and asian forest tortoise and abdim's stork.
Asia and Africa are the main regions with animals as Kilamanjaro Safaris has dozens of animal species, though all may not be out on a given ride, and the jeeps do not stop due to numbers of guests. They only stop if an animal is on the trail or a malfunction of some kind. Pangani Forest Trail has gorillas, gerenuk, meerkats, hippos, an aviary, and smaller animals in a research building. The train to Rafiki's Planet Watch is also in Africa.
The walkway to Asia from Africa features the Birds of wonder bird show. Also in Asia are very cool exhibits of Siamang and White cheeked gibbons where they can even go across rope like clotheslines above guests. In Asia is where Maharajah jungle trek is. It has tigers, komodo dragon, bar headed geese, muntjac, eld's deer (world's rarest deer), an aviary, and malayan flying foxes among other animals.
At Rafiki's there is some small exhibits of tamarins in habitat habit on the walkway to conservation station. Then at affection section is a petting zoo with sheep, goats, pigs, and donkeys. There also is a gopher tortoise and nile monitor nearby in outside glassed exhibits. Inside the main building is a meet and greet, stage for an animal encounter, a lot of conservation information and natural facts, and then exhibits for smaller animals like reptiles, amphibians, insects, and arachnids. The terrariums rotate som there are different ones there on given days.
Animal kingdom can be fun and the stories behind all the themeing really is cool. There are a ton of hidden mickeys in conservation station, if you know what those are.
If you visit Animal Kingdom Lodge, which I would suggest as it is very nice, at Jumbo House, the main resort, you can also view all of the wildlife from various stairwells that can usually be found at the end of the different arms of the resorts. Pretty much all the "appendeges" have stairwells that are outdoors, and give nice viewing areas of the various savannas.
Central Florida Zoo I also went to. It now has a lot of zipline activities for kids, I think partially to raise funding for exhibits. That being said, I only had time to visit the reptile building, and all looked nice. One thing I do enjoy about this zoo is the snakes are very active and look well taken care of. Some of the exhibits for other animals though should probably be bigger, though it's a small humble zoo, and is trying to raise money for better exhibits.
Animal Kingdom theme park mostly has animal exhibits in the front area Oasis part of the park, which is the entrance. Animal exhibits are on both paths, either right or left. Also The Tree of life has many exhibits including porcupine, lemurs, Galapagos Tortoise, macaws, nene goose, etc. There is also two exhibits in Dinoland USA of live animals, including the american crocodile (not alligator), and asian forest tortoise and abdim's stork.
Asia and Africa are the main regions with animals as Kilamanjaro Safaris has dozens of animal species, though all may not be out on a given ride, and the jeeps do not stop due to numbers of guests. They only stop if an animal is on the trail or a malfunction of some kind. Pangani Forest Trail has gorillas, gerenuk, meerkats, hippos, an aviary, and smaller animals in a research building. The train to Rafiki's Planet Watch is also in Africa.
The walkway to Asia from Africa features the Birds of wonder bird show. Also in Asia are very cool exhibits of Siamang and White cheeked gibbons where they can even go across rope like clotheslines above guests. In Asia is where Maharajah jungle trek is. It has tigers, komodo dragon, bar headed geese, muntjac, eld's deer (world's rarest deer), an aviary, and malayan flying foxes among other animals.
At Rafiki's there is some small exhibits of tamarins in habitat habit on the walkway to conservation station. Then at affection section is a petting zoo with sheep, goats, pigs, and donkeys. There also is a gopher tortoise and nile monitor nearby in outside glassed exhibits. Inside the main building is a meet and greet, stage for an animal encounter, a lot of conservation information and natural facts, and then exhibits for smaller animals like reptiles, amphibians, insects, and arachnids. The terrariums rotate som there are different ones there on given days.
Animal kingdom can be fun and the stories behind all the themeing really is cool. There are a ton of hidden mickeys in conservation station, if you know what those are.
Thnx for the very helpfull hints! I'll make a print of it, so we won't forget
We're really looking forward to see all the zoo's and some new species, like the gerenuk.
Since ISIS is no longer available for us, I was wondering if any of you know if there is a zoo in Florida that has pronghorns?
We're really looking forward to see all the zoo's and some new species, like the gerenuk.
Since ISIS is no longer available for us, I was wondering if any of you know if there is a zoo in Florida that has pronghorns?
Hey all,
We have returned from Florida last week and it was awesome, also thanks to the help I got here! So, thnx again!
We started with a visit to Lowry Park Zoo, which we thought was a really nice zoo. Lots of animals to see, also some new ones like two duiker species and the royal antilope. Unfortunatly we didn't see the gerenuk (according to a volunteer it shoud still be there, but we couldn't spot it). We really liked the Florida part of the zoo, a really nice way to see some of the local wildlife. The manateecenter is great. We also liked the big aviary near the entrance and the clouded leopard exhibit. We had a great day at the zoo and they make some mean fresh lemonade (which is awesome if your not used to the Florida heat)
Next up we did a tour through the everglades and saw some amazing wildlife up close and personal in Shark Valley and on the Anhinga trail.
The next day we decided to take it easy and go to the Florida Aquarium. We hoped to go on the Dolphin Ecotour there, but unfortunatly they didn't go because of maintenence work on the boat. Would be nice if they would put that on their website in advance, we checked that the night before we went. It's a really nice aquarium, a great way to see some of the local oceandwellers. We loved the big dome with all the birds, otters and low aguariums. We also loved the Seadragons, hadn't seen both species before that day,se really cool. The other exhibits were fine, but are used to some quality aquaria from Rotterdam Zoo and Burgers' Zoo, so it's hard to really impress us. But we had a nice few hours and saw some wild pelicans fly by, so that was cool.
After that it was D-Day: Disney's Animal Kingdom. If I had to describe the whole experience in one word, I would say: insane! I don't know if you guys know the term erlebnis zoo? We use it here in Europa for zoo's who are really good in thematizing to perfection. Well that was a triple erlebnis experience. It's just beautifully made and it looks like the animals have lots of space and are well cared for, which I think is pretty important, especially for a themepark moneymaker like Disney. We did the safari three times and I still had trouble with taking pictures It's too bad they don't have any viewpoints outside the ride, I would be happy with even one!
We didn't see the gerenuk, I think it's supposed to be next to the meerkats? The sign was gone and we only saw the meerkats. We enjoyed ourselves and were happy we weren't overthrown with Disneycharacters.
Next up was another wildlife day, saw manatees and went on a turtlewatch, which was awesome.
After that we drove all the way to Miami to visit the zoo. Well, what can I say, it's just a fantastic zoo! I think it was one of the hottest days of the week and it's so large we only managed to see everything once, but it was awesome! It's huge! No zoo in Europe even comes close to it and they have some great animals and exhibits. We are totally in love with Amazon and Beyond, never seen a South American themed area as big and as beautiful and with so many species. And, yes, we finally saw some gerenuks! We saw a mother with two calves (one from 2010 and one from 2011), so that was great, they really are extraordinary creatures to see. We also liked the Wings of Asia aviary, wish I'd had more time to spot more birds, but we still had so much too see, we just had to move on.
So, had a wonderful day. Miami is definatly our favorite from the whole trip.
We were totally beat from the long day driving to Miami and walking through the zoo, so next day: no plans, just did some shopping and went to see the Animal Kingdom Lodges, which were very nice, talked to some very nice staffmembers about the animals and Africa.
Jacksonville Zoo was next on our list. Unfortunatly it was raining all the way to the zoo and also for the first hour in the zoo. Thankfully it cleared up and had nice, dry day after that. Also a very likeable zoo. I like the way they built the zoo with one main way and all the loops for different areas. Liked the Plains of Africa. Also really cool to see so many wild woodstorks. Range of the Jaguar is also great! I understand why they won an award for that. Really nice jaguar exhibits and also some other great animals from South America. Not as impressive as Amazon and Beyond, but still really, really nice! The only loop we did three times! Wasn't that impressed with Australia and Asia, but I liked Great Apes, lots of space for gorilla's and I always appreciate it when a zoo houses a family group and an all male group. Wild Florida is nice as well, again a good way to see the local wildlife. Actually identified a snake there we saw when we went to look for manatees.
We had to go away early, because we had a long drive ahead of us to Atlanta. Slept in a motel and went to Georgia Aquarium the next day!
Well, getting inside was an experience in itself, with the whole securaty thing. I expect that at Disney, not at an aquarium. What can I say... It's huge! Decided to save Ocean Voyager for last and did all the other stuff first. I totally hated the Dolphin show, I only went because you get a time on your ticket for it and the entence fee is quite high, so we wanted to see every little thing. And what's that crap about not being allowed to take photographs? Because it might stress the animals? What bullocks! If you don't use a flash, the animals really wouldn't notice with all the loud noise and lightstuff going on around them. I was really annoyed by that.
We liked the River Scout area, it was nicely done. Also liked the beluga's, although it's too bad you can only watch them through the rounded window. First time we saw Southern sea otters, we used to have the other species in Rotterdam Zoo.
So after even seeing the 3D show, we finally went to Ocean Voyager and that totally blew us away! Love the build up to the big window with the small windows and the tunnel first. Then you take a turn and you see this huge window (it's much higher than the one in Burgers' Zoo, but about the same in length) with al these amazing creatures! I'm totally in love with whalesharks and Mantarays, they are beautifull! We spent two hours watching everything swimming by, it was awesome! Totally forgot about the things that annoyed me earlier on.
We finally had to pull ourselves away cause we also wanted to visit Zoo Atlanta before we had to drive 7 hours back to Orlando.
Unfortunatly it was a rainy day outside, had a few dry moments walking through the zoo. It really began pouring when we walked out of the zoo. We knew it was a small zoo, it took us about 2,5 hours to see everything. Also a really nice zoo with really big, impressive exhibits for the gorilla's and four panda's, wow! 2,5 hours well spent.
It was a long drive back and the next day we were going back to the Netherlands, but not before we spent a few hours in Central Florida Zoo, which was near the airport (Sanford). It was very hot again so we did just one round and then escaped to our car to cool off But we thought it was a nice small zoo. I understand they don't have much money, so I don't blame them for the small exhibits, you have to make due with what you have. Had a talk with a really nice lady from the zoo who told us some things about the zoo, so that was nice.
And then it was time to go home. All in all a great experience. Saw some wonderfull zoo's and incredible wildlife, would do it all again in a heartbeat!
Most impressive were Miami, Animal Kingdom and Georgia (just don't go to the dolphinshow). But I also really liked Lowry Park and Jacksonville, would recommand them to anyone who was going to Florida. The other zoo's were also nice to see, but probably wouldn't visit them again.
Thanks again for helping me in this topic!
We have returned from Florida last week and it was awesome, also thanks to the help I got here! So, thnx again!
We started with a visit to Lowry Park Zoo, which we thought was a really nice zoo. Lots of animals to see, also some new ones like two duiker species and the royal antilope. Unfortunatly we didn't see the gerenuk (according to a volunteer it shoud still be there, but we couldn't spot it). We really liked the Florida part of the zoo, a really nice way to see some of the local wildlife. The manateecenter is great. We also liked the big aviary near the entrance and the clouded leopard exhibit. We had a great day at the zoo and they make some mean fresh lemonade (which is awesome if your not used to the Florida heat)
Next up we did a tour through the everglades and saw some amazing wildlife up close and personal in Shark Valley and on the Anhinga trail.
The next day we decided to take it easy and go to the Florida Aquarium. We hoped to go on the Dolphin Ecotour there, but unfortunatly they didn't go because of maintenence work on the boat. Would be nice if they would put that on their website in advance, we checked that the night before we went. It's a really nice aquarium, a great way to see some of the local oceandwellers. We loved the big dome with all the birds, otters and low aguariums. We also loved the Seadragons, hadn't seen both species before that day,se really cool. The other exhibits were fine, but are used to some quality aquaria from Rotterdam Zoo and Burgers' Zoo, so it's hard to really impress us. But we had a nice few hours and saw some wild pelicans fly by, so that was cool.
After that it was D-Day: Disney's Animal Kingdom. If I had to describe the whole experience in one word, I would say: insane! I don't know if you guys know the term erlebnis zoo? We use it here in Europa for zoo's who are really good in thematizing to perfection. Well that was a triple erlebnis experience. It's just beautifully made and it looks like the animals have lots of space and are well cared for, which I think is pretty important, especially for a themepark moneymaker like Disney. We did the safari three times and I still had trouble with taking pictures
It's too bad they don't have any viewpoints outside the ride, I would be happy with even one! We didn't see the gerenuk, I think it's supposed to be next to the meerkats? The sign was gone and we only saw the meerkats. We enjoyed ourselves and were happy we weren't overthrown with Disneycharacters.
Next up was another wildlife day, saw manatees and went on a turtlewatch, which was awesome.
After that we drove all the way to Miami to visit the zoo. Well, what can I say, it's just a fantastic zoo! I think it was one of the hottest days of the week and it's so large we only managed to see everything once, but it was awesome! It's huge! No zoo in Europe even comes close to it and they have some great animals and exhibits. We are totally in love with Amazon and Beyond, never seen a South American themed area as big and as beautiful and with so many species. And, yes, we finally saw some gerenuks! We saw a mother with two calves (one from 2010 and one from 2011), so that was great, they really are extraordinary creatures to see. We also liked the Wings of Asia aviary, wish I'd had more time to spot more birds, but we still had so much too see, we just had to move on.
So, had a wonderful day. Miami is definatly our favorite from the whole trip.
We were totally beat from the long day driving to Miami and walking through the zoo, so next day: no plans, just did some shopping and went to see the Animal Kingdom Lodges, which were very nice, talked to some very nice staffmembers about the animals and Africa.
Jacksonville Zoo was next on our list. Unfortunatly it was raining all the way to the zoo and also for the first hour in the zoo. Thankfully it cleared up and had nice, dry day after that. Also a very likeable zoo. I like the way they built the zoo with one main way and all the loops for different areas. Liked the Plains of Africa. Also really cool to see so many wild woodstorks. Range of the Jaguar is also great! I understand why they won an award for that. Really nice jaguar exhibits and also some other great animals from South America. Not as impressive as Amazon and Beyond, but still really, really nice! The only loop we did three times! Wasn't that impressed with Australia and Asia, but I liked Great Apes, lots of space for gorilla's and I always appreciate it when a zoo houses a family group and an all male group. Wild Florida is nice as well, again a good way to see the local wildlife. Actually identified a snake there we saw when we went to look for manatees.
We had to go away early, because we had a long drive ahead of us to Atlanta. Slept in a motel and went to Georgia Aquarium the next day!
Well, getting inside was an experience in itself, with the whole securaty thing. I expect that at Disney, not at an aquarium. What can I say... It's huge! Decided to save Ocean Voyager for last and did all the other stuff first. I totally hated the Dolphin show, I only went because you get a time on your ticket for it and the entence fee is quite high, so we wanted to see every little thing. And what's that crap about not being allowed to take photographs? Because it might stress the animals? What bullocks! If you don't use a flash, the animals really wouldn't notice with all the loud noise and lightstuff going on around them. I was really annoyed by that.
We liked the River Scout area, it was nicely done. Also liked the beluga's, although it's too bad you can only watch them through the rounded window. First time we saw Southern sea otters, we used to have the other species in Rotterdam Zoo.
So after even seeing the 3D show, we finally went to Ocean Voyager and that totally blew us away! Love the build up to the big window with the small windows and the tunnel first. Then you take a turn and you see this huge window (it's much higher than the one in Burgers' Zoo, but about the same in length) with al these amazing creatures! I'm totally in love with whalesharks and Mantarays, they are beautifull! We spent two hours watching everything swimming by, it was awesome! Totally forgot about the things that annoyed me earlier on.
We finally had to pull ourselves away cause we also wanted to visit Zoo Atlanta before we had to drive 7 hours back to Orlando.
Unfortunatly it was a rainy day outside, had a few dry moments walking through the zoo. It really began pouring when we walked out of the zoo. We knew it was a small zoo, it took us about 2,5 hours to see everything. Also a really nice zoo with really big, impressive exhibits for the gorilla's and four panda's, wow! 2,5 hours well spent.
It was a long drive back and the next day we were going back to the Netherlands, but not before we spent a few hours in Central Florida Zoo, which was near the airport (Sanford). It was very hot again so we did just one round and then escaped to our car to cool off
But we thought it was a nice small zoo. I understand they don't have much money, so I don't blame them for the small exhibits, you have to make due with what you have. Had a talk with a really nice lady from the zoo who told us some things about the zoo, so that was nice. And then it was time to go home. All in all a great experience. Saw some wonderfull zoo's and incredible wildlife, would do it all again in a heartbeat!
Most impressive were Miami, Animal Kingdom and Georgia (just don't go to the dolphinshow). But I also really liked Lowry Park and Jacksonville, would recommand them to anyone who was going to Florida. The other zoo's were also nice to see, but probably wouldn't visit them again.
Thanks again for helping me in this topic!