NZ Jeremy
Well-Known Member
The mark of a true zoofan if there is even the thought of leaving the hotel room long enough to see the zoo...
or will my post be met with
?
Zoo Miami Zoo Miami 2008-2010
- Thread starter CZJimmy
- Start date
The mark of a true zoofan if there is even the thought of leaving the hotel room long enough to see the zoo...
or will my post be met with
?
@NZ Jeremy: hilarious post! After not seeing my wife for 10 weeks I'll have to convince her that the best way to spend time together will be to tour DAK, Miami Metrozoo and perhaps Lowry Park or Busch Gardens in Tampa. That way we'll get to see a few great Florida zoos before embarking on our cruise. She was pushing for the cruise holiday and so I'm sure she'll let me toss in a few zoos before we head out. Haha.
Zooplantman
Well-Known Member
Good point! I thought the Lodge was worth the visit as well. Cool architecture, nice (although crazy noisy) restaurant and savanna views separate from the exhibits at the main DAK!
I would definitely visit Busch Gardens. It has a great Lion exhibit and underwater hippos (although San Diego's is better), they also have a spacious Asian elephant habitat with 5 asian elephants and a nice gorilla exhibit. Lowry Park is probably the weakest of the major florida zoos, although they do have nice exhibits for elephants, white rhinos, indian rhinos, and manatees.
Hi snowleopard
just came back from florida
could you post a review of all the zoos you visit then in your road trip thread?
DAK, as long as you are looking at the zoological point of veiw, DAK can be done in one day
P.S
Just a xtra fact,
the hole of magic kingdom can fit in the kilimanjaro reserve with space left over!
the kilimanjaro reserve at DAK is by far (in my opinian) the most natural exhibit ever to be seen the face of the earth!
just came back from florida
could you post a review of all the zoos you visit then in your road trip thread?
DAK, as long as you are looking at the zoological point of veiw, DAK can be done in one day
P.S
Just a xtra fact,
the hole of magic kingdom can fit in the kilimanjaro reserve with space left over!
the kilimanjaro reserve at DAK is by far (in my opinian) the most natural exhibit ever to be seen the face of the earth!
ANyhuis
Well-Known Member
SnowLeopard,
You amaze me -- you just finished that huge Epic Zoo Tour, and now you're back on your way to do some Florida zoos! I'll look forward to hearing of your impressions of the Miami Metrozoo -- I love it! One of the best things about the new "Amazon and Beyond" is that it will complete the zoo's largest loops. For now, you walk a long trail passing many African animals, and then at the end -- you turn around (or catch the monorail).
As for recommendations, you have NOT seen all of the world's best zoos if you haven't seen Disney's Animal Kingdom. Their Kilamanjaro Safari is simply amazing. I picked it as the #1 overall zoo exhibit in the nation in our book! I very nearly put their Asian animal trail exhibit (Maharajah Jungle Trek) very nearly made my Top 25 Exhibits list as well. Both it and their African trail (Pangani Forest Exploration Trail) would make a "Top 50" exhibits list. DAK is THAT good! Also, their shows and rides are Disney-quality excellent! Don't miss them!
If you want to do a 3rd Florida zoo, you should do either Busch Gardens or Jacksonville. Busch is closer (to DAK), but if money is tight, it's a bit expensive (especially after paying for Disney). As for Jacksonville, both Jon (my coauthor) and I put their new "Range of the Jaguar" exhibit in our Top 15, and it caused us to name Jacksonville as the best zoo in the nation for displaying South American animals. We think that Miami may soon be a strong challenger for that title.
You amaze me -- you just finished that huge Epic Zoo Tour, and now you're back on your way to do some Florida zoos! I'll look forward to hearing of your impressions of the Miami Metrozoo -- I love it! One of the best things about the new "Amazon and Beyond" is that it will complete the zoo's largest loops. For now, you walk a long trail passing many African animals, and then at the end -- you turn around (or catch the monorail).
As for recommendations, you have NOT seen all of the world's best zoos if you haven't seen Disney's Animal Kingdom. Their Kilamanjaro Safari is simply amazing. I picked it as the #1 overall zoo exhibit in the nation in our book! I very nearly put their Asian animal trail exhibit (Maharajah Jungle Trek) very nearly made my Top 25 Exhibits list as well. Both it and their African trail (Pangani Forest Exploration Trail) would make a "Top 50" exhibits list. DAK is THAT good! Also, their shows and rides are Disney-quality excellent! Don't miss them!
If you want to do a 3rd Florida zoo, you should do either Busch Gardens or Jacksonville. Busch is closer (to DAK), but if money is tight, it's a bit expensive (especially after paying for Disney). As for Jacksonville, both Jon (my coauthor) and I put their new "Range of the Jaguar" exhibit in our Top 15, and it caused us to name Jacksonville as the best zoo in the nation for displaying South American animals. We think that Miami may soon be a strong challenger for that title.
I've had loads of suggestions and comments, and I'd like to extend my thanks to all that have posted on this thread. There have also been 5-6 people that have sent private messages in response to mine, and I appreciate all of the comments and tidbits of information that has come my way. This Florida trip is booked and ready to go, but it is only 5 nights and I really want to spend a lot of time with my wife Debbie both in Florida and once we go on our 7 night cruise afterwards. I've been teaching in Trinidad & Tobago since the end of September, and even though I talk to my wife every other day it's not the same as being together in person. We've been travelling like crazy in both 2007 (Australia for 6 weeks plus some shorter holidays) and 2008 (summer road trip and now December vacation) and the plan right now is to probably stay home during the entirety of 2009 and start saving money again!
Miami Metrozoo is a definite guarantee, and to be honest originally I was planning for us to remain in Miami and take it easy for the full 5 days. However, after the zoo there are lots of gator farms and places like Monkey Jungle, Parrot Jungle, Miami Seaquarium, etc that are not very highly regarded and so we have begun to look beyond that city. Now we are are leaning towards having a mini road trip, but nothing like our 8 week, 30 zoo/aquarium trip last summer. This one will perhaps be 4 places, and judging from the responses I'd have to be crazy to skip Disney's Animal Kingdom so I'm pencilling that establishment as the #2 stop on the Florida tour.
Deciding on the final two zoos is tricky, as I've been to San Diego Seaworld in 2006 and so can skip Orlando's version of dancing killer whales. Busch Gardens is half rollercoasters and half high quality exhibits and so that makes it a definite possibility, but because of its similarity to DAK and the outrageous price we're undecided in that regard. The city of Jacksonville would be a definite must see for many reasons and is still a candidate, but the fact that it is so far from Miami is troublesome. I've also had a short list of other zoos that might interest me, and it seems like half of the planning for road trips are simply figuring out the driving logistics to different locations.
Anyway, I will figure it all out in the next 3 weeks...and then naturally some comprehensive reviews and a few hundred photos will follow just before Christmas.
Miami Metrozoo is a definite guarantee, and to be honest originally I was planning for us to remain in Miami and take it easy for the full 5 days. However, after the zoo there are lots of gator farms and places like Monkey Jungle, Parrot Jungle, Miami Seaquarium, etc that are not very highly regarded and so we have begun to look beyond that city. Now we are are leaning towards having a mini road trip, but nothing like our 8 week, 30 zoo/aquarium trip last summer. This one will perhaps be 4 places, and judging from the responses I'd have to be crazy to skip Disney's Animal Kingdom so I'm pencilling that establishment as the #2 stop on the Florida tour.
Deciding on the final two zoos is tricky, as I've been to San Diego Seaworld in 2006 and so can skip Orlando's version of dancing killer whales. Busch Gardens is half rollercoasters and half high quality exhibits and so that makes it a definite possibility, but because of its similarity to DAK and the outrageous price we're undecided in that regard. The city of Jacksonville would be a definite must see for many reasons and is still a candidate, but the fact that it is so far from Miami is troublesome. I've also had a short list of other zoos that might interest me, and it seems like half of the planning for road trips are simply figuring out the driving logistics to different locations.
Anyway, I will figure it all out in the next 3 weeks...and then naturally some comprehensive reviews and a few hundred photos will follow just before Christmas.
Why not take a visit to Lowry park in Tampa, i visited there in 1999, and the highlight for me was the walk through aviary and the manatee exhibits, would love to re visit and see the new African area, shoebill and okapi in there two of my favourites along with a pair of Indian rhino.
@kiang: I've had 4 people message me privately who all rank DAK, Miami Metrozoo, Jacksonville and Busch Gardens as arguably the 4 best zoos in the State of Florida. Lowry Park Zoo has been mentioned to me, but it is apparently not in the same league as the others. I'm leaning towards driving to northern Florida and then heading south, and so that would mean Jacksonville Zoo, DAK and Metrozoo for sure...and a 4th to be decided.
Having visited both Lowry park and Busch gardens albeit 10 years ago and at that time the safari was closed at Busch for refurbishment, and with all the developments at LPZ i would choose LPZ as a serious zoo visitor no distractions from rollercoasters and African dance troops.
But people forget Florida is about the same size as the UK and the travelling must be a real toll, but you are the man who drove across near enough the whole of the USA, this should be like a trip to the shops for you.
Looking forward to your excellent reviews.
P.S If you are in the Orlando area Gatorland might be worth a few hours if only to see the only complete collection of crocodilians in the world.
But people forget Florida is about the same size as the UK and the travelling must be a real toll, but you are the man who drove across near enough the whole of the USA, this should be like a trip to the shops for you.
Looking forward to your excellent reviews.
P.S If you are in the Orlando area Gatorland might be worth a few hours if only to see the only complete collection of crocodilians in the world.
Not a bad shout there, Kiang
I was quite impressed with Gatorland when I visited, albeit 8 years ago.
You are mistaken, St Augustine Alligator Farm has the only complete collection of crocodilians at least in North America. Gatorland has only a few of the many crocodilian species...however, their gator tail is rather tasty.
Lowry Park would be the one to skip over Busch gardens. Busch Gardens has the Edge of Africa, a state-of-the-art African exhibit with an awesome Lion exhibit, and the 3rd of 4th best Underwater Hippo exhibit. They also have an entertaining group of Asian Elephants (Don't miss the elephant talk; Last time I was there in October they gave the elephants gatorade-sicles, very entertaining to watch), 3-4 Nile crocodile exhibits, 2 alligator exhibits, the new Jungala, a 65-acre African plain, Rhino Rally (which includes a baby African buffalo, and a Black Rhino (my personal favorite animal). Lowry Park on the other hand has an above average elephant exhibit, great White Rhino exhibit, baby pygmy hippo, some below-average native-florida animal exhibits, A great Manatee exhibit, an average tiger habitat, sloth bear grotto, average indian rhino exhibit. Busch is way better than Lowry Park.
A visit to Lowry Park would not allow you to avoid "roller coasters and African dancing troupes", alas. It has become very "theme-parkish" in the past decade, needing to compete for leisure time dollars in the context of operating with very little city financial support.
Just last year, a portion of the zoo's otherwise nice Florida exhibit was replaced by a flume ride, to add to the overhead tram, train, jeep rides etc. And although there are differing opinions expressed here, I found the new African exhibits very amateurishly done.
Then again there are the Shoebills to consider......
If you have one day in Tampa, go to Busch Gardens and hold your nose past the commercialized stuff on the way to the really good exhibits.
Just last year, a portion of the zoo's otherwise nice Florida exhibit was replaced by a flume ride, to add to the overhead tram, train, jeep rides etc. And although there are differing opinions expressed here, I found the new African exhibits very amateurishly done.
Then again there are the Shoebills to consider......
If you have one day in Tampa, go to Busch Gardens and hold your nose past the commercialized stuff on the way to the really good exhibits.
The Florida exhibit is not that nice. The alligator pool is filthy, you can barely see the American crocodile, the black bear is for some reason never out, the board-walk is falling apart except near the flume-ride, the snakes are displayed in tiny boxes, the florida-panther exhibit is well planted and ll, but lacks size, and the list goes on and on. Te Florida-section is not great at all and has been done better at other zoos. The only decent part of the Florida section is the excellent Manatee exhibit.Probably 90% of Lowry Parks exhibits are either of average or below average quality.
The Asian Gardens there recently went through a renovation, but the exhibits are still extremly average. The baby tapir and mother recently died so there is just the fther Malayan Tapir in an exhibit that has been done better in many other zoos. The tiger exhibit is average. The Indian rhino exhibit is average. The sloth-bear exhibit is basically a grotto and all the bears do is pace all day or sleep.
The Safari Africa is nice, but African Savannas have been replicated better in many other zoos like SDWAP, Kansas City, Disney, BUSCH GARDENS, Dallas, Toledo, Honolulu, North Carolina, Heck even Cleveland has a better African savanna exhibit. The elephant exhibit is 1 acre. Busch Gardens elephant exhibit is 1.5 acres. The white rhino exhibit is nice, but Busch has 11 White Rhinos on a huge plain as oppose to three white rhinos in an exhibit about .5 acres in size.
My point is is that everything at Lowry Park has been done better at other zoos. Their feature exhibit is Safari Africa, and Busch Gardens does a much better job of displaying African wildlife. If you had to choose between Busch Gardens or Lowry Park, without hesitation pick Busch Gardens.
The Asian Gardens there recently went through a renovation, but the exhibits are still extremly average. The baby tapir and mother recently died so there is just the fther Malayan Tapir in an exhibit that has been done better in many other zoos. The tiger exhibit is average. The Indian rhino exhibit is average. The sloth-bear exhibit is basically a grotto and all the bears do is pace all day or sleep.
The Safari Africa is nice, but African Savannas have been replicated better in many other zoos like SDWAP, Kansas City, Disney, BUSCH GARDENS, Dallas, Toledo, Honolulu, North Carolina, Heck even Cleveland has a better African savanna exhibit. The elephant exhibit is 1 acre. Busch Gardens elephant exhibit is 1.5 acres. The white rhino exhibit is nice, but Busch has 11 White Rhinos on a huge plain as oppose to three white rhinos in an exhibit about .5 acres in size.
My point is is that everything at Lowry Park has been done better at other zoos. Their feature exhibit is Safari Africa, and Busch Gardens does a much better job of displaying African wildlife. If you had to choose between Busch Gardens or Lowry Park, without hesitation pick Busch Gardens.