It was, well, a Zoo
Posted on June 16th, 2009 – 9:42 AMBy May Chen
I have the day off with my girls and we are at the Minnesota Zoo. It is the first week of summer vacation and it’s as if all of Minnesota has descended on this patch of savannah/rainforest/prairie/desert.
Everybody’s smiling and pointing out the grizzly hiding behind the rock (I’d hide too if I were her) and the wild boar splayed out asleep in the afternoon heat. (Give the poor pig some privacy.) Everybody is so happy.
Everybody except me.
I like zoos. I do, I do. I love Como Zoo, which is nice, small, manageable in two easy hours. Including a stop for mac and cheese at the cafe. I even like the stinky giraffe house.
But the Minnesota Zoo is so big. And there are so many non-zoo things. Like a water park and an archeological dig/sand box and a playground. I consider all of these things perfect as single outings. Just not all together. And not in a zoo.
The archeological dig is an inspired idea, really. Kids dive right in and are shoveling away, unearthing bits of dinosaur bones. Trouble is, then you have to coax them out. All around me, parents are yelling at their kids, trying to get them to leave and move on. There’s so much more to see and it’s all really far apart.
Ditto the playground.
And what’s with this non-animal?
So onward. We spent four hours there altogether. It feels like eight if you’re pushing a double stroller. And that was just the outside areas. No dolphins, imax theater or indoor tropical animals.
The girls had a great time, despite their grumpy mommy. Of course we’ll be back.
We have to. We’ve got annual membership.
14 Responses to "It was, well, a Zoo"
Hah! My mom and I took my little ones (2 and 6 months) to the MN Zoo on Saturday. It was a beautiful day, and my 2 year old had a fantastic time, but I totally agree that the 4 hours we were there felt like 8. We saw almost everything, though, except Discovery Bay. My son was up for more, but Grandma and I were completely pooped and had to call it a day. Still, I really do like the MN Zoo and I actually like some of the non-animal features.
My husband took our boys to the zoo on Friday. He said it must have been “Hot Mom Day” and it sounded like he was one of the few Dads there. Thanks honey.
It is funny May, the reason you don’t love the MN Zoo are the reasons I do. We too have a membership, which means we don’t feel the need to see everything/do everything every time we go. There is a ton to see and do, which means no one or two hour trip to the zoo is the same.
I actually like the membership because it allows us to break it up in to nice two hour or so visits. Anything longer than that is pushing it. I don’t feel guilty, I know there will be another day to go.
The membership was one of the best purchases we’ve ever done. Even better since I started packing lunches instead of braving the expensive food court.
It seems like all my friends have memberships and boy do I wish we did! I adore the zoo, and get so jealous when I hear about my friends going. Then again I am a working mom, so it’s not like a membership would let me go as much as I’d love…
I will go for my birthday in August as we always do though:)
Memberships are just as good for working moms! We have one and definitely get our money’s worth. Sometimes we go in the winter just to walk the tropical trail and experience some flowers, birds and humidity.
I also agree on the two hour trips to keep things new and interesting. It seems that our daughter finds something new each time we go.
I also ditto the membership comments. Because we have one, we don’t feel like we need to see it all every time. My girls like the non-zoo features. I don’t understand why one of their favorite things to do at the zoo is to go to the park that’s at the half-way point on the northern trek, but they love it, and I always tell myself, we’re there for them, so why not let them do what they want and love? My 5 year old just realized the butterfly exhibit should be open now, or soon, and can’t wait to go see that again this year.
Anissa, for a family with 2 kids over the age of 3, and 2 adults plus parking, going to the zoo twice pays for the membership. The first year we had our membership we went twice the weekend we got it because was didn’t want to waste our money or feel guilty if we never went again.
I second Amelia’s comment about packing lunches, as the lines and cost can be atrocious!
I agree with the non zoo things. We were there on Sunday and passed by the water fountains as you are leaving the grizzly area. My daughter was hot so we let her run around. She had the best time ever getting her clothes soaking wet. It was a good excuse to leave but now she will want to do it everytime we go. Oh and for memberships, cash in on the members only events. We just did the one for Africa from 4-8. Perfect for working moms and it was free & free treats.
I was there today as well and it was crazy. We also have a membership so we enjoyed our nice abbreviated visit guilt free. Didn’t venture outside since we weren’t going to be there long. As we left I saw a lot of families sitting near or in their vehicles eating their packed lunches.
I agree with the non-zoo things. We live in the North metro, so it is a bit of a drive down there. If we wanted to go to a park or a sandbox, we would go to the local park down the road. We don’t want to drive to Apple Valley to go down slides. Oh well, we still love it! 
Go in the winter or spring! We used the library passes this spring when crowds were few and far… the tropics is actually enjoyable when there is slush outside! The outside wasn’t bad either - I would rather hassle with coats than crowds. In the summer go for an arboretum field trip instead.. much more room to spread out. Take the drive and park up the hill and just enjoy. The kids love the hedge mazes! As for como - the parking is terrible and I feel somewhat unsafe in the area.
LOL May - I totally get ya. That’s why we have a membership, too. We try to focus on one thing per trip - the farm, the indoors, the outdoors… of course there is no way to do everything. I haven’t seen the water park yet - I’m a bit nervous. I don’t really want my kids getting wet at the zoo… or bring extra clothes or swimsuits. Ah!
I also like the ‘extra’ things for the kids at the zoo, such as the playground by the wolf exhibit, the Russian coast sandbox/dino dig, water park and also looking forward to the new playground in July.
I think it’s great to give kids those fun activities to do, besides walking around and looking at animals.
True, the zoo is so huge it’s exhausting if you try to get it all done in one day. We really value our membership that we started last year. I understand though, how it would be tough for people who live farther away from the zoo.
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