San Diego - Zoo or Wild Animal Park About This Page:

[crystalloubear]

I was looking at City Pass tickets. One of the days, you can go to either San Diego Zoo or the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park. Which one is better - assuming you have never been to either? Why?
What else would you say is a must-see in San Diego? Would you say its worth a couple days stay?

[Dave Marx]

Gee, this is a toughie! Either can be a full day for an animal lover. There's a much larger variety of animals and habitats at the zoo, but the animal park has all those wide open spaces where you can watch the herds roam. Both are well-designed facilities, so it's a tough call if you want to do the full day.

If, however, you're not big zoo people (in other words, you think Disney's Animal Kingdom is a half-day park), then go with the San Diego Zoo. Its location in Balboa Park puts you in the middle of a great place to spend the entire day. It's like having Epcot within walking distance of Animal Kingdom. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Overall, San Diego is easily worth a few days. While Los Angeles can beat San Diego for the sheer number of museums, parks and other attractions, San Diego is much more compact, and doesn't suffer from many of the huge city problems you face in LA. I really like the town and what it has to offer.

[DopeyGirl]

I am (and always have been) a HUGE San Diego Zoo fan! I visited the WAP once while growing up, but didn't really like it all that much, but I LOVE the Zoo! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[snoozy]

Like Dave said, that's a toughie. You know, you just can't go wrong with either one.

[Caldercup]

If you go to the San Diego Zoo, make sure to find the Wild Earth ride. This is my DH's baby and he just won a big award for it.

Plus, you can hear my voice - I play one of the characters in the voice over [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] (Not my best work!)
Eileen

[bradk]

I've been to both. I'd probably recommend the zoo mostly for the giant pandas. both are very hilly and difficult to traverse (when san diego zoo tells you it will take 8 hours to walk all the paths - believe them!). at sd zoo, you can also hand feed lorikeets.

some of the exhibits are dated and small, but there's still a wide range of species on display.

at the WAP, it's mostly wide open so you won't get too many opportunities to get up close and personal unless you book a safari tour (I did the deluxe photo).

[chezp]

I'm now glad that we picked the Zoo over the Wild Animal Park from your comments. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[bradk]

If there's any interest, here are my photos from

WAP: http://bradk.smugmug.com/gallery/774460
SDZ: http://bradk.smugmug.com/gallery/721959

I apologize in advance for the watermarks and poor quality of the camera. One of these days I'll fix the watermarks.

ETA: Revisiting my photos, I think I was wrong about the lorikeets - they're at WAP. SDZ does have koalas too though. Not sure how many zoos in the US have them, but in my limited experiences, I've only seen them at 2 - San Diego and LA. There are only 4 zoos in North America that have giant pandas as well.

ETAx2: Looked it up. 9 Zoos in North America have koalas.

[kymma]

I have also been to both and enjoyed the Zoo the most. It really does have a large selection of animals and is just a great zoo. Like someone else said, the zoo has huge hills and is quite a workout so be prepared. Be sure to make good use of the zoo shuttles to save your feet some wear and tear.

I really love San Diego and try to go for a long weekend every year. It would be easy to have a great time spending a few days here. If you like seafood you might want to check out The Fish Market http://www.thefishmarket.com/ one night while there. They are right on the water and have fantastic food.

[tikifanatic]

Personally there are a couple of reasons I would pick the Zoo over the Wild Animal Park, they are all furry and black and white and have names like Gao Gao...I'm talking about our pandas of course! The zoo really is a one-of-a-kind treasure, although the WAP is really, really great.

Other don;t miss SD attractions include Balboa Park in general, the architecture is great and we have some great museums. The Japanese Tea Garden in the park is beautiful. If you can sing it, visit the park on a Tuesday when many of the museums are free.

Old Town is interesting, it is the birthplace of California, but be sure focus on the real historical sections run by the California Parks Department.

You have to drive over to Coronado and see the Del Coronado Hotel, one of the world's most famous...you'll also see the direct inspiration for the Grande Floridian Resort and Spa!

La Jolla is a scenic spot to visit along with Torrey Pines.

And for some off-beat fun, I like to drive visitors to the corner of Laurel and Pacific Coast Highway...it's right at the end of the runway for Lindbergh Field and the planes are EXTREMELY close to the street, there are a couple of parking garages nearby that look like they're gonna get hit every time!

Let me know if you have other ???s

[nbodyhome]

I loved the Wild Animal Park!

[Karyn89]

At the Wild Animal Park, are there areas that you can walk to see the animals in there natural habitiat or do you have to pay more $ to take a jeep ride thru there habitats?