We went to Adelaide Zoo today. It was a lovely day out. It cost us $50 for a family of 3 kids & 2 adults. The zoo was lovely but I did think the animal enclosures were a little on the small side.There was somwhere to get something to eat, hot chips, hamburgers e.t.c. or you can take a picnic

The only downside is that it wasn't sign posted at all & I'm not too sure about the parking facilities, we were lucky to find a parking space by the river & it was free :D

It's a lovely place to take the children for a day out & we will definitely be going again :D

Can you easily spend a whole day there? Not been yet but thinking about going on Wednesday - just think it works out a bit too expensive for me, although I understand under 4's are free.

Jo

We were there all afternoon but as my children are older they dont get so excited looking at the animals like younger children would !

I think I could spend all day there, it has lovely places to sit down & relax & I would recommend taking a picnic as the queue was huge in the cafe.

All in all it's a fab day out, I'm sure your children would love it :D

Yes, i would recommend adelaide zoo as well...

We went a while ago and were there for about 1/2 an hour and chris became ill.

They stamped our visa stub and said we could come back another time and not pay!!! as long as we came back within the month.

Thought that was pretty good of them.

We went back and spent the afternoon there...for us it isn't a 'day thing' but i think its one of the best zoo's i've been to! The animals look good...although the tiger was doing the usual pacing up and down his cage which i always find sad...just think maybe it shouldn't be there....

lorraine

I don't want to seem negative -tho' I'm sure I will!- but I couldn't wait to leave the zoo!

I thought it was beautifully laid out, with cages that seem almost invisible for many of the animals, but (and I have a big but..) I thought that the enclosures were far too small for the animals. I ended up leaving before I had planned, feeling really sad.

That said, Liam, 10, loved feeding the kangaroos! So we went to Cleland!

Just my opinion, sorry!

Caroline.

Must admit, I prefered Clelend as well.

Hi
We go there all the time and our son loves it - $100- ish in total buys one years membership for two adults plus one toddler so this is exceptional value. I do agree about the sizes of some of the cages but we still find it a fantastic place to go when we are in the city - really recommend to anyone with toddlers. For me, I can't wait to see the tiger swim - we were chatting to one of the volunteers the other day who said the tiger had been in the water but I've not been lucky enough to see that yet.
Cleland is a great family day out also - fantastic feeding the kangaroos .
You also get membership of Monarto thrown in with your Adelaide Zoo membership (along with several other zoos across aus so again great value for us)
Susan

We visited the zoo for the first time last weekend and we were bitterly disappointed. Personally, I expected something a lot larger and more exotic. Some of the enclosures seemed quite small, the reptile exhibit was particularly poor, the spider exhibit left a lot to be desired and the restaurant/take away was pitiful.

It does have it's good points such as your proximity to the animals in some cases allows for better viewing and the opportunity to see the vets working on sick and injured animals but in my opinion Adelaide Zoo overall is a big disappointment.

Even though we took out an Annual Membership, we certainly won't be in any hurry back. I hope the fringe benefits of free access to other zoos will make it worth the money.

Alan. :(

Just got back from the zoo - disappointed
Alot of the cages seemed very small - 3 large lions in a small enclosure!!!!

We have seen much better zoo's
Although I am not a fan of seeing caged animals our children enjoy going but they even seemed negative about some of the animals and there surroundings.

Surpose its ok for young children

Ditto to most of the above regarding small enclosures etc - for awhile thought it was just that we'd been spoilt living in Chester which has one of the best zoos in the UK at least (and I mean living conditions for the animals , they have an incredible breeding and conservation record aswell). We were members in the UK but won't be doing the same here.
Melanie

Monarto is worth a look, a lot bigger than the Adelaide Zoo

http://www.monartozp.com.au/home.php

We went to Adelaide Zoo on Friday and thought the same as you, kids loved it, but some of the cages are very small!!

We did Monato today, and have to say we were disappointed about that one to!! Seemed to me alot of money and there were not to many animals to actually see, that combined with the 2 hours wait for the tour bus and a driver that seemed to get a rush on half way round, I thought it didnt have a patch on Longleat in the UK!!

The zoo has been around for a long time, that might be the reason why a lot of the enclosures are on the small side, thats the reason why they no longer have a lot of the animals they would have had in Victorian times. lets face it Zoo's can be quite sad all over the world seeing an animal out of its environment, especially with modern technology where you can see all the stuff on TV / Internet (please do not bombard me with politics and views, I understand about the rescue thing etc)

If you want exotic, have a free mooch around the Botanical Gardens, round the back of the Zoo. ( and you can park there too! ) its just off North Terrace, and you can wander across Botanical Park which is great for a picnic, with a lot of trees that remind me of Windsor, hop into the Zoo, or stroll along the river, torrens,

and hey presto a free day out for you and your family! I have 3 kids under 3 and they absolutely have fun fun fun, all for nothing! (thats of course if we dont go into the Zoo)
They can run around in the Botanical Gardens and you know they are safe (supervised of course)

This is an old thread, I know, but I was excited to hear that Adelaide Zoo, presumably, will be loaned two giant pandas for ten years, beginning in 2009.

That should help bring in a bit more money, for the zoo to improve its facilities, etc. It has changed quite a bit over the years, with less cages. Unfortunately it is in a very small area which I don't think can be increased, and also it is not a government controlled zoo, so relies on entrance fees and donations to exist. As money becomes available, they do improve the facilities to make them more animal friendly, but available money is a problem with our small population compared to some of the larger cities. I believe the zoo does a fair bit in the way of helping endangered wildlife and research as well.

It will never be like some of the really well known zoos, such as Singapore, Berlin, Melbourne and Sydney, and I guess some in the UK, but it does what it can with the limited resources it has. I still enjoy a wander through occasionally, and children seem to enjoy it, especially if they haven't just come from seeing much larger and more financially able zoos.

Our whole family visited Adelaide Zoo last week, we really enjoyed it, the zoo is doing a great job and when you consider how hard they have to work to attract funding, it is amazing how well they are able to function. I remember visiting big zoos in the UK and the one in Melbourne and I think Adelaide for a small city stacks up pretty good......