A Day at the Woodland Park Zoo

With my being on Spring break right now we have a bit of free time. We did not make any big vacation, getaway plans since we went to Disneyland in December. We want to take it very easy this break. Our only plan thus far was to go down to the Woodland Park Zoo with some of my family.

From where we live in the Lower Mainland it is about a 2 hour and 20 minute drive down to the zoo. Evie is getting used to doing road trips of different lengths so this was an easy trip for us. It also helps though that Jason put some Disney movies onto our kindle for her to watch if needed. We left first thing in the morning, and go to the border crossing at 7am. We were aiming to get to the zoo around opening time at 9:30, and we got there around 9:45… this was with a stop for gas, and to pick up my sister who lives in the States. If you are looking for something to do over your children’s Spring break this is a great option. Also, keep an eye out for a coupon in the Entertainment Book.

This was our second time to the zoo with Evie. This little girl adores animal, so going to a large zoo like this is a wonderful adventure for her. I warn you, make sure everyone is wearing comfy walking shoes. We spent almost 6 hours wandering the whole zoo. When we have gone in the past just Jason and I it took us around 4 hours to go through the zoo. So little feet that were wanting to walk on their own, and that needed snack, and play breaks do add a bit of time, but it still worked out great. You have plenty of time to see everything, especially if you get there early.

There was only one animal we missed out on seeing in the zoo. Evie’s favourite… red panda. It was off display when we were there as there were some renovations happening in the area next to where the red panda would be. I think we were a bit more sad than Evie was, she reminded us that there was still a red panda there, the little stuffie she was carrying in her arms the whole time. Not seeing it, just means we’ll have to come and visit at the zoo again soon.

We covered about a third of the zoo before we needed to get some lunch, it was a round 11:30am and we are glad that we headed into the Rainforest Food Pavilion. Come noon, it was very busy in there. That bit of difference in the time we went in allowed us to get a table, and we did not have a long wait for our food we ordered. There are a lot of food options in the pavilion. This time we enjoyed a burger, chicken strips, and chilli to warm us up. The prices are very reasonable for the food, even with the conversion rate right now. You can also bring outside food and drinks into the zoo, which we did but only in the form of snacks. There is also a chowder house, and a few little kiosks around the zoo that are all open seasonally.

If you find yourselves possibly running into rush hour traffic at the time you are done going through the zoo head a bit further into Seattle and stop for dinner. We went to the Cheesecake Factory. It was a wonderful day at the zoo. On the way home we asked Evie what she liked the most and of course she listed all of her favourite people, but also the carousel, and several animals. She was a very happy girl.

Thank you so the Woodland Park Zoo for providing tickets to us in order for us to share all about our adventure and experience at the zoo. We loved it there, and plan to come back soon.

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