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Brookfield Zoo
Rating Details »
8400 31st Street
(between Maple Ave & Alima Ter)
Brookfield, IL 60513
(708) 688-8000
(between Maple Ave & Alima Ter)
Brookfield, IL 60513
(708) 688-8000
- Hours:
Mon-Sun. 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
68 reviews for Brookfield Zoo
Wonderful place. When our kids were -- well kids, we were members.
Our daughter had a grade school project on giraffes. I called and we got a private tour of their area. Went behind the curtain and discovered what their favorite treat was. Hamburger buns !! Lots of 'em. Up close, they are huge BTW.
Christmas was and probably still is a great time to visit. Halloween too. Great memories.
Go there.
I have enjoyed the Brookfield Zoo a few times since moving to Chicago ten years ago. My son and I visited recently to catch the last week of the Dinosaurs at the Brookfield Zoo and had a great time! The best time to get here is right at the opening bell at 10am. Most of the afternoon families aren't even out of their Bears sweatpants at that point! You'll get great parking and not have to contend with crowds for a few hours.
We decided to go with the General Admission +3 package. Admission for two: $33. If you're a local family and plan on coming more than once a year, you may want to consider a Membership. You can purchase it right there the day of your visit. I loved that the Zoo was decorated for Halloween and the Dino Nights (from 6-10pm) looked cool! It included the Tram of Terror!, Haunted Hayride, strobe lights at the Dinosaur exhibit, and activities like Pumpkin and face painting.
The Dinosaur exhibit was awesome. The Apatosaurus, placed near the fountain in the middle of the Park was a true testament to how big these creatures were! Decorated like a scene out of Jurassic Park, there were Jeeps overturned and crushed, cute "Danger" signs, then the dinosaurs. The mechanical dinosaurs would roar and move, some which the kids could program the movements, then hit a button to watch it do its thing.
There was some "learning" to be had here of course, and I really dug (hee hee) the story on the dino from Yangchuan, China. Yangchuanasauruses had been dug up by Chinese villagers for years, believed to be Dragon Bones, and sold in health remedies and tinctures! I wonder if they think the Harry Potter books are true accounts too.
The other parts of the Zoo we chose in our +3 package were the Hamill Family Play Zoo and the Carousel. The Play Zoo was okay, more geared for little kids (2-6) I think but my 8-year old still enjoyed parts of it. Kids can play Zoo Director, Zoo Veterinarian, and Botanist. My big recommendation with so much hands-on activity going on is that some hand sanitizers be installed in this area! We want to breed little veterinarians here, not the flu virus!
The Carousel is gorgeous and is worth the extra ticket even if you purchase it separately. It was decorated for Halloween with a corpse bride, groom and bridal party. The ride was long, and the people running the carousel were interactive and made it fun.
Brookfield Zoo is simply world class. The exhibits give more room to the animals than most zoos I've been to, and they seem to promote freedom of movement, flying and swimming for its residents! The Regenstein Wolf Woods was very cool. Besides seeing a wolf pack and reading about Alpha males and females, we walked around Indian Lake and viewed natural Illinois habitats, which was a nice break from the rest of the Park.
There are plenty of places to enjoy a packed lunch, so save your bucks on food and BYOPBJ! In our 5-hour visit we didn't get to view everything, but we had a great time!
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We saw baboons doing baboon things. We saw giraffes eating leaves. We saw a lot of big cats mostly sleeping. We saw a monkey bite the head off a mouse in Tropic World. We saw loads of butterflies flittering around the butterfly exhibit. We saw a black and white peacock being a black and white peacock. We saw dinosaurs that were alive as giant dinosaur robots (which would have been much cooler if we were 5). We saw a whole bunch of stuff at a beautifully tended zoo.
The only problem was the food at Safari Grill. My burger was cold and tasted worse than those they used to serve at high school, which were pretty bad. I brought it back up and the girl behind the counter said she would get me a "fresh" one. Apparently her idea of fresh was one that had been sitting there for a while but had just been microwaved. The bread was soggy and it still tasted terrible.
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The Good:
Beautiful grounds and park...even to just walk around. Great location from city or burbs.
The bad:
$8 for parking, $12 for general admission, $19 for admission plus three exhibits.
I agree with Patricia K. that a lot of animals were not in their cages....way more than usual. For example, only one bear was outside out of the 5 + spaces.
The Ugly:
There are no dolphin shows going on until Spring 2010 - quite a disappointment. :(
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I always thought of the zoo as a place that had animals that were there for us to look at and be entertained. I didn't really appreciate it until I actually volunteered there and found out how much the Chicago Zoological Society actually does for conservation locally and around the world.
I also learned that the zoo is actually called Chicago Zoological Park. Brookfield Zoo was just kind of a local name people gave it because it's a zoo and it's in Brookfield.
And yes, I volunteer here so this may be construed as biased. Sue me!
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I haven't been to this zoo in a good 12 or so years (makes me sound so old, doesn't it?) and it's still as gorgeous as I remembered it. The grounds are huge. My friend and I walked all over it and it has to be a good 5 miles. Even though yesterday was pretty busy with mostly families, it did not feel crowded at all.
The exhibits are great and it's always fun to see the animals up close. We spent a good 15 minutes watching the gorillas swinging from the ropes and roughhousing. (Further proof that we've evolved from them. I digress.)
You can bring coolers of food and drinks to have a picnic outside. The grounds are pretty immaculate and there's always a volunteer around if you need help. I highly recommend coming here at least once, not every 12 years like I seem to be doing! Well worth the trip from the city or the suburbs.
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With 215 acres of zoo to cover and over 450 different species of animals, what's not to like?
For those city residents who think a visit to the LP Zoo is the only one for you, think again. Brookfield is beautifully landscaped, a great place to visit with the whole family and just a quick Metra ride away (get off at the Hollywood stop - not Brookfield on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe line). This zoo is widely respected as being one of the best in the country. There are lots of exhibits and you can easily spend an entire day here.
My one complaint about the zoo is that you have to pay for parking, the tickets and then admissions if you want to get into the special exhibits, Children's Zoo, etc. Check their website and do a little planning of your day before you head out.
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I lived in IL. all my life and have been to the zoos in all 4 seasons. This one is better than the city zoo
they have a great summer attractions of some dinos, my 4 yr old loved it. If your kid likes dinos they will love this, well worth the money
We always pack a lunch and bring our own drinks too, I took off a star for the prices of the food. I pay for parking, the zoo and a few extras I feel they can cut the prices a little - just my thoughts
But I think it is great we can bring a cooler stocked with Jimmy John subs, drinks and snacks
Thers are plenty of places to sit and have a great lunch
Dolphin show was not open this weekend
Bathrooms need more cleanups during the day
We got there at 10:00am and left at 5:00pm and still did not see all the animals - we will return again
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This is a nice place to visit especially for people living in the city, but is nothing compared to other zoos I have visited. My experience was good, but for such a nice day, half the animals people would want to see were not out and no note of when they would be and this was on a Saturday. What I did see was nice, but still seemed to be lacking, hopefully the renovations for next year will really bring this place to light.
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Brookfield Zoo is nice, but too much emphasis is put on selling overpriced retail junk. I prefer to focus on the animals when I am there instead of buying junk.
Still a great place to go, especially if you have children.
Just become a member and stop bitching about the price. $7 is well worth it anyway.
I love this place so I much that my nighttime prayers are to wake up and be living here. The exhibits are great and for the most part, really well kept. I do wish they would give the aardvarks a little more posh... they're so neglected and the pachyderms need more room too... fo realz yo. I know they're expanding the outdoor elephant area slightly but they need to build up the housing as well.
Besides the great animals, this place has great summer exhibits AND you can drink beer while you walk around (SCORE!!!).
My one main gripe, this place is not handicap friendly. I broke my foot and was here one day and got a wheelchair... suck city. The bars that hold people back at the exhibits are all at eye level if you're in a wheelchair. The only handicap seating at the dolphin show is in the front row... AKA the soak zone... what a cruel and unusual joke. And they need a good repaving and better bathroom facilities before they tell me they can handle handicapped traffic.
Other than that, I leave my heart at the zoo and you will too. Bring some food and drink to have a picnic on their lawn to enhance your experience a little more.
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I love love love Brookfield Zoo! It's not merely a Zoo... it's a Zoological Garden. The grounds are just amazing and make for a fantastic day outside. The animal houses are all in great condition and very kid friendly. I have a membership and after about 2 visits, it's already worth the money.
I am getting married at the zoo next month and I CANNOT wait. It has been a dream of mine since I found out when I was a child that you can actually have weddings there. The prices are comparable to a golf club or banquet facility... maybe slightly more... but well worth it. We have been working with Kathy Seybolt and she has been more helpful than I could have dreamed. It has so far been a perfect experience and I can't wait until June!
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Not a huge zoo, nor the best I've ever been to, but I love zoos. And this one is very nice with lots of interesting and informative exhibits. If you have kids, get the family plus membership so you can get into the petting zoo and children's zoo for free.
The Dinosaurs Alive! exhibit going on right now is VERY cool. There were good informational plaques - not too much information, just right for kids to keep their attention. Plus there was some humor thrown in - funny signs and some jokes. Plus the dinos were cool. A must if you have dino-loving kids. Ours aren't crazy for dinosaurs, but they still liked it. The largest animated dinosaur ever assembled - now that's worth seein'!
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Definitely a great place, and I would take my son again and again. However, they get -1 star for putting gift shops at the end of certain exhibits like the Dinosaur and Butterfly exhibits. I had to drag him out of these places screaming because I was not about to drop $40 on a plush toy. I understand that the zoo wants to make some money, but please don't manipulate our children and put parents in a difficult position by making gift shops virtually impassable.
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I recently was in my best friend's wedding in July. Her reception was at Brookfield Zoo in the new pavilion. It was a really cool place to have a destination wedding if you're looking for something different! They were able to rent out the carousel, take photos by the fountains and with the animals and even have an ice cream bar! The food was exceptional, the atmosphere was fun and fancy. The only thing I wasn't thrilled with was having cocktails in Habitat Africa. It was very difficult to walk up and down rocky hills in heels! I was at a wedding here a few years ago where the cocktails were in the Living Seas and that was fun. Overall, a really fun night and a great place for a party!
The relatives wanted to come to the Zoo, even though it was in the upper teens and snowing. But that's okay because I haven't been here in three years AND this time of year the Zoo is decorated with Christmas lights, decorations, and trees.
All kinds of Christmas trees, decorated by various groups from the area. Even National City decorated a tree, but without the bad loan paper. ANYWAYS.
The Dolphin Show, as it has been, was awesome. A must see, especially if you never been here.
The stubby tail tiger was very active and playful this weekend. There were also the two brown bears ready to rumble. Wonder why they growled at each other. Maybe one of them got a bailout package? Stay tuned, bears fans. No, not the football team :=P
Must see exhibits include:
The Living Coast, which is all about coastal Peru, South America, and features a simulated ocean wave, and MAGELLAN PENGUINS. Not as many Magellan Penguins as the Akron Zoo, and for some reason the Brookfield penguins seemed more bored than I used to be in required English classes at school :=O Nevertheless, thanks to the penguins, Brookfield Zoo gets five stars.
The Fragile Desert.
The Swamp.
Tropic World.
Australia House
Salt Creek Wilderness and Indian Lake Trail
MOLD A RAMA machines! $2.00 for a plastic mold of your favorite animal, freshly made by a machine. There is a penguin Mold A Rama machine!
I should point out one interesting fact- this zoo is actually in TWO towns- part of it is in Brookfield, and the other part in Riverside. ILLINOIS.
Overall, a fun place. Well organized. Well maintained. Be prepared to do lots of walking, unless you're a Motor Safari fanatic :=P
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Someone pointed out what terrible parents we are. Despite having 2 kids, we have not been to the zoo in 3 years! Can you believe that?
Well, 2 free admission coupons we got in the mail later, and we're there. The place is huge, so we brought along our wagon for the kids to sit as we covered the huge territory. Otherwise, you can rent one there. Kids will get tired out and time will fly so fast. We thought we'd come for 2 hours and 4 hours later, realized it's close to dinner already.
I won't go into detail on any exhibits, but I'll make a few comments and observations:
1. Last time we came was also near the end of summer. It's a great time to get discounts on shirts and other apparel at 25-40% off. There's a large white tent across from the restroom area right by the entrance with so many cool shirts to choose from.
2. The zoo can be an affordable outing or it can turn quite expensive, should you decide to eat there and buy refreshments. Pack your own cooler.
3. Exhibits can run up your spending too. A number of them cost extra, on top of the $11 adult / $7 kids over 3 admission. These include Stingray Bay - the newest exhibit, in addition to the butterflies, the children's zoo, the dolphin show, and at least a couple more. Strategically placed vendor stands and shops make it even more costly should you have some impulse buys of toys or books while you're there.
4. If you come with high expectations of seeing lions, tigers, bears, kangaroos and elephants, you may be disappointed. The kangaroos and aardvarks could not be seen at all, the bear was asleep facing backwards, lion asleep and drooling, while the hippo was almost entirely immersed in some mud. The giraffes were shyly peeking out from behind trees, and who knows where the tigers went. Though we highly touted those animals to our kids, in the end it was the unexpected exhibits that they loved the most. My 2 year old giggled every time a weasel dashed by him across the glass of its exhibit. Both my kids were fascinated with a turtle gobbling up grubs as it was fed by a zoo staffer. And watching the seals swimming underwater was a thrill too. Same with seeing frogs and lizards or even the stick insects of Australia.
Many exhibits are small child friendly, so you don't have to hold your kids up all the time to see things. And the Stunt Baby found that he could probably squeeze through the fencing at the South American primate area. We had to hold him back as he was eager to join the little monkeys by the waterfall inside, calling it "water park".
And I should mention the South Gate restroom has a little kids toilet - perfect sized for a 2 or 3 year old even. Nice touch, I must add.
Unlike the people with negative reviews, practice some common sense and don't come on the hot 90-degree days when the animals stink more and it's uncomfortable to walk around. Don't come too late after noon, or you'll be hurried out too. Give yourself 3-4 hours to reasonably see some, but not all the exhibits. You really need 6-8 hours to do that, and in 2 trips perhaps, as you won't make any progress if your kids are exhausted and can't stand it there much longer. We saw lots of crying toddlers by about 5 PM.
In short, the experience is what you make it to be.
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It's HUGE. I still don't think that it calls for the outrageous prices that they charge though. I recommend getting a membership and just dragging yourself to the zoo instead of paying the individual fees. At least if you have a family of 3+ with kids. Their butterfly exhibit was disappointing. The Milwaukee zoo had an indoor exhibit with a lot more foliage and a lot more butterflies of all types. They didn't seem to have too many species of butterflies, at least that were visible. Hardly any of them were active as well. Their tram ride is another few bucks to ride but as a member of Share the Care on special nights you can see it for free, as well as the butterflies (which cost money) and the dinosaur exhibit open until October (which ALSO costs money). The dinosaur exhibit was great though. It was pretty large, and the animatronic dinosaurs are much better than they were when I was younger. Walking with Dinosaurs still kicks all anomatronic ass though. The animals are more lively in the late afternoon/evening when it's less boiling hot. The bears are walking around, wolves start to run in their pack, etc. It's a key thing to know if you can be there during that time because that's when the action starts!
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Love the zoo who doesn't but the new Dino exhibit is great! the dinosaurs, can move and make noise, let's just say Mr. Joe Cool, thought I was Mother of the year for taking him, so if you wanna see somethin really sweet, or your just trying to grab some brownie points with your 6 year old I HIGHLY reccommend this!
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The brookfield zoo has more room, more animals, bigger exhibits than LP Zoo.
But what it doesn't have is charm and a lack of any sort of admission.
So there is almost no reason to go here unless you live next door.
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After being lost due to Google's directions about one hour and a half (it should have taken me 20 minutes to get there), I finally arrived two hours before closing.
I met up with Amaliya and BFB and we strolled with the boys through the zoo. We only got to do a quarter of the zoo, but I was pretty amazed how they have it set up. You are able to stand so close to the animals! In some of those indoor exhibits that are quite smelly (but if you want to be in the same room with the animals, you have to endure the complete natural habitat), you wonder if the animals can just jump and land on your head! A nice plus was that all the animals were out and about so that was fun.
Most of the exhibits were closed but I can't wait to go back and see the rest.
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Brookfield Zoo is GREAT!!! The zoo grounds are beautiful, they have tons of exhibits, ( they often are redoing them, so things are under construction a bit ) and lots of people telling you interesting facts about the animals. I have been to Brookfield Zoo more than a dozen times this summer and it is very much worth it to become a Zoo Member if you plan on visiting more than a few times. Parking for non members is $8 or so and $12 for general admission per person (adds up fast) plus when you are a member not only do you get free parking and admission but also discounts on exhibits like the Dinosaurs Alive, but you get discounts on food and drinks too. I have a three year old son and he loves to see the animals, it is a great way to spend the day, walking around looking at the different animals. Sadly the Dolphin shows have been canceled until spring of 2010. From what they told me one of their dolphins got sick and died, and now they have to retrain the others for the shows :( I will be looking forward to seeing the show next spring, and in the meantime there are many other things to see!
My girlfriends and I paid a visit to the zoo last weekend and we had the most spectacular time. Usually we hit up the LP Zoo because it's closer to our residences, but decided it was time to venture out into the unknowns of the suburbs. After a little jaunt on the Metra, a train we almost missed due to someone's bad habit of being late to everything, ahem, we arrived in Brookfield. The walk from the Metra stop to the zoo was short and pretty, which we appreciated.
Our zoo favorite was, of course, the Stingrays exhibit, well worth the extra price, which I believe was about $2. We had a particularly frisky bat ray that kept coming up to us to play, which sent us into a fit of giggles every time. Could have done without the dead fish heads chilling at the bottom, but was amused that a little girl decided to pick one up and throw it at her sister. It's always good to have a little comedic relief.
The surprise runner up was the dolphin show. I expected to see a really hokey show talking about conservation with a couple of flips from the dolphins, but I was impressed. They demonstrate the different skills while making the educational experience fun. I believe it was the trainers sense of humor that made this show so worthwhile.
We were also really excited about the pachyderm house, which the LP zoo lacks. The hippo looked a little depressed, but he was inside on a nice day, so I guess I'd be too. His door to the outside was open though, so he did it to himself I suppose. The elephants were adorable and excited about the snack time treat their keepers were providing. I love elephants. It's the ears.
Our only neg, the stroller toting families. Not that I have anything against the stroller set, but the families we encountered on this visit were ruthless. Who knew moms would literally push you out of their child's way so they could push their tiny noses up against the already smudged glass? It's not like we were blocking the kids either, apparently the moms were just after our particular vantage point. There were a few out of control kids, as well, but I think that's to be expected. I just could have done without the pushing.
However, one dad did tell us that the best day to go is a Thursday or Friday because the zoo is practically empty and that Saturday is always the worst. Good to know for next time... if I ever get the day off.
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Nerd Date started out here and it was awesome!
We saw tons of animals and read a lot of facts and ate a giant pretzel and saw monkeys do funny things...like fight and pick each others' butts. haha. we also saw baby camels and a giraffe in love with a tree...it would not stop making out with that thing! and dolphins like to swim upside down apparently too. and the penguins were funny...they had homes. and the tiger was pacing back and forth...he was really pretty. the polar bear was having the time of his life with that piece of meat. the lion and the bear were passed out...looked like they had a fun night. snakes are scary...so we didn't look at those. the hippos were sleeping. the wolves were on the prowl. we got lucky that the rhino didn't feel like spraying us with urine. the elephants were tossing dirt on themselves to keep those darn bugs off.
i like animals. they have animals. i like food. they have food and they let you bring your own food in. i don't like being surrounded by children...screaming children especially, but oh well.
minus a star for being expensive and for taking away Ibex Island...that shit was cool! and for the parking lot being such a hassle.
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My boyfriend and I went. We don't have kids but we enjoy acting like kids. Everything about the zoo is instantly familiar (well except the prices of course). I remember the smell of the animals, giggling with friends and covering our noses. I did that. My boyfriend did not, but you know he wanted to.
It's just something nice to do every now and then. Learn about the animals and their homes in a fun, non-dull way. Never eat at the zoo though if you can help it..mostly crap food right? and the prices are nutty for what it is. BUT i can't help stopping at the little snack stands (maybe because we were hardly allowed to as kids visiting on a field trip).
Sometimes it's nice to feel like a kid again and this is one of those places that allow you to feel like that.
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Why are people trying to compare Brookfield zoo to LP zoo when about the only thing they have in common is the word Zoo after its (city/neighborhood) name?! Outside of that, there is no comparison whatsever.
Brookfield zoo sits on over 215 acres of land, LP sits on what, *maybe* an acre or two? BZ has about 30 exhibits that house hundreds of different animals. LP, a fraction of that. There are over ten snack shops and/or restaurants at BZ and as many gift shops, there are two, maybe three at LP. (this isn't to take anything away from LPZ, it's nice for what it is, a mini zoo sat in the middle of a massive urban jungle, a slight peak into nature and wildlife amidst a forest of concrete, asphalt and steel).
Ok, enough of the obvious stats, the Brookfield zoo itself is pretty nice, well maintained and clean, and now that we're in the autumn season, it is incredibly beautiful (pics in profile). We made a day of it, bambino in tow, and he was wowed by most everything we encountered (as were we).
The highlights: A baby giraffe born about two months ago. The buffalo (bison?), enormous in stature. Equally enormous, the Rhino and Hippo's. King of the jungle, who can not include that on the coolest animal around. Zebras, tigers, camels, kangaroos, dolphins, sharks and much more.
Bottom line, it's a place to go at least a few times a year, just to take advantage of the wildlife and serene surroundings it can offer those living in and around the city.
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Well, this zoo isn't the best I've ever been to, but it is close to me, and my kids like it quite a bit. They have a nice kids area, and a little playground, which is a huge plus. You might as well get a Family Plus membership, because with one adult and 2 kids, one trip to the zoo could easily run you over $50, especially if you're getting food. And since the Family Plus membership is only $100, so you could go twice a year if you pay individually, or every day for a year if you get the membership.
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After an hour and a half, my wife and I left to zoo. There were so many screaming and out of control children there that after a while, we wondered if the real animals were behind the fences or in front of them.
Bathrooms were gross, trash all over walking trails, too many exhibits closed and thousands (no, I'm not kidding) of screaming children everywhere and parents not giving a damn. This is not a zoo, its an amusement park for unruly children and their redneck parents.
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What I like about Brookfield Zoo is that I like to go with my friend. Her name is Sarah. I like it so we can see the animals, and we could get lunch and icee. And once I saw a polar bear with toys. It was awesome! And once after we went to Brookfield Zoo, my friend Sarah and I and our parents went to Portillo's. Amen!
I like to get stuff at the gift shop and I also like Boo at the Zoo. Boo at the Zoo is when Halloween is coming up and it's when kids wear their costumes that they're going to wear on Halloween. It's fun. They give me a goody bag when we leave and usually I get a toothbrush.
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So its the weekend and you and your special someone need something to do. Why not the zoo? Lots of walking, fresh air (well.. outside anyway), plenty to learn, and tons of stuff to talk about.
Really, where else can you get a full day of entertainment for $10? My fiance, future-mother-in-law, and I spent 4 or 5 hours there and probably saw half of it.
From what we're told, the best times to go are right before opening, or closer to the end of the day. Thats when the animals are most active. We particularly enjoyed the dolphins, otters, sea lions, swamp display, and the primates.
The only thing that tarnishes the zoo experience is screaming kids. What you would teach your own child about public behaviour is not a universal norm, so expect hours worth of other people's misbehaving children. They'll push against you get up close to the exhibit. They'll pound on the glass of the poor animals. They'll bang into you as they run back and forth. And they'll scream... and scream... and scream.
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Brookfield Zoo helped me become The World's Coolest Aunt this past holiday season. My 6 year old niece came to me a couple months before the holiday and announced with all the gravitas she could muster: "This year, I am collecting elephants."
I loved it! A Republican in the making! She's my niece after all.
But what's an aunt to do with that pronouncement?
The Dawn of the Great Idea:
I looked up Brookfield Zoo's Share the Care program and was excited to see I could essentially 'adopt' an elephant for my niece for a year. At $35 for a year - it's a steal. There are other packages as well each of which would work wonderfully for young children.
My niece gets to come up later this year to visit the Zoo during a special evening. I have to get the tickets, but it's well worth it.
Her saucer-like eyes when she opened the package and saw 'her' elephant and the certificate and the Christmas 'card' from Affie, the elephant, was just terrific to see.
Initial hesitiation - she came over to me and quietly asked....so what exactly do I do with a real, live, Elephant??
Since then she's been sleeping with Affie's picture and wants to keep her for ever and ever.
So perhaps there IS an unexpected bonus after all. My Christmas gift giving for the next 20+ years is all done.
Live long and prosper, Affie!
The Share the Care Program comes highly recommended; your monies go to support care for 'your' animal. Great stuff all around.
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With the little kids, we started buying the family membership each year. $89 bucks gets you two membership cards, (with each card admitting 2 adults, 2 kids, 1extra guest), passes to the dolphin shows and motor safari, free parking, and free admission to the children's zoo, 10% discount from the gift shop and eateries, etc. You can write off $53. It pays for itself after two trips!
I like visiting the zoo because the animal seem well cared-for; habitats seem clean and large, which is important to me. The zoo staff are enthusiastic and are always ready to answer questions about the animals. There's a general emphasis on conservancy. You and the kids can walk a couple miles and not realize it - and it's beautiful.
The Hamill Family Zoo offers veterinary play, face painting and several hands-on activites. Last time we visited, my 1 1/2-year-old son got tuckered out and irritable, so we curled up in one of the play birdnests and he rested for a few minutes - it worked!
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We did a membership this year and it saved my sanity on maternity leave this summer. I try to go when it's bad weather so that it's not so crowded.
The only drawback is that I'm uncomfortable with keeping animals that are free roaming ranging in small spaces (bears, big cats) unless they have some reason that they can't live in the wild.
But it's a beautiful park, and we just go there to walk around. I love how they let you bring your own food, that saves a lot of money.
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I know some people don't like zoos. I personally think they have a great role in educating and introducing children to a world of animals they might never see otherwise.
I think Brookfield Zoo is quite nice. Children seem to have a great natural connection with animals and this place really gets them excited about those animals. I do think they should consider redesigning some of the habitats to make them larger. This place is far better than the Lincoln Park zoo. Of course, you get what you pay for. If you have children and live close enough it's probably better to get a family membership. It's a good value as you also get free parking with a membership.
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Went there over Memorial Day & considering the vast amounts of people, the sweltering heat & humidity, & the thunderstorm that decided to rain on our parade, we had a great time. Everything's over-priced, but c'mon ... whadda ya expect? It's a tourist attraction.
We didn't get to see everything, but the highlights of our day were seeing the bears take a dip & then shake off all the excess water, checking out the dolphin show, the big cats, & the primate area.
Speaking of the primate area ... there was a guy who was throwing peanuts at the spider monkeys. No one was saying anything to him, so I went up & said, "Um ... I really don't think you're supposed to be feeding the animals." He replied (without even a HINT of sarcasm), "Oh. Thanks. I wouldn't've known that."
WOULDN'T'VE KNOWN THAT? Rule #1: Don't enter the animals' area. Rule #2: DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS!!!
There are signs up all over the place telling stories about animals who have died because they were fed stuff they couldn't eat or people had thrown items into their living space. Heh-heh-hello!
Also, down the line in the primates area, there was a woman who was dangling a banana above the gorillas. Dangling. A banana. Above gorillas.
Stupid stupid stupid. A mama gorilla was getting visibly pissed. Another gorilla was actively searching for ways to jump up to the woman & snatch that damn banana out of her idiotic hand.
Have a little common sense, people.
But ... since I'm not going to judge a place based on the ignorance of the people who go there ... oh who am I kidding? I totally will.
Four stars. Would've been five had it not been for the guests.
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Where are the animals?
I hadn't been to any zoo for about twenty years because they're boring and depressing, but I was hanging out with my friend and her three-year-old son, so we ended up here.
To me, it was just something neutral and inconsequential to have in the background, a setting for hanging out, sort of like being in a coffeeshop. There was very little interesting to see. Even the little tyke seemed to sense it, getting bored with each "exhibit" after about 30 seconds. He provided way more entertainment than the zoo did.
Most of the animals just weren't there. Are they still hibernating? (I wouldn't blame them after this heinous winter.) Did they escape? Are they shy? Are they dead?
One kudos that I will give to the zoo is the abundant signage around the exhibits, detailing conservation issues pertaining to that animal. I wholeheartedly support educating children about the fact that these animals belong free in the wild, and how we have fucked them by making it too dangerous to live there.
One cool sight was a polar bear going to town on a large green plastic barrel, jumping up and down on it and trying to tear it open with its claws and teeth. That bear is awesome!
Best zoo in Chicago, definitely better than Lincoln Park Zoo. The exhibits are nice and clean and BIG. My favorite is the ape exhibit. I also love the pond and trail in the back. It is the best place to get away from all the families.
I remember coming here as a kid and being really excited about the plastic toy making machines. I still enjoy the smell.
Even though I am not really for animals in captivity, this zoo is really good to the animals. Also they stress conservation here. Even the motor safari doesn't use gasoline-- a major plus in my book. The yearly membership is the way to go if you plan on coming more than two times a year. It gets you free parking and admission for you and a guest for free all year, plus discounts throughout the zoo.
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Great way to walk all day! Brookfield Zoo is one of the better ones, though I have to say that the food is nothing to write home about. As for the experience, if you have little ones, I really don't think you can't go wrong.
The Africa exhibit has always been my favorite, with the apes, monkeys and such... my kids (3 & 5) however, have a bit of a fright walking through it, so we don't always do that one. We are, as a family, a big fan of the rhinos, hippos, elephants... both of my kids love the giraffes and the best part about it is that when the giraffes are inside, you get so close to them!
Also love the carousal! It's my kids' favorite thing to do before leaving and I love it too!
Since we're not fans of the food there, we typically bring food, eat at the car, then bring fruit and snacks with us into the zoo to eat while we walk. No one complains about that and it's one of the things I absolutely appreciate about the zoos here.
There's also at least one, if not two, playgrounds for the kids to burn off some of that energy that they build up when wandering around with grown ups.
It's a great experience that I highly recommend!
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I don't know if my fascination with watching animals sadly kick the dirt below them has faded since I was a child, or if this place has lost it's touch. Every year they keep bragging about the renovations they will be doing soon...and every year I think about the millions of dollars and super model girlfriends I'll have with me to see them. Maybe none of the above will ever happen since we've all been hearing about it for the last decade.
There is two profound exhibits that make it worth the experience for me:
1. The suburban white children.
Their parents need to get a grip on the discipline!
On my last visit, I recall trying to photograph a small animal in an indoor exhibit when an 8 year old kid came up to me, tapped the arm I was focusing my camera with, and asked me to "move" because he "wanted to see it". Oh hyuck hyuck kids say the darndest things right? He continued to repeat himself louder and louder while his mother sheepishly smiled behind him.
If I did this when I was a kid I'd be chewing candy with my gums because my teeth would've been knocked straight out of my head!
All throughout your day you'll see spoiled rotten kids leading the way, bitching about how their ice cream is melting too fast, while their parents hop behind them with sunscreen on nose and insulin kit in fanny pack. Brilliant...
Brilliant but scary. Not so much scary because they are the generation that will run the world, but scary because I'm outlining that I'm nervous about the next generation to run the world. It makes me hate myself a little bit, just like paying to see animals in captivity will do to you.
2. The weird volunteering old people.
EVERY SINGLE TIME I visit this place, there's a point where some random old man walks up to me and says something like:
"You know, bats use a type of radar to detect their prey."
...and every time I'm like...
"Uh...neat!" while I nervously try to slide out of the conversation.
The magic illusion behind this is that these people are zoo employees who's job is to educate people. Now, wouldn't it make some sense to have them wear a shirt or a name tag if they're going to be approaching people's kids and striking up conversations?
I mean, what do you think would happen if I went to a Children's Hospital and was like "hey there Timmy...did you know that you contain 2 whole pints of blood?".
Whatev, a zoo is a zoo. This one seems a bit above average. Find me a zoo where less than 50% of the cages are empty and I'll try to be less cynical. At least my experiences here have made me realize that I don't want a white mother raising my kids, as incredibly awful as that probably sounds.
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I love the zoo.
My MOM loves the zoo.
So we took her there for Mother's Day this year.
Do not take your mom to the zoo on Mother's Day unless you enjoy MILLIONS of tiny screaming children who want a cookie/hot dog/ice cream/stuffed thing/puppy/bear/gorilla/new shirt/useless necklace/etc.
But the zoo is always an awesome time. Just bring your wallet. And your patience. And your taser (to get through the hoards of children/awful parents).
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