Kansas City Zoo & Aquarium

Who doesn't love the zoo?

Parking is really easy there is the entry fee. It's totally a nice place to take your kids or family or just enjoy a nice afternoon. Walk around the park every time when I visit a zoo I care more about how animals were treated in the zoo. They have different variety of animals. An interaction activities that you can do with the animals or help your little ones to know more about those animals. They also have the lift to take you from one place to another so it's totally something cool to try feeling like flying over those zebra.

I paid a lot for a zoo membership when the aquarium opened because I had high hopes it would be as good as the one in Chicago (and elsewhere) I visited more than 20 years ago. Then the KC Zoo unexpectedly instituted a reservations-only policy for the aquarium for several months, which kept me from going because my full-time weekdays job meant only being able to go on the already very booked-up crowded weekends. Once that reservations restriction was lifted, I went on a chilly overcast Sunday, successfully avoiding the big crowds that had been going on nice weekends during our premature very warm Spring-to-summer-like days.

I'm an older adult who still gets as excited about a zoo, and even more so for big aquariums, as any child I've ever seen, so my hopes were high! And I still love all the rides, even the carousel. It makes me sad to say I was disappointed in our new zoo aquarium. A few exhibits were out-of-commission, and several hadexhibits had nothing in them, no matter how diligently you searched for fish listed on the signage. And not many had the brightly colored coral reef fish I'd hoped to see. So it seemed almost as dreary inside as it was outside. And even on a slow day, kids were running all around yelling, which can be jarringly loud inside a completely enclosed indoor, all-hard-surface building.

The highlights were seeing big sharks swimming by in the largest aquarium, and one where the Inhabitants swim by over your head. The jellyfish tanks were wonderful, especially the bright orange jellyfish with a vivid blue background. The stations where you can actually touch specific kinds of live sea life, monitored by the zoo's aquarium experts, were as enticing for me as for the kids around me.
And don't miss the monkeys!

As always, expect very high pricing on food, beverages, in gift shops, and for any "specially" rides, like the big motorized stuffed animals. I highly recommend taking a bottled water and maybe some M&Ms or trail mix with you.

Who hasn't been here 40 times? No one. Even your first visit, you've already visited 22 times and are a lifetime supporter through PBS or something...

But you know, I miss the old days when the world hadn't lost their minds.

"Charge them MORE!!! Take MORE!!! Build MORE!!!

I'm not impressed. I watched this little tike of a zoo grow from a small pup to a mighty dollar-gorging monster that it is, and I must say, I'm disappointed in my parenting approach.

I don't know how much we spent, but it felt like $240...to look at a few elephants and stand in the Chimp enclosure staring at nothing but grass and trees sans chimp. The bridge was closed that day, so we had to walk twice as much in Africa than typical to attempt to see it all and get our $240 worth - and we ultimately failed. Probably saw 75% of the animals...arrived when they opened, and stayed 20 minutes after they closed AT 4 PM!!! What the hell!?! 9:30a.m. to 4p.m. is 6 hours. You're going to charge me nearly $20 a person and only allow me 6 hours to walk everywhere? You have to take breaks, food logistics, and with that, and children, it's nearly impossible.

I've never seen this place so developed and modern and happening and now...and I hate it. The attractions add-on pricing to ride the train and the sky-tram is also a rip-off. There's lines everywhere, so you're really not able to ride at your leisure. Save the "bundle pricing" and just pay for what you want to ride, which is $3 each person. Also, it's not that far anywhere. Felt farther when I was a kid, but the tram we waited for 20 minutes to board and move drove us 4 minutes around a corner to arrive 150 feet away from where we stood for 20 minutes...so it's a waste.

One Brightside was the Aquarium - that was fabulous; so many fish, so many glass, so many touchies! And my daughter loved the Stingray petting zone - that was weird (they're so rough and slippery!)

But pro tip: Jackson-County residents as far as Lees' Summit I believe get massive discounts on entry, so I guess Move to Jackson County?

My daughter had fun mostly, but she didn't know what the hell was happening most of the time. Was it worth a quarter of $1,000 bucks? No. It's a zoo - a good one, but not great. Lower prices, or stay open longer.

The new Australian train station and the aquarium make the Kansas City zoo one of the top locations to check out for any visitor

Spent a good chunk of the day at the zoo with a friend today and we enjoyed ourselves. The aquarium is pretty cool. Nothing crazy exciting like you'll find at the Shedd aquarium in Chicago but it's a cute place to check out. We got to chat with one zookeeper while we were there and learned a couple things about lions that we didn't know. The zoo is very pricy for what it is, but the money does go to conservation, so that's good!

Attended the Kinder Joy Eggstravaganza . It was a fabulous deal for $15 per person. You got a very nice breakfast buffet complete with eggs, bacon, hash browns, sausage, danish, biscuits and gravy.The event was held in a heated tent with free face painting, Kinder eggs, and the Easter bunny! We learned a lot about the different eggs that animals lay. They also had a scavenger hunt throughout the zoo that once completed entered you in a drawing for a Kinder Joy Easter basket. This ticket also included admission to the zoo. The weather was wonderful and we all had a fantastic time

I am newer to KC and have really enjoyed this Zoo. The Zoo just added the new aquarium, and it is so good. I lived in California, where I got to visit Monterey Bay all the time and this new KC Aquarium is state of the Art.

Me and my kids love this Zoo and visit it frequently. This Zoo reminds me of the San Diego Zoo. There is a lot of walking but it's all worth it.

We have season passes and visit the Zoo a few hours at a time.

Our day at the zoo weekend was so great! The tram was the perfect fun way to get the kiddos around without doing much walking! Sadly we only got around to doing Africa and the aquarium, but if you know Africa has a lot to offer! We always love going on the swinging bridge and it actually swung pretty good this time, always a blast. All the animals were out and about and we got some really good pictures. This zoo has always been one of my favorites and the new aquarium building they added this year is so amazing. It has a lot of sea life that I wasn't expecting! Sharks, sea turtles, jellyfish the whole sha-bang! They even count how many people go in and out so it's not too crowded. Only downside is how expensive everything is now adays, something to eat was at least 6$ or higher. And if you wanted to get some memorabilia is was at least 15$ or more. They did have scooter accessibly as well and we rented a scooter for my grandfather which made the trip for him so much more bare able! But overall we always have a great time at this zoo as it has a lot to offer! This year we did the carousel which is a good excitement for the littles. Next year we will try the zoo safari sky lift with the kids!

I just stopped at this zoo for 2 hours so I picked the penguin's and their new aquarium to visit.

I have visited many zoos through out the U.S so the bar was set pretty high. That being said, both exhibits were outstanding!!

Since I am a member at another zoo in my home town, my entrance was half price. A very nice perk!

The park was clean, parking was plenty (and FREE) all of the employees were friendly and seemed to like their jobs. The gift shop was moderately priced.

Ive read that this zoo is amazing and since we were in Kansas City for only two days, we decided to go here on the second day. Our plan was to go when they first open, stay for maybe 2 hours and then head somewhere else. Six hours later and we're still here. Its a huge complex with a lot of things to see and do. Make sure to purchase your tickets online and get everything. It's worth it. Tram ride, train ride, sky ride, boat ride, carousel ride - we did them all. One of the best zoos I've been to!