Oakland Zoo

Great Zoo for all the Animal at heart! Monkey gym was very entertaining. Met a fantastick employee, Mike Q. He was very helpful with the kids & made them feel as if they were in the exhibit. We will visit again!

Posted 08/02/08 | Report Abuse

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This zoo is a very nice zoo. The set up of it is better than others around. i like the skyride to go see some of the animals you cna not see well from walking. The little amusement park is also very nice.

Posted 10/17/06 | Report Abuse

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This zoo is great to take the kids to. Beware, though that there are a bunch of kiddie rides situated right outside the entrance. So if your kids love to go on the little train rides, you might get stuck here and never enter the park.
We liked the giraffes and the elephants.
The concession stands get pretty crowded at lunchtime and there usually isn't enough seating or shade.

Posted 03/15/06 | Report Abuse

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This zoo is just the right size for small children. There are lots of animals to see but not so many that you feel like you have to skip sections. The lions can be a little hard to spot, but it's nice that they have some space. The train and other rides add an extra bit of fun to the zoo visit. The childrens petting zoo was recently redone.

PROS: just the right size
CONS: the lion can be hard to spot

Posted 03/14/06 | Report Abuse

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We've only been here once but we have a good time. There aren't that many animals but they have enough to keep the kids interested. They also have a pretty good little train ride (a must for the boys) and a little amusement part area. The one draw back is that there is only one place to eat so your choice is quite limited.

Posted 03/14/06 | Report Abuse

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Since it is not a very big zoo, its nice to take the little ones there. By the time they get tired and cranky, we can come out of the zoo and we have seen all of it. I really liked this place. My child loved it too.

Posted 03/14/06 | Report Abuse

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Suprisingly one of the better zoos on the west coast. Located in a large park area the Oakland zoo has several exhibits and attractions for all ages. Bording on the large size there are pleanty of exhibits to see. Great price, friendly service but some hills so wear good shoes.

PROS: Large size, lots of exhibits.
CONS:

Posted 11/30/05 | Report Abuse

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Nice sized zoo in Oakland, its not the most modern or well kept up but they had some surprisingly good exhibits. Really kid friendly as there is a playground area with rides, including a sky car thingy, like at Disneyland. I think only costs $1 to ride. Only negative is somewhat hard to find, up in the hills, not a lot of signs. Plenty of parking. The zoo store was in a trailer and small, but had all the standard items. I would highly recommend.

Posted 11/28/05 | Report Abuse

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This zoo is not as big as the San Francisco zoo, but it is definitely worth visiting. The place is clean and well-maintained. The staff is helpful if you have any questions. And my kids absolutely loved it. Since it is closer to me than San Francisco zoo, I prefer going here.

Posted 11/28/05 | Report Abuse

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Wow, this zoo is so much better than I last saw it ten years ago. You can really tell the city took efforts in making improvements and it's a great asset to children in the bay area. My nephews really enjoyed the petting zoo, which use to be the dumpy part of the zoo. Their new exhibits are great too. I still think the San Francisco Zoo is better, but Oakland is giving it a good run! Take your kids here!

Posted 11/21/05 | Report Abuse

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The Oakland Zoo is a fun experience for the whole family. Kids will love watching all the animals, and adults will enjoy watching and learning about them from the helpful information provided for each animal. It is a great interactive experience! It is a great place for the family to spend a day. Also, it is a great place to go for kids parties.

Posted 11/20/05 | Report Abuse

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My 2 year old son loves to see animals. Oakland Zoo is the best place for him . there are many wild animals to see.one good thing is this is not a very big zoo so my kid never becomes tired after comming back.there you find a train ride also to take you inside the zoo.you should go there and just see how much fun is there.

Posted 11/19/05 | Report Abuse

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The Oakland Zoo is one of my daughters favorite places to visit. She absolutely loves animals and learning all about them. The zoo is well kept and the staff at the zoo are very helpful with directions and explaining some of the better attractions of the zoo. One of Oakland's spotlights.

Posted 11/18/05 | Report Abuse

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I take my kids to the Oakland zoo more often. It's closer than the San Francisco zoo for us so it's more convenient to get to. They have a pretty good collection of animals there despite the fact that it is a lot smaller than the SF zoo. But my kids like the little amusement-like area they have where they have a number of kids rides available.

Posted 11/07/05 | Report Abuse

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The Oakland Zoo is not as big as the San Francisco, but that is just fine with me. Its a great place to take the kids beacuse you don't have to walk forever to visit all of the exhibits. This zoo is smaller than most, but it just as fun. I like the mini amusement park/rides that they offer in the front. Its a great place to visit. I really recommend going there.

Posted 11/07/05 | Report Abuse

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We love the Oakland Zoo. even though it is a smaller zoo, it is perfectfor little onies. i love the fact that you can let your little one explore a little more, let them out of the stroller and walk on their own. At the zoo they have rides also. We love riding the train and the merry-go- round. it is nice a t the zoo since you do not have to spend the whole do there, you can spend have a day and come back again soon.

Posted 11/02/05 | Report Abuse

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The Oakland zoo is a wonderful place. I just recently went there to spend some time with my girlfriend. I went there thinking that it would be an ok experience, just because we are in our 20s and no longer kids. But I was shocked at how interesting and amazing the zoo is. Seeing monkeys, exotic birds, and bears is truely a fascinating experience, even for grown ups. The prices aren't bad, it's cheaper than the SF zoo. Another plus about the zoo is it's location, after going to the zoo you can play a round of golf because a golf course is next door!

Posted 11/02/05 | Report Abuse

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Lots of things to see thought it is a little small. They have play areas and rides for kids too. A great experience for the family. I really enjoyed watch the lions and elephants. Great variety of other animals too.

Posted 11/01/05 | Report Abuse

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I never really paid much attention to the Oakland Zoo. Until recently I didn't really know that it existed. I attened a small children's birthday party and I was quite impresses by the zoo. The mini train in the front is an excellent addition to any family outing. The zoo is not as big as the zoo in san francisco, but it doesn't lack its own charm. Another great place to visit in the bay area.

Posted 09/22/05 | Report Abuse

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If you love animals and have kids this is a place visit. They have a lot of wild animals you can look at all day. They keep the zoo pretty well maintained and clean for everyone. The San Francisco Zoo is a lot bigger and has better attractions but that isn't a reason not to skip this zoo.

Posted 09/15/05 | Report Abuse

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I have always heard rumors that the Oakland Zoo is not that great, not even comparable to the SF zoo. I visited the Oakland Zoo last week for a kid's birthday party and I thought it was wonderful. It may not be a large zoo, but it has a character. All the kids enjoyed the mini train ride. And we were able to visit everything is about half a day which was very nice. I recommend this zoo for all those people who think the SF zoo is too big. You can have fun and not have to walk around the entire day.

Posted 09/13/05 | Report Abuse

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The oakland Zoo is the best place to take children who want to see animals, but you don't want to walk around for hours. It took us only a few hours to visit this zoo and the kids were happy. it is much smaller than the SF zoo, but that doesn't mean it isn't just as good. I liked the mini train in the center of the zoo. Also it was a surprise to see little carnival games as you enter the zoo. Overall, its a great place to visit. Highly recommended

Posted 09/08/05 | Report Abuse

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This zoo is not as large as the San Francisco zoo, but it definitely did not lack in fun. It was nce to be able to visit all of teh exhibits and animals in less than 4 hours. I liked the train ride that allows you to travel almost all the way around the zoo. That was a great experience. I also noticed that they had mini carnival rides just at the entrance to the zoo for all the children. Overall the Oakland zoo was a fun place to visit. Highly recommended for family fun.

Posted 09/08/05 | Report Abuse

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I have been to the Oakland zoo with my family a couple of times now and I have to say that it is a very nice zoo. They have the basic collection of animals like lions, elephants and giraffes but nothing spectacular. They do have a nice little amusement park with several rides for kids like a merry-go-around. There is also a huge picnic area adjacent to the zoo complete with picnic tables, benches and barbeque grills.

Posted 09/04/05 | Report Abuse

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The Oakland Zoo is always a fun visit for me, as a kid growing up in Oakland and also as an adult today. By far my favorite exhibits have always been the acrobatic ring-tailed lemurs, and the elephants, when though they're smelly. You'll find some exotic animals and endanged species you probably won't find at many zoos in the country as well. Even though I prefer the San Francisco Zoo because it's a more beautiful zoo, I still enjoy going to this zoo because it's closer.

Posted 09/03/05 | Report Abuse

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I recently visited the Oakland Zoo for the first time, and was pleasantly surprised. It's a great place to take the kids as they have a new petting zoo and a train, as well as an area with small amusement park rides. The African elephants and the monkeys are also quite impressive. The zoo is nicely spaced out and I liked how they also have shows and feedings as well.

Posted 09/01/05 | Report Abuse

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Not a huge zoo, so you can see it all in a few hours. One of the neat things for those with kids, is they have some carnaval type rides just outside the gates. There is also a train ride there that goes around the zoo. It's worth the line. They have beautiful exibits for the big cats, and the new children's zoo is amazing. Our toddler had a blast there. I like that they have a few exibits with several species all mixed in together. It's neat to see the animals interacting. Food is a bit expensive, and not much variety, but you can bring in your own lunch to save money.
We go to their Christmas light show every year. It's cold at night, but a fun holiday evening.

Posted 09/01/05 | Report Abuse

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The Oakland Zoo is a great place to take children who are interested in animals. It offers a nice petting zoo for children and sells bags of nutritional pellets so the kids can even feed the animals! It also offers a variety of on-site, mobile educational programs and tours. It also provides a spacious hall for receptions, meetings, and parties with a great view of the bay!

Posted 08/29/05 | Report Abuse

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always enjoyed going to the Oakland Zoo when I was younger. Although it is smaller than some other places, it is also closer for those traveling from the suburbs. There is a good selection of animals, and it's a great place for families to bring their children without being too crowded.

Posted 08/24/05 | Report Abuse

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The Oakland Zoo is not as big as the San Francisco Zoo but every Zoo is not the same. I'm more concerned about the location, traffic, and how well they maintain the place. After my experience here I would reccommend it. It's pretty clean and have plenty of benches around if you have kids and your tire of hauling them around. The gift shop had some great gifts at reasonable prices which was a little surprising. They also were pretty well staffed and were uniformed ready to assist in anyway possible.

Posted 08/20/05 | Report Abuse

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I love animals and the best way to see wild animals in the bay area is the Oakland zoo. They have a good variety of animals and it is obvious that they give good care to the animals. They have create an habitat for animals such as: lions, tigers, bears, zebras, and many more.
If you are looking for a palce were to take your kids this weekend, the Oakland zoo is the place to go, your kids will enjoy it.

Posted 08/12/05 | Report Abuse

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The Knowland Zoo or Oakland zoo is a relatively small zoo in comparison to the San Francisco one. However it does have its merits and my kids still loved going there. They also have a children's zoo but very small with mainly goats as the main attraction. The zoo has an area where they have rides like a merry-go-round, a train and other kiddie rides. They also have a lift that takes your from one end of the zoo to an elevated area at the other end. This is great because you can see all the animals from above.

Posted 08/08/05 | Report Abuse

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Even though this zoo isn't as big as the on ein San Francisco, its still filled with interesting animals that you could not see anywhere else. This is a great place to take children and to have fun and learn new things.

Posted 07/28/05 | Report Abuse

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We went to the grand opening of the Children's zoo. It was a bit disappointing because many parts of it weren't completed and were under construction. I was also expecting more interactive areas for the kids. There was only two areas, both which were mobbed with people. I'm hoping that my disappointment will turn to pleasure when I go back once this part is finished. The rest of the zoo is nice. All of the animals look happy and healthy. A big plus is that there is an amusement park in the zoo where you can ride a train around the zoo or a tram over the zoo.

Posted 07/25/05 | Report Abuse

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Probably lives a little bit in the shadows of the San Francisco Zoo, but it's worth a trip out for sure. They have some neat little features like a mini train ride, a sky ride and a set of carnival rides. And cool animals, got to have those. It's located in the hills in Oakland, which is kind of nice.

Posted 06/15/05 | Report Abuse

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The structure of the zoo was nice, and it was easy to navigate around with or without a zoo map. I found it interesting that the animals were sectioned off according to where they lived: The African Savanna, African Veldt, Australian Outback, Tropical Rain Forest , the African Village, the Zoo Meadow, and the Karibu Village.
Seeing all the animals and getting an idea of their habitats gave me an excellent sense of their lifestyle. We see different humans all the time but we never see all the various animals (since they do not live nearby or we do not travel much in our lifetime to even see them). It is a different kind of experience reading a book or on the Internet about animals than actually seeing or observing them. I got a sense of animal diversity, rather than human diversity. I thought it was really cool seeing the Malayan fruit bats because they are temporarily at the Oakland Zoo, and I have never seen bats in my life! They can have a wing span of six feet, which is incredibly big considering how small a bat is.
I made sure I saw all the areas in the zoo. I am glad I went to the Oakland Zoo because it was a fun learning experience. I would definitely go again. There is no trouble with parking. There is a small snack bar for food when you first enter the zoo, maps of the zoo are available, and parking is no problem. It is fun to go with family and friends!

Posted 06/07/05 | Report Abuse

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