Dallas Zoo

650 S R.L. Thornton Fwy, Dallas, TX 75203, USA

Address:	650 S R.L. Thornton Fwy, Dallas, TX 75203, USA
Phone:	+1 469-554-7500
Site:	dallaszoo.com
Rating:	4.4
Working:	9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM 9AM–5PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 4

A Private User

Our family went to the zoo today for the first time in several years. We were very impressed with the new Giants of the Savannah area. Our 21-month-old enjoyed feeding the giraffes and seeing the elephants. Where else can you feed a giraffe? We also enjoyed the impressive lion feeding demonstration and the cheetah exhibit. I found myself referring to it as "the new zoo." We have been to Disneys Animal Kingdom multiple times, and we were happy to finally be able to compare the Dallas Zoo to Animal Kingdom. The art direction of the new area is lovely and well-executed. The employees and keepers were friendly and helpful. I also appreciated the visibility of the security guards in the parking lot. There is a childrens section of the zoo with a playground and a stream where kids can wade and cool off. Bring water shoes or a swim diaper! Our little one enjoyed this. We ate lunch at the Grill and were pleasantly surprised by the reasonable food pricing. While the drinks are a little expensive, the food is tasty and priced well. My brisket sandwich with fries cost $5.75. The outdoor area could use a few fans, mainly to keep the flies away from the food. Also, the umbrellas should be up when the lunch rush starts—I saw several guests struggling to raise the table umbrellas. However, these are minor concerns. We enjoyed our lunch on the patio looking over the savannah. The zoo is also very picnic friendly. Or, if you are on your way out, there is a McDonalds just outside the exit with a really cute zoo theme. The bathrooms in the new area are clean and big. There are even changing tables in the mens rooms. The older section of the zoo looks a little shabby next to the amazing new section. But you can get a camel ride for $5—how fun is that? Several of the exhibits are now empty, since the animals have moved over to the savannah. My guess is that the new management of the zoo will now turn their attention to the older section. Overall, we were very pleased and happy with our zoo visit. We may not buy a membership this year (since we have a new baby due very soon), but we will recommend the "new" zoo to our friends.

A Private User

So, we went to Dallas at the beginning of Spring Break with our 4 year old son as our first family vacation. I was excited about the Zoo as I had heard such good things about it and about how large it was. First the ticket price..not so bad. Second, parking...sucked. We were told that we couldnt park in the main parking lot because it was filled and we were told wed have to find somewhere else to park and walk the rest of the way. Really? They must of been crazy because even the McDonalds near the entrance was still some distance away. Waited in a long line of cars for twenty mins waiting to get into a small overflow lot. Now the layout of the zoo...horrible in my opinion. Too much space to cover, I feel it could have been compacted a little more to make it more walking friendly. I was disappointed in the childrens area, their petting zoo only consisted of 5 goats, the baby donkeys & sheep were in another area that couldnt be accessed. The Koalas which is their big thing right now where a disappointment. There were two of them, housed in glass cages inside a small building, and they were both facing away from the crowds asleep. Would have been nice to be able to view them from all sides, my 4 yr old was disappointed. The tiger exhibit was ridiculous...we had to wait in a very slow moving line to get inside a little building w/a glass window looking out onto the male tiger. It was a bad setup, especially when people want to stay in front of the glass forever. Here in Houston, theyre in open enclosures and you dont have to wait in a stupid line. Then theres the smell...good god...I know its a zoo, but every animal we visited, the enclosures reeked as if they hadnt been cleaned in a while. Weve never encountered that the several times weve visited our zoo here in Houston. All in all, it was a disappointment. We were there for four hours and still barely got to see half of it and that was at a rushed pace. Mostly because of the excessive spacing of the layout. We will not be going back.

Kim Kimmerie

Like most people, Im half and half on zoos in general, but putting all emotions aside, this is a very nice place to visit. If you have a handicap placard there are a lot of spots right near the front entrance (just ask an attendant to lead the way). Zoo prices are high, but they were having "sales" (I say that like that because we havent been enough to know if these sales happen year round, ha) in the store so got some nice souvenirs at better to be expected prices. I wish they had more options for toddler clothing though. The wheelchair and electric motor chair rental prices are a lot high which is why I downgraded to 4 stars)...I just dont agree with that in particular, my mother-in-law really needed one there towards the end of our visit (lots of hills and steps in the park), we opted for the push one because the park was only open for a little while longer and it didnt seem worth it to go motorized. Idk, I kind of wish that was an option when we bought our tickets at the box office so we could have had her in one from the beginning. I digress. Everything else was pretty awesome. We had a great time. Some exhibits were closed or not ready yet but thats not a huge deal. Overall it was great. You can bring a cooler into the park so we brought lunch and snacks. There are several picnic areas. They also will let you go out and in with no extra fee so you can take stuff to the car and come back to enjoy the animals unencumbered; which is nice because we worried that we would have to drag our cooler all around with us. They have food and drinks available if you didnt pack ahead. Parking is painless and handicap accessible. Things cost money that you wouldnt expect to after paying an admission fee, like the tram ride and carousel, but its for the animals so why the heck not? Bring money and expect to walk a lot.

Michael

Having been to the Houston zoo plus Dallas aquarium I feel the Dallas zoo could be a great zoo but there are a few problems. First the good things, I feel the lion and cheetah exhibits plus Giraffe and aviary are nice and love how close you can get to the animals. Plus the feedings/encounters are a nice touch for photos. Also get there early or wait until 4:30 before seeing the Texas Cats, they are either sleeping or waiting for the sun to go down before becoming animated. I was taken aback by the early closing time also, just when it started feeling nice it is 5:00 and time to leave. Other zoos stay open till 7:00 or even 8:00pm. Now the negatives, if you go prepare to walk! This place is huge but it doesnt do much with the space provided. It feels like these enclosures are big which is nice for the animals but not for viewing them. Also there is little to no cover/shade so be ready and wear a cap and bring the sunblock. Also the monorail was a bit of a let down. It is nice to sit down and see the animals from another POV but there is no A/C in the passenger cars plus it def. looks its age. The reptile and insect buildings need to take a page from other zoos on presentation. And lastly the monorail is not worth the price IMO but if you have kiddos they will get a kick out of it. The Dallas zoo is one of the oldest in Texas and is still worth the visit but go in early and prepare yourself for the elements.