Our 2 12 months outdated daughter loves animals – she would go to the zoo each day if she had an opportunity. Once we have been researching issues to do in San Diego with a toddler and a child, it was a no brainer so as to add the San Diego Zoo and the Safari Park to our itinerary. We have been excited to take her to a world-famous zoo which options many unique animals that aren’t present in our native zoo, particularly the pandas, polar bears, koalas and orangutans.
We beloved visiting the San Diego Zoo with our toddler a lot, we additionally determined to go to the Safari Park too. On this submit, we’ll share all of the methods to take advantage of out of your go to to the San Diego Zoo with a toddler (and the Safari Park too!). On the backside, we’ll examine the 2 parks that can assist you resolve which park it is best to go to together with your youngsters – the San Diego Zoo or Safari Park – or each!
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8 Ideas for Visiting the San Diego Zoo with a Toddler
1. Plan Your Go to the San Diego Zoo with a Toddler
The San Diego Zoo and Safari Park are each large locations, so having a plan in place will assist guarantee your youngsters get to see their “must-see” animals. That is very true in case you are visiting the San Diego Zoo with a toddler in a single day. Prioritize the zoo animals you wish to see most. Until your kids are older and have unimaginable stamina, you aren’t more likely to cowl your entire San Diego Zoo in sooner or later.
To assist plan your journeys to the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park with youngsters, you’ll be able to obtain the park maps forward of time, or you need to use the map throughout the San Diego Zoo app.
Giant paper copies of the zoo maps are additionally out there on the entrances. In case you are touring to San Diego with a toddler, be sure to seize a number of of the zoo maps as they stored our toddler entertained for the remainder of the week.
Not solely are the zoo maps massive and colourful, however she beloved to have us present her the trail we walked via every park. We predict this helped reinforce the reminiscences of the animals she beloved seeing on the zoo.
2. Purchase Your San Diego Zoo Tickets On-line
With 3.2 million guests annually, the San Diego Zoo is probably the most visited zoo within the United States. As you’ll be able to think about, the ticket lineups can get actually lengthy. It’s already exhausting sufficient to see every thing within the zoo in sooner or later, so do your self a giant favor, and purchase your San Diego Zoo tickets on-line and skip the lengthy ticket traces.
Skip the Line San Diego Zoo Tickets
3. Carry Your Little one
The San Diego Zoo is a big place, so that you’ll want a approach to give your toddler a break from strolling. You may carry a light-weight journey stroller or get a San Diego Zoo stroller rental. We introduced a child provider to the zoo for our child; it was an ideal place for him to have a nap on-the-go whereas we let our toddler run alongside wanting on the animals.
4. Observe the Stroller-Pleasant Routes
When you elect to carry a stroller to the San Diego Zoo on your toddler or child, search for the “Most Accessible Routes” on the zoo map. These routes are the simplest for wheeled guests to navigate, so visiting the San Diego Zoo with a stroller shall be a breeze on these steered routes.
5. Take the San Diego Zoo Kangaroo Bus
Do your self a giant favor and reap the benefits of the Kangaroo Bus throughout the San Diego Zoo. We tried strolling in all places within the San Diego Zoo with our youngsters and didn’t use the Kangaroo Bus, and to be sincere, it was exhausting.
The San Diego Zoo Kangaroo Bus is a hop-on hop-off bus service with 4 stops across the zoo. Save time and power by utilizing the Kangaroo Bus to cowl lengthy distances on the zoo together with your toddler.
6. Use the Nursing Station
In case you are nursing your child, you could want to use the San Diego Zoo nursing room. The “Child Care Middle” is situated on the first help workplace, close to the Reptile home.
7. Miniature Railroad
When you had hoped to mix your go to with the miniature railroad in Balboa Park, remember it is just open restricted hours on holidays and weekends. The prepare station is simply exterior the San Diego Zoo entrance.
8. San Diego Zoo Playgrounds
The San Diego Zoo has great little play areas that can assist maintain your kids entertained alongside the way in which. There’s the Elephant Play Yard (Situated at Elephant Odyssey), the Polar Play Space (within the Northern Frontier) and the Koala Klimber (within the Australian Outback).
There are infinite routes you’ll be able to observe when visiting the San Diego Zoo with a toddler. We share our route beneath that can assist you get an concept of what’s potential on a single day go to to the San Diego Zoo with youngsters.
On the San Diego Zoo entrance we turned proper on to Entrance Road however stopped shortly after on the Japanese Gardens, so I might breastfeed my son (and seize a espresso). Then we adopted the path as much as the Australian Outback to see the koalas.
Subsequent, we walked via the Elephant Odyssey. There have been a pair small play areas that we stopped at close to the doorway. We wished to see the elephants as a result of we don’t have them at our native zoo, though I might say our toddler was extra intrigued with the turtles and frogs!
Following the route via the jaguar and the lions, we made our approach to the Northern Frontier. The polar bears have been a lot enjoyable! One polar bear was taking part in with a ball and placing on fairly a present. Adults and youngsters alike have been very entertained. Our expertise within the Northern Frontier alone was well worth the value of admission.
After pulling ourselves away from the polar bears, we ventured up via the Eagle Path on our approach to see the Panda Trek. The panda exhibit may be very busy, so we have been ushered via there fairly rapidly.
After a fast snack cease close to the Hua Mei Café, we took the shifting walkway up in the direction of the Aviary Path. This shifting walkway might need been one in all our daughter’s favourite elements concerning the zoo!
Our subsequent cease was the Orangutan Path. Orangutans are my husband’s favourite animal, so this was a must-see for us. They have been a lot enjoyable to look at and our daughter beloved to see the newborn orangutan. We stayed there for a while as they have been being fed after we have been there.
Our closing cease was on the Youngsters’s Zoo. Each our child and toddler performed on the Discovery Playground then we stopped on the Petting Paddock, which wasn’t overly thrilling, as there have been solely goats to pet.
We determined to go to each the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park on our household trip to Southern California. When you additionally select to go to each parks on your loved ones San Diego trip, listed below are some useful ideas for visiting the Safari Park with a toddler.
1. Prioritize Your Time
Visiting the San Diego Safari Park with a toddler and a child, we knew we wouldn’t have sufficient time to see every thing, so we targeted on what we thought our toddler would get pleasure from probably the most. We determined to spend our time using the Africa Tram and strolling via the African Loop.
2. Purchase Your San Diego Zoo Safari Park Tickets On-line
Though the Safari Park isn’t fairly as busy because the San Diego Zoo, it’s nonetheless a very fashionable kid-friendly San Diego attraction. So, we’ve got the identical recommendation for the Safari Park as for the zoo…. maximize your time contained in the park by by buying your Safari Park tickets on-line earlier than you arrive.
Skip the Line San Diego Safari Park Tickets
3. Carry Small Children
In case you are visiting the Safari Park with small youngsters, plan to have a stroller or provider. The Safari Park is a good place for a stroll, nevertheless it’s large and small youngsters will get drained. The Wild Animal Park is fully stroller pleasant and you may hire a stroller there (restricted portions).
4. Costume Appropriately for the Climate
The Safari Park is kind of a methods from central San Diego and there generally is a noticeable temperature distinction between the 2 areas. It was cloudy and a bit of chilly after we left San Diego, however after we arrived on the Safari Park it was scorching and sunny. Your greatest guess is to decorate in layers, so you’ll be able to take away clothes if it’s too scorching.
5. Save Time for Play
Regardless that the Safari Park is a really kid-friendly San Diego attraction, youngsters nonetheless want time for some acquainted play time. There’s nothing like a playground to reset and recenter a toddler that’s out of their consolation zone. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park has a number of good playgrounds, together with the Tiger Path play space, the Samburu Jungle Health club and the African themed Village Playground.
6. Carry Swimsuits
It was a scorching day on our go to to the Safari Park with youngsters. We stumbled throughout the Savanna Cool Zone, an superior plash park, however we didn’t have bathing fits for our youngsters. The SAvanna Cool Zone regarded so enjoyable, we let our youngsters get moist with their garments on. It was heat sufficient to dry them off, however if in case you have room in your baggage, perhaps tuck away swimsuits on your youngsters.
7. Nursing Room
If it is advisable to breastfeed your child on the San Diego Safari Park, there’s a nursing station by the Ranger Base. When you aren’t close to the Ranger Base, merely use one of many many benches all through the park.
8. Safari Park Premium Encounters
There are a number of premium “Animal Encounters” out there for buy on the San Diego Safari Park, however they appeared higher suited to older kids.
San Diego Zoo vs. Safari Park for Toddlers
The San Diego Zoo Safari Park is an excellent enjoyable approach to expertise an African safari with out leaving the US. Nonetheless, if it’s a must to select simply one in all these world-class parks to go to together with your child or toddler, we advocate the San Diego Zoo as an alternative of the Safari Park. The zoo is San Diego’s most well-known attraction for a purpose – it’s actually a superb zoo.
That stated, we visited each San Diego Zoo parks and are glad that we did – the experiences have been completely different sufficient that we felt it was value it.
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Celine Brewer is the proprietor of Child Can Journey. Not solely does she have years of expertise touring with infants & toddlers, however she’s helped hundreds of thousands of recent dad and mom journey with their infants and toddlers for over a decade. Along with writing on her child journey weblog, she has shared her experience on touring with a child or toddler by contributing to articles about touring with a child with the Washington Submit, USA At this time, the Lonely Planet journal and Being pregnant & New child journal.
Celine additionally writes about household journey on the positioning FamilyCanTravel.com, which she co-owns along with her husband. Being from the Canadian Rockies, she shares her ardour about her house and journey to Banff Nationwide Park and space on their website TravelBanffCanada.com.
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