Sunday, August 13, 2006

The Zoo







Well, being that it was a free trip for us, i feel bad even writing this. But quite frankly, I was very disappointed with the Detroit Zoo! I mean, it's very big and overwhelming, with the attractions all spread out, which is great for the animals, but not so great when you have a 3 yr old and a 15 month old in tow. It just seemed that we no sooner got to the back of the zoo and it was time to high tail it to the front to the picnic area for the lunch that my dad's company provided for us. The biggest dissappointment was the polar bear exhibit. We waited in Cedar Point like lines to walk through the underwater tunnel, to see a few seals swimming around. The polar bears were not in the water. We didn't go through the kangaroo exhibit either, bc the line was always super long and again, just too hard to stand in a long line with toddlers. Not my idea of fun. Anyway, we arrived around noon, bc we were running behind schedule and me, Jeremy and my dad were ready to go by about 3. We didn't get to see the penguins. Several other animals were not out. I would have been very upset if we had actually shelled out the money to go. It wasn't all bad and I would still recommend a visit. The only thing i suggest is to go either at the beginning of the season or maybe towards the end when maybe the weather will be cooler and more animals will be out and also to not take kids under probably 5. Another thing my sister pointed out...its a zoo. Main focus is kids, right? If you are under about 5 ft, you can't see most of the stuff without being held up.

The highlight of the trip for me was the butterfly/aviary attraction. I love butterflies and it is so neat to walk around amongst them. I had 2 butterflies land on me. The kids were in awe and Sebastian didn't want to leave the birds. He loved them. I also liked the giraffes. This was the first time i have seen a real giraffe. Ok, the Lion was awesome too. He did manage to pick his lazy head up and stare out at us! He just looked so majestic!

I think that next summer, we will take the kids to the Saginaw Zoo. My mom and I took Makenneh when she was about 2 and we had a great time. It's smaller and everything kinda runs in a circle or something, instead of all the splitting off that the Detroit Zoo does. They may not have quite as many animals as Detroit, but they have quite a few and you can get in to walk with the kangaroos without a long line. And I love their penguin exhibit. Not to mention there is fossil digging for the kids, the train, petting zoo, etc. So, it just seems that it's more geared towards youngsters than Detroit. (of course, the name of the zoo in Saginaw is Saginaw Children's Zoo...lol).

But anyway, Thank you Comau Pico for providing us with a day of fun at the zoo!


3 comments:

Julie Q said...

Sorry to hear you were disappointed with our zoo. I just love it. And I love that the animals have such nice places to "live." Like their natural habitats. I don't like to think of animals being mistreated. I don't believe in circuses because of that.

Yes, a cooler day would have more animals out. Although sometimes, you just have to search for them. As they are in natural habitats.

I am sorry you didn't get to see the polar bears swimming around. We didn't see them the first time we went through there either.

I love the lions! They are so beautiful! Did you see the tigers? I love the tigers too. Although, they look like they want to eat me for dinner. :)

I like the butterflies too, but I haven't been in there in years. Both my boys (9 years apart!) don't like the butterflies flying around them. So, I always wait outside with them.

OK, I will stop now. This is your blog right? ;)

LosingSanity said...

Ya know, I might have enjoyed it more if i had had more sleep, the kids were a little bit older..like old enough to understand that sometimes you can't see the animals, that you have to be patient, etc. But, I figure we can try it again when the kids are old enough to walk on their own and understand the concepts of being at a zoo for an entire day!

Anonymous said...

Christina,
Have you ever gone to Wilderness Park? If you take the split that heads towards Frankenmuth you will come across it on the right hand side before Frankenmuth! My kids love going there and Jons family takes a trip there at least once a year. It is not very big like Detroit or Saginaw which is why I think that you guys might enjoy it. They even have a little petting farm there where when Michael was two got kissed by the baby camel-gross I know but Michael thought that it was so funny. Just a thought anyway. Not sure how much it costs but it is worth it if you just want to go for a few hours instead of all day and it even has a picnic area with a nice little playground. Just an idea!