Day 4 - The San Diego Zoo
On the guided bus tour, checking out his guidebook.
For our fourth day in San Diego, we decided to head to the San Diego Zoo. The zoo was only about a 20 minute drive from our hotel and we started our morning by driving the The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf to grab some coffee and some pastries for a quick breakfast. It was downtown and close to the zoo. I will say it wasn't my favorite coffee, but it did the trick.
We arrived at the zoo shortly after it opened. We wanted to get there as early as possible to beat the crowds. We had purchased our tickets beforehand online through the zoo itself. They have several different ticket options. One was to buy the zoo and safari park together. Since we were heading to the safari park another day, we purchased the 2-visit pass. There is also a pass that include Sea World if you plan on doing that, too. We didn't do Sea World this time since we were doing Legoland.
Once at the ticket booth, we showed them our tickets and they asked if we wanted to by a guidebook. It was $5 and it was worth every penny. We bought one for each kid and they were able to look through the book as we went around the zoo, seeing each of the animals and learning more about them as we went. I highly suggest snagging one of these if they are still available.
Once we entered the gates, we went straight to the guided bus tour. This is a first come, first serve attraction, and I had read it can get busy. We were able to get right on, since we headed there first. It was a cool experience being able to take in the whole zoo before exploring and learning about some behind the scenes information.
We arrived at the zoo shortly after it opened. We wanted to get there as early as possible to beat the crowds. We had purchased our tickets beforehand online through the zoo itself. They have several different ticket options. One was to buy the zoo and safari park together. Since we were heading to the safari park another day, we purchased the 2-visit pass. There is also a pass that include Sea World if you plan on doing that, too. We didn't do Sea World this time since we were doing Legoland.
Once at the ticket booth, we showed them our tickets and they asked if we wanted to by a guidebook. It was $5 and it was worth every penny. We bought one for each kid and they were able to look through the book as we went around the zoo, seeing each of the animals and learning more about them as we went. I highly suggest snagging one of these if they are still available.
Once we entered the gates, we went straight to the guided bus tour. This is a first come, first serve attraction, and I had read it can get busy. We were able to get right on, since we headed there first. It was a cool experience being able to take in the whole zoo before exploring and learning about some behind the scenes information.
After the guided bus tour, we took off exploring the zoo. There is so much to see here. Almost too much! Plan on making this your one big activity of the day. Now that the kids are older, we were able to stay longer and explore more. The first time we went, Carson was only three and only made it until about noon, and we had to leave.
One thing I highly suggest is to download the zoo app. This helped us navigate where we were and how to get where we needed to go.
We ended up eating lunch in the zoo after roaming around taking any all sorts of animals like ring tailed lemurs (my son's favorite animal), elephants, koalas, flamingos, and so many more i can't even remember. Because of where we were in the zoo when the kids started to get hungry, we used the app to find the closest restaurant location which was Sydney's Grill. It's nothing special, expensive, and once again, did the trick for what we needed in the moment. You can always bring your own food into the park to save money, but we felt it was just easier to eat there.
One thing I highly suggest is to download the zoo app. This helped us navigate where we were and how to get where we needed to go.
We ended up eating lunch in the zoo after roaming around taking any all sorts of animals like ring tailed lemurs (my son's favorite animal), elephants, koalas, flamingos, and so many more i can't even remember. Because of where we were in the zoo when the kids started to get hungry, we used the app to find the closest restaurant location which was Sydney's Grill. It's nothing special, expensive, and once again, did the trick for what we needed in the moment. You can always bring your own food into the park to save money, but we felt it was just easier to eat there.
Another attraction we made sure to hit up was the Skyfari aerial tram. This is one of the coolest ways to take in the zoo. You get an aerial view of the exhibits and really can't be missed when going to the zoo. You are up high! So, if anyone is afraid of heights, this might be a bit hard for them. It makes me nervous each time I have gone on it, but still go on it because the view is unbeatable. You also get views of the surrounding San Diego area, which is an added bonus.
View from the Skyfari Aerial Tram
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We spent so many hours there exploring. The kids eventually got tired out from all the walking (and so did we). It had gotten warm right after before we left so we decided to grab some ice cream. We found a place called Gelato Paradiso that was on our way back to the hotel with great reviews. This place was great! Since Carson has a peanut allergy, we always have t ask if the products contain peanuts. The girl helping us said they do scoop with the same scoop into gelato that does have peanuts, so she went into the back and got Carson's gelato out of a whole new container with a new scoop. She also gave him the largest scoop of gelato (bigger than any of ours), because she felt bad for him. He thought he had won the ice cream lottery, and Reagan was jealous of his huge scoop. This location is no longer open, but they still have a location in Coronado. It was really good gelato and I suggest if you find yourself in the Coronado area to try it out.
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Afterward we headed back to our hotel. Once back, we soon found ourselves in the pool again, which had seem to become our routine. We were so tired from our busy day and swimming, we ended up finding a restaurant nearby. We went to MIguel's Cocina. We went to the Point Loma location, which is a two-story building. We were sat upstairs, which the kids loved, as they could look out and down on what was happening outside. The kids got quesadillas and Joe and I split the fajitas. We all enjoyed the food and something they do is provide a queso dip with their chips, which we all enjoyed.
This was a fun day and the kids really enjoyed everything. If you have never been to the San Diego Zoo, then I definitely suggest going. But, if you have to decide between the Zoo and the Safari Park, I suggest the Safari Park. It is so different from other zoos, and it was all of our favorite between the two. You can read more about that here!
This was a fun day and the kids really enjoyed everything. If you have never been to the San Diego Zoo, then I definitely suggest going. But, if you have to decide between the Zoo and the Safari Park, I suggest the Safari Park. It is so different from other zoos, and it was all of our favorite between the two. You can read more about that here!