Toronto Zoo — Attraction in Toronto

Had a wonderful day with my early teen! We went on a day that was supposed to rain, so it wasn't overly busy. On these hot days, rain doesn't seem like a bad thing! Lol! 😀 Definitely add their zoo app to your phone to navigate around. The app could be better, but it does help. It seems to possibly lag at some points and not self correct and possibly go the wrong way briefly, but overall, it was super helpful. It would have been nice for them to have included where the bottle filling stations are on the map. The filling stations are in some of the pavilions. I saw one outside. If you started your day at 9:30 and you really kept walking quickly, you could get to everything by 6pm. We covered most of it when we started at 11. If you need to cool down, some of the pavilions have some air conditioned spots inside or sprayers outside (not the African one).

Kids' Discovery Zone: It had a number of animals. I wish there were more than 3 guinea pigs (Twin Valley Zoo has a lot more), but we're happy to see them. The doors inside this part of the zoo strangely only go one way, so if you want to turn around, you can't; you have to go through the whole exhibit.

Entering the Zoo: Save time and buy your tickets in advance. There was a long wait at the entrance. If you bought the tickets in advance, you just present the QR code found in the email that the zoo sends. That line moved so fast. There was really no wait.

Water: There are bottle filling stations and drinking fountains. The water isn't chilled.

Lockers: They have some near the Tim Hortons near the zoo entrance for a loonie (that coin only) or at the splash pad. See my splash pad comment.

Food: There are a number of options. They have salads, wraps, burgers, fries, sushi, special drinks, popsicles, yogurt parfaits, chopped fruit, hot tea, iced tea, etc. I fell in love with their Smoked Chicken Applewood Salad with Chipotle Lime Ranch dressing!! One of the best salads I have had: a winner for sure!!! I had a bite of my child's chicken Caesar wrap and didn't like it at all! It was mostly cheese and dressing. Yuck! The lettuce and the chicken were totally drowned out! Lol!

Splash pad: They have lockers right on the splash pad for $1; you need a loonies for this (no smaller change). The lockers fit maybe two small backpack style purses and a pair of shoes. The key unfortunately doesn't have a hook on it, so you need a pocket to put them in, which doesn't always work if you are following your kid around the splash pad. No lifeguard is on site. Parents are required to monitor their kids. Splash pad is for 12 and under. They have a tall sprayer (above 6 ft), medium height ones, and some close to the ground. Most of the sprayers pointed up or horizontally. One lightly dropped water from above. They have 4 slides (3 tube and one regular one). One was blocked off. There were no dump buckets. The splash pad also has washrooms and changerooms on site. I saw a small baby crawling along the floor of the splash pad; the child's mother had cleverly put long socks that extended to above the knees to prevent irritation from the splash pads slightly rough floor, so the baby had a blast -- laughing with delight! African Lion Safari's splash pad has a lot more fun activities at the splash pad than Toronto's --surprisingly-- and lots of lifeguards.

Washrooms: They have full amenity washrooms and are throughout the park. I didn't notice hair dryers, but there were hand dryers at the sinks. (They might have had hair dryers.) They have change tables.

Parking: They have enormous lots divided into sections A through maybe E. Getting out of the lots was not good at all. They let you in without paying, but getting out caused so many problems. I tried to scan my parking QR code that I paid for in advance, and it wouldn’t scan. I had to press the button for help. I saw others having problems as well. The cars didn't move most of the time. This needs to be dramatically improved.

Wheelchair accessibility: They had wheelchair accessible spots. See my pics. They had many ramps...

To be the year of 50th anniversary of the ZOO , you should be ashamed. today was by far one of the most disappointing visit at the zoo. There no where nearly THE ANIMALS IT HAD BEFORE. construction zone everywhere, majority of the habitat are under construction and the animals are not on display. no Cash at food vendors. Stop with trying to be cashless. Only 4 Ticket booths open to buy tickets, The wait to buy tickets was well over 25 minutes. Walking up to the gate, was 4 attendees with a scanner to scan the tickets. Again depending too much on technology. You receive THOUSANDS of dollars daily and you cant have more ticket booth and your pushing people to go digital and buy tickets online as they are cheaper? WHY? African lion safari doesnt charge parking you charge 15$ for parking when the parking is in the same park. Definitely seen a park ranger at the exit though to MAKE SURE you paid that parking. No security to be seen walking in the park. Only out in the parking lot. Definitely weren't on top of the drop and pick up area as multiple cars were parked. Your charging for the zoombile, Carousel and Zip Lining (Taundra Air Ride) African lion safari DOES NOT charge for the train, or boat ride. Your charging the same amount of money and yet no where near are all your animals on display. Kangaroo walk was closed. Something my daughter was looking forward to. The Polar bear water area was dirty, you can see the bottom of the tank hasnt been clean my husband spotted a toy car at the bottom of the tank. The park has alot of area that need attention in cleaning. Finding park rangers speaking about the animals is basically NONE. I seen One lady, whom was a little older I forgot to ask about her name, she helped is first to find our way around the Africa Savanna, and then she was by the giraffes and was giving some nice fun facts about the giraffes, we appreciate hearing and engaging with the park rangers which, was extremely hard to find. Considering your Charging the amount you are I would have thought most of your displays would be updated. Slapping a sticker over your maps to add in the board walk looked pretty disappointing. You're receiving THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS a day. Multiple people around the world come here and you cannot give a decent presentation. Not sure why you're slapping stickers on the map when the entire map should have been updated. Confusing signage isn't a good look. The small bat Pod. Why is there a wire hanging out of your display causing a tripping hazard? Again having multiple rangers on field would have had this addressed. Instead of having signage asking people to CALL you, if we see something wrong or an animal is in distress, you should have multiple rangers on field. Most were ether on a small go kart going one place to another, or a pick up truck. Kesho Park headquarters was closed. Again no rangers to interact and have them speak to the kids about the zoo. Canadian domain was ridiculous why not have a sign and say most of your animals are not in display. Your website is not accurate. NO WHERE NEAR it. I see only 2 younger gentlemen ranger cleaning some displays near lion area. Thats it. you can tell all the glass displays need to be thoroughly cleaned from the inside and have not been done in months. Lots of cracked pavement, the interlock in some places need to be addressed and redone. Zebra enclosure so much weeds growing in between the fence its harder for the kids who are smaller to even see. some tanks you can see its deteriorating and needs attention. New board walk is impeccable probably one of the best boards walks structurally done, although some of the railing still needs the top coat stain coat. Amazing you brought back the foot prints how about we get more ? lots of your pavement surface marking need to be redone and painted. Regardless if you're under construction your signs and directions need to be visible. Probably one of the most disturbing and disappointing visits at...

Zoos- the places humans see animals in enclosures as compared to wild or national parks where humans are enclosed in vehicles or cages and animals roam around.

Millions of years ago, we humans roamed around with wild animals hunting them and gathering, then something inside our bodies changed giving us the leverage to use tools, develop languages and we soared on the top of the world, migrating to concrete jungles, leaving behind wild companions. However we still long to see the past friends from the convenience at our cities, hence the zoos.

Having said that, welcome to Toronto zoo, which was conceptualized with good intention of providing the animals kept here with plenty of space in their enclosures so they don't miss jungles much, has one different fallout - distances. Due to the vast size of enclosures, the pathways for humans around them are also vast, totaling easily more than 10 kms, so beware, if you intend to cover everything the zoo offers to show you, it is virtually impossible to cover in a single day even for people used to longer walks, let alone the family with kids.

So, plan accordingly from the literature provided by zoo (online) considering the priorities or type of animals you would like to see with your friends or families and take into account the distances involved. You may opt for the "zoomobile" offered by the zoo which is a transit service between different areas running at intervals, or even split the visit into more than one day.

Since enclosures are big, animals are often on the other edge (and their butts facing you), a medium power binoculars will greatly enhance the enjoyment. Need less to say, that if you intend to preserve the sighting of animals, a camera with zoom capabilities will be priceless as cellphone cameras will not be that helpful.

Zoo offers 10% discount on presto card on entry ticket but not on the online ticket purchase, so you may prefer buying tickets on the spot.

Plenty of eateries here including a Tim Horton's at the entrance, and inside shops even selling alcoholic beverages, although I dont feel that the alcohol inside either you or inside the animal you are watching will offer any enhancement in the experience for either side (yes if you intend to party only inside the zoo, it is different, bur there are better places outside zoo for that). I saw one shop playing rather loud music, but could not understand whether it was for human visitors or to irritate the resident animals who love noise free environment.

The exhibit areas are divided in Indo-European Malaya Africa Savana Americas Tundra Trek Eurasia Wilds Australasia And a discovery zone

While zoomobile is a help to transit between stations, it is not intended to give a riding trip while watching animals, you need still to walk around enclosures to see animals.

Some of the pictures I could take during the first visit of the zoo covering around 50% in four hours, are here with this review, intend to visit again to cover the rest 50% and will post more pictures then

Uodate - Visited again on 9th October 2025 to cover the remaining areas and could manage to get some good shots....