I have been going to the Cleveland metroparks zoo since I was an infant. My parents live just 3 minutes away so we used to go all the time. My wife had season passes for several years as we ended up buying a home only 6 minutes from the zoo several years ago. We have since moved a bit further away but still have tried to visit at a few times since.

My most recent trip was for a vendor sponsored event. One of our vendors was hosting an event about e-waste and e-recycling and was hosting the event at the stillwater event building. It was my first time visiting and being inside the facility. It is quite modern with lots of small amenity touches that make it a great meeting space.

The event started out in the lion parking lot with a special tram that we all loaded up on and then it wisked us all the way to the entrance of stillwater. The vehicle had a cooling system that helped keep the temperature comfortable as we waited and then traveled.

The only distraction for me personally was they have the eagle zip line ride that can be easily seen from inside the venue and I must admit it grabbed my attention a few times as the two cars zipped up and then back. Absolutely not a negative but felt the need to mention it as I noticed I was not the only one that was occasionally looking outside to watch them.

Upon conclusion of the panel discussion, we were loaded up on a tram and taken to the primate and aquatics building and went to the new gorilla habitat in the back. A zoo director ( I believe) gave us some very fascinating insight into the impact mining operations for minerals used in electronics has lead to habitat loss for gorillas and how they partner with our vendor to help with restoration efforts in these regions.

Was a great day out at the zoo and the experience was wonderful start to finish.

I always recommend this zoo and its amazing how you can take something so special for granted until you experience other facilities in other states to see how special our zoo is.