Randall Oaks Zoo — Attraction in Dundee Township

We've been coming here for a while now (few years) and over the past year or so we're becoming increasingly frustrated each time we go. We have a membership and typically go on weekends, sometimes weekdays.

The zoo is basically a loop with gated/fenced animals you can feed some kibble to. They have two notable "attractions" within the zoo - a free roam goat petting area, and a paid pony ride area.

Our issue started about 7 months ago when a young man was standing around in the goat petting area holding a rake doing nothing. The petting area was supposed to be open, but he didn't open it. He would sweep the dirt every few minutes then stand around. Only once a few of us became frustrated and kept asking when he would open it did he eventually open it.

Earlier this year the petting zoo area was closed for renovations. The re-opening was pushed to around father's day. Now that it's "open" again it's been closed/unavailable every time we go. The reason stated is they are short on staff.

We went today (8/14) and, again, both the new goat petting area and pony rides were closed due to staffing issues. While I understand employment issues in many places right now, the employees that were working didn't seem to be prioritizing anything of value.

For example, one employee was busy leaf blowing picnic tables in a pavilion you can't even get to from in the zoo. Another employee was literally raking dirt outside of the goat petting area. Others were walking around conversing.

What this tells me is they are prioritizing small cleanup activities that could be done before/after closing, and instead are still charging normal prices when two of the main reasons to go are constantly closed. At this point you experience all the zoo has to offer in less than 20 minutes. Even my 3 year old gets bored quickly.

It's sad to see this recurring theme, as I don't feel they were this way a year or two ago. The zoo has potential but needs some serious management and prioritization done. I would not bother driving out of your way until they keep things open more consistently, and definitely wouldn't buy a...

Wonderful little community zoo!! Full disclosure- this is a review of the zoo in the context of the annual Brew at the Zoo event. I live in the apartment complex next door, and have visited the zoo twice for the event and have been very impressed. Brew at the Zoo is ROZ's evening, adult-only event- they serve drinks, have live music, offer zoo tours and interactive exhibits (walking around with animals uncaged), raffles, and much more! Recognizing the value in an adult-only event is extremely thoughtful by the management. I like kids, but with my girlfriend and I both working 9-5, our only time to visit would be at the peak hours on the weekends, and I'd hate to be jockeying for position to view the animals in front of children! Brew at the Zoo is a great event that allowed us to see all of the animals and experiences ROZ has to offer without the busy weekend family crowd! For a small zoo, they have great diversity of animals, we enjoyed seeing foxes, a hawk, an owl, a camel, a goat petting zoo, snakes, lizards, llamas, and many more! The event tickets were a bit on the expensive side, but we were happy to support a smaller, local zoo, and there were other pricing options (that didn't include drinks) as well. Overall, the zoo itself is clean, the staff is friendly and you can tell they care about the animals and the guests. The location is off of busy Randall Road, but the zoo neighbors a very nice park with multiple playgrounds, pavilions and picnic tables, so you could easily pack a picnic and make a day of visiting the zoo and the park! I hope to have a zoo like this nearby when the time comes around for me to have kids, but I don't think I'll be so lucky! Randall Oaks...

Just left after a short almost hour visit. Got to the zoo at 12:30… website said ponys take a break from 12:00 to 1:30pm. When purchasing our admission I also wanted 2 pony rides and was told they might not come back out for the day… ok fine… then walked in to see the new goat petting area was closed off and said the attendant was on lunch and would be back soon…. Went to see the fox training demo that started at 1:00… stood infront waited until 1:09 and finally walked away because it never started… checked on the goats again and the attendant wasn’t back, went back to the foxes still demo never started… went to the girl at the desk inside and was told the attendant for the goats should have been back at 1:00 but maybe is late because they’re setting something up… only then at the end of the conversation for her to say they probably wouldn’t be opening up the goat petting area today. Yes I know the admission is cheap, that’s great. But it should really be told upon buying tickets that mostly all of their attractions are closed. When I mentioned something on the way out I was told “the website for the pony’s says “based on availability”…. Im sorry but that could mean anything… and then “sorry your visit wasn’t up to your standards” was very rude and not how you handle customers. I was not rude just simply stated it should be posted better on their website! Today was not as hot as it has been. It’s 73 degrees… they’re website should be more specific when people are planing and they already don’t have...