Happy Hollow Park & Zoo — Attraction in San Jose

Happy Hollow Park will provide an unforgettable experience for your children. As a parent, I am always on the lookout for places that can captivate and engage my little ones. This delightful park has a warm and inviting atmosphere and offers an array of attractions and activities that will keep children entertained. It felt like we had stepped into a magical wonderland designed exclusively for children.

The carousel ride is the first thing you see just past the entrance. Very casual ride, making it a positive experience for timid kids.

One of the highlights of Happy Hollow Park is the various animal exhibits. Children have the opportunity to get up close and personal with a wide range of animals, including lemurs, meerkats, and even a petting zoo where they can interact with friendly farm animals. My kids were thrilled to see the alligator and jaguar.

The park also boasts a nice selection of rides and attractions specifically tailored for children. From gentle carousels to mildly exciting roller coasters.

Happy Hollow Park goes beyond just rides and animals. It offers a plethora of interactive play areas and imaginative spaces for children to explore. The puppet theater and storytelling sessions were a hit with my kids. The park also features extensive play structures and climbing walls, providing opportunities for physical activity and fun. My kids kept going down the Crooked House slide over and over again. My kids also liked the Dino Dig area, which is a sand pit with brushes your kids can use to unover dinosaur fossils like archeologists.

In terms of amenities, Happy Hollow Park has you covered. There are clean and well-maintained restroom facilities throughout the park, as well as numerous picnic areas where families can take a break and enjoy a packed lunch. The expensive on-site cafe offers a variety of tasty treats and refreshments, great for refueling after an exciting day of local park conquering. You can reserve an area to throw events, though I am unsure how expensive the reservation is.

Get ready to tuck your kids early...

Being that this was the first time for my family were were super excited to see how beautiful and spacious this place was in comparison to The Sacramento Zoo.

Upsides : any kid 5 and under would literally have a blast here and run out so much energy. The rides are free and after paying to get in any parent can appreciate not having to pony up more money for the rides. And there is literally so much room to run and play that it’s almost impossible to not have fun especially with the huge 3 story playground located in the center.

Downsides : there are literally less animals than the Sacramento zoo and I promise I didn’t even know that was possible and to still list the place as a “Zoo”. Out of the 13 animals located on the left , there were 7 missing or not in the exhibit . I brought my 7 and 17 year old and realized 20 min into this trip that it was going to be very short . With the lack of animals actually out in the public and the rides going from adventure to boring in a matter of seconds at the ages I had with me …..it was an hour and a half at 70.00 for a family of 4 + parking making it 80.00. I could have went to the mall with them and got them something 40.00 each and the experience on our vacation would have been slightly better because we have something to show for and would have been walking for 2 times longer .

All in all : decent place for kids 5-9 solely based on the huge playground. (Not worth the money just to play in a park. ) Not a place for a first date or for anyone single or without children. There’s not enough for adults to do period. Totally not a place for a teenager unless there working there. But it’s cute and...

If you read nothing else in this review, know this place is for SMALL children, like under 5yo. Also, I just had a night full of food poisoning from this place. So obviously I’m not happy. But I still gave it two stars for one reason - the staff. Everyone we met that worked there was incredibly nice and seemed to genuinely enjoy their job. This place has a lot of potential. The parking lot, lay out, all of that is very intuitive. But the rides… oh man the rides were all busted up and rusted, designed for very little kids. I paid a total of $150 at this place with parking and food. Not worth it. First, the parking meter thing stole my $5, but then the website made the restaurant look delectable, so I planned to feed my kids there - it’s a cafeteria. The food was dry. But I had to feed my kids. My son hated the pizza. The PIZZA. Surprisingly, the hotdogs weren’t bad, but I had a chicken sandwich that ensured the rest of my day was spent writhing in pain in the bathroom. Anyway, my big kids (10/11yo) were too big for half the rides. They tried though. My daughter liked the little roller coaster. My 2yo went on everything and had an absolute blast. Just sucked for the rest of the family. Plus the theme, Fairy Tale, just needs to be updated. Everything with the theme was broken and old. Kind of ghetto. I will say though, the zoo is awesome. Absolutely awesome. The design, the animals. If the whole park was that zoo, it would rival San Diego. But it’s only a 3rd. The zoo was the best part by far! Just don’t eat there, and bring your little-little kids and you should have...