Toledo Zoo Aquarium — Attraction in Toledo

Could be more colorful,and exciting. I realize covid has ruined alot of things that were shut down, such as some exhibits, resteraunts, gift shops, ect, but back when the safari exhibit was first opened they played african music and there were more decorated exhibits. It made you feel as if you were visiting an african exhibit, but when I went yesterday, there was none of that! You could just feel it in the air that something such as covid took over, I get taking pre cautions, face mask, social distancing, but why not still play the music and make it more colorful, keep the excitement going and not make it so depressing! I still had a good time at the zoo with my grandson, but you could just feel and see the tension of covid! Throughout the zoo, most of the vending machines didn't work, where there was a place to purchase a drink, the line was a mile long, not many stations to get something to eat and where there was, the line was a mile long. I feel like they could have had several more stations throughout the zoo distributing cold bottled water to purchase, set up tent stations with tubs of ice and bottles of water, have a few employees work the station selling the water. There were only like 3 places that I seen to purchase a drink or snack throughout the zoo. The animals weren't very active, and there wasn't very many animals to see, 1 Tiger, 2 bears, several monkeys, 3 giraffe's, 2 elephants, didn't see any seals. Just didn't see much and most were laying around sleeping, alot of overgrown grass in the exhibits, and I get some animals need it to make them feel like they are in there own habitat but things just didn't look up kept. Most statue's of the animal's were roped off, so you wasn't able to take pictures of your child on or near them, but the park area for the children was open, that made no sense to me. Why close the big main gift shop, but yet, have a small one set up outside for people to purchase a souvenir, when people were so close to one another trying to look at the very few things they had out to purchase. They could have just limited people in the main big gift shop like they did for some of the exhibits. Like I said, I enjoyed my time with my grandson , daughter and her boyfriend, but it could have been better for the cost of getting in, I feel like they need to give a discounted price, due to all the exhibits, resteraunts and ect. that...

I grew up going exclusively to the Omaha zoo and I have to say, the Toledo zoo is a gem!! I was pleasantly surprised by how fun and well thought-out this zoo was. It did not disappoint, and the outdoor exhibits are well-shaded and well-kept. Such a fun experience!

I did take off one star, because even though we brought water bottles, it was 80+ degrees and hot when we went (April 23rd) but there was only ONE functioning water fountain, at the end of the aquarium, which was backed up with a long line of other families also waiting to refill bottles for the whole family like we were. All of the rest of them that we found were shut off still. We asked staff, who informed us they were all shut off. We did not bring money to pay for $4-5 water, and that meant you would have to cross the whole zoo (and the highway) just to get water on a day hot enough to get heat exhaustion.

That said, my two toddler girls loved the experience and so did my husband and I. You can easily spend a whole day here and not have enough time to explore everything thoroughly. The old architecture is absolutely beautiful, very much giving the whole zoo an “early 20th century naturalist” feel. A few of our favorite things were the aviary, otters and red pandas (sooo cute!) and the collection of curiosities room upstairs in the Museum of Natural History. We spent almost an hour there alone, checking the many drawers and feeling various exotic animal furs and skins. We have a family zoo membership and hope to keep one for many years! It’s SOOO...

Get a membership for the best deals, I think it's worth it. Get the park cup. You can get discounted refills afterward. This zoo is a CASHLESS establishment, so bring your credit/debit cards and if you only have cash there are kiosks in various places that turn cash to cards, although I'm not sure how they operate. Going in the morning seemed like a good chance to see the animal being active, but I could have just gone on a good day. You can get up close and personal here and feed the giraffes, walk through a bird exhibit, and touch stingray and crabs. Every animal could be seen from one angle or another. The hardest to find was the Tasmanian devil. The park had two sides. Take the tunnel or the bridge to the other side of the park. The tunnel is best if you want a cooler walk or can't use stairs(there's an elevator). But the bridge also has a ramp. We were able to walk the whole park, having arrived by about 10-11. We waited too long and missed out on the train ride and carousel ( next time for those!) We went as a family and brought lunch to eat outside the zoo. In the parking lot, they have benches along the side. We still bought snacks like dipndots and other treats. There is a splashpad right next to a playground for anyone who wants to rest or cool off on...