Orange County Zoo — Attraction in Villa Park

Quaint, adorable, and well organized regional zoo! We have been up to this park before for a Halloween festival, but this was our first visit to the little zoo there. It is just a special little corner to feel close to animals that are living amongst us out here in the Western States. They are very well cared and seem to have been acquired as rescues from having been injured, and are not able to be released back into the Wild and survive. So, it’s nice to know they have a place to live out their lives where they are cared for. The staff is Park Rangers, and they are knowledgeable, maybe a bit stand offish, or I am outgoing, not the most personable. A bit different than being at another zoo where the keepers seem to enjoy interacting with visitors and discussing the animals. They seem less than thrilled here. But, it’s an easy trade off for a VERY affordable day. Only $2 admission! How can you beat that?! Afterward, we walked over and let our youngest have a Pony ride for $5, and you are still feeling like you had an insanely cheap outing. Bring quarters for the feed machines for the goat area. And plan on spending some time in there with your kids. They have brushes to “groom” them and their sweet little pigmy goats. If you plan ahead, you can easily make reservations for an actual trail ride, or go on a hike, have a picnic, and still fit in the zoo, and maybe even take the last train at 4pm. They have a precious Christmas village at the park, and don’t forget parking is $5. The entire park is beautiful and has great spaces and playgrounds. The bathrooms are a bit nasty, though. They were a definite no go for me. Maybe on a weekday...

We recently moved to Orange County and although I had lived here before (a long time ago), I'd never visited this zoo before and I was missing out!

Unlike all the other big zoos around, this little 8 acre gem in the middle of Irvine Regional Park is easy to access and has great animals you get to see super up close! The enclosures ensure the animals have space and can find peace away from prying eyes, but they also let you get pretty close up of the animals allow it.

With Covid-19, we felt really protected by the mask requirements, the one way system, and the frequent wipe downs of the railings, not to mention the many hand sanitizer stations throughout the zoo.

If you have 3 hours to spare or even 1, this is a great place to get to know some common animals you might not see in other zoos but not in your backyard, as well.

We saw a beaver for the first time in real life. How have I never seen a beaver at another zoo? Because people want to see exotic animals! There are some of those, but the coolest thing is to see animals here you didn't think you could get excited about, but you soooo can!

Anyway, $3 to get in the park and $2/person for the zoo. It was $11 for all of us to have an enjoyable, educational afternoon spent in the OC Zoo.

Oh, bring lots of water! It gets hot and...

The parking here is horrible! We drove around for 33 minutes before even getting out of the car. 😭 That being said, when we finally did get to park which by the way, parking is 5$ per car, we had to walk quite some ways to get to the "zoo" There were some pretty basic animals in small habitats which honestly as large as the park is I expected the habitats to be a lot bigger. The animals looked sad. There was a bear who seemed like he had enough of the heat and plopped down in a water hole which was cute but even the animals seemed over it. There were some reptiles and birds as well. There was a cute otter swimming and some farm animals for the little kids. The farm animals are part of a petting zoo which is closed for now. Overall the staff was friendly- there were no guides or anything like that due to Covid. So no one was really telling you about the animals just what you read on the little information stands. Overall it was a solid 3 out of five experience. I mean you pay 5$ to drive around a long time to park and then pay 2$ for the actual entrance. I may try another day to go to the zoo but in the morning early to see if there is anything...