Wild Animal Park?

heyitsme

Hi from a fellow So Cal nestie just a few hours north (Ventura County)!

 For DD's birthday since we don't have family close by, we do "destination birthdays". For her 2nd birthday we did Sea World, for her 3rd birthday we did Disneyland... We're trying to come up with ideas for her 4th birthday (in September).

 
  Can anyone tell me about the Wild Animal Park? What's the difference between the Wild Animal Park and the SD Zoo (sorry if that's a stupid question)?

 
If we came to the SD area, can you think of anything else "special" we could do for fun on her birthday?
 

balihaigirl

The Wild Animal Park is divided up into different regions of the world...they let the animals roam wild throughout most of the park and you take a tram that drives around the park and stops to show you all of the highlights.  They also have some exibits of other animals.  My favorite exhibit is the lion exhibit.  It is amazing.  They have about 8 lions in there (male & female) that come right up to the glass (there is a rock that is heated that they hang out on) and so it's very interactive.  The gorilla exhibit is also really cool.  They also have this really cool bird exhibit - one of them is a lorekeet (sp?) exhibit where you can go in and feed the birds.  They'll jump right up on you, your shoulders, your arms, etc. to eat out of your palm.  It's really cool.  I love the Wild Animal Park.  I used to take my nephew there a lot and he loved it. 

SillyStraw

Love love love the Wild Animal Park.  I'd pick it over the zoo any day - growing up in SD I went to both a lot for field trips!

The pp pretty much summed it up. It might also be a good thing since most of it is taking the tram so it's not as much walking, which might be hard with the little one. I just love seeing the animals roaming free in their "natural" habitats, not all stuck in cages. It's really cool how they landscape the land to really look like the region it is supposed to be. And ditto pp on the lions - they are awesome and it's so fun to be so close.

sandiegobride07

I actually prefer the Wild Animal Park to the Zoo, as does my 4.5 year old daughter.  I like the openess of it, plus they have a great play area for kids now near the Lion Camp.  In the winter they have "snow" (more like ice) and you can sled, and in the summer they have a water play area.  Just be sure to bring a swimsuit or a change of clothes.

Have you checked out Legoland?  This place is so much fun for kids (and adults) and it's rarely crowded.  They even have a water slide park now, though I'm sure if it's open in September?

I honestly don't think you can go wrong either way!

sdme

Can't really help you there I've only been to the zoo.  I just wanted to say hello, I'm originally from ventura county, and so is DH but transplanted here to SD. Good luck with the b day.