I was not able to get my first adventure up the weekend it happened due to technical difficulties but I am up and running now. A couple of weeks ago I was able to visit the Kansas City Zoo, which has changed so much since I went there when I was younger. I believe the wonderful changes are due to the new director, Mr. Randy Wisthoff and the wonderful team of people who are working hard to make the zoo a very enjoyable place. The Kansas City Zoo is a great place for families to visit while in or around Kansas City. With the zoo stretching 202 acres they are able to have over 1,300 animals on exhibit, along with several play areas for children, five different rides, and a learning barn for the children.
Now even though this first trip was not a free adventure it was on the lower side of things. The price for an adult ticket is $14.50 and a child ticket is $11.50. They also have a few discounts that can help save you money. From what I could find these discounts are: AAA, Military, and reciprocal zoos. Their website will explain in greater detail what these discounts will include. Another thing that I was pleased to find was the food has definitely had a upgrade. The four main places to eat are the Beastro, the Tuxedo Grill, Bluey's Grill and the Rafiki Cafe, which all have similar food with a few specialities at each place. I really enjoyed the cheese burger and fries I had at Rafiki Cafe and would definitely suggest eating there. While I was there I was able to participate in three of their five rides. I went on the train, tram, and sky safari. The train was fun, it takes you around the top section of the zoo and you are able to see several animals while you ride; some of which include: kangaroos, camels, lamas, and the petting zoo area. On the tram you are able to see the elephants but the best part is it takes you from the top of the zoo down to the Africa area, which saves about a 20 minute walk. I found that a lot of families use this option to give the kids a break from walking. The last ride I was able to go on was the sky safari, which was my favorite. It is an open air sky lift that takes you over the planes of Africa, allowing you to view the planes animals better than you could from the walk ways. It was a very nice ride, although I did see a few lost items that people had dropped off the sky safari and had landed in the exhibits. I was informed that if this happens, guests are asked to stop by Guest Relations on their way out and report the dropped item. They will inform the zoo keepers of the dropped item and the zoo keepers will collect the items once the animals are off exhibit for the night.
I also found in my map and while walking around the zoo that there are several areas where they have keeper chats and shows. The shows I knew about and while they are always fun to watch I really enjoyed the keeper chats. At different exhibits during different times in the day a zoo keeper for that animal will come out and educate the guest about the animal; giving general information about the species, what we can do to help them in the wild, and specifics on the animals in the Kansas City Zoo. I found the chats to be every informational and it certainly seemed to keep all the children around entertained. A few of the highlights I would like to mention, that seemed to draw most of the crowds, are the penguins, the polar bear, and the baby animals. Being the two newer exhibits the penguins and the polar bear definitely had the biggest crowds all day long but my favorites were the new baby animals. I was able to see the baby gorilla and the baby chimpanzee. Unfortunately Milo, the baby chimpanzee, was to far into his exhibit to be able to see him very well but it was fun to watch him run around and torment the other chimps. The baby gorilla, Maskia, was much closer in her exhibit and I was able to watch her play around with some cardboard, which was very cute and fun to watch. All in all it was a great day at the zoo!
If you are looking to plan your trip to the Kansas City Zoo or just want to check out some of their animals I encourage you to visit their website. I have a few pictures I took while visiting the zoo up on this post but please visit my Facebook page to see all of the pictures from that day! Thank you all for your support! Till next time my travel bugs.
Kansas
