Our Day at the San Diego Zoo

We arrived at the zoo around 9:15am, only 15 minutes after they opened. We were able to get pretty good parking considering we didn’t get there before opening. We could have bought our tickets online, but we chose to just stand in line and get them. We made a b-line straight for the koalas and I’m so glad we did. At 9:40am, they were pretty active. Well, as active as koalas can be. Basically what I mean is, they were awake.

We meandered our way around the zoo, looking at all the animals.
We saw:
9:43am Giraffes
9:50am Elephants
10:10am More Elephants
10:18am Leopard
10:45am Polar Bears

At this time (11am), we took the skyfari to the other side of the park. There was hardly any wait for it since we were still in the first couple hours of zoo opening. When we got to the other side, the line going in the opposite direction (to ride from the front of the park to the back) was VERY long. The views were great to see!

We decided to take the bus tour. My son really wanted to sit on the top of the bus. When we got there, we saw that there were 2 lines. One goes upstairs to sit on the top level (this line is always longer) and one stays down below for the lower level. We waited in line for about 20 minutes before we made our way onto the bus. My son and I sat on the right side while my husband sat on the left.
TIP: The right side is the place to be! That’s where most of the animals will be on your tour.
The tour itself lasted about 30 minutes. During that time, we saw bears and elephants and other random animals. I wouldn’t say this is a great way to see animals, but it is a great way to take a break from walking.

After we got off the bus, we were off to see some more animals:
12:31pm Orangutans
12:38pm Gorillas

At about 1pm, we decided to eat some lunch. Since we were in the area, we decided to eat at the Treetops Cafe located in the Lost Forest. There are some great views from the multilevel decks. I shared a chicken caesar salad and chicken parm with my husband. It came with a breadstick, but I knew we would each want one so we got a side of 2 breadsticks to go with our meal. I also got a rose wine as my drink. Owen got a kids meal that came with pepperoni pizza, applesauce, animal cookies, and a milk. Everything was pretty mediocre, but I have no complaints. Luckily, we were able to find a seat right next to the restaurant.

After lunch, it was time for more animals:
1:55pm Hippos (now, I know we stayed here for a while, but we were all feeling a little tired and wanted a rest; plus, I’m a huge fan of hippos so we basically waited around for it to move closer to the window
2:46pm Alligator
3:03pm Galapagos Turtles

We were now back over by the Skyfari, so we took it back to the back of the zoo. Again, we came at a good time and didn’t have to wait very long in line.

3:36pm Elephants again
4:03pm Bears
4:19pm Sharks
4:22pm Penguins

We decided we were done for the day so we headed off to the gift shop so that my son could pick out a couple souvenirs. He found an amazing sweatshirt that says “Save the Chubby Unicorns” with a picture of a rhino. He was ecstatic!

We took a couple pictures out front before we left for the day.

We took 18,669 steps this day and still didn’t see everything that the San Diego Zoo had to offer, so just be aware that you will get tired and your feet will hurt, but know that it will be worth it being able to see all of these amazing creatures.

There are a lot of places located around the zoo to take pictures with animal sculptures. Here are some of our favorites: