I've been holding back on this review because there's just so much to sayy- I don't know where to…read morestart. If you are debating whether a membership is worth it or investing on some tickets for the family, I say GO FOR IT! you really won't regret it I have a membership and it's been the greatest membership I've had thus far. I have the family zoo plus membership where three adults including yourself get in for free plus 4 children. You have the option to add another adult on the card- the purpose is so that person can go to the zoo with the card without you having to be there. The person whose name is on the card must be present. You are able to remove or add a person at anytime. For me it's more flexible and convenient to only have my name on it to not restrict the people I could take. The membership grants you access to the zoo for a full year, including the Central Park zoo, prospect zoo and queens. there's a membership that grants you access to the aquarium as well but is more expensive. Parking is not included in the membership but is available for an additional fee at the time of purchase with your membership or at any point during your membership. Every time I go to the zoo, regardless of the season we find parking so we don't need the parking at the zoo. You get a 10% discount at the gift shops and food spots. You get free access to jungle world, nature trek, the children's museum, Congo world, the big carousel, wild Asia monorail and the butterfly garden which you would normally have to pay an additional fee to get into besides your regular zoo admission ticket. You also get early access to new animal exhibits before the public does. And those are only some of the benefits that you get, you also get additional discounts for things that aren't covered by the membership such as the holiday lights show (25% off) I am delighted to say that I have never seen the bathroom at the zoo in bad conditions EVER. I don't know how they manage to keep it so clean, regardless of the large crowds. Overall, the zoo is always clean. The guests are respectful in the sense that there is never garbage on the floor. It is worth it to purchase a souvenir cup. You get free refills throughout the day and for any future visits. I've been using the same cup since last year with no issues. There are some areas where the refill is a $1 and others where it's free with that specific cup. If you are a member, remember to mention to the cashier that you are one so they can apply your member discount for your food and drinks, they often forget to ask if you are a member. The best recommendation I can make is to use the interactive map provided by the zoo, available on your phone. You share your location with the map, and tap on the animal you want to see and it will direct you to it live. It will look similar to your iPhone maps when you're walking without the audio. Trust me the interactive map will make things significantly easier and less aggravating. You can miss a lot of animalsthat are close by without the map, you would be walking in circles without it and end up note tired at the end. The signal over there is not great but the maps function work perfect for me. I recommend you wear walking sneakers because you will WALK a while lotttt. You also can't get in the nature trek without sneakers. You can bring in your own food and drinks to the zoo, there are designated areas to sit down and eat. An insulated book bag works wonders for me. There are strollers available for rent which you will absolutely need if you don't have your own. The zoo is very inclusive when it comes to people with disabilities which is great, they have alternative routes all over and tell you in advance if a particular route will lead to stairs, and if so there's alternative routes that are stairs free. There are also quiet areas and headphones available upon request. The most perfect time to go is right before spring, you will have the animals to yourself ! I discovered that solo dates to the zoo is the most majestic experience ever! You get to enjoy the zoo with no rush and it's even better without the crowds. The animals are also more relaxed and don't hide when there's less crowds. For the first time ever I got to see the tiger walk right next to the glass. Prior to the spring there will be exhibits closed for the winter but none that take away from the experience. The zoo is free on Wednesdays and so is the botanical garden which is close by. I went to the botanical garden for an hour to journal and spend time with god and proceeded to the zoo for the rest of my day and it made it 100x better to see that these beautiful animals are a gift to us form the lord 10/10 recommend

In general I'll try to avoid visiting zoos due to ethical concerns, but I think the Bronx Zoo might…read morebe one of the more ethical ones out there. It is one of the few exceptions I allow. I've never once seen the entire zoo in one trip. I've been going there since I was five and wouldn't be surprised if there are parts I still haven't seen yet because it's so expansive. All my visits as an adult have all been with groups of children, and it's difficult corralling and motivate kids to keep moving in such a large zoo. I found it best to ask each kid what they want to see most and hit up those spots. Treat everything passed along the way as a bonus. These trips often include city kids. These kids are used to walking entire neighborhoods just to get to school or anywhere else, but the zoo still wears them out, so imagine suburbanites used to the car life on these trips. Those kids struggle. We've always left before even seeing half of what the zoo has to offer. If I didn't live in NY and wanted to really wanted kids to see the zoo more fully, I'd break it into a multi day trip rather than attempt it in one go. But kids are always happy with my abridged trips to just say hi to their favorites. I'm the one left wanting. I'll probably have to start going solo or with adults in order to really explore. I do think it will be possible to see everything in one trip with just adults. The zoo is just not little legs friendly. The Bronx Zoo is probably the most expensive zoo I've ever visited. If an exhibit is popular, anticipate pulling out some money to pay more to see it. That's ok for me if the money is used for good, but it's something to consider if on a budget. I wish they were more strict about not letting people bang on the glass in the primate exhibit. I leave the primates for last on trips because watching them makes me so sad. That sadness gets punctuated by bangs and taps on the glass by inconsiderate zoo goers.

I've been coming to Bergen Zoo since I was a little girl, so it's a place I've always loved. But on…read moremy most recent visit, I felt a little disappointed. I barely saw any animals, and many of the enclosures looked empty. I think there's a lot of potential for improvement, especially before the big crowds arrive. I hope they can bring back the charm and experience I remember from growing up, because this place truly has the ability to be so much better.

Came by on Mother's Day at around 10:30 (it opens at 10) and it was already getting crowded…read more Admission is $6/adult if you live in Bergen County. If not, it's $10. The carousel is $3. It's a pretty small zoo, which has its pros and cons. Pros are that you can finish seeing everything pretty quickly. We probably spent less than an hour there, including the carousel. Cons are that there was not much to see. There were exhibits that listed certain animals, but they were nowhere to be found. I would say that if you're just looking for an activity to do with the kids, this would be a good option. But if you're looking to actually see any animals, you'll need to go to a bigger zoo.

PROS: this place was amazing! Fresh food that's locally grown/made, petting zoo, staff is friendly,…read moreloads of parking, good prices, great hours CONS: on a Friday afternoon the petting zoo was closed despite all the animals out and no snow on the ground OVERALL: I will absolutely come back here with friends! As long as my friends and I aren't looking to play with the animals

A little bit of everything at this fun location…read more You're either coming here for the petting zoo and finding out there is also a farmer's market, or you're here for a farmer's market and finding out there is also a petting zoo. Either way, everyone's a winner. The petting zoo is much larger than others in the area, giving the pets and the customers a lot of space to roam around. You can buy your tickets online, or with the QR code on site, or with cash at the booth located at the zoo entrance at the top of the hill past the upper parking lot. The farmers market provides amazingly fresh produce, fruits, veggies, baked goods, and a pre-made food selection. You can order a fresh sandwich, sides and soup. A delicious bonus. Somethings look out for include sparce parking at the top of the hill where the farmers market is, but plenty further down and towards the greenhouse. Also seating to eat is located in the back past checkout in the playground area that is also lacking a number of tables, but make meeting new people an experience when sharing seating. A fun adventure rolled into one location.

Great time here today. My daughter loved seeing all of the animals and had fun feeding the bats…read more She initially was hesitant but the woman explained everything to her and made her feel comfortable to do it herself.

AKA The Bat Cave…read more.... Came here in October as a recommendation from a colleague. Brought the kids here with the impression that all we were going to do was feed bats. Tickets were purchased in advanced online. This made checking in easy. We walked in and was greeted right away. As we approached the animals in the first room, we were informed of the type of animal and it's name. We got to feed some tortoise here. Into the second room to our surprise we found two pigs that we also got to feed. By far the friendliest pigs ever. They loved to eat but also loved rubs! The final room was the grand finale. Here they had cages with plenty of bats that we also got to feed. The feeding of these bats was truly a one of a kind experience. Aside from the animal smell which was expected as they are animals, we had a fun time! Everyone there was so informative and had great knowledge of every animal and/or reptile we had questions on.

I enjoyed this day at the zoo. I took advantage of a free Wednesday (book your ticket the Monday…read morebefore) and saw pretty much everything I wanted to see. I did pay the extra $7 to go to the Congo and see exactly one gorilla and one Okapi. The gorillas were actually more readily visible outside the special Congo exhibit. But the exhibit itself was kinda cool. I am a big walker so the 3+ miles I tracked on my fitness app were no problem, but I could see how this would be harder for families with small children. I did feel like I was backtracking a lot because of the way the park is laid out. The animal enclosures are BIG. And right now many of them seem to be a bit overgrown with spring vegetation. While this is great for the animals, I didn't really feel up close with many of the exhibits. I used a lot of zoom on my camera. Some highlights - the peacocks roaming about. You will hear them, but if not, they tend to hang around Soma Village. The reptile pavilion featured a lot of cool snakes. I also enjoyed the World of Birds exhibit. Père David deer - the zoo is a big breeder of this threatened species and there were 5 fawns in the enclosure playing together. Disappointments - did not see any tigers, the red panda was also well hidden. I know the zoo does a lot of great things for wildlife conservation, but I feel like I missed some of that explanation. At smaller zoos there have been volunteers or docents roaming about to talk about the animals - oftentimes unscripted - so I've learned about things like Species Survival Plans (SSPs) and how zoos manage breeding programs by trading siblings with other zoos so there is not species inbreeding. Getting there: take the 5 train to 180th street. Straight shot down 180th then a right on Boston and you will see the "A" Asia gate. I am rounding up to 4 stars but would probably give it 3.5. Not my most favorite zoo, but worth another visit!

Great zoo with a wide variety of animals and beautiful exhibits. Spacious and perfect for families…read more It can get crowded, but overall it's a very enjoyable experience.

Although it was smaller than what we are used to, it was fun. We had a good time looking at all the…read moreanimals. The best part was the seals. They were crowd pleasers for sure. Worth the 14 per adult.

Every time I purchase tickets from wcs.org I get immediately subscribed (without any my intention)…read moreto multiple mailing lists, and start getting lots of emails from various addresses like info@ , donate@ , newsletter@ members@ em.wcs.org. I just want to visit attraction, why I get resubscribed over and over to multiple mailing lists? Zoo itself is great.

This is one of the best (and underrated) attractions within the Zoo. A self guided tour that…read morebrings you into a greenhouse featuring hundreds of butterflies, along with a small pond that has colorful fish. Excellent photo opportunities here. I loved it.

It's an enclosed environment made to support life for the various birds, butterflies, ducks and…read moregiant koi inside. I remember when this was a big tented room, but now it has a winding path that guides you along. Note: If you are visiting on a particularly hot or humid day...it will be even more humid inside the butterfly garden, so bring a cooling towel or a spritz bottle with cold water to make your visit bearable. Butterflies may lite in your hair or on your clothing, don't panic. They'll eventually fly away. Don't touch any of the butterflies and stay off the dirt. It costs $6 to enter.