This is a cute little zoo that's best for kids under 5. It's very small and takes less than an hour…read moreto go through if your kids are older. I'm docking a few stars because they let way too many people into the petting zoo area at one time, especially when they only have a few goats to pet. I also docked a star because the walk over to the playground and picnic table area is unnecessarily long because they have the shortcut path blocked off.

For the price and what it is - it is 5 stars. If you're looking for a big city zoo that you'd spend…read moreseveral hours at (and pay 4x as much) - this is NOT it. It is a very good small zoo with about 15 outdoor enclosures; a half-dozen enclosures in the barn, and 8 or so exhibits in a separate building. During the busier times, there are keeper talks or events every hour for different animals. Apparently you can feed goats, llamas, etc... for $1.50. We went on a weekday in late February and the desk wasn't open. Yet... there were only a few other visitors in the zoo - and so it was very easy to see everything. They have pony rides as well. If you have a child under the age of 10 - I could see spending 2 hours here when it isn't winter. We spent just under an hour and saw everything and took our time.

This used to be a fun place to go as a child. I took my 10 year old daughter here and she was in an…read moreawkward stage... one inch too tall for the kiddie rides and not interested in roller coasters. The tilt a whirl was not operating. They also only have one small gift shop when you leave the park, wish they had more gift shops around the park. The games had cheesy teddy bears as prizes... so my daughter did not want to play any games. It was crowded and people with little kids enjoyed themselves. However at the stage my daughter is... I would rather go to a carnival, at least I don't have to pay unless I go on a ride even if a wrist band is more expensive. It was fun but too expensive for what is offered... don't think we will be back

Santa's Village is one of my family's yearly traditions. This is the cleanest and picturesque…read moreamusement parks you can go to. The staff are friendly and helpful. They have great rides that all ages will enjoy. Lots of great food options - the homemade donut holes are my favorite. Huge water park. And of course ... Santa visit is a must. Lots of free parking. Highly recommend!

This place is a hidden gem.... literally. Well, not literally a gem, but literally hidden. GPS told…read moreme to make a right, where all I saw was a Nissan dealership. Nope, and instead I ended up circling around. But sure, enough, make a right when the GPS tells you too. Ignore that the car dealership is there, and pay attention to the fact there's a giant sign letting you know Vogelei Park is there. We had a barbecue at one of the seating areas with a roof and it was OK. The engineers who designed and created the shelter's roof apparently didn't like the sunrise, as the way it was angled, the unusual early June 90-degree heat and sun shone right on us during the early evening. After it got dark, the shelter had lights that illuminated, which was a bummer. Overall though, it's a great place to consider for a BBQ. BATHROOM REVIEW: Located in the building, the bathrooms were good, for a public park bathroom. It had a couple of urinals and stalls. Sit or squat? Squat.

HIDDEN PARK ALERT!! HIDDEN GEM ALERT!…read more When the sun came out one afternoon after a cloudy, dreary week, I knew I had to find some outdoor spot to frolic about in. Since I was in Palatine at the time, and wanted to go home to Roselle without driving too far out of my way, I pulled up the Yelp app and typed in "park." Too many places popped up, none were what I was looking for. So I tried, "zoo." One of the first things to pop up was the Northern Illinois Raptor Center. What!? I did a quick search on what it was, expected there was some kind of magical owl zoo somewhere, and headed out this way. The drive to this park is very easy to miss. I did miss it, and had to do a long turn about through a neighborhood to get back to the entrance, which is located off of Higgins at the intersection of Golf, in between a couple car dealerships. The easiest way to find it is to look for the Hoffman Estates Park District sign and turn RIGHT THERE. Then you'll see a barn at the end of the drive and a park. Whew. I got out of my car, walked over to the barn and older building, found locked doors, wandered over to a map, scanned the map, saw absolutely no mention of any raptors or owls or birds, and decided, "Screw it, I'll just go walk around the park since I'm already here." Fortunately, my disappointment was quickly dissolved after one leisurely lap around the park. Here's what Vogelei has: - A pond that's part of the Bio Swale Water Quality Initiative. I'm still not quite clear on what it is, but it's a water system that cleans storm water runoff of man-made chemicals while providing a habitat for animals and helping the environment. Whatever it was, it sounded and looked awesome -- grassy, marshy areas, a walking path, a picturesque bride and gazebo. And white birds with long legs that fly away when I try to take pictures (darn bird). - A rose garden. Not a very big rose garden, but it's a nice little rose garden with blooms bigger than my hand. I kid you not. Crazy giant flowers. - Lots of grassy areas for picnicking, hooping, and running around like crazy. The park district also holds concerts (mainly for kids) here sometimes. - A playground jungle gym that's shaped like a barn. Sweet. - A splash pad!! It's basically a large, squishy pad with sprinklers. It's turned on during the day -- all you have to do is press down on one of the buttons on the padded surface to activate the water that shoots up. Yes, there is a chance you could get wet doing this. It's fun. Take it from this lady with the crazy hair (oh, what a sight that must have been)! - A conifer garden: an area with a bunch of tiny pine tree bushes. - Safety town. One of those little set-ups where kids can ride their tiny bikes around a little town and learn how to be safe when they cross the street and all that fun stuff. - The barn. Apparently the barn holds some kind of banquet room that you can rent for events. Cool. The park district's summer camp also uses the building for the kids -- I kind of felt like a creep walking in there. Not sure what that other, seemingly abandoned building was for. I probably spent a good forty-five minutes lurking around the park. Not bad. Still no awesome owl zoo, though. Disappointed, I left and wrote this review. As I was finishing up this review earlier this morning, I decided I really needed to go back and find that mysterious magical bird zoo before finishing this review! Back I went... and instead of an empty park, I was greeting with a full parking lot and tons of camp kids. Definitely not the kind of scene for aimless wandering with a camera. Fortunately, someone pointed me in the direction of the raptor center... YES! IT EXISTS! ... which was in a cluster of tiny house-like buildings, surrounded by a fence to keep people out. There were no birds. The birds will be on display later this year or something. Bummer, but so glad I figured out this mystery! SO. This definitely isn't your typical suburban neighborhood park. I won't go out of my way to come back here again (OK, maybe I will -- because I already did), but if I'm in the area and looking for a quiet park to hang out in, I'd re-visit. Nice job, Hoffman Estates.

This is a fun place for families to bring their kids to have Fall fun activities. Goebbert's has…read moreplay areas, train ride, wagon ride, animals petting area, a maze for kids, dinosaur pumpkin smashing, a haunted house and more. Kids love hanging out here and can spend hours having fun. Adults can hang out by having tasty food and beverages and by checking out their shop. I had tacos from Jaimitos and apple cider glazed donut while here. I liked them. Both, the tacos and the donut were delicious. They hit the spot. I had a fun time hanging out with my family. Check out Goebbert's.

Lot's of good tasting apples with huge variety available for picking. Love the Fuji's. Tons of…read morethings for kids to do. Lot's of family fun.

Simply amazing! Our children at Little People's Country LOVED every second of our experience!…read moreTruely a highlight of our summer. The animals were so beautiful and gentle. The staff from Country Yard Critters was so patient and caring with our students and their animals. We will absolutely have them back!

I had a first hand view of the care & treatment of animals at country yard critters & the ignorance…read moreof those caring for animals. The owner does not have good knowledge of farm animals, and along with that, she will let absolutely anybody work for her with no training & prolonged time periods without pay. The horses often work events without breaks for the entire day & the owner frequently forgets the proper tools to care for the horses. The way that the owner acts around clients is unprofessional & possibly frightening to children. She would say things about animals that have passed away as if it were no big deal.

Great family owned spot! Very helpful every time I come in with any questions I may have.read more

A young man from Fish Island, Eugene, came to my home and removed a horrible amount of green algae…read morein my 36 gallon aquarium. I learned a lot from him. He showed me the best green algae killer device on Amazon. All is well now!

5 stars for Scott Smith's All Animal Expo…read more This is located on the Kane County Fairgrounds, and usually happens around once a month. It's a giant indoor site where a bunch of animals/animal equipment and pet supplies are available for sale from various different vendors. You'll see a bunch of different kinds of animals - dogs, cats, spiders, lizards, snakes, sugar gliders, birds, hedgehogs, rabbits and more! It's a great time if you like animals, and I definitely recommend a visit - very fun and the owner Scott Smith is a very nice guy.

$8 per adult, takes 25 minutes to see. Unless you have kids, then may be worth it. Mostly animal…read morevendors but too many "other" vendors.

Great little zoo. Stay for the zookeeper talks, very informative. Great little place to support!read more

Haven't used the park much at Randall Oaks Park, but the petting zoo/barnyard is a fun place to…read moretake a kid if you want to kill an hour or so. Cheap to get in - $2.75 for adults, $2.00 for kids I think. You can buy bags of feed for the animals - those are $.75 per bag (usually need about 5 bags, depending on how generous you are to the animals!). It's not really a place to spend the whole day, but it's nice for an afternoon out. They have a couple of playgrounds for the kids, and it's my understanding they have party pavilions for rent - like at a forest preserve. Easy drive from Chicago - 90 W to Randall Rd. north; go about 5 miles and it will be on the left.

Cool discovery center. Great for ages 1-99. Lots of cool animals (I didn't take any pics tho,…read moresorry!). They have a rabbit, snakes, turtles, tortoises, fish, and even a tarantula (not my favorite). My daughter and I went for a birthday party and we had the place to ourselves. I was very surprised at how big the animal exhibit area was. Lots of things to learn about, watch, and discuss. The floor to ceiling windows overlooking the prairie land was wonderful. We were there in early December and winter birds were happily flying back and forth to the feeders and enjoying themselves. We will definitely be going back!!! It was a little hard to find because it's VERY deep into the property but not impossible to find. Just keep driving and you'll get there.

I went to Hickory Knolls Discovery Center for a wedding. It was a very pretty space with indoor and…read moreoutdoor options. They were originally supposed to have the wedding outside, but it was raining, so they weren't able to do that. Personally, I thought brining the wedding inside made it even better! They have displays and little exhibits talking about the wild life in the area. The space is open which left a ton of room for dancing and just interacting. The pictures outside were very pretty as there was a lot of greenery to work with.