San Diego Zoo and Safari Park reopen June 20th

cruisehopeful

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 25, 2015
https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/reopen
They will be open with less than 50% occupancy. They are not taking reservations. They will allow a number of people to enter and if you come after it's full, you can wait until someone exits. I think that is a bad choice, but that's how they are going to do it. Both parks open at 9am and I'd assume there wouldn't be much point on trying to enter an hour or 2 after that until close to closing when many people are leaving.

Buy your tickets and any special tours, etc online before your visit.
 
https://zoo.sandiegozoo.org/reopen
They will be open with less than 50% occupancy. They are not taking reservations. They will allow a number of people to enter and if you come after it's full, you can wait until someone exits. I think that is a bad choice, but that's how they are going to do it. Both parks open at 9am and I'd assume there wouldn't be much point on trying to enter an hour or 2 after that until close to closing when many people are leaving.

Buy your tickets and any special tours, etc online before your visit.
My guess is they don't have the money to spend on the tech needed for a reservation system for all of the normal ticket holders + pass holders.
 
We went to the San Diego Zoo yesterday (Sunday 6/28). It was great. Got there about 10 min before they opened. There was a long line, but it moved quickly and we were in the park very quickly.

It was VERY easy to socially distance oneself from others. We went first to the orangutan exhibit. All of the orangutans were eating breakfast and playing. It was great! The gorillas were very active...got to just sit there on a bench for awhile and just watch them. That was wonderful.

There are no trams or buses running. So you have to hoof it yourself through the entire zoo.

EVERYBODY was wearing masks. Guests and staff. EVERYONE. I didn't see ANYONE not wearing one other than very young children.

I would totally do this again.
 
It was VERY easy to socially distance oneself from others. We went first to the orangutan exhibit. All of the orangutans were eating breakfast and playing. It was great! The gorillas were very active...got to just sit there on a bench for awhile and just watch them. That was wonderful.
That sounds awesome! I've never been at that exhibit without being totally surrounded/sandwiched between people.
 


We went to the San Diego Zoo yesterday (Sunday 6/28). It was great. Got there about 10 min before they opened. There was a long line, but it moved quickly and we were in the park very quickly.

It was VERY easy to socially distance oneself from others. We went first to the orangutan exhibit. All of the orangutans were eating breakfast and playing. It was great! The gorillas were very active...got to just sit there on a bench for awhile and just watch them. That was wonderful.

There are no trams or buses running. So you have to hoof it yourself through the entire zoo.

EVERYBODY was wearing masks. Guests and staff. EVERYONE. I didn't see ANYONE not wearing one other than very young children.

I would totally do this again.

My dad (71) took my daughter (13) the first week it was open. Although my dad is very healthy, I was still concerned about the possibility of him being in a crowd. But they had the same experience as you - not crowded at all and super easy to distance yourself from other guests. They even ate lunch by themselves with no one else sitting at a table at all at the cafe where they got their food. I think I’ll take a half day off work sometime next week and go with my daughter. Especially if it stays cool like it has been lately.
 
We are hoping to go to California next month for an ocean trip. We thought about adding the zoo and safari park on. We've never done the safari park. Our family loves animals. Is it still worth going without the tram? Has anyone been?
 


We are hoping to go to California next month for an ocean trip. We thought about adding the zoo and safari park on. We've never done the safari park. Our family loves animals. Is it still worth going without the tram? Has anyone been?
It is worth going without the tram if you like to walk. There's a lot of walking to get around the park.
I haven't visited since reopening, but I get emails from them often. They have added some private tours. While they are expensive, if you can swing it, you can get a cart tour for your own family, both the zoo and safari park are offering private family tours right now. Those need to be booked in advance and likely can't be purchased day of.
 
We are hoping to go to California next month for an ocean trip. We thought about adding the zoo and safari park on. We've never done the safari park. Our family loves animals. Is it still worth going without the tram? Has anyone been?

It’s hard to say what‘s worth something for someone else. We live 30 minutes away and have a membership. We have been going out nearly every Thursday morning for the last few months. We get there right at 9, and leave somewhere between 11:00-11:30. In that time, we can quickly see the major highlights and one or two different things. We almost always will spend several minutes at the tigers, elephants, lions, cheetah, savannah overlook... and either the gorillas or Australia. We will generally incorporate the lower trail (from the cheetahs to the elevator that goes along the boardwalk (waterfowl) and up through the other animal habitats), or the lagoon trail.

We can see and do a lot in 2+ hrs. By 11:30, we’re peopled out and a little tired of wearing masks in the Escondido heat. The park has not been crowded during weekday mornings, but I hear it can get busy in the afternoon and on weekends. Having said that, we have no kids, travel light, and don’t mind walking quickly. Additionally, since we are members, it doesn’t cost us anything unless we buy food, drink, or something else. I might feel differently if I’d coughed up $50+/person to go.

I hope that helps. Happy to answer any questions if I can.
 
It’s hard to say what‘s worth something for someone else. We live 30 minutes away and have a membership. We have been going out nearly every Thursday morning for the last few months. We get there right at 9, and leave somewhere between 11:00-11:30. In that time, we can quickly see the major highlights and one or two different things. We almost always will spend several minutes at the tigers, elephants, lions, cheetah, savannah overlook... and either the gorillas or Australia. We will generally incorporate the lower trail (from the cheetahs to the elevator that goes along the boardwalk (waterfowl) and up through the other animal habitats), or the lagoon trail.

We can see and do a lot in 2+ hrs. By 11:30, we’re peopled out and a little tired of wearing masks in the Escondido heat. The park has not been crowded during weekday mornings, but I hear it can get busy in the afternoon and on weekends. Having said that, we have no kids, travel light, and don’t mind walking quickly. Additionally, since we are members, it doesn’t cost us anything unless we buy food, drink, or something else. I might feel differently if I’d coughed up $50+/person to go.

I hope that helps. Happy to answer any questions if I can.
Thank you for this! I get that, too! There's places where I'm from with modified experiences that we have memberships and we still enjoy going to during Covid, but that I probably wouldn't want to pay full price for. I think maybe we'll just do the zoo this week and save the Safari Park for another year. We have several littles with us, so the walking needs to be considered as well. Thanks again for your input!
 
Thank you for this! I get that, too! There's places where I'm from with modified experiences that we have memberships and we still enjoy going to during Covid, but that I probably wouldn't want to pay full price for. I think maybe we'll just do the zoo this week and save the Safari Park for another year. We have several littles with us, so the walking needs to be considered as well. Thanks again for your input!
The sky buckets at the zoo started running a couple weeks ago, which may be a plus in that direction, especially with the littles.
 
Has anyone been to the SD zoo lately? How strict are they with the timed entries? Also how have crowds been?
 
We were there a few weeks ago on a weekday. The first hour in the morning was wonderful, but things got more crowded as the day wore on to the point that I was a bit uncomfortable (our kid is not vaccinated). But the crowds were really only in short pockets near popular exhibits and narrow walkways.
 

GET A DISNEY VACATION QUOTE

Dreams Unlimited Travel is committed to providing you with the very best vacation planning experience possible. Our Vacation Planners are experts and will share their honest advice to help you have a magical vacation.

Let us help you with your next Disney Vacation!










Top