Virginia Zoological Society

We have a zoo membership so we come every few months. Love the fact that it’s a simple path to follow so that you don’t miss any of the animals. Always enjoyable. We saw the new cheetahs today. Their enclosure is a bit small but I guess they had to do that they could. Live animal demonstration was cool at the new animal clinic

This zoo isn’t the biggest but the grounds are beautiful and the animals are spread out. It’s really clean and the staff is really nice. The price could be a little cheaper BUT since it goes for the animals I’m ok with that.

It’s been a while, it was great weather decided to stop by the Zoo. The area has good access and good parking and reasonably priced. It’s a good sized zoo with a variety of animals from China, Africa and Australia. I was told by one of the attendants it has been upgraded over the years. So take the kids and enjoy, oh by the way if you get hungry they have great Hot Dogs! Enjoy

As a Norfolk native, I’ve seen this zoo change so much. When I was a kiddo, it was perfect (in my little kid eyes). As I got older, it seemed to diminish somewhat… it was the sad Norfolk zoo where the prairie dogs died (sorry for the downer downlow) and overall appearance was deteriorating.
However! Over the last few years, there have been awesome changes to the zoo. From the landscape to the exhibits, and of course, the animals — it’s lovely.
If you have a little one, especially if you live fairly close, it’s imperative that you get a membership. It’s $ 95 a year for 2 adults, and additional guest and however many children there are under 18. We visit several times a month and sometimes I go just to let the little run around freely.
In the warmer months, there is a water fountain area for the kids to run around in. I haven’t actually experienced going yet with my guy, but once the weather gets warmer, it’s just another activity to add to our weekly agenda.

Fantastic facility that honors north active and veteran military. The Habitats were well kept and as far as *caged*animals go, they seem happy. The animals were active and very vocal at times. It was one of the better zoos we’ve been to.

The zoo is very beautiful and I would really describe the overall vibe «peaceful» especially on the Tiger Trail even with children running around. There were some unusual animals that I have never seen before as well as the usual including an awesome giraffe and elephant exhibit. There are markers at each exhibit indicating the population level of the species starting from stable to endangered — reminding everyone how important conservation is and how supporting this small local zoo can help even in a small way. The elephant paintings were one of the highlights of our trip.

They were definitely on the small side, seemed like an older zoo, but I liked how close it was to our house.
The prices you couldn’t beat and it was a good experience exert time we went there. I just wish we got to see the new exhibit that was being worked on when I moved away. That seemed like it was going to come out really awesome

I bought a family membership, which I don’t plan to renew when it expires. The zoo is small as most reviewers have noted. That being said, we tend to avoid the zoo on weekends during warm weather because of how crowded it is. Not to mention parking is a nightmare. When we do visit, it is usually on weekdays in the morning and it doesn’t seem to be very crowded. What I do like about the zoo is the Tiger Trail, the sprinklers which is great on hot days for my toddler. There is also a train that we’ve ridden a few times. The train conductor today was rude to us as we exited the ride. As a customer who actually bought a membership, I expect better customer service from the staff.

Cute, small zoo. Easy to do with young kids. Fun for us two adults — it was enough to keep us entertained for a several hours. They offer a short, narrated train ride for an additional $ 2. We took the ride first — it helped when we got to each exhibit because we could recall the facts that were told to us from the train driver. There is also a water ball and fountain area. This was nice because it was a really **hot** day — people were cooling off by running through the fountains of water. They also offer events during the day. They were feeding the tortoise when we arrived. You can also pay to have a 1:1 feeding experience with the giraffes. They close at 5pm so get there early.

This place could definitely benefit from a major overhaul. More animals, more indoor spaces. The snake, etc building isn’t that exciting, they could use some additionals! We went on a Monday before Thanksgiving and it was absolutely dead– we only saw three other groups. There was no food places open, and the gift shop attendant was fairly non-​existent, forcing us to wait at the register for at least 5 minutes before she came out of the back!

Zoo is small & seems more like a county fair than a zoo. Probably fine if it’s the only zoo you go to. Ever.

Only 3 stars as it is under construction right now so pathways were closed and the noise kinda sucked. They are building a train that goes around the zoo due to be finished in early summer, but I’m told you have to pay for it which is a bummer. We ended up getting a family membership and am hoping to go a lot more once the weather warms up. My 3 year old had a blast running around. There’s also a cute playground/​park (within walking distance) right outside the gates of the zoo. We packed a lunch and had a picnic there.

This is the most boring zoo in the world. Even my 3 year old hates it. The petting zoo area is dirty and there are usually only a couple of animals out. I had a membership for a year but will not renew as they really don’t offer members anything. There aren’t very many animals and you can pretty much see everything in about an hour. It’s also right next to a park that tends to get very loud on the weekends.

Beautiful grounds and a wonderful zoo to stroll through on a nice day. The down sides are it’s very small and doesn’t have a large variety of animals. Also, because of the way the zoo is set up it’s hard to have a good view of the animals at times. The parking is free & admission is very inexpensive.

This zoo is not so big, but it has some nice exhibits. My favorite exhibit is the reptiles, because there are more to see and more detailed information about the animals. Unless the animals decide to come out on that day, the rest are almost bare to view. Best time to visit this Zoo is during the summer — on a very beautiful and cool day.