Lowry Park Zoo

After visiting the zoo on Friday, I’m sorry to say that we could not have been more disappointed.
It was a beautiful day to walk around outside but after spending $ 60 just to walk in the door, our expectations were high.
Everything was closed for remodeling! Whole exhibits blocked off from view, Safari was closed as well as several rides.
The habitats that were open were so small, we felt terrible for these poor animals and their homes and cages appeared very unkept.
It would have been nice to have been told of the zoo conditions before spending so much money… We would have gladly returned another day!
Everyone Along the way just kept saying «sorry.» «Sorry» can’t change what a let down this zoo is!!!
Just a very disappointing experience at every turn!

This zoo is amazing, but go with time, the place is huge! Some of the cages were empty but the zoo is clean, friendly staff and plenty of stuff to see. The price is reasonable and you’re sure to have fun with your family at this zoo.

As we went thru the park we stopped to ride the carousal with my almost 10 month old son, the guy operating it in afternoon time (12 – 1) dark short hair, white and he refused to let me on the carousal told me i weighed TOO much let me tell you i am ONLY 5 foot EVEN and i WEIGH 136 POUNDS and i am PREGNANT!!! we went on to the safari Africa on the way back my husband showed me there was woman on the carousal OVER 200 POUNDS!!! (I AM NOT DISCRIMINATING) I JUST WOULD LIKE YOU KNOW why I was told i am too big to ride a ride then NOT even 30 minutes later and there woman 2x as big as me on the carousal???

I’ll be the first to admit that I am no zoo expert. I’ve been to the Honolulu Zoo, the San Diego Zoo, and that’s about it. However, I know when I’m having fun as opposed to just walking around trying to find interest. With that being said, my wife and I had an absolute blast here. It’s not quite as large as the San Diego Zoo, but it’s plenty big enough to spend about 3 hours merely looking at all of the exhibits without watching any shows.
They have an incredible range of animals, but the most fascinating thing about this zoo is all of the baby animals! Baby elephants, orangutans, zebras, and more. It was awesome to see the parents of the babies interact with their kids. The animals seemed happy and it made us happy to see how much space they give to their animals. One surprising missing animal was a lion. However, there were plenty of never before seen animals for us to not sulk on that. Plus, feeding a giraffe basically makes your entire day a million times better.
If you’re vacationing or if you live here and have just never bothered to go, do yourself a favor and check it out. They have discounted tickets on their online site to help the cost a bit. There were tons of kids who were having a blast so if you have younger family members it’s literally perfect for them. They even have an entire section dedicated to kids!

Love this zoo! My kids have a great time every time. I love that you can do almost everything for free once you’re in the park. And, it’s not too crowded and well staffed.

Started off they would not honor the coupons we received at our hotel we were told the fine print tells us prices are subject to change., ok. Then we asked for the senior price listed above our heads, oh we don’t do that anymore. Not a good first impression and it’s all teens kids running the whole place, maybe a few that are able to vote. The zoo was ok, not really anything I haven’t seen before in better settings. Waited an hour for the safari tour which was the best part. Kind of run down, no shows going on. Maybe we were there in the wrong season. I would not go back… Not worth $ 30.00

Visited last year for Spring Break 2015, I totally forgot that I did not write a review for this place. I purchased the city pass for the Tampa Bay area, and it was one of the attractions I selected. Coming from Miami, and a zoo ethusiast, I like to visit every zoo I come in contact with. The day I visited the weather was very unpredictable something they have in common with Miami weather, it was cloudy and it was expected to rain later that evening. I was so amazed at the zoo, the different animals and exhibitions to visit. It was much larger than my home zoo (ashamed). I was given the opportunity to purchase lettuce leads for $ 2 a piece and feed the giraffes with their long slimy tongues (yuck). The goat exhibition had bubble gums machines filled with food which you can purchase for 50 cents. Many of the aviary exhibition had chicken inside, they say they assist by eating the insects (interesting). Also, as I was walking they offered a variety of restaurants, (Mexican, Chinese, American, and others I can’t remember at this moment. My luck it started sprinkling, but it was tolerable and we continued our excursion. There was a free train tide that drove yoy around the zoo and it explained the different animals and their habitat. I noticed alot of time sharing vendors, trying to con people into their death traps (lol) just kidding. Towards the end we opted to eat inside the zoo, and just like any amusement park comes the high priced not so tasty meals. I spent almost $ 50 for 2 burger and 2 chicken finger combos (ridiculous). We finished eating and pretty much finished walking the park. Employees were setting up Chinese decorations, for the night show. I wanted to come back, but my kids wanted to return to hotel to watch television. I went to the gift shop, and spent plenty of money on souvenirs for my family and friends. I really enjoyed this zoo, and highly recommend to others to visit if in the Tampa area. I would like to return without the kids to enjoy the night show for next time. Almost forgot to mention, they have a water ride, if it’s not raining or there’s thunder.

After San Diego’s zoo, this is probably my favorite one so far in the states. Parking is both free and easy, with the lot right next to the entrance. It wasn’t overly crowded so getting in didn’t take long. The layout of the zoo is also very easy to follow, and the map helps you plan out your route accordingly. With rides, shows, and different interactive exhibits, there’s something to appeal to any visitor. The different types of animal interactions really made this zoo stand out over many others, particularly the lorikeets, giraffes, and sting rays – this was the first time I’ve actually fed sting rays by hand, along with giraffes (they weren’t hungry when I visited, but I certainly have not seen too many giraffe feedings anywhere else). Their shows are pretty entertaining and informative as well, and you can always walk in and out as you want according to the schedule. The selection of animals is not huge but still decently sized, and they have a lot of less commonly found animals, from koalas to Galapagos tortoises to tapirs (and of course manatees!). I also can’t neglect to mention the cute furry chickens that are found in almost all of the small exhibits that keep the bugs and parasites away.

Fun small town zoo. Completely reimagined since its origins. Great zoo for children. It’s highly immersive themed atmosphere takes on those of nearby theme parks. Would love to see lions added and ostriches.

Loved every minute of our visit to this zoo! Lots of animals you won’t typically find

We enjoyed this zoo immensely! The employees were pleasant and very helpful. We took our toddler son to the children’s area and he had a blast. There were wallaby’s to look at, little rides with wonderful, helpful staff, and petting area. The gentleman who worked the petting zoo was very helpful and helped my son find some animals to pet (Cashew and Blackie). There was also a wonderful variety of different animals that we all enjoyed viewing.
Great staff — would definitely recommend and will be going again!

I love this place so much. I bought family passes for myself and my four kids. The best $ I’ve ever spent on such passes. Also a wonderful place to volunteer. The animals have plenty of room and are truly CARED for, not just kept alive.
In response to some other people’s low ratings and posts:
1) If you encountered a rude employee, did you consult management, or just decide to post your complaint without giving them a chance to fix it? You’re pretty rude yourself if this is the case.
2) Okay, did someone really post a one star review because there were BEES??? Here’s a bit of enlightenment: Bees are often found outdoors…
3) Not enough room for the animals? There is plenty of room. You’re head might just be too big and it seems smaller. Either that, or you’re only seeing a portion of the exhibit. There is so much planning and regulation that goes into such exhibits, they there is no way Lowry Park Zoo would allow for unfair conditions.

5 stars for the super fun times at the zoo!
I haven’t been to the zoo in forever so we decided to try it out. We arrived around 11am and the parking was terrible until we found a different lot. The zoo entrance wasn’t too bad since we already bought tickets online. We saw a lot of different animals including snakes, hippos, rhinos, deer, foxes, elephants, etc… We even hand fed a giraffe! Where else in the area can you do THAT? Last thing: When the kids run out your patience, head over to the Safari Lodge for a wine or 16oz ice cold beer.

So it took my family 4 months to save for the zoo admission.
The good news is we were able to get zooper tickets and can come back all of 2016 with out paying entrance fee. And we get discounts on food and gifts with that too. I was concerned that there was going to be a lot of extra expenses, but all the kid rides and the safari ride were included. We took a 2yo and a 3 ¾yo and arrive at 9:30 and spent the whole day leaving at 5pm. It was a great day. Lots of baby animals, great exhibits. Fun water/​splash areas, food was expensive, (but that’s par for any attraction) great kid rides, lots of shade. It was a great day!

Hm, somewhere between a 3 and a 4-​star, but I think I can bump it up. You can do the Zoo in a few hours, but I enjoyed how close you could be to the animals. A part of me side-​eyed the fact that it seemed like the monkeys could escape if they really wanted to, but alas, there was no Planet of the Apes moment while I was there.
The giraffes were really close and feedings were only $ 5, which I thought was incredibly cheap when I’m used to San Diego Zoo type prices. The cheetah looked really sad though, which made me really sad. My best memory is seeing a mom, dad, and baby chimpanzee interact so close to us.
If you’re hungry, eat first by the entrance. It’s quite possible that the other food establishments in the parks are closed based on the day/​time.
Free parking and student discounts!

I had the change to go to the Zoo over the weekend and basically ended up spending all day there on Saturday! We were going to leave and go to Big Cat Rescue but there was so much to see we had to hang around!
I really enjoyed their manatee exhibit and it’s really awesome that they have one of the only non-​profit manatee clinics in existence. That being said, in comparisson with Busch Gardens, they always seemed to have less of whatever kind of animal you were viewing. This was particularly noticeable in the Lorikeet Landing, same name as at Busch Gardens actually, they really didn’t have that many birds. I guess they conserve their resources by having a more modest collection.

Lowry Park Zoo is a great place to go to spend a nice day out of the weekend. We happened to have gone a lot in the past few years since every time we did a 5k race at the zoo, you get free entry that day AND a free ticket to come back within 365 days. It was well worth those sweaty mornings to have the opportunity to come back here again. Talk about a big score!
The best time to come would be in the morning, when there aren’t as many people and it isn’t blisteringly hot out just yet. This is also a good time to see the animals do some particularly weird things; we had a few especially interesting encounters with wound-​up monkeys.
Besides animals, Lowry Park Zoo does a great job of hosting a variety of fun events throughout the year (besides the sweaty 5k ones), like Wazoo, Zoofari, ZooBoo, and most recently Zoominations, so they give you lots of reasons to come here of fun!

The Tampa Zoo is awesome. I’ve been to zoos in Atlanta, San Antonio, Disney’s Animal Kingdom, Tampa, and Washington. Tampa is my favorite with San Antonio being a close second. I’ve been to the Tampa Zoo many times and I make it a point to stop by anytime that I can.
Every single exhibit at the Tampa Zoo is modern, clean, and provides the animals with a nice habitat while giving spectators good views of the animals. The Zoo’s Australia exhibit could be a little better, but that’s the only exhibit that I would alter.
The Zoo is very large and you should allocate about 3 – 4 hours to see the zoo at a reasonable pace. There are several «animal encounters» where a member of the zoo’s staff will lead an education session about the animal. The zoo’s manatee encounter is particularly good. Also, there are several interactive exhibits. For example, you can feed giraffes and stingrays. They also have camel rides. The manatees, tigers, giraffes, meerkats, and gibbons are particularly great exhibits. I’ve seen many meerkat exhibits and this one is by far the best.
The Tampa Zoo is one of the few places where you can see manatees in captivity. The Zoo also has a manatee hospital, which is visible from the exhibit. When we went in December, there were many babies.
The Zoo is in a fairly safe area and parking is free. The Zoo’s staff is very friendly and helpful. I highly recommend visiting the Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo. If you’re a member of an AZA accredited zoo in another city, you’ll likely be eligible for a discount of some kind on admission.

I’ve been to Lowry Park Zoo a good number of times now for different events they have had and to roam around the zoo. My favorite animals to see are the giraffes, gorillas, elephants, and the rhinos.
The zoo has a pretty convenient set up where the entrance is the hub, and each direction of the hub is a direction to go to each animal area.
There is a good sized kid’s area with a carousel and also a petting zoo. There is also an area for people to watch concerts and shows.
Throughout the year, there is always something going on for the whole family. Most recently they had a concert at the zoo. I have also been here for Zoominations Chinese Lantern show which was spectacular. I’ve been for Zoofari, which is a sample of Tampa Bay food and drinks, and I have also been to watch the sea lions. I’ve also been to Lowry Park Zoo during Halloween & Christmas for their holiday events. Wazoo is their next event coming up for the beer lovers.
This is definitely a perfect place for the little bitty kids and the big kids.

The zoo is a winner! First let me start by saying I haven’t been to Lowry park in a long long time. So my husband and I decided a day at the zoo was in order.
If you only do ONE thing — pay the fee ($ 5? Maybe?) to feed the giraffes. Seriously, best part of the trip. There are other interactive opportunities but for me this was #1. The kids area is nice as well — the splash park was tempting because it was a million degrees out, yet, we passed. Also loved the manatee hospital — love seeing the rehab side of the park.
Overall, lots of exhibits and attractions, great way to spend an afternoon.

Since they extended the Zoominations show until June 28^th, I decided to buy the Groupon for 4 people and go. I went on a Friday night with my family. We got there an hour befor closing, and we were able to tour the whole park before closing.
The lights were amazing ! Everything was breath-​taking. The kids loved it. They had a great merry go round which was my favorite attraction. I know, lol I’m a big kid. Since everything was closing down, we couldnt really get a taste of any of the concession stand foods. The gift shop was very nice also.
I will be returning next year ! I loved it that much. I really want to see this zoo during the day ! It looks like they have a lot of great animals

This is a fabulous zoo! Our main reason for visiting was the Koalas. Very few zos in the US have Koalas, but this is one. I was underwhelmed with the Koala chat… this basically consist of a guy coming and standing outside the glass and answering any questions by passer-​bys. This was very disappointing as it is the main reason we went the day and time we did. So be warned if you plan to visit for the same reason.
I did find their prices a bit steep compared to other zoos. We paid (with our own memphis zoo membership discount) as much as our membership is in Memphis. Which is a world renowned zoo.
The zoo itself is neat with free amusement park type rides, small kddie coasters, a log ride (this was closed when we went), bumper boats, petting zoos and so forth.
They also have a fun water spray park inside… my kids loved this area. Be sure to bring a suit and towel for your littles.
The lunch area by the kiddie area is very reasonably priced.
The exhibits are nice and the park well maintained. The gift shops are small and underwhelming. All in all this is a really great Zoo and great way to spend the day. If we were visiting the area more I would have gotten a membership and visited every time we came to Tampa.

I have nothing but good things to say about this Zoo. My family has a place near Tampa and I used to come here often when I was little. I was so glad I was able to visit last month! It’s like a trip down memory lane.
The Lowry Park Zoo is beautiful, incredibly clean and well organized. And reasonable too! An adult is $ 25 (plus if you have AAA, you get a discount) and parking is free. The way the park is laid out is very efficient. All of the exhibits, animals, attractions are spread evenly throughout so you’re seeing a lot around each corner. We were lucky enough to come during their «Zoominations: Chinese Lantern Festival», featuring beautiful paper and silk artwork throughout the zoo. It’s up until May, so if you’re in the area make sure to check it out!
Some highlights:
–Go on the «expedition africa safari» which takes you on a little ride with fun, interesting commentary about the exhibits and the animals.
–The shows throughout the day: They have feedings in the penguin and manatee areas as well as a Birds of Prey show which was fantastic.
–All of the exhibits are phenomenal. My favorites were the elephants and the giraffes.
–Sting Ray petting (bring that sanitizer!)
***If you do not do anything else, you MUST FEED THE GIRAFFES. For $ 3, they give you leaves of lettuce to feed them. It’s adorable, hilarious and although I hardly ever take selfies, I figured this time would be better than any. (see photo) You can’t pet them. But it’s still 100% worth it.
I was pleased to hear that many of the animals were rescued due to hunting and endangerment of their species. The staff here is incredible and you can tell they really care about their jobs and protecting all the wildlife here. For example, they have a Manatee Hospital & facility on site due to a few of them being injured in the wild. Which is really great.
Doesn’t matter if you’re 80 or if you’re 8… this zoo is for everyone. It’s bright, beautiful and one of the top zoos in the county. This is definitely a must-​see.

Whether it’s the desire for an interesting outing, the need for a pleasant way to enjoy a beautiful day and get outdoors, the chance to experience a special event or a new ride or exhibit or an occasion that includes visiting a newborn member of the Lowry Park Zoo family, spending time at this attraction is always a great experience.
The zoo staff members are pleasant, helpful and present so you can easily ask questions or get directions. The layout provides for a comfortable stroll that winds through natural habitats and nicely landscaped sections of the park.
You never have to go too far before you can find a comfortable place to sit or to get something to eat or drink.
Observing the animals is always fascinating and it’s easy to just pick a spot and hang out at your favorite habitat for as long as you like.
I have been really impressed with the quality and creativity of Lowry Park Zoo’s special events, particularly the transformation that the venue undergoes for its Halloween– and Christmas-​themed events.
This year’s Winter Wonderland offered a dazzling display of lights and the really special chance to observe some animals after dark when they can be more active than during the daytime.
With each, visit I am just more and more impressed with the many ways Lowry Park Zoo keeps itself fun, fascinating and festive!