Good Zoo

This zoo was great! First, we did the animal encounter with the red pandas, ring tailed lemurs and otters. The encounter is pretty much what you would expect with you being in the exhibit with the animals, feeding them and listening to keeper telling more about their habits and temperments. The red pandas were very cute and would walk very slowly up to you and eat from the palm of your hand, the lemurs were very quick and would actually grab onto your hand while you fed them, and the otters would play fetch with the food (no hand feeding was allowed with them) but they would wait patiently until you threw the fish for them. Susan and Mindy were the keepers explaining everything to us and were awesome and made the experience that much more enjoyable.
After the encounter we were able to walk around the zoo some more and get really close to the kangaroos (it was hot so they were lying around in their exhibit). Theres a larakeet exhibit where you can feed them and have them perch on your hand. Additionally, some of the animals were out being walked and we were able to pet and get a few more pictures with an armadillo and the llamas. And got to say, there weren’t many of the animatronic dinosaurs setup around the zoo, but it was cool to see the 4 or 5 that were around.
Definitely recommend this zoo and definitely recommend the animal encounter, its well worth it. Bring your camera and take lots of pictures.

This is a small zoo, however it offers and activity room and train room that kids will love and want to stay in for hours.

I’ve been coming to Oglebay’s Good Zoo since I was a tot, and there’s not a lot that’s changed. That’s kind of ok, because the place is big with the nostalgia factor — at least for me.
Back in the day, the zoo had a tiny planetarium, a barn with a slide, a playground with rolling things that pinched your fingers, and a train that drove through a field of bison. It also had a dungeon full of snakes and a petting area with about 30 goats.
Today, the planetarium is bigger and way different; it doesn’t run first-​person roller coaster movies. The slide is gone from the barn, but the llamas sort of make up for it. I loved the hell out of the rolly playground equipment, but safety has prevailed, and now there are short climbing towers with cushy stuff underneath. The snakehouse sort of still exists, but it’s been gutted to share time with birds and other animals. The train still takes the same route, but it now goes through a lonely field of ostrich.
The zoo does have cute animals, many at good eye level for the kiddos. The otters usually are playful, the things that look like sloths with vampire eyes are adorable, and the kangaroos are pretty cool. There are plenty of opportunities to feed the fish, ducks and goats with zoo-​approved food — for a quarter, you can still get it out of old-​timey bubblegum-​style vending machines!
In addition to the animals, the zoo has an indoor model railroad exhibit. The tracks are set up around hills and shops that echo how the Wheeling area looked many years ago. It’s pretty elaborate, so be sure to take the time to peek in all the tunnels and look at each scene. Several trains are running at the same time and often criss-​cross each other.
Admission still is a good deal — $ 7 for adults. A ticket for the train is $ 2. It’s a good attraction in a great park, and it adds to a fun day of family time.