Review of the Indianapolis Zoo

As a kid, I always enjoyed zoos. My grandparents lived very close to Brookfield in the suburbs of Chicago, and periodically we'd go as a family. When MacTroll and I moved to D.C., we'd spend the first really nice warm days wandering around the National Zoo. And if I have to pick between a Natural History Museum and a Zoo -- the Zoo always wins. 

So, last Sunday, on our last day in Indianapolis, we went to the Indy Zoo. For a toddler, it is a perfect-size zoo. It is not very big. You can walk whole zoo in about 2 hours, 2 1/2 if you get tickets to the free dolphin show. But for being such a small zoo, it's kind of expensive: $14 for an adult, $9 for a child and $5 for parking. There are also large signs up around the zoo asking you not to bring coolers or packages of outside food of any kind into the zoo, which I found pretty unfamily friendly, but no one searched my diaper bag, so I didn't offer up that I had a sippy cup of juice and fruit snacks hidden away in it. Also, if you're looking to avoid crowds, no one is at the zoo at 9:30 a.m. on a Sunday... just so you know. The crowds tend to show up around 11 a.m. 

My favorite exhibit was Lemur Island, which is right next to the main food area. You can sit and eat your lunch (or illegal snack) and watch the lemurs play next to the flamingos. In the same area turtles are warming themselves and mallard ducks fly in and out. Lots of action going on in one central location.

X-man was pretty riled up about the rhinos, even though this one was asleep in the sun and snoring. :-) There's a bouncy suspension bridge in front of the rhino exhibit that he liked to run across. When he noticed the rhino was snoring, he said "1-2-3 WAKE UP!" But, of course, the rhino just slumbered away. He looked comfy to me in a nice warm sunbeam.

X-man was also into exploring the new and different stuff at the zoo. He found the binoculars fairly interesting, even though he was too short to see through them. And for the first time, ever, he was NOT afraid of riding on a merry-go-round.  Merry-go-round rides are $2.5o per person, and it's located right next to the petting zoo area.
X-man also enjoyed the fact that there is a playground on site. The park says it's appropriate for kids ages 5-12, but X-man had no troubles, except that he didn't want to leave to look at more animals. He wanted to stay and run and bounce. Even with 20-3o minutes at the park, he wanted to stay longer. MacTroll pointed out that he could play, for free, at a nicer park back at home, and reluctantly, X-man moved on.The exhibits were small, but well kept. X-man liked seeing a gibbon swinging around on top of an area while a half dozen otters scurried around at the bottom of the exhibit. He also enjoyed watching the giraffes eat breakfast and seeing an elephant out for a walk. The desert area is home to the cool meerkats, but the rest of it was pretty much unexciting finches and some cute tortoises. When we got to the end of the zoo, he asked for more animals... which is a sign to me that he's ready for a bigger zoo. He's not a toddler any more. Sigh.

Overall, it is a great activity, particularly since we were headed back home after lunch that day. It gave X-man some running around play time in a completely kid friendly zone. But I found it too small for the overall price, and I don't think it's worth driving to Indy to see by itself. In conjunction with something else makes much more sense. But if you want a stand-alone zoo experience and you live in Central Illinois, you'd be better driving the extra half hour to Brookfield near Chicago.

I have it in my head to get down to St. Louis this summer to see their zoo, which has free basic admission, but you can pay $10 for a Safari pass to see all the "add-ons." So, I'll have to go and compare.