Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

Grown so much! Beautiful exhibits and enclosures! Some animals were off exhibit with the construction and expansion projects but that's understandable. Loved the manatees! Went early, so we saw all the animals active or eating. Spend 3 hours. Good signage to get you where you want to go and information on animals was interesting.

Ok first off I want to say that I do know we visited on a cold windy day in April and a zoo can be either a hit or miss but we were quite disappointed with our visit. First off you have to pay $10 to park, then you pay a lot to get into the Zoo. They do search your bags if you bring any. After we entered we felt like we were at an amusement park but during off season. There are little stands with stuff you can buy but none of that was open. We decided to go into the Asian section first and were very disappointed, I think the only animals that were great to see there were the elephants. My son was super sad he didn't get to see the tiger after all the buildup going towards the tiger enclosure (I even went back later to see if the tiger was there but he wasn't). The other sections weren't much different, a lot of animals weren't outside or just not there at all. The African section was closed for the season (which we didn't find out until after we entered the zoo and it was going to open only a few days after we visited), so I didn't get to see any giraffes. We did see a lion but she looked a bit sad. The cheetah was cool. My favorite part was probably the aquarium where we saw the manatees. You don't get to see those everywhere. All of the little food stands around the zoo were closed. We did get to touch the stingrays, my kids really liked that. We saw the polar bear, unfortunately it wasn't in the water. I would have loved seeing it swim from the underwater window. You can also walk through an underwater tunnel to see the seals, that was neat. I just wish they would have offered some kind of off season discount for the zoo, I know some zoos do that. There are also constructions going on right now so to get to the African section you have to walk quite a bit, I don't mind it but maybe people with walking difficulties have a problem with that, there might have been some kind of shuttle too but that was not going on on the day we went there. The bathrooms were all good, the water bottle fill up stations were all closed for the season. I'm pretty sure now that it's warmer everything is better we just came at the wrong time.

I've been going to the Columbus Zoo since I was a kid. Now that I have a family, we recently decided to buy season passes (ABSOLUTELY worth it if you plan on going at least a few times a year, even if you don't live in Columbus). My son loves it, I enjoy it. There are so many indoor areas for extremely cold or hot days, lots of animals and educational opportunities. I enjoy the events that they host, and obviously, the holiday lights are great. No other zoo I've been to compares (but I've been fortunate enough to live near Columbus my whole life). Cannot recommend enough. Great for family fun, and I'm so grateful we now have passes so we can go anytime!

My son and I enjoyed our day at the zoo. We were here 3/19/25 and with it being the off season there were many exhibits/shops/food stands closed. There was still plenty for us to see though and we had a ball! Loved the manatees and the river otters. It was a nice day and the staff was mending fences and getting the savanna yard ready for the zebra and giraffes. The gate was open and we got to see them poke their heads out a bit. They are hesitant since they have been in for the winter. It’s a lot of walking-by the end of the day we both had 14000 steps!

We have visited zoos all over the country and this is by far the best zoo based on the number of animals and the interaction that you can have with the animals. It is extremely well maintained and a beautiful facility. The animals look healthy and well cared for. Love that we can be so close to the kangaroos, birds, and stingrays!