Travel with Preschoolers in Southern California

The Elephant Show
My friend who went with us said that "The elephant show is slow." This was true. It was not too long and I thought that the elephant did amazing things like lifting heavy things, nodding and shaking her head. The kids were most excited at the end when the elephant did a cool wiggling dance.


You can see lions up really close! The lion exhibit had some great interactive signs also. There is a place to measure your hand against a paw and a real lion's tooth. There were cubs playing too.


There is a playground, keep your shoes on! There are some splinters and woodchips as the surface. There are picnic tables nearby for lunch and a bathroom nearby.

We were unable to take the safari tram tour the day we visited because we went with a school group. Keep that in mind if you are planning an outing with a group because you may be excluded depending on the time of year that you visit.

We did walk through almost the whole park. We stopped for lunch at the playground (we brought our own food) and played for a while. We saw most of the animals. We were especally excited when we found out we could feed the giraffes. They come up close to the wall and you can feed them leaves for $2. By the time we got there, the giraffes were gone across the field. If feeding them is important, ask at the gate about good times to stop by that area.

Wear good walking shoes and bring plenty of water and sunscreen!

Here are the important details

The San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park
15500 San Pasqual Valley Road,
Escondido, California 92027-7017.
For general information, you may call (760) 747-8702.
www.sandiegozoo.org

Open daily (including all holidays).
Spring hours (now thru June 17): 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (grounds close at 5 p.m.)
Summer hours—Park at Dark—(June 18 thru September 5): 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. (grounds close at 10 p.m.)

General Admission Adult $28.50 Child 3-11 $17.50