03 Oct 2025
Not sure if having a big diverse zoo is a wise investment for a community like Phoenix. Went to a half dozen habitats before seeing our 1st actual animal. They've all found a cool spot that isn't visible to visititors. We continued to come upon several more habitats where the animals are purposely absent,I assume again because of the heat. There is an Arizona Trail with indigenous animals to the state that were more present. But even there, the big cats and other animals from the mountain regions were hiding. We gave up after 2½ hours between the heat & the boredom. Exiting thru the gift shop I usually buy a patch & a pin from places I visit that are typically $5-6. Here they were $11-14 so I passed
I used expiring Viator points to purchase our tickets, otherwise I would have been PO'ed about spending $35 each for our tickets. Didn't leave yearning to come back and try again in more moderate temperatures.