Family Insider

From north to south, Florida's zoos are going wild with special events and family fun. Make your plans now to do the zoo!

Take your family to the No. 1-rated zoo in the country by Parents magazine and enjoy its Summer Safari Nights! Once a month throughout the summer, the zoo stays open late and offers FREE unlimited rides after 5 p.m. Guests can also enjoy special animal encounters, live entertainment, and great food and drink. Summer Safari Nights activities are included with zoo admission. Lowry Park Zoo has lots going on this summer, including free admission for dads on Father’s Day. Check out its website for more ideas.

 

Don’t miss this! The zoo’s annual Feast with the Beast is Friday, June 19 at 7 p.m. Feast with the Beast is the zoo’s largest fundraiser of the year, and it’s a blast! Sample food from the finest restaurants on the Emerald Coast, dance to live music, enjoy animal encounters, take safari train rides and bid on auction items like spa packages, a Rolex watch and getaways. This also marks The ZOO’s 25th anniversary! Now that’s exciting. Prices are $80 per person and $150 per couple – a bargain considering that it goes to such a great cause. Tickets can be purchased by phone at (850) 932-2229, ext. 106 or online.

 

ZOOSnooze is also coming up Saturday, June 6, and includes a day and night train ride, animal encounters, pizza, a tour of the animal night houses and a family campout on the zoo grounds. It’s only $30 per person – bring your own tents and sleeping bags. If you don’t want to camp but want to attend the evening event, it’s $25. Call (850) 932-2229 for more info.

 

Bring Dad for a Safari Sleepover like no other! On June 20 (the evening before Father’s Day), you can have a special after-dark experience that includes a pizza dinner, animal encounters, behind-the-scene tours, a flashlight tour of the zoo, a special kids' craft activity, evening refreshments and a quiet activity before bed. At 7 a.m., rise and shine to an all-you-can-eat continental breakfast, and at 8 a.m. it’s time to say farewell.

 

What a neat way to celebrate your special day and spend quality time with your kids! Call (904) 757-4463, ext. 122 to make your reservation.

 

Here’s a great deal that you won’t want to miss. Miami Metrozoo, one of the top zoos in the country, has partnered up with the Miami Seaquarium and Wannado City to offer a Summer Savings Pass that will give you unlimited admission to all three of these attractions all summer long. The Summer Savings Pass can be purchased for $19.95 plus tax per person with the purchase of a regular-priced general admission at one of the three parks. These passes are good until Aug. 30, 2009. What’s more, if you’re an annual passholder or member of these attractions, you can purchase the pass for just $9.95 plus tax per person. For more info, visit summersavingspass.com.

 

 

Lion Country Safari, West Palm Beach

Florida is blessed with fantastic zoos – and here’s another one to add to the list. Lion Country Safari is third on a list of the top 10 zoos in the country by the website USA Travel Guide. If you’re never experienced Lion Country Safari, you have to go! This place opened in 1967 as the first cageless zoo in the country. You can still drive through the four-mile preserve today and see large free-roaming herds, including the largest herd of zebra in the United States. You won't believe it!

 

It also has a 55-acre entertainment area called Safari World that has rides, encounters and fun exhibits. You can even camp overnight in the KOA campground (listen for the lions at night – talk about wild)!

 

Beat the summertime heat at the Brevard Zoo with Summer Saturday Nights. Each Saturday in July and August, the zoo stays open until 9 p.m. – and you won’t believe it, but admission is free, thanks to sponsors, businesses and organizations. Most of the animals are out on exhibit in the evening, and you can even take a sunset kayaking tour, ride the train and listen to music. The event begins at 5 p.m. every Saturday in July and August. Last admission is 8 p.m.

 

And, dads get in free to the zoo on Father’s Day.

 

 

Hey dads, want to get rid of those bottles of aftershave from previous Father’s Days? Dads can trade a bottle of aftershave (even half-used) for free zoo admission all Father’s Day weekend, June 19-22.

 

Why aftershave? The cologne provides new scents for the animals to enjoy all year as part of their enrichment program. The scents make them curious and get them exploring. Dads and their families can watch the animals’ reactions, too. And if Dad doesn’t have any cologne to donate, Mom’s perfume will work, too. You can also print an online coupon for free admission with the purchase of a child ticket.

 

So, do the zoo this summer.

 

Jill Martin, Family Travel Expert, VISIT FLORIDA

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