Brookfield Zoo, Brookfield

First of all...why have signs telling the public the elephant house is OPEN; elephants are outside; use opposite entrance...only to walk inside and read yet another sign that says NO ELEPHANTS. Try explaining this to a disappointed 3 yr old! I, myself, had a hard time understanding the reasoning for it. IF there were as many animals as there are stuffed animal shops, gift shops, gimmicks, and junk .. this zoo would be well worth the HIGH price for admission and parking. Although, the grounds are well-kept, keep in mind..the only animals you are sure to see moving and close up, are squirrels, geese and chipmunks. So, go see these "zoo animals" at a nice park, and save your money! ( And I bet you will find friendlier people working in the parks, too..)

NOT the Brookfield Zoo we remembered. One tiger...in the distance...sleeping. Two lions...in the distance...sleeping. Three baboons in the gigantic display...two down in the moat...one sleeping. two polar bears...looked sedated. Etc. etc. This was a gorgeous 75 degree day, so no excuse that the animals were hiding from the heat...THERE WERE SIMPLY NOT ENOUGH ANIMALS TO SEE!! And shame on those who set up the exhibits so that you HAVE to exit right through several gift shops. That's really a dirty trick for parents who may be watching their budget, and are suddenly trapped in a gift shop with wide-eyed kids. For that reason alone, I made it a point NOT to purchase anything. NO elephants, one tiger, a couple of spider monies, and a comatose gorilla is not my idea of $100 plus dollar day with two little girls. I seriously want a refund. Gorgeous exhibit spaces...with very few animals. We felt truly scammed, and will absolutely never go back

This should be called a Mall because there were more places to spend money than to see animals, and mind you this is a 501-c3 charity operating on a forest preserve. For two people it;s $45 just to park and walk in. I thought with these prices they would devote some good help to making sure the animals were happy and healthy. There were hardly any animals to see and the few that were out were stuck in their tiny habitat. The only reason people go to the zoo is for the animals not making charity workers rich. I feel really bad for the animals that end up here. I live out of the country and the zoo by me is $2 to enter. Care-givers that are seen constantly giving attention to the animals which in turn give them a better quality of life. Whoever is behind this charity should be ashamed of themselves, it's obvious they don't have the welfare of the animals in mind... pathetic

Please do not waste your money here! We were so disappointed in this zoo. You have to pay to get in to see the animals and then you have to pay for every single thing you want to do. We paid for the stingray exhibit which was a bunch of stingrays swimming around a big pool. They say you can touch them and feed them but basically the kids hang over the side and hope that one comes close enough to feel, which they don't. We also paid for the petting zoo which is just a bunch of farm animals. The only thing you pet is a goat. Yay. Nothing special. Then we paid for the butterfly exhibit which was cool. The dolphin show was the best part but the show is really short (30minutes??). We are a low income family that saved our money to take our kids here and we were so unhappy with it. Save your money and go to the free zoo which we hear is just as good. Or go to Vilas zoo in madison (also free).

We love this zoo. The layout is terrible compared to other zoos, true, but in general its a great zoo and we have loved being members. But that is done with. Our membership packet was accidentally discarded into the garbage and I am told I will have to pay for new cards, and all of our passes (guest passes, butterfly garden, dolphin show, tram, etc) will not be replaced. This was a simple accident and we have spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars, which is a lot for us, at that zoo. Angry!

Boy was I disappointed; hadn't been to the zoo in years and there were no animals to see! There were no elephants, no elephants come on Brookfield. The dolphin show lasted about ten minutes. While the park is nice there are hardly an animals. What a BIG disappointment; there's more places to eat than animals. I don't think I'll be going back. There seemed to be more of a focus on parties being held there.

I'm not sure there are actually any live animals there. Everything we saw was mostly a single animal, passed out in some obscure corner of their vast habitat spaces, like they were either sedated, or just taxidermed replicas lying in a far away place. There should be several of each animal, to increase your chances to actually see something. We didn't see much of anything.

Looked forward to seeing elephants,tigers,and lions. Problem was that there were not any there! Wish we would have known at the entrance. Otherwise we had a good time.The staff and zoo volunteers were very helpful!

Brookfield Zoo offers an all day adventure and somethingfor everyone. The parking $8 (a little steep) and the $8 adult admission is not too bad. You can walk through the large area and see hundreds of animals. There are a lot of shaded and picnic areas and tons of reat spots for pictures. Just a tip...walk in the AM when its cool and catch the motor safari in the afternoon to make sure you caught everything. The kids meals are $6 but come with a healthy choice of fruit and milk and also come with a straw/cup and a slinky as a prize. Not bad and these make great souveniers. The sodas do not have lids or straws so bring your own for easy travel! Also, there was a store up front that had shirts half off so we were able to get tshirts for each child for only $8 each. Not bad. My kids loved checking out the baby polar bear and giraffe...a favorite for my kids!

Brookfield Zoo has been a pioneer in it's field. It doesn't have the "cage-like" atmosphere that many American zoos currently have. While it isn't as spectacular as the San Diego Zoo in California, it is still a marvel of the Midwest. The Art Deco architecture is a real treat, as are the integrated environments that house the animals. You can literally walk through a rain forest setting, and see the monkeys from the tree tops (3 stories up) and visit meerkats in a desert setting, while learning what it takes to survive in the desert. There are educational exhibits along the way for children and adults alike that are interactive and lend depth to a visit to the zoo. In warm months there are peacocks that traverse the park and Canadian geese in the ponds. You will also see native birds and animals (squirrels) in this park-like setting. It is well worth the visit. The only thing that I found that is a detractor, is that the ventilation systems in some of the buildings are old (some of the buildings are literally from the 30's). So sometimes, it can be a bit "ripe." We enjoyed our day so much that we bought an annual pass and take our 2 year-old daughter often. She really enjoys the dolphin exhibit and the pachyderm exhibit. :) Enjoy!