Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens

My family has an annual pass here to the zoo, we have for the past few years. As a parent of a 6 & 3 year old, this place is wonderful and a great bang for the buck. The Sanford Zoo itself is not very large in comparison to other Zoo's but it does not takeaway from the awesomeness of it. They have enough exotic animals as well if you are wanting to see such animals. Giraffes, cheetahs, rhinos, black bear, and a few other cool ones. If anything, we like that it is small and quaint. They have a kids splash pad, which is a great thing in the summers. Best of all, they sell beer and wine at a few stalls!

Great wee zoo, not the biggest but packed with plenty to see. All the animals on show looked healthy and happy with clean and spacious cages. A nice touch was all the fans in the cages keeping the animals cool, which they were taking full advantage of. There are boardwalks all around the zoo, so no muddy or wet feet. They were replacing lots of the wooden fencing when we were there so it will look really nice when finished. There is a cafe and food booths in the zoo for food and drink. There are changing rooms available for the kids who get wet playing in the water fountains. Toilets are available. There is air conditioning in the gift shop, bear viewing room and exhibition centre. Lots of free parking outside the zoo. The highlight was getting to feed the giraffes ($5) for 3 lettuce leaves. There is also the chance to feed the animals in the petting zoo but this does run out quick so best do that early in the day.

What a nice small zoo!! It's good place for taking kid to explore natural. Also, it's good for dating day trip as well. Not too big to be tired walking. Every animals are well being here. They will have train available in mid summer. We bought annual pass tickets so definitely, we're going back.

Cool Zoo! Live very close to this and never took the opportunity to visit. Went on a Monday, wasn't too busy. Parking lot is a little busted but the actual Zoo was super clean and the exhibits were wonderful.
Snake and Reptiles, Gators, Monkeys, Macaws, Bears, Big Cats and even Giraffe feeding.
It's definitely an experience to see an animal as large as a Giraffe lean over a fence and take lettuce out of your hand.

Would definitely go again to take a friend or family member.

Decent sized perimeter spaced zoo. Not as many animals as I thought but fun none the less. If you buy your tickets online; before heading over you save about $2 per ticket. The entry experience was quick, fast, and easy. The staff was wonderful. Everyone was extremely friendly. They have a zipping lining excursion and trolley. It’s about 30 minutes from east Orlando. Snacks are priced well. They have a park area for the kids to play as well as a splash pad. Very clean and easy to navigate. Many of the animals were sleeping but I’m sure the heat played a role in that. Please if you are visiting in the summer time come prepared for the sun. Bring your sunscreen , bug repellent, head coverings, plenty of water and portable fans if you have.

A decent zoo experience makes for a nice getaway from the downtown lifestyle. Just north of Orlando, tucked away in Sanford is thus quaint zoo. If you are looking to get out in nature this makes for a fun stop. Although they say botanical gardens there is no specific botanical section, more so along the paths there are little area with such. On our experience all the animals seemed a bit sad, where we almost felt bad for them. Nevertheless the staff is friendly and you can knock out the park seeing all the animals in about an hour. Prices are set for the whole day, whether you come an hour before it closes or when they open, it's all the same. Family friendly so If you have kids be sure to bring them by.

We love the Central Florida Zoo! This is a very walkable, family friendly zoo. The trails are easy to navigate and a good portion are shaded or partially shaded.

Pro Tips:
- bring a change of clothes/towel so the kids can play in the splash pad! It’s a favorite of our kids and they serve cold drinks feet from the water so kids and adults can both enjoy!

- you can feed the giraffes, if they are hungry from 10a-3p for $5 for 3 pieces of lettuce. This is a great photo op!

- bring closed toe shoes if your kids want to do the climbing/zip line out front of the zoo. *height restrictions apply

-Look into the annual passes and save money for multiple trips and at many different zoos/aquariums/botanical gardens across the nation.

We went for the Asian lantern show on Sunday night. The zoo was closed by 4 pm. Our tickets said 8 pm but we went inside around 7:40. The show is different from other lantern show, no moving parts. I think the ambiance was great. Setting were attractive. One live guitar player added some points. My favorite part was to play the drums (at two locations). We cycled the place twice and it was fun (also saw two giraffes from not too far distance).