Welcome to another episode of my podcast, Plan, Pack and Recap series: Reason to Visit where I will be highlighting all the important details about a local Central Florida attraction or events to aid in your research so you can have a better perspective of what fun options awaits you when planning your next Central Florida staycation, vacation or a few hours for the day in between your next adventure! I’m so glad you’re here.
Today’s episode is about sharing all of the most important aspects of visiting the Central Florida Zoo that is located in Sanford, FL. Right when you drive in, you might notice the overhead Aerial Adventures Zipline courses, which is not included in your theme park admission, there is an option to sign waivers online to speed up the process when you arrive. What I love about this zoo is that they keep investing in the zoo, they added a larger ice cream shop that is located between the rhino exhibit and the playground area, it has churros, dole whips and plenty of fun options should you need a break. There is also another on-site restaurant called Graze Kitchen, recently renovated the walkway near it to remove the wooden walkway that was replaced with concrete. This particular project is being all around the zoo which makes me less anxious about how slippery it feels after a rainstorm. There is a large splash pad area for kids of all ages and because Florida can get pretty warm, there is a lot of covered seating which is definitely appreciated that I will be highlighting on our website and on my Instagram.
Other spots of the zoo that are really fun are the Barnyard Buddies Children’s Zoo that gives you plenty of options to feed goats, chickens, llamas, etc. And while it is a separate cost from admission, an annual event to add to your plans is the Asian Lantern Festival which runs every November- January 14, 2024 from 6-10PM at the zoo. It’s been so much fun to see the different lanterns during the day but since my family and I love Christmas lights that our one year old loved seeing them all lit up too! We actually saw the Asian Lantern festival on New Year’s Eve 2023 and it was a really fun experience, I added a few notes of topics to mention from our experience and feel free to see our pictures on our website and our instagram from that evening. The zoo anticipates many nights will sell out so be sure to grab your tickets early if you plan on going.
Thanks for being here, and if you’d like to share some feedback in the Q&A box from the episode today or if you’ve had a chance to explore the Central Florida Zoo. As always stay tuned for a sneak peek of our next episode where I share our first Best of Central Florida episode to highlight all the events going on in Orlando in January 2024, a monthly occurrence to look forward to. Thanks for stopping by and I'm so excited to chat with you more next week!
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