Today we went to the Toledo Zoo for the first time since the opening of the new children’s area, Nature’s Neighborhood. It was also a Fisher Price play day. To start, my daughter requested the frogs inside the Museum of Science, a change since we usually start with the polar bears. On our way there, we walked by the Fisher Price play area where we stopped so she could drive one of the Power Wheels cars & play with some of their toys. The area seemed smaller than they usually have when I’ve been to the Fisher Price tent during Little Boo at the Zoo.
Outside Nature’s Neighborhood is a section of hanging masks & animals. This area was quite popular. But a concern is that these are over brick & the bird has rings on the bottom which are perfect for swinging & I also saw kids swinging from the elephant’s tusks.
A new feature today was “valet parking” of wagons & strollers outside the Museum of Science & Nature’s Neighborhood. This may be temporary because they were trying to keep them off of the newly planted grass outside Nature’s Neighborhood. After a quick tour into the Amazing Amphibians & Crawlspace inside the Museum of Science, we entered Nature’s Neighborhood.
My daughter had a great time in the kids fort & slide. Although she did seem to take awhile to come down & I went up looking for her but must have missed her. She came down a few minutes after I did. She went up a few more times & I just waited longer for her to come down & all was well.
Next to the fort/slide is The Stream. Yes, it is a little stream that the kids can wade in. They have a few “sticks” & lots of rocks that the kids can use to create dams. The water is only a few inches deep, but there were a few kids sitting in it. Non potty trained children are asked to wear swim diapers but I didn’t see anyone enforcing that and I don’t know how many of the toddlers actually had them on (& they were the majority of the sitters). This was a hugely popular area.
There is also a house which has guinea pigs for petting, an area to paint your child’s face, a computer game, and the Forest. In the Forest area are lots of trees and some bug exhibits – ants, spiders, and a bee section with a kid sized hive & bee costumes. They also have periodic activities and workshops in here, but we never made it for any of them.
There is also a goat yard where you can pet or brush goats. My daughter isn’t into touching the animals so wasn’t a big fan of this area. There is a hand washing station right outside of this area which is accessed through a double gate. You will enter a holding area between the gates so only one gate is open at a time to ensure the animals don’t get out.
We left Nature’s Neighborhood to have our lunch inside the Carnivore Cafe, but there is a food counter inside it along with picnic tables. We had left the lunches we brought from home on our wagon, so we had to head out. After lunch, she wanted to return to Nature’s Neighborhood instead of seeing other animals. We did everything again except the goat yard.
When we finally left Nature’s Neighborhood there was a line waiting to get in as people left. It is good that they were controlling access to make the crowds manageable. I did not feel it was overly crowded when we left and had no idea from inside the area that they were metering the entrance. I did ask and they said the wait was about 15 minutes.
We ended up stopping by the polar bears on our way out before ice cream, but those were the only other animals that we saw.
Be prepared to spend a large portion of your trip in Nature’s Neighborhood especially if your child is a frequent visitor to the zoo. Also, plan to arrive in that section early especially if you are there on a crowded day.
