We had so much fun at Brevard Zoo!…read more We were visiting Melbourne last Monday and decided to visit Brevard Zoo for our 4 year old son. We bought tickets through Groupon for about $30 dollars per person that came with a train ride and feeding the birds and giraffe, which was a really good deal in my opinion. The staff are friendly and very informative. When we got there, we were encouraged to go straight to the giraffe exhibit first while they're awake. Our son had so much fun feeding Sprinkle the giraffe. There was someone there even taking pictures which was a cool souvenir to purchase and take home for memories. Each pathway takes you through different animal exhibits to explore. Some of the bigger exhibits had zoo experts or staff nearby to answer questions and help us to get closer to see some of the beautiful animals. Our son really enjoyed the train ride and feeding the giraffe. He was a little scared at first about feeding the birds at the two aviary exhibits but he enjoyed it for the most part. The zoo is clean and well-maintained. The zoo isn't too big so expect to spend a few hours exploring each exhibit. It was perfect for us since it was a great way to roam around before checking into our hotel later that day. Overall, we had a great time! Seeing our son have so much fun wandering the zoo made everything all worth it. We will be sure to come back the next time we visit Melbourne.

Took my son to the Brevard Zoo for the first time and we had a blast as a family! This zoo is so…read morewell kept and has a great layout that makes it easy to navigate, even with a stroller. This is not a huge zoo, but it has all the animals you'd hope to see and more. It was an extremely hot day, but we were able to find plenty of pockets of shade and rest areas to cool down. My son is only 2, but he loved seeing all the animals, the interactive kids stations, games, and puppet show. Pretty sure he like the puppet giraffe more than the real giraffes, but hey, he was entertained. Speaking of giraffes... they have a giraffe encounter where you can actually purchase the food and hand feed them. They come right up to you and it's such a cool experience. We happened to visit during Bear Week, so there were some extra black bear demonstrations, kids crafts, and bear themed activities happening throughout the day. Some other animals we saw that day were bobcat, jaguar, lions, flamingos, wild turkey, ostriches, rhino, kangaroos, meerkats, otters, antelopes, boar, snakes, and many more. I did not realize before visiting that they have an entire water play/splash pad areas for the kids and it's such a perfect way to cool down when it's so hot outside. I wish I had packed my son's bathing suit and a towel, but now I know for next time. We'll definitely go back as my son gets older! We were there for about 3 hours and it was enough time to stroll through all the exhibits and have lunch. You could definitely stay longer if you choose to participate in some other activities like the Treetop Trek ropes course, train ride, kayaking, or the different animal encounters which are an added fee.

My 17 year old daughter and I had so much fun at Wild Florida! We visited both the Gator Park, the…read moredrive thru safari, and the lemur experience and all were well worth the price of admission. First the safari - You drive your own car through this safari and in our experience, you really don't have to worry about damage to your vehicle. There are so many animals, many species that I didn't recognize. When we entered the safari, we were given a booklet that had photos and brief descriptions of all of the animals, and that was a huge help in identifying what we were viewing. I loved that we could go at our own pace and there were plenty of pull-offs for us to use if the vehicles behind us wanted to travel more quickly. The animals trulya re right in front of you - most are wandering freely without cages, fences, or other barriers, and at times we had to stop to let animals cross the road in front of our car! At the end of the safari, there is a place where you can park your car and go up to a platform to feed the giraffes ($5 per person). We did it and it was so much fun to get to see the giraffes so close and have them take food right from our hands. We enjoyed the safari so much that we went through it again after touring the gator park. The gator park was super fun as well, and there are so many animals other than gators, too! We enjoyed the gator feeding. It was fascinating to watch them eat chicken meat off of a hanging line, and the commentary provided by the show's host was very informative. We also enjoyed holding a baby alligator and getting a digital photo. My 17 year old daughter loved the add on of the lemur experience. She, along with about 6 other guests, got to go inside a room next to the lemur exhibit and interact & feed a lemur. She truly loved this experience and it was definitely worth the added cost. We spent about 5 hours here and could easily have spend an hour or two more. Check Groupon for discounts on tickets and enjoy seeing all of the animals at Wild Florida!

We had a great time and there was quite a bit to keep all of us entertained - definitely worth the…read moredrive. Two areas to provide feedback - 1. Please provide exit signs in Gator park. As it neared 5:15p - exits started getting locked, including the one people were leaving as we were entering. There were no workers around to ask how to get out. 2. After navigating the above, we went to the gift shop because we were told it closes at 6p. At 5:50, the gift shop was completely dark and locked up. This was super disappointing. I understand that people want to leave, but man...

Pretty cool place. There aren't a whole lot of displays here, but for what little space they have,…read morethey pack a lot in. A bunch of turtles swimming and soaking in the sun. Over there are a couple of gators and at least one croc. All just chilling out. The real draw is the Serpentarium- all sorts of snakes and scaly creatures behind glass in there. One cobra, I think, took a liking to me. On our way out we talked to the fella there - letting us know a little history about the place. Interesting visit, we loved our time there.

Mr. Van Horn is a wealth of knowledge about snakes and venom. Just try to keep him on track and…read moreaway from perhaps his favorite subjects-politics and what a horrible country we have. Lots of snakes to see and one can get close up to watch the milking of the snakes. Well worth the visit and do get him to share his knowledge. Was very informative.

Came on 4/2. This was our second trip and even better than the first time. Kids loved the hands…read moreon with the tarantula, gator, skunk, and snakes. Seminole presentation was also great and the boat tour. Fun time, will come back

My brother and I visited Jungle Adventures for my birthday recently and had a great time. It's such…read morean authentic and classic Florida experience. They have so many different animals to spend time viewing and feeding. The types of animals you will get to see are turtles, a lynx, a Florida panther, goats, raccoon, birds, tortoises, lemur, macaque, obviously alligators of all sizes and more. We attended the show hosted and guided by Alex who was very informative and great at her job. She brought out various animals for us to hold and pet while talking about each one and the ability to answer any questions that came her way. We got to experience animals up close and personal that we would never have the opportunity to outside of being in the wild. Alex also led the alligator feeding show with the same level of professionalism and intellect as the indoor animal show. I highly recommend watching the gator feeding, they can get about half their huge bodies out of the water and they know their given names. In addition to the animal shows, Alex also led the boat tour. Absolutely get on the water and cruise around, don't sweat which side of the boat to sit on because you will get to experience both sides of the shoreline during the cruise. There is also a jungle nature trail to walk through that takes you through a real Florida swamp where you will see gators up close in their natural habitat and other animals like frogs, lizards and anything else that may exist in that environment. Becca at the front register was very sweet and helpful and was even willing to go out of her way to snap a few photos of us on my phone when we asked her to. The gift shop has tons of stuff to purchase as a souvenir and they also have drinks and snacks as well as an indoor seating area to cool off if it gets too hot out. I highly recommend you visit and support Jungle Adventures if you want to experience the quickly disappearing old and authentic Florida us Floridians love and want to preserve.

Today we went to the Central Florida Zoo & Botanical Gardens in Sanford, Florida! $70 to get in for…read moreall 4 of us and Calliope was free! Plus extra $15 for us all to ride the train. Free parking! Food and souvenirs were too expensive! Free small cups of water! $5 for small cup to feed goats! Playground w wood mulch flooring and splash pad

We took our 4 month old daughter to the zoo for a fun afternoon to see the animals! This zoo is the…read moreperfect size for small children and families as you can stay for a few hours and still feel like you have seen everything! It was HOT the day we decided to go so we only stayed for a couple of hours. I do wish there was more shade on pathways, and fans and/or covered spaces to take a break from the Florida heat. We thankfully found a spot by the black bear exhibit that was air conditioned and had only two chairs, so I could feed our daughter. There were MANY other moms that came in looking to also feed their kids and it turned into a waiting game as we had to take turns using the two chairs in that building to sit and feed our babies. The animals were neat to see, because it was so hot a lot of the animals weren't out or were in shady places within their enclosure. I liked that there were zoo workers and volunteers near many of the exhibits that were available to answer questions and provide more information about the specific animals there. Overall we had a great time with our daughter and look forward to bringing her back again in the future.

My friend took me on the best birthday adventure at Bambi's Mini Petting Farm. It was a surprise…read moreand when we pulled up I saw goats, sheep, donkeys and highland cows. I can't think of anything that is more fun than spending an hour with two different capybara babies. Mango and Kiwi. On the way in we petted the camels. They came right up to the fence and stuck their large heads out. They were seeking attention because they very used to being petted. We were startled when one made a loud guttural braying sound. The owner explained they were letting us know they want carrots. We had about 20-25 minutes with each capybara so all together the encounter was an hour. We got a plate of raw sweet potato sticks and romaine lettuce leaves to feed each animal. They were about 4 months old and Mango the male will be about 140 pounds full grown and Kiwi was the runt of a different litter and is expected to be approximately 90 pounds when full grown which is a very small capybara. It was just my friend and me so we spent time petting and feeding them. They love water so their coat was smooth but fur like a beaver. They are in the same family as guinea pigs so they make a similar sound. They have leathery pads on the bottom of their back legs because they can kick like a kangaroo. They like being scratched under their chin and relax so much they fall over and then are disoriented about what just happened. Hilarious. Bambi's Mini Petting Farm has several different types of animal encounters including baby doll sheep and two miniature cows. They had three goats which were having kids the following weekend and you can either tour the farm or select to bottle feed the baby goats. They have plans for a holiday tour and are getting a sloth. Check out their Facebook page for events.

We came here to celebrate my daughter's 5th birthday and she loved it! They have lots of animals,…read moreand the owners are very friendly. Would definitely recommend!

This was a nice excursion to do, we went on a Saturday afternoon. We saw zebras, oxen, gazelle,…read moreostrich's, cheetahs, a peacock, camels, parrots, ducks etc. The land is beautiful, and many of the animals aren't behind a fence so they roam freely. They come pretty close to the cars so you get that up close feel. At the end you can even feed some of the animals (goats, lambs) if you pay extra for that option. It's very family friendly and our tour guide was knowledgeable. As others have said you connect to a radio station and can hear her throughout the tour in the car. You can expect to spend around 2 hours here. Some suggestions that could have made the excursion more enjoyable and efficient would be: -Have everyone sign and fill out forms beforehand -If a car hasn't paid to feed the animals, allow a lane for them to leave so they're not just sitting and waiting on the other cars who did pay to feed the animals -Have more than one exit and entrance (this may not be feasible, but it might help with suggestion 1 Overall we had a great time and I would recommend it. Make sure you have a working radio and air conditioning if it's hot!

We had such a great time! Our tour guide JJ was absolutely awesome, funny, knowledgeable, and…read morepassionate about the animals. You can really feel how much love and care everyone here has for them. We did the drive-through safari and loved every minute of it! Getting to feed the camels at the end was the highlight of the day. Definitely recommend this experience to anyone looking for something unique and fun!

The best experience with 4 kids aging from 15 to 4 years of age. they all enjoyed feeding the…read moregators, biggie ride and the view and scenery was amazin.

We had such an amazing family day at Gatorland! The kids had so much fun from the moment we…read morearrived. It took us a little while to adjust to the Florida heat since it was pretty hot, but once we did, we had an incredible time. There was so much to see and do! We loved the alligators, the exciting shows, the snakes, all the entertainment, and all the beautiful birds. Everything kept our family entertained throughout the day. We also got to feed these small alligator. Around midday, a little rain came through, and it actually made the day even more enjoyable by cooling everything down. It was perfect! If you have little ones, I highly recommend visiting Gatorland. It's a fun, family-friendly place with something for everyone. We made wonderful memories and will definitely be coming back!

Please believe what you read. These people will take your money & cancel the event or over-promise…read morethe experience, while not showing an ounce of customer service in trying to make it right. I live 3 hours away and purchased an experience for my family to enjoy while in the area overnight. The night before, they informed me by email that they would be canceling "due to weather". After multiple attempts to call them to discuss, I had to go back-and-forth with a very rude woman via email. I explained that because we had come from out of town we were willing to come "rain or shine", noting that their website states they operate "rain or shine". She cited lightning as the reason they would be closing, which would be completely understandable if it weren't the freaking night before and you don't know that there will be lightning at that time. Due to their complete lack of consideration, I attempted to dispute their charge with my credit card company and the "farm" refuted it, stating I had purchased a nonrefundable ticket. Obviously that is a fact, but THEY canceled the event (based on the reviews, I should have paid attention to prior to purchasing, this is a common tactic of theirs ) with no reasonable alternative. $200 down the drain, but I will not be quiet about it.

When I saw this place I booked immediately - I couldn't resist and it was so good for my soul. The…read moreplace is very serene and calming even with all the screaming babies. The drive was a little ways from Orlando but worth every mile. I really enjoyed feeding the goats and cuddling them. There is limited bottle feeding so make sure to book early on the website and bring cash if you want to purchase additional feed as I lost cell service. The young ladies here were the sweetest, very knowledgeable and answered all my questions. I'm convinced that a couple baby goats are definitely in my future.

If you're looking for quick, easy, and affordable fun for the kids; I encourage you to check out…read morethis place. Admission is $5 and pony rides are available for another $5. (Only for children under 40ish lbs.). Don't expect an elaborate set up. This has been put together by the property owner to help shelter a variety of different animals. (Think someone's very large back yard..) We fed and interacted with goats, ducks, geese, chickens, rabbits, pigs, llamas, turkeys, peacocks, horses, and a donkey. We spent roughly 1-1.5 hrs there and the owner gave the kids popsicles before leaving. The kids and I had a great time and it was such an easy excursion. All in all money well spent and for a great cause. Tip- you pull into a dirt driveway. Forget about bringing your sports car. You'll bottom out at the entrance. Any regular car is fine.

From the owner: petting zoo/ponyridesread more