I guess we're zoo snobs, but I didn't care much for this zoo.
The layout has visitors climbing uphill throughout the park: up the stairs, up to the right to the animal hospital/nursery and farm, up to the left to the gorrillas, up straight forward. There was a LOT of uphill hiking!
Also, and some people may like this but I did not, many of the animals were displayed in what I could best describe as like an airport terminal layout (you know those maps that show the arm of the terminal jutting off of the airport, with the gates dotting along the outside?) A monkey display, for instance, would be off the path in its own little arm, you loop around looking at monkeys, and you are put back out on the path.
There was a lot of backtracking.
There were a few exhibits we really liked, such as the enclosure where the kangaroos are kept, and the great glass wall to watch the chimpanzees (was it the chimps? some larger apes).
The LA Zoo is undergoing its multi-million dollar renovation of its elephant habitat. It's a BIG construction site (that yes, you will detour around) and those the PETA types will tell you that it is insufficient to house an elephant, I think any elephant born and bred for zoo life would be very happy in there.
I'm not sure we'll take B there again until she's maybe elementary school-aged. I don't think that the layout or distance between paths/displays is very good for toddlers' whose attention spans are that of gnats.
Also, there really isn't any open space for the kids to run around (as compared to the Santa Barbara zoo, which has nice open lawns to lay out a towel and rest a moment, let the kiddos run.)

What a fantastic place to visit!
I love historic/military sites, and the USS Missouri did not dissapoint.
You can't help but be in awe of how massive, how powerful a vessel the ship is; and you can't help but respect the generations of sailors who lived, worked and fought aboard, as well.
Visitors can climb up and down ladders, manuever through narrow hallways through offices, control rooms, bunk rooms and community rooms. There are displays of WW2-era ephemera (Japanese and Nazi propaganda, US patriotic pamphlets, photos, etc.), uniforms, frozen-in-time rooms, etc.
And, if there is anything more impressive than standing that the very nose of the ship, looking up at the MASSIVE guns, then I can't name it.
This was a pre-baby trip, and I cannot imagine doing it again with out toddler, but I think that children would appreciate the history lesson that you can sneak into the fun of clambering around on the ship.

I don't know how it always happens, but when hubby and I always embark on hikes in Hawaii, I'm wearing rubber flip-flops. Stupid.
Anyway, we took this hike pre-baby, and it is NOT easy. You are climbing up, up, up, there is very little shade, and in places there are steep stairs, steep tunnels of stairs, and a lookout tower at the top from WW2 days that you must sort of squirm and climb and shimmy through to get to the vista point at the top. There is no way, now, as parents of a toddler, we could manage it -especially not with a baby-hiker-backpack (no way to manuever it through the tight spots.)
The view from the top? sigh. It's gorgeous.... I could stand there all day (and considering it took like an hour to get up and then another hour to get down, I would have been happy to park there a while.)
This would be a fun hike for families with older children; there were lots of energetic kids hurling themselves up and down the paths, well ahead of their panting parents (but I'll be you can expect a chorus of "mooooom! I'm tiiiireeeed!" on the way down.)

(disclaimer: My pre-mommy job was a reporter in the South Bay, and I've been lucky enough to work with the SEA Lab quite a bit!)
It's important to know in advance that the SEA Lab is not an aquarium!
First and foremost it is a rehabilitation center for sea life that gets trapped in the neighboring power plant's intake pipes (the AES plant draws in ocean water for its cooling system: sometimes fish and other marine critters get trapped and injured in the filters.)
Secondly, the SEA Lab is an extension of the Los Angeles Conservation Corps; all the kids who work there (corps members) start as volunteers and can later be hired on. It provides great educational and hand-on occupational experiences for those corps members.
Anyway, on the the SEA Lab itself! It is a small facility, with a few tanks, displays, a gift shop/office, and classroom inside. Inside, there are jellies, crabs, local fish and THE BIGGEST, BURLIEST lobster I've ever seen. Outside there is a small ampitheater of sorts, with a large "stone" pool at its center with rays and small sharks swimming around in it. Further on the property, where you must go as part of a tour (which are scheduled throughout the day, you just show up and corps members will escort you in.) there are the holding and rehabilitation tanks. There, you can see species such as sea bass and lobster and other animals from the local shores.
There is a native plant nursery (corps members have been actively working to restore the local dunes, replacing the iceplant with native flora... also helping to increase the previously almost-extince El Segundo Blue butterfly population.) and a baby abalone nursery.
The SEA Lab is very industrial -on decomissioned power plant property and with bargain-basement holding tanks, don't expect elaborate faux-habitats that you might find at Long Beach Aquarium. But, it's a great place to learn a little about local marine life, local conservation efforts, and some of the educational programs available through the SEA Lab.
I took our little one just once, when she was about 13 months old, and I think she enjoyed seeing some of the fish, but the information -obviously- was lost on her. Elementary school kids would love this place!
(note, there is a pay-parking lot next to the SEA Lab, free street parking about a half-mile up the hill from it. Redondo Beach has REALLY pricey meters, so bring change!)

Well, at least we can say we've been.
It's an okay little zoo, and it has a great collection of monkeys, but all else is a bit underwhelming. The founding owner of the zoo charged that the zoo must always keep a minimum of 50 primates, and their enclosures are right along the walkways so the animals are close-up and easy to view. The monkeys are easily the best feature of the zoo, and there are dozens of varieties of tamarins (cute, fuzzy little guys with mustasches.)
There is a farm, a train, and some educational displays.
The negatives: it's cash-only, which we didn't know until we reached the ticket window on the-ATM's-out-of-order day. The attendant couldn't tell us where the nearest bank/market ATM was, we drove 10 mins away to find a Wells Fargo. Also, they don't permit outside food, which is a shame because there is a nice events/picnic lawn.
It was a good half-day visit, especially for our toddler, but older kids might burn through it quickly and get bored.