The zoo is fairly large, with lots of really cool animals. There is a kids zoo area which is great for the little ones with a petting zoo and playground. The air tram ride is a great way to see the zoo and surrounding areas. One of the best things about this zoo is the pandas. There is a whole panda area with several pandas that you can watch for hours. We had a really great time.

The outside dining is beachfront, and there are volleyball courts, a playground, and an arcade. Mom and dad can sit and drink and watch the kids play in the playground. The food is pretty good, but a bit pricey. You can easily spend the whole day hanging out here.

I drove an hour to visit this zoo because my teen wanted to do the wolf encounter ($5 extra). When we arrived, I had to pay $27 for myself, my 17 year old, my 10 year old, and my 3 year old niece. I thought the price was a little steep, but I paid. Then we were told that they no longer have the wolf encounters (website still says that they offer them). We went in and found that several of the animal enclosures were situated so that you could barely see the animals. The wolf pen especially was set back very far from the fence, and located behind a huge tree. We could catch very small glimpses of the wolf, but not a good sighting. My teen was totally disappointed. Another problem is that the fence that runs in front of all the enclosures is a wood fence that is too high for a 3 year old to see over. I had to constantly lift her up to see anything. Then we walked all the way around the circle and found out how small the zoo really is. We spent 45 minutes total and then the kids were ready to go do something else. I was very annoyed that such a small zoo was so expensive. Overall it was a thoroughly disappointing experience. I've been to zoos all over the US, and this is the first time I've ever been so disappointed.

My children had such a great time at the Birmingham zoo. It is not a huge zoo, but there are plenty of really cool animals to keep the kids occupied for the day. There is a petting zoo and a splash area, but my kids loved the lorikeets the best. For $0.50 you can buy some nectar and go into the lorikeet area and the birds will land all over you and drink the nectar. The kids kept going back to that one.

We took a 17 year old, an 11 year old, and a 10 year old to the McWane Science Center and they all had a ball. There were so many fun activities for every age. There is a really fun looking play area for the under 5 set and lots of scientific, educational fun experiments for the tweens and teens. The shark and ray touch tank was a big hit, along with the green screen game. There is also an Imax theater on site, although we did not have a chance to visit this time.