Lowry Park Zoo Annual Pass

We have been to the Lowry Park Zoo several times since moving to Tampa and reviewed the zoo twice. If you have been following this blog, you know that we love this place. It is simply a great place to visit. This family finds it so enjoyable that we decided to get annual passes this year.

Noland Jr. is excited about our zoo passes

Here are the benefits of the Lowry Park Zoo Pass

Unlimited daytime zoo admission to see awesome animals like these Rhinos and Zebras

Discounts on programs, birthday parties, and camps

Discounted admission to special events

Discounted admission to over 150 zoos across North America

Free admission to MOSI and the FL Aquarium in September

Subscription to Zoo Chatter

Special pass holder events

Gift shop discount

Here are the reciprocal zoos that offer 50% off Admission w/ a zoo pass

Alabama

Birmingham Zoo

Alaska

Alaska SeaLife  Center

Arizona

Reid Park Zoo

The Phoenix Zoo

Arkansas

Little Rock Zoo

California

Aquarium of the Bay

Charles Paddock Zoo

CuriOdyssey

Cabrillo Marine Aquarium

Fresno Chaffee Zoo

Happy Hollow Zoo

The Living Desert

Los Angeles Zoo

Oakland Zoo

Sacramento Zoo

San Francisco Zoo

Santa Ana Zoo

Santa Barbara Zoo

Sequoia Park Zoo

Colorado

Pueblo Zoo

Connecticut

Beardsley Zoo

Delaware 

Brandywine Zoo

DC

Smithsonian National Zoo (Free to Public)

Florida

Brevard Zoo

Central Florida Zoo

Clearwater Marine Aquarium (Non-AZA agreement)

Jacksonville Zoo

Lemur Conservation Foundation

Mote Marine Aquarium

Palm Beach Zoo

The Florida Aquarium

Zoo Miami

Georgia

Chehaw Wild Animal Park

Zoo Atlanta

Idaho

Tautphaus Park Zoo

Zoo Boise

Illinois

Cosley Zoo

Henson Robinson Zoo

Lincoln Park Zoo (Free to Public)

Miller Park Zoo

Peoria Zoo

Scovill Zoo

Indiana

Fort Wayne's Children's Zoo

Mesker Park Zoo

Potawatomi Zoo

Iowa

Blank Park Zoo

National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium

Kansas

David Taylor Zoo of Emporia (Free to Public)

Hutchinson  Zoo (Free to Public)

Lee Richardson Zoo (Free to Public)

Rolling Hill Zoo

Sedwick County Zoo

Sunset Zoo

Topeka Zoological Park

Kentucky

Louisville Zoo

Louisiana

Alexandria Zoo

BREC's Baton Rouge Zoo

Maryland

Maryland Zoo in Baltimore

Salisbury Zoo (Free to Public)

Massachusetts

Buttonwood Park Zoo

Capron Park Zoo

Franklin Park Zoo

Museum of Science 

Stone Zoo

Michigan

Binder Park Zoo

Detroit Zoological Society

John Ball Zoological Gardens

Potter Park Zoological Gardens

The Children's Zoo @ Celebration Square

Minnesota

Como Park Zoo (Free to Public)

Lake Superior Zoo

Minnesota Zoo

Mississippi

Jackson Zoo

Missouri

Endangered Wolf Center

Dickerson Park Zoo

Kansas City Zoo

St. Louis Zoo (Free to Public)

Nebraska

Lincoln Children's Zoo

Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium

Riverside Discovery Center

New Hampshire

Squam Lakes Natural Science Center

New Jersey

Bergen County Zoo

Cape May County Zoo (Free to Public)

Turtle Back Zoo

New Mexico

Alameda Park Zoo

Albuquerque Biological Park

Living Desert Zoo and Gardens State Park

New York

Binghampton Zoo @ Ross Park

Buffalo Zoo

Rosamond Gifford Zoo @ Burnet Park

Seneca Park Zoo

Staten Island Zoo

Trevor Zoo

North Carolina

Greensboro Science Center

NC Aquarium @ Fort Fisher

NC Aquarium @ Pine Knoll Shores

NC Aquarium @ Roanoke Island

North Carolina Zoological Park

Western North Carolina Nature Center

North Dakota

Chahinkapa Zoo

Dakota Zoo

Red River Zoo

Roosevelt Park Zoo

Ohio

African Safari Wildlife Park

Akron Zoological Park

Boonshoft Museum of Discovery

Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden

Cleveland Metroparks Zoo

Columbus Zoo and Aquarium

The Wilds

The Toledo Zoo

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City Zoo

Tulsa Zoo

Oregon

Oregon Zoo

Wildlife Safari

Pennsylvania

Elmwood Park Zoo

Erie Zoo

Lehigh Valley Zoo

National Aviary

Philadelphia Zoo

Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium

ZOOAMERICA

Rhode Island

Roger Williams Park Zoo

South Carolina

Greenville Zoo

Riverbanks Zoo and Garden

South Dakota

Bramble Park Zoo

Great Plains Zoo

Tennessee

Chattanooga Zoo @ Warner Park

Knoxville Zoo

The Memphis Zoo

Nashville Zoo, Inc.

Texas

Abilene Zoological Gardens

Caldwell Zoo

Cameron Park Zoo

Dallas Zoo

El Paso Zoo

Ellen Trout Zoo

Gladys Porter Zoo

Houston Zoo

San Antonio Zoo

Texas State Aquarium

Utah

Utah's Hogle Zoo

Tracy Aviary

Virginia

Mill Mountain Zoo

Virginia Zoo

Washington

Port Defiance Zoo

Woodland Park Zoo

West Virginia

Oglebay's Good Zoo

Wisconsin

Henry Vilas Zoo 

International Crane Foundation

Milwaukee County Zoo

NEW Zii

Racine Zoological Gardens

International

Granby Zoo (Canada)

Parque Zoologico de Leon (Mexico)

And here are some more pictures from our first trip on the passes...

 Meerkats

 Okapi

 African Penguins

 American Alligator that was pooped on. Maybe by Seminoles?

 Viewing a tiger.

 Tiger

 We did get to ride a giraffe!

 Viewing some manatees.

 And a Snake!

 Chimp

 Duck

 Galapagos Tortoise

Giraffe Feeding

Note: You can click on the Lowry Park Zoo tab at the bottom of this page to read those reviews of the zoo.
Additional Note: For any questions about a zoo pass to the Lowry Park Zoo, call (813) 935-8552 ext. 206.

With these passes you can expect us to visit a few of the zoos on this list. Especially those in Florida. Until next time though, have a great one!

-Noland

Lowry Park Zoo (Update)

Lowry Park Zoo
Tampa, Florida

Date of Visit: Several Times Late 2012-Late 2014
http://www.lowryparkzoo.com/
Admission: Annual Pass Link
Single Day Tickets

Lowry Park Zoo is our home zoo now, and we visited it a few times a year. We absolutely love it! This new is a great zoo for children. In fact, this zoo is rated #1 in the United States by Parents Magazine and there is reason for the hype. It is the best zoo for kids we agree 100%, had to bump the rating up after we saw it with our son.

Highlights: This zoo is so close to where we live now. It took us less than 10 minutes to get there. There is a very wide range of animals at this zoo from all over the world. They have penguins, komodo dragons, and rhinos which are some of our favorite zoo animals. They also have plenty of elephants, including babies! (Jenna's favorite). They have a walk through with wallabies and so much more!.

Disappointments: Safari ride smelt really bad and gassy. Not sure that is worth waiting for, but no other disappointments.

Photos

Baby Elephant! This is definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

 We love rhinos!

 Me and Jr. in front of the rhinos. This is from last summer, 2013.

 Up close rhino, this is their best exhibit!

 Little hands looking at the rhino cutout.

Outside the aviary in Africa. It was his favorite when he was this small!

Giraffe from the giraffe feeding station.

Wallaby from Wallaby Walkabout

Indian Rhino

African Elephant full grown

The Orangutan exhibit, which is our second favorite at this zoo.

Pygmy Hippo! There was a baby one of these recently too!

This is a great exhibit for African Penguins

The Bald Eagle!

There is a zebra among those giraffes! You can see an elephant in this photo too!

Our last photo for this entry is of this big ol' pig.

We gave this zoo a 5 out of 5 elephants.
Originally, in our first review, we gave this zoo a 4.5. I don't know why we gave that rating because this zoo is awesome! We are planning on getting annual passes to this zoo next year for the family. It is such a neat little zoo to come to. It is pretty perfect and is the best zoo in the country for children. I said it wasn't as good as the Maryland Zoo, but upon further review it's better. We personally like Animal Kingdom and the Atlanta Zoo better, but this zoo would rank solidly at 3 at this point. It is much cheaper than Disney too. This is a zoo that you should definitely visit.

-Noland

Top Ten Zoos In the Southeast

It is my birthday today and one of my favorite things on this earth are countdowns and countdown shows. Because of that I decided that I would do a countdown of the top 10 zoos in the southeast. We live in Florida and I grew up in Virginia so the majority of the zoos I have been to are in the southeast. For purposes of this assignment we will call the southeast anything south of Baltimore on the east coast.

Add in Maryland and take out the non coastal states and then this map is where we are going off. MD, DC, VA, NC, SC, GA, FL. We will count theme parks and aquariums as part of this countdown. Unfortunately if we have not been to the zoo it can not be included on the countdown.

10) Florida Aquarium, Tampa, FL
Review to come soon. Visit in 2011.

9) National Aquarium, Baltimore, MD
Review here

Main Tank at the National Aquarium

8) National Zoo, Washington DC
Review Here

The biggest draw at the National Zoo, their Giant Panda Exhibit. Well other than the fact that it is free!

7) Sea World, Orlando, FL
Review coming soon. Trying to wait for a return visit to get an updated review before posting.

Shamu

6) Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa, FL
Review Here

Penguin Feeding at Lowry Park Zoo

5) Jacksonville Zoo, Jacksonville, FL
I've been to this zoo many times in the past, but Jenna and I just went together last week. Our review is coming very soon.

4) Maryland Zoo, Baltimore, MD
Review Here.

Arctic Fox @ Maryland Zoo

3) Busch Gardens, Tampa, FL
Review posted 3 days ago. Click on the FL tab for more on Busch Gardens Tampa.

This picture was not in the review. It is a Gorilla napping @ Busch Gardens Tampa.

2) Disney's Animal Kingdom, Kissimmee, FL
Review Here

Tree of Life @ Disney's Animal Kingdom

And the number one animal attraction in the southeast is.....
Zoo Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
Full Review Here

They had close views of my favorite the Rhino!

They also had a baby komodo dragon feeding when we went.

Zoo Atlanta is very deserving of #1. It was so close between it and Animal Kingdom though.

However, if this was talking about each park and not just the animal portion, I would go with Busch Gardens Tampa. I suggest you check out all of these places if you can!

Let us know if you think we missed anything or if we need to check another zoo out. Also if you have different rankings please share.

-Noland

Lowry Park Zoo, Tampa, FL

Note: As of November 2014 this is not the most up to date entry of Lowry Park Zoo. For a more updated entry, please click on the Lowry Park Zoo tab at the bottom of this entry. Thank you!

Lowry Park Zoo
Tampa, FL
Date of Visit: August 22, 2011

Lowry Park Zoo is our home zoo now, and we visited it as one of our first stops in our new home Tampa, back in August. We absolutely loved it! This zoo is rated #1 in the United States by Parents Magazine and there is reason for the hype.

Highlights: This zoo is so close to where we live now. It took us less than 10 minutes to get there. There is a very wide range of animals at this zoo from all over the world. They have penguins, komodo dragons, and rhinos which are some of our favorite zoo animals. They also have plenty of elephants (Jenna's favorite). They have a walk through with wallabies and are supposed to have a koala (we will have to go back soon to see if it is there).

Disappointments: Safari ride smelt really bad and gassy. No koala. Real komodo dragon seemed very sick.

Pictures Taken by Noland (sorry I stink at photos)

Us on the komodo dragon statue. The real one was looking pretty rough so we decided not to include that picture.

Mom and baby Indian Rhino

Bald Eagle

Camel

Close Up W/ Giraffe

Elephants

Giraffes and Zebras

Hornbill

Penguins

Wallaby

Rhino on the Move

We gave this zoo a 4.5 out of 5 elephants.
It was pretty close to the perfect zoo. However, the absence of the Koala when we went was quite disappointing. It also wasn't quite as good as either the Maryland Zoo (review to come), Atlanta Zoo, or Disney's Animal Kingdom so we knocked it down .5. We could have easily given it a 5 and probably would have if we didn't have so many fives already. Definitely check out the Lowry Park Zoo if you are in the Tampa Area.

-Jenna & Noland