San Diego Zoo-is it worth the trip?

Hi we will be in San Diego from July 3 (late afternoon) to July 5th (morning). We were planning on doing the zoo when we get in on the 3rd and spending most, if not all, of the 4th at the beach. We are two females in our mid twenties, we%26#39;re staying near Ocean Beach, and will have a car. We don%26#39;t care about seeing anything specific at the zoo and are wondering if its worth the trip. We would probably have 2-3 hours to spend there. Any help would be great!

San Diego Zoo-is it worth the trip?

in reference to your other post, and seconding what riffsmom said... you are coming into LAX and driving to San Diego on the busiest weekend of the summer here in SOCAL. you will probably not get on the freeway before 3pm and then it will take you almost 4 hours to get to San Diego. if you go directly to the zoo, you will have about 2 hours of daylight left to see the zoo. it does stay open after dark; you may have a little more time.

you will have to decide if it is worth it!!!

San Diego Zoo-is it worth the trip?

If I came up to you on the street and asked you if it was ';worth it'; to go to the store and buy an apple, you would think I was nuts, yes? You don%26#39;t know a single thing about me except that I am a middle aged male. Well, your question is the same. Chuck...

Chuck, why be so harsh with the young ladies??

For ME I%26#39;d NEVER drive 2-3hrs to go to a zoo!

IF you are driving back to LA after your stay in SanDiego then I%26#39;d say TRIPLE NEVER!!!

Thanks for the input...we are planning on doing the drive to San Diego no matter what and want to spend the 4th at the beach. We%26#39;re mainly looking for advice on what the best thing to do on the night of the 3rd. Should we do the zoo? Or some other thing? Any recommendations of whether the zoo is worth it or if something else would be better would be great!

If I were in your shoes, given what the first post says, I would stay on the freeway just a wee bit longer and take the Coronado Bay Bridge to visit the Hotel Del Coronado. Parking on the street might be hard to do, but I think you can do it. Walk into the hotel and have a quick look see to marvel at the lobby and pretty courtyard, then head downstairs and down the hall to the Babcock and Story Lounge or Sheerwater Restaurant which both have views of the ocean. In the lounge you can get drinks and appetizers. Personally I would stick with that rather than going to the Sheerwater. Either way it is a pretty penny but at the Sheerwater you will end up paying more. The lounge has some filling appetizers. There is a good chance you will hear nice guitar music either in the lounge, which is open air with large windows, or near an outside table. You can either watch the sunset there or walk on the beach.

The reason I%26#39;m suggesting this is because it is just beautiful there and more relaxing than heading to the zoo after a long drive, trying to get in a couple of hours with crowds of people. However, there will be a lot of people in the lounge there at the Del too! But, it%26#39;s a lot of fun when it is like that, imho. People hanging outside at the tables and walking back and forth. Service leaves something to be desired there during busy times, but with two of you one of you can save a table and the other go to the bar and let a waitress know you will be waiting for her there.

I believe there may be fireworks on the beach at the Del on the third of July. I will check. It was supposed to be just for guests of the hotel, but how can you stop others from seeing fireworks?

I checked on the fireworks and I was wrong. They are on June 30, July 1, July 2. From the Hotel Del%26#39;s on-line Discover Club%26#39;s latest email.

';JULY FIREWORKS SPECTACULAR

The Del is pleased to announce some great opportunities to celebrate Independence Day a little early! The Del will be presenting three special fireworks shows on the beach exclusively for hotel guests on June 30, July 1 %26amp; 2, 2008';

I would leave the zoo then, we didn%26#39;t think it was that special, prefered the bronx zoo in new york.

Unless you are desperate to see a panda then do something else.

The San Diego zoo is very pretty and has a nice layout. It%26#39;s $25 to get into or $35 to take a bus and air tram. I debated going myself. We just walked around with a map and covered it in 2 hours. The pandas were adorable, but all other animals can be seen at any zoo. I would definitely check out Coronado as well. If I had to choose between them, I would go with Coronado, but I think you can fit it all in. Have fun!

When I travel places, I never go to the zoo unless there was nothing else do, which is never the case. I like our zoo a lot, but wouldn%26#39;t recommend a special trip there especially on a short stay. If you do go though, it is a great zoo. I agree with spending some time on Coronado or even a couple hours at Balboa Park, Old Town, or the Gaslamp.

Personally, I love the San Diego Zoo, but it%26#39;s not something I%26#39;d want to cram into a short, busy weekend! It deserves time to appreciate all that is there.