Brookfield Zoo
8400 31st Street
Brookfield, IL 60513
708-485-2200
| Cost: |
- Admission: $8 for children 3-11, Free for children under 2 |
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and military personnel, $12 for adults, $8 for seniors 65 and |
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over (additional charges for certain exhibitions) |
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- Parking: $8 per vehicle (bus parking $10.75) |
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- Zoo Members: free admission & parking, and discounts on |
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additional exhibition charges (see below for more info.) |
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- Free Admission Days: listed in the middle of this page |
| Hours: |
10 a.m. – 5 p.m. weekdays, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. weekends |
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Memorial Day – Labor Day: 9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. |
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(to 7:30 p.m. on Sundays) |
Parent Comments & Ratings
PROS
There’s a lot to see at Brookfield Zoo. And with 21 different exhibits, there’s likely to be something that will catch your little one’s attention.
The two exhibits made specifically for kids are the Children’s Zoo and Hamill Family Play Zoo. My son loves both. (An additional fee applies for these exhibits.) In the Children’s Zoo, kids can learn about farm animals and roam freely inside the goat pen. In my opinion, the goat pen is what makes the Children’s Zoo worth a visit. My son loves to brush the goats’ hair and feed them pellets. It makes for some fun pictures as well.
The Hamill Family Play Zoo has much more to offer. Kids can pretend to be veterinarians, fingerpaint with mud, plant a garden, and build animal homes. The Play Gardens, part of the Hamill Family Play Zoo, offer fun exploration for toddlers. If I could only choose one, I’d pick the Hamill Family Play Zoo, as long as it wasn’t too busy.
Aside from these two children’s exhibits, my son’s favorite exhibit is The Living Coast. Within its walls, you can see a variety of fish, corals, sharks and penguins. There are a lot of hands-on displays. The toddlers I saw there enjoyed all the buttons, flaps and cranks they could touch and were mesmerized by all the water.
Another favorite is The Swamp. It has a unique look, with cypress trees emerging from a layer a mist. And of course, it features all the fun critters – alligators, spiders, turtles and owls.
Other features of the Brookfield Zoo that make it great for a trip with your little one, are the toddler-friendly bathrooms and the playgrounds dispersed throughout the zoo. There are also a lot of open grassy areas for picnicking.
CONS
Many of the exhibits are not stroller accessible. This makes it difficult with infants or sleeping tots. And many of us use our strollers to carry snacks, lunch, sunblock and everything else we might need for the day. It’s not easy to carry the babe and all your stuff as you walk through the “jungle.” Finding your stroller when you return, amongst a sea of strollers, isn’t easy either.
When my son was really little, we stuck to the stroller accessible exhibits. Now he likes to get out of the stroller to go through a variety of exhibits. So, I just bring my valuables in to the exhibits and leave our cooler in the stroller. Everything has always been there upon our return.
LOGISTICS
There are several snack stands and four cafes located throughout the zoo. Vegetarian offerings are available at three of the cafes and all zoo food is free of trans fatty acids. I have found eating at the zoo very convenient but also quite expensive. Fortunately, there are plenty of picnicking areas, so you can easily bring your own food if you’d like.
The zoo holds events throughout the year. You can find descriptions on their Web site: http://www.czs.org/czs/specialevents.aspx.
We have found the zoo membership to be cost effective for our family. Our child gets free admission because he is under three. So we purchased the One Plus membership ($66) to cover parking and admission for me and my spouse for a year. Within two visits, our membership nearly paid for itself. Plus we received two one-time only guest passes, which allowed Grandma and Grandpa to visit the zoo with us when they were in town. Membership info. can be found here: http://www.czs.org/czs/Support-the-Society/Membership.aspx.
(If you only visit the zoo two to three times a year, it may be more cost effective to stick to visiting the Lincoln Park Zoo, which has free admission. Parking expenses can be higher depending on where you find a spot, but there are several entrances into the zoo.)
Website: http://www.czs.org
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