This past weekend I visited the re-opened
Dallas Zoo and I want to share my experience with you.
First, you will need to pre-purchase (or pre-reserve if you are a member) your tickets and parking online. When I visited on Sunday at 9am, they were sold out. Parking attendants will direct you where to park. Only handicapped-allowed cars or President Circle members may park near the entrance. You can print or show your phone to the attendant at the entrance gate.
Although the zoo is only allowing 25% capacity at this time, it is still a lot of people/families. Masks were only required for the restrooms.
After you enter, there is a giant map for you to take a picture of with your cellphone. Or you can use the zoo app. No paper maps will be distributed at this time.
There is also a board listing the feeding/zoo keeper times if you wanted to see/hear their show. All zookeepers wore masks.
All the buildings (gift shop, restaurant) and activities (carousel, monorail, Children's Zoo) are closed. They did have carts outside the gift shop selling items and I did see a snack cart near the Savannah selling items. All water fountains were closed so be sure to bring your own water. Picnic areas were open if you choose to bring your own food. Restrooms were open throughout.
Like the Arboretum, you will be following a marked one-way path through the zoo starting past the flamingos and then towards the right. There are safety reminder signs throughout the park as well.
This trail will lead you past several monkeys, tigers, otters, past the dinosaurs (even though most of those are now gone and the train ride is closed) and finally to the cheetah. If you arrive on time you can enjoy the cheetah encounter. They have marked the ground where you/your family can stand to watch.
If you've never been to this zoo and you plan to go in the next 3 months, bring a hat and lots of water. Despite all the trees, it gets hot. I also recommend clip-on stroller fans.
The baby hippo was swimming in the lagoon with its mom. The building is closed but the glass viewing area and the overlook were both open.
The baby giraffe (just born early May) was also out wandering the enclosure.
Some of the animals have been re-arranged such as the cheetahs who are now in the baboon's enclosure.
The viewing area for the gorillas has changed a little bit due to the small space - you will need to line up before you can enter to view and wait your turn. They are only allowing a limited amount of people in the viewing area. You can also view the gorilla habitat from the wooden deck just past this cave (the building is closed).
Overall, our visit took about 2 hours and we were able to see most of the animals and several zoo keeper talks.
