Next week my entire (extended) family and I are traveling to California. Among the 19 of us, there are eight kids between the ages of 8 months and 9 years, three teenagers, and nine adults. We are considering what to do in San Diego.
Would it be better to drag the whole crew to the zoo or the animal park?
The Wild Animal Park is kind of in the middle of nowhere, relatively speaking. The zoo is downtown and adjacent to Balboa Park, which also houses a bunch of museums, theaters, restaurants and other stuff.
For those of you who are sticklers about math 
: there are eight adults, not nine.
Zoo. More to do and see, along with available concession stands.
When we were in SD 3 years ago, on the advice of some locals, we went to the Wild Animal Park instead of the main zoo. Didn’t need to see the pandas, we’ve got them here (DC metro area). I can’t say whether we’d have enjoyed the zoo more than the wild animal park, I think we’d honestly have been happy with either. There’s a nice train / monorail ride around the WAP where you see a lot of the bigger animals e.g. elephants etc. There is a lot of walking at the WAP so it might not be as suitable for younger kids. IIRC, we never saw the tigers because it was too far to walk.
Another activity (non-animal related) that kids that age might enjoy is Legoland, just a bit north of SD.
Another vote here for the Zoo.
The WAP is cool, but there is a lot more going on at the Zoo to keep the kiddies happy, as well as a lot of stuff to see in Balboa Park if you get tired of the animals as well.
It’s a bit pricey, though, so be prepared…
Mama Zappa mentioned a lot of walking at the WAP. Let me tell you that the zoo is also going to require a lot of walking. And it can be pretty hilly. So if walking IS in fact a factor, neither is really good, unless you can get wheels for whoever can’t walk much.
I’ve been to both, and I tend to prefer the kind of thing the zoo has. I’m a sucker for the polar bears.
Both are fun, but I’d go with the zoo, for two reasons:
Though IIRC, Legoland is en route to the Wild Animal Park. If you can convince one or two of the grown-ups to take the younglings to Legoland while the rest do the WAP, that might make everyone happy.
Early on in the planning of this trip, we talked about Legoland for the younger kids. The following conclusions were drawn:
The older little ones (from 5 years old and up) told us flat-out that they were far too sophisticated for such a thing
That leaves a two-year-old who cannot survive unless doted upon by both parents simultaneously and two infants. One of the infants is mine; the other infant and the two-year-old belong to my brother-in-law and his wife.
I’ve seen the two-year-old in action, and I can pretty much count on the fact that she will not be interested in anything that Daddy and Mommy are too big to climb on or go into with her. She’s at that dependent stage that all children go through when their parents made the mistake of holding them 24 hours a day as they grew.
I have a feeling that this decision is going to come down to price of admission regardless of level of enjoyment. I have been to both attractions. Only once have I been to the Wild Animal Park, and I found it boring in comparison to the zoo, which I have been to about three or four times. I could tell all this to the family, but I just know that someone will want to “research it on the internet” before they come to the same conclusion I have already come to.
–Can someone tell me about Balboa Park? I’ve looked at the website, but the information is kind of vague.
–Any specific wonderful things? I noticed pictures of playground areas.
–Is there an admission fee for the entire park or just individual entrance fees for museums and shows and whatnot?
There’s no admission fee for the park. Admission to everthing else is separate, although I think you can get some packages. There are 2 or 3 art museums: A big standard type art museum and a couple of more specialized smaller galleries. There is a museum of photographic arts, a model train museum, and possibly a couple of other small ones. Other major museums are the Museum of Man, which is culture and anthropology, the Natural History Museum (fairly small, but with some interesting traveling exhibits), and Aerospace Museum, a Science Center with hands-on exhibits and an IMAX theater, an automotive museum and a sports museum. There is also a Japanese garden and teahouse restaurant.
There are also several live theater venues and an area with small crafty sorts of shops. Some botanical gardens, as well.
I thought the WAP was damn cool. Personally, I much prefer it to the zoo. It was the only place I’ve ever heard a lion let loose a real, honest-to-God fright inducing ROAR.
But it’s not a great place to take kids. Too much walking. Take them to the Zoo.
There are free museum days, too. Weekdays, like Tuesdays or something. But not every week. I’m not sure where on the intarweb you’ll find that info, but you might be able to get free admission to something if next week is the magical free week.
What cher and scout said: Zoo and Balboa Park.
Have fun.
There’s an outline of the free Tuesday schedule on the Balboa Park website, under “Family Fun.”
Not sure why the kids are against Legoland; they have a decent selection of rides and attractions for kids five-and-older, especially in the “Technic” section.
And another thing you may want to catch in SD is Sea World.
I think you can get a special price if you go to both the zoo and the WAP. If you have two days, and everyone can stand that much looking at animals, you might want to do that.
Otherwise, the zoo and Balboa Park.
Also:
–a little train ride in front of the zoo, which the kids would like.
–also in front of the zoo, a merry-go-round
–if you’re there on Sunday, they have a little village of bungalows, each of which displays the cultural information about various countries, which the kids might not like.
–next to the modern art museum there’s one of those things that’s a big structure you go inside of and they have all kinds of different plants (what’s the word for that? Indoor arboretum? :o)
–on Sunday, I think, a big outdoor pipe organ concert
–rose garden (not very big)
–La Raza Center
–an archery range
–and, of course, a favorite with the kids, when you tell them its name–“Suicide” Bridge
I think that’s about it.
Oh, I forgot. Across Sucide Bridge there’s a shuffle board club. And a bridge club.
Oh, and sometimes in the Museum of Man they have a real Kumeyaay woman who makes tortillas from scratch, and gives them away to the public. The best tortilla you’ll ever have in your life. Guaranteed.
We were in San Diego in April, and we went to both places. I enjoyed them both, but if I had to pick just one, I’d probably go back to the zoo. I really like the way it’s laid out, and the landscaping is nice, and there’s animals too! 
We (2 adults) spent all day at the zoo, and didn’t get to any of the other stuff at Balboa Park. And there’s a TON of other things to see at Balboa.
The WAP is wonderful, but it’s really only worthwhile if you pay the fee to go out on a “safari” in one of the trucks. That can get expensive if you have a lot of kids, and littler kids might not be able to handle the whole safari ride anyway.
Given the number of people and the age of the kids, I’d say go to the zoo. In a few years, if the opportunity arises again and you can afford it, take the older kids on the WAP safari.
Feeding rhinos by hand is pretty cool, I have to say.
Personally , if I ever get there , I won’t leave without going to both , but that’s just me .
Ravenman … is that not the most AWESOME sound in the world ? I have to reccomend to anyone who likes the big cats , in Southern Indiana , near Terre Haute , there is a place called the Exotic Feline Rescue Center . Inside that property reside somewhere close to 140 big cats that have been taken in by a caring man . Each of these cats has a story to tell , and most are heartbreaking . For example , India , a tiny white tiger (I call her the apartment-sized tiger since she is not much bigger than one of my Setter dogs) . Not only small , she is blind in both eyes , because her former owner , a ‘breeder’ for the pet trade , decided that her markings were unappealing as a cub , and decided that rather than pay to feed her , he would let her starve to death , and this caused the stunted growth and eventual blindness . Despite this rotten beginning , India loves people and will follow her visitors around her pen , puffing happily . Almost every time I have visited here ( probably a dozen or more) , I have been treated to hearing the gut-rumbling sound of a lion roaring . They often get into roaring matches , ‘talking’ to each other across the park , and it is truly awe-inspiring .
Gods , I love that place . 
Hey … BTW , this is my first post as an OFFICIAL member of the insanity here !