Safari Lake Geneva Review

Safari Lake Geneva reshaped its business in 2020. Beginning May 1, visitors can now drive through the park, rather than walk through it or pay for a tour. This new endeavor of theirs has received plenty of attention! Their Facebook page has links to several short segments from news channels informing the public on this new attraction. So we went online to schedule a visit. Like any new attraction, the shine most likely won’t last long, but this is definitely a place worth supporting, and a great way to get the kids out of the house (adults too!). We had a chance to talk to owner “Jungle Jay” – Jay Christy – and he’s a very nice guy. If you’ve visited previously, check out the new drive through! And if you haven’t visited, check out our Safari Lake Geneva review below.

Highs:

Feeding an ostrich from the safety of our car

Social Distancing – We never thought we’d start out a review this way, but it’s true. Safari Lake Geneva can be open when many zoos can’t. That alone made the 3-hour round trip worth it for us on a Sunday afternoon! You stay in your car for the entire ride. Their walk-through section is currently close. There is a small parking lot, and they have portable bathrooms if needed – they’re actually very nice like you’d see at a concert, not just a port-a-potty.
Animal Feedings – We bought five buckets at $5 each. We had five of us in our car, but our three girls did most of the feeding. At the end of our 1.5 hour visit, we had only a tiny amount of one of the buckets remaining. We fed alpacas, bison, camels, donkeys, emu, nilgai, ostrich, water buffalo, watusi, and zebu. They do have a zebra, but you cannot feed it (different diet than the other animals).
Unlimited loops – We drove through three times, and had a different experience each time. Sometimes the animals were resting in the middle, while at other times they would be grouped together.
Friendly Staff – Sometimes at zoos you run into difficulties getting the attention of staff members, or them being rude. This place has limited staff, but they were all super friendly. Once you’re in the drive-through area, it’s pretty much self serve, so you aren’t dependent on staff. At other parks, the exiting gate kept malfunctioning on us – we didn’t have that problem here.

Lows:

A bit small for the price – A quick cost analysis shows that among a sample size of six or seven Midwest drive-through safari parks, Safari Lake Geneva is pretty much right in the middle for price. For adults, these range from $11-$24, and Safari Lake Geneva is at $18.95. However, this drive-through loop is considerably smaller than the ones we’ve visited (African Safari in Port Clinton, Ohio; Lee G Simmons Conservation Park, Ashland, Nebraska). I think $12-14 is probably more reasonable. However, I will say that the animal feed buckets were much cheaper here.
Scenery – When I read about this place online, and how they turned it into a drive-through park, I assumed it had some pretty nice Wisconsin scenery around it. I was a bit disappointed to see no ponds or creeks running through it.
Pathways – I need to be careful on this last criticism, because we visited in their first month operating as a drive-through. However, the paths were a bit uneven and rocky. At one point you’re going straight downhill, so if you’re in a smaller car, bottoming out seems inevitable on the rocky path. But as mentioned in the first sentence, I would imagine they continue to adapt, and potentially pave the pathway in the future.

Thank you for reading our Safari Lake Geneva Review! Check out more about this zoo here! You can also watch a brief news segment highlighting Safari Lake Geneva here.