Kansas City Zoo Review

The Kansas City Zoo is a pretty large zoo. You should probably budget four to six hours here, slightly more if you have small children. It really feels like two zoos in one. Their Africa section is practically a zoo in itself, and could last an entire morning if you wanted it to! This part features scenic views of the animals, and a lot of walking. The rest of the zoo is more hands on for kids, with interactive activities. They are also adding an aquarium in 2023, which will make this zoo even more special. Their newest exhibits are the elephant exhibit, which was completed in 2020, and alligator exhibit, which was completed in 2022. So dig in to our Kansas City Zoo Review to prepare for your next visit.

Highlights:

Africa – As mentioned above, the Africa section at this zoo could be a small zoo by itself! They even segmented a West Africa section, where you take a bridge over to see gorillas and bongos. Our favorite parts of Africa are the open savanna for giraffes, zebras, and ostrich, as well as the sandy beach area where you can see the West Nile hippo.
Elephants – The zoo has a very large section for their elephants. It’s a long walk, so they have several different viewing stations with benches.

Helzberg Penguin Plaza – This is a nice indoor building with multiple areas to view penguins. They also showcase different types of penguins here.
Discovery Barn – This is a small building, but worth it. There are some hands on activities for kids, and a few small animal exhibits, such as macaws and sloths.
Wonders of the Outback – At the far edge of the zoos lies the Australian part. The kangaroos have free reign to go wherever they please. It feels like a very natural surrounding for them.

Lows:

Layout – This zoo does not have my favorite layout. As mentioned above the highlight (to us) is Africa. Yet it’s a pretty long walk (or short tram ride) over there. I would recommend a second entrance to the zoo that would be near Africa, giving visitors a chance to start their day near the zoo’s best exhibit.
Orangutan Canopy – This section of the zoo is near the Australian portion. I wasn’t super fond of it. The layout being one-way in certain areas wasn’t a natural flow, and the orangutan area didn’t provide great views of the animals.

Thanks for reading our Kansas City Zoo review. Want to see how it compares to the St. Louis Zoo? AZA Check out our comparison here.