Lions, Tigers and Bears come to mind when the thought of a zoo pops into your head. While there might be lions and tigers at the Wildlife World Zoo, you won’t be finding any bears (that is if you don’t could the cardboard cutout of the bear holding an Icee). While there might be no bears there are many other types of animals you can focus your eyes on.
Located at 16501 W. Northern Ave in Litchfield Park, It is just a short distance west of Phoenix. They have many unique animals as well as a few cheesy rides that the kids are sure to enjoy. Unlike the other zoo located in the Valley of the sun this one has an original experience that you and your kids are sure to enjoy and that is the fact that here you can actually feed a giraffe or two.
Located back in the park they have there giraffe exhibit. Here you will find a staircase that takes you up to a mezzanine where you are sure to always find a hungry giraffe. Up there you well find two bubble gum type machines that will dispense food for the giraffes for fifty cents. Now I have to say for the zoo this is a brilliant idea. Not only does the zoo get the general public to feed there giraffes, but they get you to buy the food as well.
The experience is quite interesting if you have never fed a giraffe before. I am sure unless you have never visited this zoo before the majority of you are going to answer no to feeding giraffes in the past. Once the food is bought these sneaky creatures can smell out who up there wants pictures and who has the food. I am sure here it comes with there experience in standing there all day long getting there belly’s stuffed with the bird like food provided.
Once they single you out and come for the food these giants are actually quite friendly. They are by no means aggressive and actually seem to be very polite. They will actually approach you very carefully and then stick out an extremely long purple tongue and wait for you to deposit the food on their tongues so that it may start its journey into a giraffe’s belly.
While some may find this gross, I found it quite funny and in a strange way amusing. It is fun to stand back and watch all of the other people’s reactions. You well hear screams, laughing and shouted comments such as ewww, gross, cool as well as many others. Even while the comments change everyone remains to keep a smile on there face and well the children just seem to go wild for it.
While this zoo has many positive other attractions such as the aquariums, sky ride, train ride and log ride it has one major setback in my opinion and that is the price of entrance fees. While open year round and never closing for a specific day it will set you back a whopping 27.50 per adult and 14.50 per child. Having a decent size family makes the costs here turn more from a trip to the zoo to a mini vacation. And if that’s not financially bad enough you will still expect to pay more once inside for the rides around the park. One upside is that children 2 and under as in most places are free.
Even with the financial setback it is still very fun to visit. I highly recommend going in the spring or fall as with most zoos this is when the animals are more than likely to be out and about for show. Show up in the winter or in the heat of the summer and you are likely to see the animals seeking shelter against the elements of the weather.
In conclusion my family visits this zoo usually once a year and enjoys it every time. We always make it close to an all day event so that we can get our moneys worth out of the day. This zoo has never let us down and never seems to be a pain to get into and out of. If you have the time and money and are not afraid of the drive then I suggest you go feed a giraffe!
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