Zoo Society

We live 5 minutes from the Seattle zoo, and out 3-year is obsessed with animals, so we go there several times a month. We decided to check out the Point Defiance Zoo. While it's much smaller than the Seattle zoo, we really enjoyed it. One nice thing is that it's an aquarium too, and our son loved the sea otters, Beluga whales and the mammoth walrus. He especially enjoyed watching the sea otters smash their food on the rocks (the Seattle aquarium has the sea otters in concrete tanks with nothing to smash food on). In the zoo part, they have many animals that the Seattle zoo does (and, of course, vice-versa), like polar bears. It doesn't replace the Seattle zoo, but we'll be back. Pros: Interesting animals, Zoo and aquarium more

I missed the park, and the beach, and the gardens. I didn't know there was more since I didn't see any signs or information about it. The seahorse exhibit is fascinating, but everything else is small and showing signs of age. The downstairs of the aquarium is dank and some exhibits were missing. The displays and signs were old and some of the lettering was worn off. The zoo itself is very small and rather uninteresting. I didn't find any more information about the animals themselves than I would in any other normal zoo. We were in and out in 2 hours, at least I had a buy 1 get 1 free coupon. There are better zoos and aquariums the puget sound. Pros: inexpensive, seahorses Cons: small, old more

Cheap entertainment, fun for couples and families. By far the best zoo/aquarium in Washington state. Good beach and also beautiful rose gardens in the park at the entrance to the zoo. Pros: variety, educational, inexpensive Cons: usually remodeling, pricey food, weather more

Great place to spend the day - especially with the family. There is a public beach area - as well as a wonderful place to drive through and view the scenery. more