J's Zoo Review: Cleveland Zoo

Location: 3900 Wildlife Way
Hours: 10:00 am - 5:00 pm (Box office closes at 4)
Admission:
Adults $12.25 (April - Oct), $8:25 (Nov - March)
Children: $8.25 (April - oct), $5.25 (Nov - March)
Children 2 and under: FREE
Stars: **

Recap:
It was a very hot and MUGGY day when we went to the Cleveland Zoo, so that didn't do the zoo any favors. What made it worse is that the zoo is S O S P R E A D O U T. The exhibits are very sectioned off (by animal location) and there's not a lot to see in-between. We spent about 2.5 hours at the zoo, but had the exhibits been closer it probably would have only taken an hour. Not only that, but the animals aren't marked very well.
We went to the Australian Outback area first (not typical for zoos, so that was exciting), but once we got beyond the koala bear and red panda, we weren't really sure where to find the animals. There's a train that runs throughout the Outback, and so we thin the animals were partitioned for that. The rain is probably your best bet to see the animals in the Outback. Otherwise, you're just looking at a lot of different pens that seems to hold only kangaroos.
And with each section of animals came at least 5 different restaurants/cafes/gift shops. I swear we saw more retail businesses at the zoo than animals. It was definitely very gimmicky and probably more enjoyable (and expensive) if you have small kids.
The other problem with the spaced out exhibits is that it was difficult to get to each one--and not just for the distance. A temporary dinosaur exhibit had closed off a lot of the paths. And the gorilla house seems to have only one way of getting there--the deck walk. The deck walk is exactly what you're thinking, dozens of decks crisscrossing there way up a hill to the gorillas. Unfortunately, I had done a squats workout and help John's sister move in the day before so this deck walk SUCKED! We opted for stairs over the ramps (it is handicap accessible at least!), so it was a very painful trek to the top.

Zoo Woo's:

Australian Outback: As I mentioned, the Australian Outback area was actually a highlight of the zoo. You don't see too many koala bears, kangaroos and dingos, so that was a fun anomaly.
Elephant Walk: The elephants have two different pens and twice a day they walk from one to the other. The neat thing is that they cross through a pedestrian pathway. This seems a lot cooler in concept that it actually was, but it was still a highlight of the trip. You think the elephants are walking directly in front of you without many barricades, but in actuality they closed of the pathway with a tall gate. So you can see the elephants crossing, but it's almost no different than seeing them walk in an exhibit. The point it to show how elephants and humans can co-exist, but I'm not sure how well that message is delivered when theres heavy barriers separating the two. (I should clarify that we thought the Elephant Walk was much cooler before we went to the DC Zoo, which had a different walk putting this one to shame).
Rainforest: We nearly passed up the rainforest because we were hot, tired and ready to go home. However, the otters are housed in the rainforest, and I just love otters so much. The rainforest is actually located outside of the zoo across from the main gate (so hold on to your tickets). It turned out to be a nice surprise and one of the best exhibits. Part of it has free-flying birds and free-climbing monkeys! The guy in front of us was feeding the monkeys caramels--not advised. It also had some neat aquariums and other fun animals. It may be tempting to pass up the rainforest but don't!

Zoo Boo's:

Way too spaced out. You see a few animals and then walk 5-10 minutes to see the next 2-3 animals. You want to make sure you go on a cool day because you will be doing a good amount of walking.
Way too many restaurants. More animals and less attractions, please!