Reid Park Zoo in Tucson!

 As a family we always enjoy visiting new zoos or animal sanctuaries together so when we were in Tucson I knew I wanted to take the family to Reid Park Zoo. I had never been to this zoo before nor has my family so we were all pretty excited to visit. The park is a bit smaller than the zoos we have in Phoenix, it sits on 24 acres which also means it is cheaper to get into than other zoos, it is only $10.50 per adult & $6.50 for children ages 2-14, plus at the bottom of the post I will share two ways you can save even more on admission to this zoo. The zoo is located at 3400 Zoo Court Tucson,AZ 85716. The day we had planned to visit the zoo during our vacation it was a cloudy & rainy day, however we still had a blast at the zoo and it also meant less people were there due to the rain so we didn't feel crowded or rushed to see anything & were able to take our time at each enclosure and watch the animals play in the rain.

 The zoo was easy to self-navigate & there were plenty of animals to see, each one had their own large enclosure set up specifically for them. We thought that most of the animals might not be out due to the rain, however there were quite a few animals out playing in the rain & enjoying the weather so that was fun to see. I also loved the two different areas where you could go inside with a variety of birds, I love birds and enjoy photographing them so I could have stayed in those bird cages all day.

One of the things that was unexpected & made us laugh quite a bit was when we stopped by the bathrooms near the elephant's enclosure. My husband had needed to use the bathroom, so we stopped, my kids and I were waiting outside when I noticed a giant elephant butt sticking out of the wall near the bathrooms. I was joking around with my kids & asked my daughter if she wanted a photo next to the giant elephant butt, she laughed & said sure then went to smack the butt for the photo. When she smacked the elephant butt it made a loud startled elephant noise as if you had snuck up on a real elephant. It was unexpected especially as there were no signs we could see saying it was interactive so we had a good laugh, it is a great surprise for anyone who can't help but give the bum a pat. 

An animal or two were hiding during our visit so we didn't get to see them but we were able to see 97% of the other animals which was fantastic. Two of the spots we spent some extra time at aside from the bird aviary was at the Gibbon Monkey & the Otter both of whom were being quite vocal and seemed to be enjoying the rain. We visited shortly after Christmas so they still had some fun photo opps up around the zoo that we took advantage of while we were there. They also had two different opportunities during the day to feed a giraffe, it does cost extra but it is only $3 per person & is a neat experience if it is something you've never done before. When you get hungry they do have a small cafe that offers food along with a gift shop if you want a souvenir. If you want a souvenir but want to save some money at the same time they had a penny press in front of the gift shop, it cost $0.50 to press a penny with your choice of design that will say "Reid Park Zoo" and have an animal on it. We personally love getting pressed pennies & have a small collection of them from various places we've visited in the past. 

We really enjoyed visiting Reid Park Zoo & will visit again in the future when we are in town. We thought it was a fantastic zoo that was clean and lovely to visit. Earlier in the post I had mentioned that I would share two ways you can save money on your visit if you are going through a hard time or are trying to save a little money during vacation. The zoo participates in the Culture Pass program through the Arizona public library system, you can visit your local libraries website to see which location has a culture pass for this zoo - the library allows you to "check out" 2 passes per family per month through their program (1 pass at a time) for free & each pass gets you two free admissions into where ever the pass is for. Reid Park zoo also gives a discount price to anyone who is part of the SNAP or WIC programs, you will need to show proof along with your ID at the gate to receive $4 off per ticket. If you live in Tucson or close to it & want to visit Reid park zoo multiple times through out the year you can buy a membership for yourself or a family membership which gets you in for free every time you visit. If you ever happen to find yourself in the Tucson area, I highly recommend stopping by to visit this wonderful zoo. If you are looking for more adventures in Tucson type in "Things to do in Tucson" or "Things to do in Arizona" in the search bar of my blog, I have several more fantastic animal attractions and more in Tucson to share with you & when all done within a few days it makes for a action packed vacation. 

If you want to see more animals from this zoo along with other adorable animals I've seen on my adventures, feel free to visit & follow my Nature Photography Instagram account where I post photos & videos.

Do you think you would enjoy this zoo? What is your favorite animal? 

**This is not a sponsored post, my family & I decided to visit the zoo while we were in the area and paid to visit the zoo. I enjoy sharing some of the fun places we've been & things we've seen with my readers so they can enjoy it too if they get a chance.**