Our family loves going to the zoo. Who doesn’t! Covid-19 has forced a lot of businesses to reinvent themselves to adhere to new health guidelines and ensure new social distancing norms with minimum risk. The Toronto Zoo has done a fantastic job with this by introducing a scenic safari where you can use your vehicle to drive-thru the various habitats inside the zoo.

The drive-thru utilizes a network of roads that is usually used by the zoo staff and the zoomobile! The tickets are priced per vehicle (depending on the number of occupants) and timed-specific to control the flow of the tour. As Ontario started easing its restrictions, the zoo also reopened to the public as of July 4th, 2020 with timed-tickets and one-way routes throughout the zoo to ensure public safety.

We decided to try the drive-thru experience, given the recent heat waves in Ontario. The verdict: we had a great time overall and nothing beats experiencing the zoo from the comfort of an Air-Conditioned car on a scorching hot summer day! Obviously, we missed out on the guided tours and activities for kids, so we plan on going back in the fall. Did you know the Toronto Zoo is open 364 days of the year and closed only on Christmas day?

If you decide to go on the scenic safari, here’s a few tips to help you plan and make sure the trip is enjoyable for the whole family.

1. The zoo has a guided audio tour through their Wild For Life podcast, which is available on Google Podcasts, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. It was really helpful in the absence of the opportunity to stop and read the signs about each habitat. There were clear markings throughout the drive to pause or play the podcast. I suggest connecting the podcast to your car’s audio system before you get there, or at least before you start the safari. Our 6-year-old really enjoyed learning about the animals and their habitats, and even the 2-year-old chimed in a few times along the tour!

2. Although every car had a timed-ticket, there was quite a bit of congestion around some of the habitats, especially before the African Savanna and before the Americas. It was partly due to people stopping to take pictures but mostly due to the controlled flow of cars through the Eurasia habitat. The kids were a bit bored during the congested times, but we utilized the time to talk about the animals we just saw and get some extra photos of nearby animals.

   When we finally got to the Eurasia habitat, which isn’t something you can see at the zoo unless you are on the zoomobile, everyone forgot all about the waiting and became fully appreciative of the experience. We had to keep our windows closed and drive very slowly while watching the Przewalski’s Horses and Yaks. The kids were hoping for at least one animal to come to our car, but unfortunately, none did.

3. There were three snacks and ice-cream stands along the safari. You can pull over to the side and purchase something, but it’s much easier to bring your own snacks.  

4. To avoid disappointment, be mentally prepared to miss an animal or two, depending on your luck. We didn’t get to see the lions or polar bears. Our 2-year-old was most excited to see a lion and kept asking why it was hiding from her!

   Check out some of the pictures we were able to capture from our scenic safari tour.

Overall, I highly recommend the scenic safari at the Toronto Zoo. The entire process took just over an hour, and it didn’t tire out the kids (or the parents). I hope you get the chance to check out the Toronto Zoo (or your local zoo) this summer. Leave a comment below and let me know which animal you loved seeing the most during your visit. For us, it was the Zebra. The kids were mesmerized by their beautiful stripes.

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Kid’s Corner

We’ll be sharing plenty of our travel stories and tips for traveling with young kids. In the meantime, here’s some cute colouring pages that we recently created for our kids.