Hello and welcome to episode 12 of the Ready Set to Park podcast. We are so glad you're here. 

Have you ever tried to visit one of the biggest zoos in the world with kids in tow and a stroller on hills? Today we're sharing how to make the most of your day at the San Diego Zoo without feeling like you climbed a mountain.

I have, well, maybe not a secret, but a bit of a secret. I love zoos! I love animals and I love to see them up close. Of course, if they're not being treated well, I'll be the first to say something, but as a general rule, zoos are the best and one of the best zoos in the world is the San Diego Zoo. It sits on 100 acres in San Diego, California's Balboa Park. It is a beautiful setting, with lots of hills!

Are you like me and want to spend the day with your family at the San Diego Zoo, but would prefer to not add hills to your day? Well, I can't make it so you won't have to go up any hills, but I can give you some ideas for avoiding as many as you can. 

Before we get into navigating the hills, let's talk about planning your day so it starts off right. 

What day should you go to the zoo? 

Well, it is one of the top tourist attractions in San Diego, so every day is busy. In the summer, it gets hot in midday, so go in the morning. As I'm recording this they're changing their summer hours, so definitely check that out online. They have been open later so it was nice to go at night, but I hear they're not going to be open as late this summer. 

Should you get tickets online? 

You don't have to, but I would. The ticket counters can get really busy on busy days. 

Do you need to download the app?

You guys, I am sorry about this. Normally I'm all for apps and technology, but the zoo's app is hard to use and honestly not very useful. If you have a specific animal you want to see, it can tell you how to get there from where you are. But if you're looking at something, it doesn't show you what's nearby. Hopefully it'll get better with time, but for now it's just not worth it to me. And even though it's free, you can still get the paper maps and those work really well. 

Do you have to pay for parking? 

Nope. Which is nice. There is a huge parking area right by the zoo entrance plus an overflow area with shuttles on busy weekends or busy days.

Is this like a Disney day of walking? 

The answer is it can be. You'll easily get your 10,000 steps if you do the whole zoo in one day. 

Alright, you've made it to the gate. Now here's how to make the most of your zoo day. 

Get there when the zoo opens or close to it. Right now, that's 9:00 AM. It's cooler, the animals are out more, and you can get a great parking space. Or go later in the day, like two or three. That's when the people who got there at nine are usually leaving so you can still get parking spaces and it starts to cool down as you are there. 

First thing, as you walk through the gate, grab a paper map. That will help you more than the app if you have a pen or pencil. Even better. 

My next suggestion is to get in line for the bus tour. It's just across from the entrance and the bus tour is included in your ticket or membership for the day. The bus tour is the best way to get an overview of the zoo. You can take note, on your map, what animals you'd like to go back to. 

Want to know the best place to sit on the bus? The top right in my opinion, is the best. That way you'll be on the same side as most of the animals. The bottom right would work well too. 

The whole tour takes about 35 minutes and while it doesn't go to all of the zoo, you get a great overview. Plus the drivers are super knowledgeable and fun to listen to. 

Here's a little note for those klutzy people like me, you can stand up to get a good picture of the animals if the bus stops, but they don't give you any warning when they're going to start up again, so sit down quickly. 

Once you're done with a bus tour and you have picked your must-see animals, you'll want to make the most of your time without wearing yourself out. Like I said, it's a big zoo, so you might not get to see everything, but if you each choose an animal that you want to see, then you know you'll at least see your favorite animals. 

For us, Brent always chooses the polar bears. I choose Okapi. And Trooper chooses the snow leopards. These animals are nowhere near each other in the zoo, so it always helps to see more of it.

We also love to see the pandas. There used to be pandas at the San Diego Zoo, but they were on loan from China and the lone expired so they were sent home, but this new set of pandas,  Yun Chuan (Yun chu-an - male) and Xin Bao (shin bao - female) - got here last July and they are VERY popular. 

You can get time tickets while they last by scanning a QR code at the entrance of the zoo. Or you can stand in the standby line and get in to see the pandas that way. We haven't waited over 30 minutes in the standby line so if you don't get the time ticket, you'll still be able to see them. And they have never disappointed us. Whether they've been sleeping with their little tongue out or wandering around, they're always a good time. Take a look at our website readysetdepart.com/zoo for some great pictures of the pandas. 

If you'd like to see everything from high up, the Skyfari is included in your ticket, and it's a great way to get to the back of the zoo so you can walk mostly downhill to the front. You pick it up near the Komodo Dragon Exhibit in the front of the zoo. It's a great way to be above everything. And you can see quite a bit of Balboa Park from here as well. If you're wondering what the Skyfari is, it's kind of a gondola ride over the zoo. 

If you ever find yourself in the Komodo Dragon area. Which you get to by basically taking a left as soon as you get to the main road in the zoo. Just past that is the kids' place - Wildlife Explorers Base Camp. There are creepy crawly animals, which I don't love. Fuzzy animals, which I do, and a water play area perfect for those warm days. 

We love seeing the fennec foxes and the axolotls when we go to the base camp. 

Here's a challenge for you. Can you find the giant Chinese salamanders? When they say giant, they mean giant. 

That reminds me. Don't forget to talk to the volunteers in red. They are there to help you find the animals you're looking for, but they're also there to answer your questions about the animals right there in front of you. We have learned about the cheetahs, orangutans, snow leopards, you name it. They know the animals' names and their backgrounds and that kind of stuff is so interesting to us. 

Speaking of interesting San Diego Zoo things, did you know that they started a podcast a couple of years ago? They talk about specific animals that are at the zoo. It is great. From the podcast, we learned about the grizzly bear cubs Scout and Montana who came to the zoo from Yellowstone when they were just cubs. Their mom was teaching them to dumpster dive, which isn't what you want a grizzly bear to learn. So that's how they came to be at the zoo. The last time we were at the zoo, they were wrestling. There was one point where we were pretty sure one of them, and it's hard to figure out which one is which when they're moving, was going to throw the other one into the pool. It was fun to watch and you could tell that they were having a great time too. Once you're done listening to us at Ready Set Depart, take a listen to Amazing Wildlife, a San Diego Zoo podcast.

Bonus points if you listen about an animal, and then find it at the zoo. 

Okay. Now let's talk about one of the biggest questions we get, how to handle all those hills. Here we go. And check out our website readysetdepart.com/zoo for a complete plan. 

I'm going to try to describe this the best I can, but remember at readysetdepart.com/zoo, you can get a download of what I'm trying to say.

The best ways to go towards the back of the zoo are Tiger Canyon. But one thing about Tiger Canyon is it is very slippery when it's wet, so be very careful. Bear Canyon or the Monkey Trail. Bear Canyon and Tiger Canyon end up at Panda Ridge where there is an elevator you can take to go back up to go to a different area of the zoo. The Monkey Trail gets you to the top of the elevator. 

From the top of the elevator you can get to the Elephant Odyssey, which curves around to Africa Rocks through the Outback, and then back to the front of the Zoo. Africa Rocks is the steepest part of that trail, and it's not even that steep.

If you find yourself at the polar bears, you can take a right as you go out of the polar bears and go back down to Panda Ridge, take the elevator up or you can go the other way past, so that would be left, past the Skyfari and through Elephant Odyssey and that way out. 

So basically never go up Tiger Trail, Lost Forest, or Bear Canyon, if you can possibly help it, especially pushing a stroller. Use the elevator a lot and take plenty of breaks. Download this plan from our website at readysetdepart.com/zoo. 

Before we go, here are a couple of last minute tips to make your day even smoother. 

Oh, and here's a great travel tip. You can get cold water and ice at any of the restaurants. They will totally fill up your water bottles. 

And while we're talking about restaurants, I almost forgot. We love the Mexican food at Saber Tooth Mexican Grill in the Elephant Odyssey and the barbecue at Sydney's Grill over by the koalas. The zoo definitely needs mobile order, if you know, you know, but the food is quite good, if expensive.

Also, here's a fun extra that we'd like to announce. We made some zoo and travel stickers for our own water bottles, and they turned out so cute that we've decided to start selling them. If you want a little keepsake from your Zoo day, check them out at readysetdepart.com/shop. 

That's it for me today. And now it's time for what we used to call Troopers Tips for Kids. However, as Troopers has gotten older, he's decided to change up the name of his segment. I'll let him explain.