Don't Go to the Toronto Zoo on Canada Day

Canada Day and the Toronto Zoo are two things that just don't mix. The worst park day ever. We had relatives coming into town and it was decided that we would go to the Toronto Zoo on Canada Day. We read on the website that they were going to have cake and face painting to celebrate the day. We thought this would really fun for the kids so we went.

And we had a horrible time. We tried to make the best of it but at every turn there was an issue. We arrived at the park and parking was okay but far away. We then paid to get in. Twenty one dollars for an adult and kids under three were free and kids four to twelve was thirteen dollars. We went in the park and I asked where the closest ATM was the staff said outside of the park and one spot inside the park. I went back out and the ATM was "temporarily out of service". I went back inside the park and we decided to rent a stroller for five dollars. I had to go into the gift shop and stand in line for 10 minutes to pay 5 dollars and also give a five dollar deposit. Then I had to take my voucher across the way to the strollers and had to wait another five minutes. We decided that we would buy our lunch when we got to the park so we headed to the first restaurant and it was closed. They said the power was out. So then we went to the second restaurant which was about a 8 minute walk and its power was out and the line up was about 25 minutes. Their debit machines were down. Apparently the entire power in the park was out. This was apparently known at the front entrance but they never told us when we went in. So there we were eight of us with sixty five dollars cash between and no ATM's were working. So we decided to get us much food as we could with the money we had in the hopes the power would go back on at some point. So my brother and I stood in line at the restaurant to try and get some food with the little cash we had. By the time we were served the food was scarce. We ordered hamburgers, hotdogs, frenchfries and drinks. We got the hamburgers and hotdog no frenchfries, and coke or sprite that was it. No sorry no would you like a refund, it was just you paid and you got what you got if you were lucky. But they had beer like it was a keg party. When we finished eating we rushed to get to the "cake and face painting" july 01st event at the canadian pavilion. What a big mistake, by the time we got there they were out of cake and they only had two people doing the face painting by hand for what looked like 100 kids in a lineup.
We tried to see the polar bears "exhibit closed" we tried to see some other animals "exhibit closed" it seemed like everything was closed "temporarily" what a complete waste. The kids were tired and the parents were frustrated because there was nothing for the kids to see. We seen one tiger, some kangaroos, and a giraffe. The lions were too tired to come out the rest of the park just seemed a waste. We did see some camels but the lineups for rides were excessively long. The pop machines ate our money and did not give us a beverage. The bathrooms were a complete blackout, you would think they would have generators or something.

All in all it was a terrible experience. I would rate the experience as a whole a 3 out of 10. I was not impressed. They gave the majority of our party a raincheck until the end of August. But they don't expect to have the exhibits open until the late august, so I imagine if we go back it will be crowded and another bad day. They would not give us a cash refund. The did give one person in our party a cash refund however because they came from another country and would not be able to come back.

My advice, when you get to the Toronto zoo ask these questions. Are they having any power issues. Are the ATMs working and are all the exhibits open. Personally I do not look forward to going back.