After our autism-friendly visit to the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, I understand why the Cincinnati Zoo is often ranked as one as the best in the United States (US News). It is actually considered amongst the best zoo’s in the world! That would explain why more than 1.5 million people visit the zoo each year.
Located in the city of Cincinnati and founded in 1873, Cincinnati Zoo is the 2nd oldest in the United States. Home to more than 500 animal and 3,000 plant species many cool and unique things to see. We will definitely return on another trip.
Autism-Friendly Features at the Cincinnati Zoo
Since we made our visit at a slow time of year in late summer, we didn’t run into issues with crowds and lines. Most schools in Ohio were back in session. The Cincinnati Zoo has done a great job of making the zoo and the attractions accessible to individuals with developmental disabilities.
Many members of the Zoo staff have undergone training by the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center’s Leadership in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) program to better engage with the developmental disability community. They can be identified by the blue strips on their employee badges.
Addtionally, the Cincinnati Zoo offers the following services to foster an inclusive environment:
- sensory maps (interactive version available)
- adult-sized changing tables
- a skip-the-line access pass for rides
- social and video narratives
- Zoo planning map
- 2 calming rooms & sensory friendly restrooms
- sensory bags with oral motor chewy tubes & fidgets, noise-canceling headphones, and sunglasses for checkout at the Welcome Center
- Kanga’Klimb Ropes course with ADA accessible components
Overall, we found the Zoo easy to navigate. We were able to move freely and the kids were able to see the animals without standing in long lines. The busiest area was to see the baby Hippo Fritz, but even that was not a long wait to get a better view. I would on a busier day take advantage of the skip-the-line access pass for rides and other services.
Getting to the Cincinnati Zoo
We planned a road trip to visit a friend in Indianapolis and decided that we would add a stop at the Cincinnati Zoo on the way home to Rochester. When we left Indianapolis, the drive to Cincinnati only took about 1.5 hours. The drive home to Rochester, NY from Cincinnati took us about 7 hours. If you choose to fly into Cincinnati, the airport is only about 20 minutes from the Zoo.
Parking when you arrive at the zoo is easy. The parking lot on Vine Street is mostly covered parking which is a nice convenience. Cool fact, the solar panels on the covered parking lot power aspects of the Zoo, including the electric train!
There is overflow parking for those peak visit times in an additional non-covered lot. You pay for parking by scanning a QR code before you leave. The QR code posters are located around the park and on the walkway to the parking lot. You can also pay at the parking kiosk prior to your exit. Parking at the time of our visit was $10 per car.
Tickets and Pricing
We purchased our tickets online. I used ticketsatwork.com to purchase my tickets at a discounted rate but you can also buy them from the Zoo website. For our visit, our tickets were $16.00 each for adults and $10 each for the kids. Adult prices start at age 13 and child/senior pricing is in effect for ages 2-12/62+. Our visit took place in late August. My family likes to take advantage of the fact that most kids are back in school during late August, so prices can be cheaper and venues are far less crowded.
If you purchase tickets online at the Zoo website, you will need to select the day of your visit and then you will see the price for that day. Ticket prices can change daily based on attendance. According to their website, the price you pick when you plan ahead will definitely be cheaper than if you wait until the day of your visit. If you do wait, you can purchase tickets at the front entrance. There are also different tickets prices for zoo members, Good for any Day tickets and Twilight Admissions tickets.
Sights to See at the Cincinnati Zoo
On our visit witnessed the newest addition to the zoo, the hippo Baby Fritz! He was just a few weeks old! We did manage to catch a glimpse, but the baby was sticking pretty close to mom Bibi in the 70,000 gallon home of Hippo Cove. A few years ago, Fritz’s big sister Fiona made quite a splash when she was born.
There are so many things to see and experience in this zoo. A few things that we noticed that we really loved were the bamboo lined pathways, cleanliness of the areas and clear signage. Another observation was how healthy the animals looked. Their eyes often looked bright, their coats shiny and the habitats well kept.
In total, there are 21 different animal habitats and we hit many of them. The favorites of the Kent Crew included spotting the Asian elephants in the Elephant Reserve, the playful gibbons on Gibbons Island, funny penguin’s at African Penguin Point and animals of Africa. As big Lion King fans, finding real live Meerkats is always a treat along with the lions and cheetah’s. We watched as others fed the Masai Giraffe’s.
Our favorite spot of the day was the Spaulding Children’s Zoo. This habitat in the zoo is dedicated to many friendly farm animals like llama’s, goats and alpaca’s. You enter into a gated area and can walk around with the various animals in the petting zoo. My kid’s favorite goat was a black Nigerian Dwarf Goat named Neil.
This section of the zoo also features a small playground where parents can grab a seat while they little one’s let off some energy. Between the slide, monkey bars, crawl tunnel and balance bean the smallest zoo goers can enjoy some run and play time.
All Aboard the Zoo Train
The Zoo has a train and a carousel. We climbed aboard the zoo train before we left for the day. Train tickets were $5 per person. Camryn and I hopped aboard for the brief train ride through the park. In 2022 the Zoo switched out the beloved classic diesel train for an electric train. Other attractions include Kanga Klimb and Scooter Pals (Zoo attractions).
Where to stay near the Cincinnati Zoo
With the zoo being located in the city of Cincinnati there are a variety of hotels to pick from within a short distance. The official hotel of the zoo is Graduate Cincinnati on the University of Cincinnati campus.
Since I’ve been partial to Marriott for years, I picked a Springhill Suites hotel in midtown approximately 10 minutes from the zoo. For our family of 4, the suite accommodations that come with a sitting area are always preferred over regular rooms where the bed takes up all the space. Hotel parking was free. We paid about $200 for the night for a double-queen suite studio suite.
We loved our autism-friendly visit to the Cincinnati Zoo. My kids have asked to go back and see Neil the goat!
