After going to Clarks Elioak Farm in Ellicott City and having such a good time interacting with the animals, we thought we would try Leesburg Animal Park. The website was incredibly well maintained and made it seem like quite a nice place. There were several nice things about this park and several things that we were unhappy with.
The park had a wider variety of animals to see (tortoise, camel, monkeys, etc.) and feed than in other places we went to which was nice. Also, there was a lot of land to roam around, a big pond, a playground area, and a moon bounce on the premises. Additionally, they also had a big sand box with some digging tools, a shaded area to rest, pony rides, and wagon rides. Of all of the things that we saw, we actually enjoyed seeing the monkeys swinging in their cage and feeding the different animals the most.
However, we found the price to be very expensive compared to other places with similar programs. At 10 dollars per adult and 8 dollars per child, we expected to see a wider variety of animals, get more feed for the money, and have a bit more interaction with the animals. Also, the pens that the animals were in were very small and crowded and for a little kid, it was hard to see much more than a mouth between wooden beams in many cases. We also did not enjoy the fact that for a normal sized cup of feed for the animals, they charged an additional 10 dollars. In addition to the already steep entry fee and the additional charge for the large bucket of feed, they also charged for the hay rides and pony rides.
In terms of the staff, they were very young, and other than in the box office and by the ponies, I did not see a single staff person on the premises. If you are planning a trip out to Leesburg in the near future and you have the extra money to spend, it is not a terrible place to go. However, there is definitely room for growth at this place. On the positive side, it is located 5 minutes from the Leesburg Premium Outlets which provides great shopping and a second activity in the area. If you go in the summer bring lots of water as it gets very hot. Also, they have a festival in the fall time called Pumpkinville which has hay mazes, hill slides, zip lines, and several other activities.
Website: http://www.leesburganimalpark.com/
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Have you been to the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore? We really enjoyed it there. Its a nice place to stroll, mostly all shaded, you can actually feed a giraffe, there are so many things I loved about it there. I have no desire to go back to the National Zoo after going to this one. Its much smaller so less animals - nothing really exotic but there are giraffes, monkey, elephants, rhinos, cheetahs (their enclosure is cool, it has a wall that is plexaglass so you can get up close and personal - same with the monkeys). There are lots of shady spots with picnic tables, the bathrooms had A/C and were very clean. Its a nice place to keep a 3 year old busy and push a stroller for a younger one. Not sure of prices off the top of my head. Morah Becky
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