If you get a chance, definitely visit the SB Zoo! We went in early June and took the train ride around the perimeter because my son is obsessed with trains! While at the gift shop, he saw the space where a toy train was with his name but there weren’t any left. He was so sad! That night I went on the website and ordered one to be shipped to our house. About a week later I received a message that it had been delivered but I never received it?? I emailed the zoo and also called and no response. Since my son’s bday is in a few days, I decided to give one more call today and I’m so glad I did! Tanner answered the phone and listened to the whole saga. He told me he would call me later with an update… and he did! Not only that, he and Dee- an awesome railroad engineer and tour guide- looked through all the inventory and found the LAST ONE with my sons name on it!! Amazing! They also sent him an engineer badge for all the delay and this will be the highlight of my sons bday!!! I’m thrilled! I had no idea I was lucky enough to speak with Tanner Linden, who is the guest services supervisor! Well, he and Dee certainly made sure our guest experience was fantastic! I so appreciate him listening and following through! The two of them are great examples of amazing people in the hospitality industry! Don’t miss this place and hopefully you get to meet these two!

A big zoo to explore and fun for little ones. A decent range of animals and they all seemed happy. I enjoyed the flamingos and lions the most. Quite a few exhibits were open although sadly the train wasn’t and won’t be operating for 2 months apparently cause it’s undergoing maintenance. The food onsite isn’t great, not a lot of options. There is a picnic area though and I think you can bring food in, so I would go for that option. You’re not missing much by not using the restaurant! The giraffe feeding is a nice extra activity you can do, and the goat brushing is also fun.

We went to see the Christmas display of the Santa Barbara Zoo Lights. If you live within an hour or so from the Santa Barbara zoo, I would say it’s definitely worth it to bring the family. There were many families with young children. We spent about two hours wandering around and taking photos of the various lighted exhibits. The zoo re-opens at 4:30 PM for this exhibit and closes at 8:30 PM, however by 8 PM all of the food stands and other stores except for the store at exit were closed and locked up before 8 PM. All of the exhibits were well lit and pretty cool to see. There was one exhibit, the leopards, where they forgot to turn the lights on or something was wrong. We have been to the zoo during non holiday time and it’s a great little zoo that you can spend a couple hours at and now includes an area for Australian animals that you can walk among. If you visit the Santa Barbara area, it’s worth a couple hours to check out the zoo and especially during Christmas time.