Wilder Institute's Calgary Zoo: Entry Ticket

We had a wonderful day at the zoo. We started with the Safari Brunch and then toured the zoo. The brunch books up early so they recommend booking at least two to three weeks before you go. The food is very good; a personalized omelet bar, fresh waffles, roast beef, and then a full buffet with salads, hot items like bacon, eggs, etc. a full dessert station and a chocolate fountain with fruit and marshmallows. The desserts are small servings so you can try several and not be too full. Coffee, tea, water and juices are self serve. The staff are friendly and answer any questions you may have. The room the brunch is served in is appropriately decorated and has videos of the animals at the zoo. The zoo itself is wonderful and the animals have lots of space in their enclosures. It was cool and rainy when we visited so most of the animals were out in their exhibits and active. They have lots of ambassadors stationed throughout the zoo to answer any questions you have about the animals. The Penguin Plunge exhibit is my favourite, with four types of penguins to see up close. Zoo/brunch admission is $60 for an adult and well worth the price. All day parking was $14.

Great experience at a world class zoo. Great seeing animals we would never have seen during our lives.

Some renovations still underway…. great family experience. Fun and exciting for us adults and teenagers that haven’t been to a zoo in years.

It was good other than that fact we did not realize they closed early. Driving 5.5 hours to be rushed wasn’t fun

The zoo is laid out over a very large area and some enclosures seem very well designed for the animals. The themed areas are very nicely structured. There were a lot of staff members who answered questions about the animals. The zoo is also easily accessible by tram.

Best zoo I’ve ever been. Saw all the animals, clean, lots of places to sit and food was very good. The animals all seem free and happy.

Great zoo! I love the layout of the zoo and the natural shade provided throughout - especially when in a city. The variety of the animals was very nice. Booking through trip advisor saved us some money too.

We spent 4.5 hours exploring. Absolutely love this zoo, its so unique in its layout and the staff were happy to chat about the animals and provide anecdotes. Rent the scooter if you have mobility issues, it is a large property and it isn't all flat! Wear good shoes and carry snacks, sunscreen and bug spray for the kiddos. Pricier than we thought, but got a deal with the tourism Calgary attraction pass.

Wear comfy shoes if you’re walking. It’s a lot of walking. If you have small children rent a wagon. You could spend a whole day here. Or 4 hours minimum. Probably cheaper to book online, definitely cheaper during the week. It’s a busy place so get wristbands for the kids in case they get lost. The place has a great map. Our fav area was Africa but we ran out of time and didn’t get to Wild Canada. The cafe food wasn’t great but there are other restaurants in the different areas. We appreciated the water bottle stations. They had a giant misting fan set up on the main path which we greatly appreciated because it was super hot when we went. Gift shop was well stocked and proceeds go to nature conservation efforts.

We chose the hottest day of our visit to Calgary to see the zoo. In the morning the animals were fairly active and out and about. However by afternoon most were snoozing in the shade and hard to find in their enclosures. The zoo interpretive staff are very knowledgeable and we enjoyed chatting to a few of them. We (grandma, daughter and granddaughters aged 13 and 11) spent the whole day and were exhausted by the time we returned to our accommodation. Tough to see the whole zoo in a single day!