Disclaimer: I received free tickets for my family to help facilitate this review. However, all views and opinions expressed are my own and my family's. I am not being compensated for this post in any other way.
I shared last week that my husband and I celebrated our wedding anniversary by taking a weekend road trip. We chose to celebrate as a family this year instead of just the two of us. It wasn't our most romantic anniversary but it may have been the most fun! We started our trip with a visit to the Creation Museum, it was so much fun! You can read more about our visit and grab some free printables for your own visit in this post.
Our next stop was the Kentucky Down Under Adventure Zoo in Horse Cave, KY. I wasn't sure what to expect, we thought we might spend a couple of hours here and then do something else with the rest of our day. We were pleasantly surprised! We arrived shortly after opening and stayed until just barely before close. All of us enjoyed every minute!
C was excited to see the birds of prey exhibit. She loves birds of prey, we even did a big study awhile back! You can find the printables here.
We spent a lot of time watching the lemurs, they were so fun to watch! Then we hung out with the peafowl for a little while. Seeing the peahen was such a treat! The other zoos we've been to only have peacocks.
The highlight of our morning was The Land of Lories. I wasn't sure how C would react when the bird landed on her but she loved it! We loved The Land of Lories so much we visited twice!
When my husband and I first saw the admission prices for Kentucky Down Under Adventure Zoo, we thought it was a little high. After we realized the admission price includes a cave tour, Land of Lories and a tour through the Outback Walkabout with kangaroos you can pet, we quickly changed our minds! We decided that Kentucky Down Under is a bargain!
Included in the price of admission is a tour of Mammoth Onyx Cave. This quick tour of Mammoth Onyx Cave was a perfect introduction for C before visiting Mammoth Cave. She loved that she got to wear a helmet and carry a big flashlight!
The cave is gorgeous!
Throughout the day, they offer opportunities to go through the Outback Walkabout. This is a guided tour and your guide will tell you which animals are safe to touch and which aren't. We got to pet two kangaroos and an emu. C was so excited!
The only activity at Kentucky Down Under that requires an extra fee is the mining. You purchase a bag in the gift shop and take it outside to search for your goodies. You can choose between coins from an old wishing well that was in the cave, gems, fossils and emeralds & rubies. C chose fossils. There were a lot of pretty rocks in the bag as well that C chose to keep.
In the wool shed they offer three shows a day. In this program you are given the opportunity to milk a cow and see sheep dogs in action! On this particular day there was also a little bottle fed lamb and C was thrilled! At the time of our visit we weren't able to bottle feed the lamb but I did hear that they were in the earlier shows. C didn't mind she was just happy to see the little lamb up close and pet him. She pretended to be a lamb often in her pretend play the week following our trip!
This isn't everything there is to see at the Kentucky Down Under Adventure Zoo. They also have a Bat House (closed for renovation at the time of our visit), farm animals, dingos and delicious fudge among other things. Kentucky Down Under is pretty close to Mammoth Cave (the longest cave on record) so it is a wonderful venue for a long weekend! I highly suggest visiting if you are ever given the opportunity!
All day long my husband and I kept saying to each other, "Everyone is so nice!" Every person we encountered was so friendly. We were impressed!
They offer great deals for educational groups. For more information about pricing and all that the Kentucky Adventure Zoo offers, please visit www.kdu.com.
What is the best zoo you've ever been to? I'd love to hear in the comments below! Thank you so much for visiting Joy Focused Learning!
~Angela
