Action Wildlife is not your typical zoo. This zoo, once one hundred plus acres of dairy farm, is a little different. You won’t see a bear or a tiger roaming on the premises. But, you will get to see many variations of deer, including reindeer, mountain goats, llama, crazy haired donkeys, buffalo and a zebra.
You’ll have the option to walk the three miles of fenced in animal displays. Your other, and I think more fun option, is to drive through the displays. One very important benefit to this option is you are not exposed to the elements. Another one is not having to chase your kids all over a dirty, crowded sidewalk. Now, that’s good stuff! If you see an animal that you think is particularly cute, you can always pull over and get out for a closer look. The animals are so tame at Action Wildlife. Most of the time they will walk right up to the fence.
Feel up for the task of running around after your little ones? You can stop off at the petting zoo located in the barn. Or, have a picnic at one of the many tables located throughout the park.
Once you’ve finished touring the animal displays, you can stop off at the very entertaining play scape. When the kids have had their fill of slides, head into the little gift shop & museum. In the museum, you’ll see several stuffed (not the plush kind) exotic animals. The animals are posed as they would be in the wild. This includes a mountain goat display, complete with a pretty amazing waterfall.
Keep going into the next room and see animals native to Connecticut. In this room you’ll also get to test your animal knowledge. Kids will enjoy feeling the various animal fur, and guessing it’s origin. Or, guessing the babies names for several types of animals. Did you know a baby goat is called a kid?
Mom’s Rating:
I really enjoyed this day trip with the kids. So much, in fact, that we went back when Greema came to town. I’m looking forward to the haunted hay ride. Good Stuff!
What To Pack:
- Snacks, perhaps a picnic
- Germ-X
- $$ – Credit Cards are accepted here.
FYI:
Bathrooms are located inside the gift shop.
Yes, credit cards are accepted.
If the waterfall doesn’t trigger, ask the gift shop attendant to push the button.
Action Wildlife hosts a few different events, including a HAUNTED HAYRIDE around Halloween. October 22 & 29.
An interesting idea, I’ve noticed some families do, is open up the cargo door to let the kids ride with a fun view. – If your anything like me, you might have to plan ahead and clean out the strollers.
I didn’t see a concession area, so pack food.
The gift shop does have cold drinks.
***I’ve gone in the morning, and in the afternoon. The animals did seem more active in the morning – before the sun intensified.
Kids Thoughts:
Michael – “The horns on buffalo were cool!”
Abi’s rating (An 8 year olds take on the place) – She rates it a #9 for Pretty Cool
What made this mom nervous?
The playscape for older kids is pretty cool. The slides are pretty steep. Fine for my older kids, but the one year old likes to do everything they do. There were plenty of other options to keep him distracted, including a playscape for young kids.
Dad’s 2 cents $$ – What’s all of this quality time going to cost me?
Adults $10 Kids 12 un under $8
Our personal experience:
I found this teeny, tiny add in the corner of some parent magazine. I’m always interested in zoos, so I looked into it. After researching further, I wasn’t convinced this was going to be a successful trip. I’ve gone to the effort of packing the kids up, to only feel disappointed when the add was better than the actual place. Never the less, I packed up the kids & headed out to the country. The GPS took me passed the main entrance, so I got a preview of the animal fences. It didn’t look too exciting. I was still pretty skeptical. As I pulled up to the gate, a very nice attendant greeted us, and told us about all of the things to do. After she stamped our hands, she encouraged us to take the kids inside to tsee the waterfall when we were done viewing the animals. An indoor waterfall? Really?
After quickly deciding the driving option was the best, and only way to go for us, we headed down the first path. The first display was an incredible mountain of boulders. Mommy, daddy, and baby goats were climbing all over the place! I was hooked! What fun. We pulled over to get a closer look. The goats came right over.
Back in the van, we spotted another fun animal – the zebra. We immediately pulled over, and hopped out. I was disappointed to see the zebra was running in the opposite direction. But, once he spotted us, he turned around and headed right to us. So fun!
Once we had our fill of animals we headed over to the playscape area, and then inside for souvenirs. I really wasn’t interested in the museum. We’ve been to those, and we were here for the live animals! But, the kids spotted something, and we were off! Wow, the animals were pretty impressive. They were posed in action. There was no glass between us and them, so the feel was different from a typical museum. We ended our trip viewing a pretty awesome, indoor waterfall. A great day.
More Pictures For A Better Visual:
Go To http://www.kidfriendlythingstodo.com/2011/10/action-wildlife-pictures/
Address (for us GPS users):
337 Torrington Rd.
Goshen, CT
860-491-9191
Hours:
New Fall Hours
Mon. – Wed. CLOSED
Th.-Fri. – 10:30-3:30
Sat.-Sun. – 10:30-4:30
~Melissa
KidFriendlyThingsToDo.Com – A site dedicated to giving you reviews on fun things to do with kids in CT – reviewed by mom, and kids. Providing fun activities, recipes, ideas and crafts to do with kids in CT.
