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Lion Country Safari Trip Report

Hockeyman55

Premium Member
Aug 19, 2009
5,570
1,668
Palm Beach Gardens
My wife and I woke up this this morning with no plans but had every intention on doing something to get the kids out of the house for a little while and spend some family time together. We went back and forth with a few different ideas (A day trip to Disney did cross my mind also, believe me :lol:) but settled on taking a trip out to Lion Country Safari here in West Palm Beach, having buy one get one free admission sweetened the deal also. So we packed up everything and loaded the kids up into the mini van up and off we went. Heading over there the weather started looking gloomy but still we took the chance and made it thru the day with just the occasional sprinkle. Ended up taking a lot of pictures so I figured I would give writing my first trip report a try and share it with everyone so here we go . . . . .


So for those who aren't too familiar with this park its pretty much broken up into two different areas with the first being a drive thru safari full of animals and the second being their amusement area with some more animal displays and some smaller kiddie rides. Its not the most elaborate parks in the world and can get pretty expensive at $28 per adult but it is nice for the occasional visit ever few years and besides the kids love the animals so that makes us happy.

Also note, it wasn't really the ideal weather for photography and most of the pictures I took thru our wet and dirty windshield and windows since you are prohibited from opening your windows. Which I may or may not have done a few times . . . shhhhh



Welcome to Jurassic Pa . . . . . . err . . . . . I mean, Lion Country Safari.


DSC09746-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



The safari is actually broken up into different "lands" but really the only thing different in each land are animals. Really no theme for each land and they all look the same.


DSC09848-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Along the drive thru you will encounter a love of different animals, an most of which I have no idea what they are called since I wasnt paying attention the cd they give you to listen along with as you drive.


DSC09752-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Im not sure if they got a great deal on ostriches but these guys are all over the park


DSC09754-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



As you can see we are crossing over to another highly themed area :pound:


DSC09870-Edit-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Im pretty sure I will let them have the right of way.


DSC09843-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Halfway thru the safari is the part everyone is looking forward to . . . the velociraptor cage. Ok not really raptors so I guess we will have to settle wih lions.


DSC09804-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



I remember visiting here in the 80s as a kid in a summer camp and these lions allowed to roam freely in their own habitat while we drove around them right next to our cars. Now they are behind two fences and secluded from us . . . dam you liability insurance.


DSC09819-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



At least the employees still get a goo view of them


DSC09820-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



For all intents and purposes I will just call these animals deergoose! Just go with it :lol:


DSC09857-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Some more get out of the way animals with big horns


DSC09860-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Now its been about 4 years or so since my last visit and was shocked to see the habitat that normally housed the elephants has evicted the pachyderms and been replaced with . . . . . you ready for this . . . . camels! I for one was devastated!


DSC09863-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Planet of the apes.


DSC09894-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Good to see that unicorns are making a comeback


DSC09877-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



One of these things are not like the other


DSC09876-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



See, I told you these things are everywhere


DSC09853-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Trying to think of something witty for this caption but got nothing.


DSC09890-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Who doesn't love a giraffe


DSC09897-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



I don't think I could ever e a vegetarian.


DSC09910-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



So the giraffes are pretty much the closing act of the safari. You hand in your cd and then off to the amusement area you go. Luckily the end of the safari pretty much dumps you into the main parking lot so its really not a far adventure.


DSC09911-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



This concludes part one of this day trip report. For now I will leave you with a teaser of what is to come tomorrow :rofl: Thanks for checking this out and making it this far down the page.



Ahhh the grand entrance. To be continued . . . . . . .


DSC09913-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr






Im watching you!!!


DSC09770-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr
 
Great report! I'd never even heard of this place before.

I was :rofl: with your pic captions :thumbs: and you got some really stunning pictures! :rep:

Looking forward to the second part!
 
Last time I was there we were stuck in the Lion enclosure for nearly and hour with a total lockdown. We had a lion wandering in the road about 5 ft away from the car. Do they still allow the Lions to roam? It appears there are fences in between you and the lions?
 
Omg I remember coming to this place when I was super young! Well I hardly remember it but always loved it.
 

Absolutely awesome trip report. Thanks.

That last pic of the ostrich is actually a great photo.

Great report! I'd never even heard of this place before.

I was :rofl: with your pic captions :thumbs: and you got some really stunning pictures! :rep:

Looking forward to the second part!

Thanks you guys :thumbs:

Looks like a fun day out, nice work Hockeyman :thumbs:

Bet the kids loved it.

Thank you, kids loved it and loved having freedom and being able to run around inside the fan while on the safari. Was hard for me though trying to drive, take pictures and have the kids climb on my lap to be able to see better :lol:

- - - Updated - - -

Omg I remember coming to this place when I was super young! Well I hardly remember it but always loved it.

I can assure you not much has changed since your last visit :pound: Well they have added a few kiddie rides and some other things over there years but still really the same place it was in the 80s
 
Last time I was there we were stuck in the Lion enclosure for nearly and hour with a total lockdown. We had a lion wandering in the road about 5 ft away from the car. Do they still allow the Lions to roam? It appears there are fences in between you and the lions?

Yes they are separated by a rather short fence and then a little line of electrified fence. In this picture you can sort of get an idea on how they are separated. Once you enter this area the fence on the left hand side is the lions actual enclosure, so you really are just driving around the perimeter of their enclosure. Year ago it wasn't never like that, you used to be able to drive right into the enclosure and ave them right next to your car like you got to experience. Not really sure when they changed the lions habitat since there was about a 10 year gap in the 90s-2000s that I never visited so must have been changed then.

DSC09804-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr
 
As promised, I am please to bring you part two of out day out Lion Country Safari in West Palm Beach.


For this part of the trip report we visited the amusement area of Lion Country Safari. As a kid I remember coming here and being rather bored and wishing they had some bigger thrill rides, well that really hasn't changed, but my kids enjoyed so that's all that matters. This part of the part is full of some smaller size carnival rides along with some of the smaller animal displays and shows. Well on with the show . .



Entrance


DSC09913-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Me and the kids. As you can tell my wife took this picture, hence the out of focus me :pound:


DSC09921-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr


The park does have some really pretty areas and doesn't seem as run down as it did when I visited back in 2005


DSC09925-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



The park map in case you miss it


DSC09927-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Well it no Hogwart's Express photo op but it will do for now


DSC09930-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Some more pretty areas with some flamingos on the far left hand side.


DSC09942-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Which way to go first . . .


DSC09940-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



No trip to a zoo is complete until you take a spin on the merry go round.


DSC09950-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Our family portrait


DSC09956-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



A pretty African Gray. They plopped these little bird islands all over the park. They are nice if you enjoy birds.


DSC09944-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



They have a mini golf course around the pond with some scary looking half smurf animals. We didn't play since mixing toddlers with golf balls and golf club don't mix all that well


DSC09963-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



This path leads to the back of the park where the new additions have been added. Some nice additions for the little ones and families and also I noticed they still have plenty of room to add a coaster back there. I can dream right :lol:


DSC09966-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Ferris Wheel. Did you know the original Ferris wheel was designed by George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr., as a landmark for the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The term Ferris wheel later came to be used generically for all such rides? Me either so I had to Google it :pound:


DSC09969-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Now any of parents know how much kids love to play in these water areas. We must have played in this area for at least 2 hours


DSC00013-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Oooohhhh water


DSC00008-Edit-2 by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr




Looking back at the slide and water balloon fighting area.


DSC00046-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Now one cool addition to the park is the giraffe feeding area. Kids loved being that close to the giraffes and also makes a great photo op area.


DSC00047-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



See, a nice photo op, if they actually have time long enough to turn around and face the camera :pound:


DSC00039-Edit-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



For $2.50 you can buy some food for them and hand feed them. Or for free you can let other people buy the food to bring the giraffes closer so you can get a better picture :thumbs:


DSC00044-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



An exotic bird feeding aviary stock full of . . . . . parakeets


DSC00074-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



The petting zoo. This was an adventure in itself.


DSC00048-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



I think this looks like a nice spot for a nap


DSC00065-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Now up until this point everyone was fine and having a blast. Then this happened and I just so happened to catch it on film! Skip to around 35 seconds to see what happens.

[video=youtube_share;q_fi8rcH-fs]http://youtu.be/q_fi8rcH-fs?t=32s[/video]



More birds


DSC00110-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



This turtle is on a diet



DSC00108-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



Don't judge! Someone had to make this sacrifice to bring you all this amazing POV shot :thumbs:


DSC00079-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr



I end this trip report with a pretty water picture from the entrance/exit area.


DSC00120-Edit by Mike Sperduto, on Flickr
 
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Nice report mate, loving the "half smurfs" some nice shots too.

This one is cool.
8396755984_a03c988d27_b.jpg


Kids always have fun in the water, I remember when mine was young we would be in MK and she would moan and moan to go back to the pool :mad::lol:
 
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Another great report, Mike! You should keep doing these! I'm :rofl: with each one, and your pics never disappoint :thumbs:

Thank you Felipe :smiley: Its rare that I travel to a different park than the ones in Orlando and usually I wouldn't consider a trip report to Magic Kingdom or Universal since I think we have seen enough of those. When I go to Legoland Ill def type one up again. Also we have semi plans to drive to Tennessee next month to visit my wife's father so ill do one for that trip also since we have some stops at the Atlanta Zoo and Georgia aquarium planned.
 
This place is underrated and likely forgotten as a unique experience because of what Killmanjaro Safari and the like provide. But I still think it is a well run novelty and a fun road trip stop. What is really neat is to look at places like this and know that it inspired the likes of Michael Chriton when writing Jurassic Park.
 
This place is underrated and likely forgotten as a unique experience because of what Killmanjaro Safari and the like provide. But I still think it is a well run novelty and a fun road trip stop. What is really neat is to look at places like this and know that it inspired the likes of Michael Chriton when writing Jurassic Park.

Exactly. And this place even pre dates Disney World. I will say though it would be nice to get some more additions and believe they are trying to but the neighbors who live around there are fighting them about it because they feel it will add to traffic and noise.
 
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