June 15, 2012 • What’s A Family To Do? • Page 11 bears swim overhead and Alaskan brown bears practice their swimming techniques. Arctic foxes will watch you from their homes as children explore a polarthemed play area. The Battelle Ice Bear Outpost offers interactive games and information, detailing the wonders of the icy Arctic world — and what we can do to help save it. The zoo also recently said goodbye to manatees Fraulein and Bartlett, but welcomed orphaned Bernice to its Manatee Coast. As a partner in the United States Fish and Wildlife Service’s Manatee Rescue and Rehabilitation program, the zoo takes in manatees rescued from the wild and cares for them until they can be released back into the wild. Fraulein and Bartlett were released back into
the wild and Bernice joins Hamilton and Tippecanoe. The Columbus Zoo also is enhancing its North America region with the addition of the Ohio State Solar Decathlon House, an energy-efficient solar house that will allow zoo visitors to see up close the design and workings of a solar powered home. Guests can tour the home from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. The Zommbezi Bay waterpark also is boasting two new waterslides — the Python Plunge and Big Boa Falls. Python Plunge offers thrill seekers an uphill waterslide. Riders will accelerate to exhilarating speeds as they’re blasted uphill on jetted water and then shot into a 70foot long landing pool. One of only six in the United States, Big Boa
Falls will whip riders from side-to-side and through an enclosed tunnel at high speeds. Experience the rush of weightlessness as you careen over a zero-gravity hill and splash down into a landing pool. • Toledo Zoo Not only is the Toledo Zoo home to more than 9,000 mammals, fish, reptiles, amphibians, birds and invertebrates, representing more than 800 species, but the zoo’s innovative exhibits also get visitors up close to many of favorites. The zoo’s African elephant — born June 3 — has been named Lucas and he and his mother, Renee, are available for viewing each day. Visitors can make a stop at the Arctic Encounter and get face-toface with a polar bear, or stop by the Hippoquarium and watch as a massive
hippo floats gracefully by. Interactive learning stations throughout the zoo make the visit even more engaging — and educational. Opened in 2009, the popular Nature’s Neighborhood at the Toledo Zoo gives children a chance to connect with an array of animals, from the familiar to the exotic. This summer, Nature’s Neighborhood offers programs all day long for young or young-at-heart visitors. At 10:15 a.m., visitors can make pet treats. At noon and 2 p.m., zoo staffers present fun, animal-themed shows at the Fisher-Price Discovery Stage. The afternoon wraps up with spider feeding at 3 p.m., and aviary feeding/enrichment at 4 p.m. • Kings Island, Mason www.visitkingsisland .com
(513) 754-5700 Single-day admission is $35.99 if purchased online and $52.99 at the gate for adults and $32.99 for junior/senior entry if purchased online and at the gate. Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Boomerang Bay hours are 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. • Cedar Point, Sandusky www.cedarpoint.com (419) 627-235 Tickets are $47.99 for adults and $22 for guests 48 inches tall or shorter or 62 and older and and does not include Soak City waterpark entry. Soak City entry is $31.99 for guests 48 inches and taller and $17.99 for those less than 48 inches tall or 62 and older. • Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Powell www.columbuszoo.com 800-MONKEYS 2290522
FREE FREE FREE
Admission is free for 2 and under, $9 for children 2-9, $14 for those 10-59 and $10 for those 60 and older. Parking is $5 per car. A two-day pass for the Columbus Zoo and Zoombezi Bay is $30.99 for age 2-9 and $42.99 for ages 10 and older. • Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, Cincinnati www.cincinnatizoo.org Hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Admission is $19 for those 13-61, $15 for for children 2-12 and $15 for seniors 62 and older • Toledo Zoo, Toledo www.toledozoo.org Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily Admission is $11 for adults, $8 for children 211 and seniors 60 and older and free for those 2 and younger.