San Diego Zoo Backstage Pass

All the reviews are true! You will not be disappointed buying tickets for the Backstage Pass. I’ve swam with dolphins, belugas, met penguins at Seaworld, Fed giraffes and Rhinos at the Safari Park. Backstage pass was the best experience yet getting a meet & greet with wild animals!
The time I went, we saw a Serval, Binturog, Clouded leopard (SO pretty), Sloth, Cheetah + their BFF dog, Fed/​pet a Kangaroo (so soft) & flamingos.
There was a bunch of photo oppurtunities as well as a photographer to take great shots of you. I wish there was a schedule out to show which animals they would bring out to show — I would buy tickets every month! Love that they offered this interactive program.

I love me some animals. I appreciate places that devote time, care, and facilities to preserve animals and teach others about them. If you have the opportunity to go, I say do it. My son wanted to go the zoo for his 7^th birthday and do the backstage pass. It is a bit pricey at $ 109/​per person, must be 5 yrs or older, and prices are same for adults and children. The entry ticket to the backstage pass is separate from the park entrance fee to the zoo. All the $$ goes to caring for animals at the park.
Plenty of wild animals to learn about. I was a bit bummed that the rhino wasn’t there but he was at the New Orleans zoo hooking up bc he didn’t like the socal rhinos at the zoo.
There are plenty of complementary drinks just watch out for the bees. The show lasts about 1.5 hrs and there is a little walking involved. Crazy part about it I was standing right next to a cheetah. It was looking right at me, probably thinking I looked like carnitas.
My only complaint was the photo included with the entrance. There is a photographer there (she was great) that takes pictures of each group with specific animals. Each person receives a complementary 8X10 photo but it is only of the first picture taken. I was in a family of 4 and we had no use to receive 4 of the same photos. It would have been nice for them to allow us to do different poses with the kids. I felt like I was tricked by the park. If we wanted the additional photos with the other animals it was going to be another $ 92. I would have bought them but it was the shadiness of the process. So be mindful of the pictures if you decide to try it out.
They also give you a sticker to wear at the park that entitles you to a 10% discount on all food and souvenirs. We didn’t find that out until we were about to leave the park because nobody shared that information with us.
Overall, I enjoyed it. I would do it again but would like to see different animals.

This was a really cool experience. I got two licks from a giraffe while feeding him and some flamingos check out my «feathers» to see if I was groomed properly! We also got to see some other cool animals like an arctic wolf, who howled with you! Yes it is expensive for this tour but definitely worth the money.

If you are an animal lover or not, a kid or a grown up, the backstage is an amazing and unique experience that gives you a live peak into the majestic animal kingdom. We got to feed a Rhino, howl with the big bad and oh so awesome arctic Woolf, and have a close encounter with a cheetah and so many other animals. This is a bucket list visit! Very highly recommended.

Amazing. Breathtaking. Stupendous. Whatever the superlative, you won’t be disappointed.
There always have been, and there always will be, those that disagree with keeping animals in captivity. I for one see the added value, and benefit, of zoos and nature conservatories. Both the San Diego Zoo and Safari Park do an excellent job resonating the importance of their positive environmental impact, and conservation efforts. For example, did you know, there’s only three northern white rhinos in captivity, in the world, and the San Diego Safari Park has the only female. Unfortunately, she is beyond breeding age and the breed is likely going to face extinction. The Zoo, to save some of the rhino’s characteristics has saved their DNA, in the hopes of integrating with the southern white rhino.
Is the backstage pass inexpensive? No. Is admission worth the price? I say, unequivocally, yes. What once, or twice, in a lifetime encounters was I able to experience?
First, the Binturong. Depends on who you ask, some say popcorn, I say Fritos, but the scent glands of the Binturong makes me wonder what Andrew Zimmern would think.
Ever fed a horse, cow, or goat before? Well, when you eye to eye with a 5,000 pound greater one horned rhino, ones position one top of the pecking order quickly changes. The common, perhaps uncommon, myth of a rhinos healing property is completely unfounded, otherwise fingernails would be magical. Rhinos make donkeys and rhinos embarrassed as they, on occasion, as my wife found out, grow a fifth leg.
What else did this tour entail? Feeding flamingos from red college party cups, howling with a wolf, petting a two toed sloth (no Fritos Lays marketing here), feet from a clouded leopard without feeling as if my was was in danger, and most excitingly having my picture taken with a cheetah made me realize what an amazing experience the backstage pass was.
I’d like to thank the zoo, the staff, and, especially their trainers, for an outstanding experience. If there’s a ground hog day, this would be the day I would want to relive, over and over and over

Of the 11,364 days I’ve been alive, the very best days have been the two where I spent an afternoon taking San Diego Zoo’s Backstage Pass tour.
Thanks to this tour (additional fee & advance registration required) I’ve now caressed a Kangaroo, fed Flamingos, shared a seat with a Serval, cheered on a Cheetah, stroked a Sloth, and have been less than 3 feet from a (quite fervent) Rhino boner.
It’s not cheap, but I how many people out there can say that the best day of their life involved a rhino boner? Hashtag: Worth It.
My first Backstage Pass was back in 2011 where our up close animal encounters included a Clouded Leopard, Serval, Kangaroo, Zebra, Rhino, Arctic Wolf, Falcon, Cheetah and Golden Retriever (BFFs), and more and this year’s Backstage Pass proved to have greatly expanded, now offering the program every day of the week (once a day) and now included Flamingos (which turned out to be WAY cooler than we’d initially anticipated, a Sloth, Binturong, and what seem to be pretty standard regulars with the Rhino, Serval, Cheetah & Golden BFF, Clouded Leopard, and Zebra.
To go on the tour you need to register on the SD Zoo’s website for their backstage pass (offered daily at 1pm) and also purchase a regular admission ticket (or be a member to the zoo). In 2011, the price of the Backstage Pass was around $ 89 + general admission ticket and today it’s $ 109 + GA ticket. For two people it ran around $ 330 for everything and was more than worth it. I don’t want them to up the price or anything, but the fees go back to the animals and the zoo’s continued conservation efforts and I’d totally be willing to part with a few more bones for this once or twice (or more if you can afford it) experience.
I think the last tour we took ran about 2 hours and they have complimentary beverages and the whole thing is pretty darn educational. A perfect activity for anyone ages 5– geriatric. We strategically chose to go on a weekday so there were no kids and we were pretty much the youngest people on the tour but about 30 years, which I always appreciate and appreciated getting to hear all the old ladies blushing reactions as the rhino «got excited». Old ladies are funny.
You don’t get to pet every animal that comes out because this is nature and not all animals are cool with that, but the ones you do get to pet seem to be pretty chill and happy about their interaction with humans and trainers.
For this most recent trip I brought along my roommate, who to my knowledge is not really into animals… or any other living, breathing, needy things for that matter, but even he loved it and cracked an involuntary smile (rare) for the cameras on more than a few occasions during the tour. Turns out, it’s really hard not to smile when you’re arm’s length from an (extra) horny rhino.
They have a photographer present for the entirety of the tour to take professional snaps of the animals on their own and you with the animals. On our last tour, everyone got one complimentary printed glossy photo to take home of themselves with the Serval and I, of course, splurged and got the full book of photos for legal download for an additional $ 75 because I worked hard for my money and there’s nothing else I would rather spend it on than coming here and getting to have as wild (and humane… sorry, Shamu) an experience as possible in the continental United States.
Post Script– Review #2000, peaches.