York’s Wild Kingdom Zoo and Amusement Park Review

York’s Wild Kingdom Zoo and Amusement Park Review

Courtesy passes to attend YWK were received in exchange for this review.  However, our experience, opinions and such are our own and will not be influenced either negatively or positively by a free item.  We state our true opinions, regardless of if it is in favor of, or opposition of the company in which we review.

ABOUT York’s Wild Kingdom, courtesy of yorkswildkingdom.com

 Located in York Beach, Maine, has something to offer every member of the family. Each year, more than 200,000 people come to visit their favorite zoo and amusement park in the area. With wild animals from around the world, York’s Wild Kingdom is recognized for its rare species and knowledgeable curators.

We offer a variety of family rides, paddle boats, miniature golf course, a petting zoo, scenic picnic grounds, concession stands, two gift shops, and even a Haunted House. Educational learning programs take place throughout the day.

Our trip 

When we arrived to York’s I was a little skeptical, the initial impression was not the greatest. We were there pretty close to their opening time and their main lot was already full.  It seems as though their parking lot is pretty small, so they use an over flow (dirt, not paved and about a mile + away) and have a trolley shuttle groups of people to and from the over flow parking area.  I didn’t mind this, but would have preferred to have been parked closer.

The admission booth seemed a little slow at getting people through, they could absolutely benefit from a few more in the admittance area. To be fair, I have been to worse. Staff was ok,  not rude,  but not very personable either.  We have visited this park numerous times over many years and it is always that way, so it was not just one person that day.

The Zoo

We went to visit the zoo first before rides.  The exhibits were clean and well maintained, some give you a good close up interaction, most don’t. I suggest doing the zoo first, as early as you can because the later and hotter it gets,  it seems the less active the animals are or they are hiding in the shade.  This happened to us with the tigers.  The lemurs were just as playful as ever and the kids really enjoyed the camel rides!  There is a super cute, adorable goat pen with plenty of babies to keep me entertained for hours, I could have just stayed there and watched them.  Also, there is a deer pen for hand feeding.  Paddle boats are available in the area as well.  Overall,  for a small zoo the collection is great.

The Amusement Park  

I was a bit disappointed by the rides here,  they seem geared more towards little kids.  Being an adult who loves rides, with older kids we didn’t quite get our fill that we craved!  If this was just an amusement park with no zoo, we would not have liked it at all.  That is just my personal opinion.  I’m sure the park has a list of what they consider kiddie rides and adult rides,  but when you are actually there walking around looking for adult rides it is just kinda, eh.  To put a little perspective on this,  I took about 100 photos at the zoo and maybe 8 in the amusement area.  I mean,  don’t write it off completely because we think there could be more rides.

Additional information

Food and concession was as expected,  food prices high for less than quality food. Bathrooms were conveniently located , but so busy and could be kept up on a bit more.  I recommend visiting on an off day when it isn’t going to be sweltering hot.  The park seems small so it gets crowded fast.

Overall 

It was something fun to do,  like I said,  we have been numerous times over the years and mostly for the zoo.  Now, we live further away so won’t be making the travel back unless we are already in the area (or we see news about some cool new adult rides opening!)

For more information you can visit their website here York’s Wild Kingdom

Samantha

Samantha hails from Virginia and is a proud wife to a retired Deputy Sheriff and mother to two amazing little boys named Jack & William. A veteran product reviewer; Samantha has been reviewing products for 8 years and offers high quality product reviews with original photography.