A Visit To Como Town Park And Zoo {St. Paul, Minnesota}

We partnered with Visit St. Paul & Como Town and received passes for our visit to Como Town Park and Zoo {St. Paul, Minnesota}.  As always, all opinions are my own.

Summer has been flying by way too fast.  I can hardly believe we’re already on the downswing.  We’ve had a lot of fun already with more planned before we get back into the school year.  Thankfully, we’ve had some warm days that allowed us to play at the beach.  The four big kids have already attended kids camp and we will be attending a family camp together too before summer ends.  And just recently, we made our way for a visit to Como Town Park and Zoo.

A Visit To Como Town Park And Zoo {St. Paul, Minnesota}

It was a hot Tuesday when we made the drive down to the Como Town Park and Zoo.  I think the heat had kept some people away that day as the worker I spoke with said traffic was pretty light through the park.  So that meant we really didn’t have to wait in any lines throughout the day!  (I’ll take that!)  

 

Como Town Park versus Como Zoo

First, I want to point out these two attractions are located side by side and can be accessed by a path in the middle that connects them.  Both are free to enter, although there is a fee for the rides and attractions at Como Town.  There are no fees, however, to enjoy the animals at the zoo.

Como Town Park

The Como Town Park is filled with over 18 rides as well as a few carnival style games.  Upon arrival, if you plan to hit up the rides, you’ll need to decide the best ticket option for your family.  We were planning to spend the entire day so they provided us with the VIP Town Pass Wristband. 

Sadly, we ended up getting rained out about 3:30 so we cut our day shorter than originally planned.  This meant that we missed out on some of the rides we had been planning for the afternoon.  But we still had a great time experiencing what we did during our Como Town Park and Zoo visit.

The Rides

There are a variety of ride options available at Como Town.  Kiddie rides, family friendly rides, and thrill rides.  So I’ll highlight just a few that we got the chance to try out.

After our first ride, the new Honeybee, we ventured over to the S.S. Swashbuckler Pirate Ship.  This giant ship holds quite a few people and is basically a giant swing.  I loved that everyone was able to go on it, Lucy and Sam just needed an adult chaperone.  Sam, while nervous at first, was giggling in no time.  

This was Lucy’s first ‘big ride’ so she was pretty surprised at how her tummy ‘jumped’.  After being nervous and unsure the duration of the first ride, she decided she had enjoyed it and went for a second round though.

A favorite!

A big time favorite that our crew rode several times in a row was this blue tower ride.  Riders head up to the top of the tower, slowly start spinning in a circle, and then drop down.  My crew thought it was fantastic!

The kids also enjoyed the driving school.  Each child gets to drive a miniature sized car around a track.  And when they were done, they each received their very own drivers license!  

Favorite Thrill Ride

I think we would all agree that the favorite ride of the day award would go to the Soaring Eagle Zip Line.  After going in reverse 420 feet from one end of the amusement park to the top of the ride, which is 85 feet in the air.  You’ll get a panoramic bird’s eye view of Como Town, Como Zoo (including the new Gorilla Forest), and Como Park.  Then riders soar back to the starting point while enjoying the spectacular view.

Something To Note:

Do you have a child who is timid or not sure about rides yet?  On almost every ride we went on, the attendant would let the riders know that if at any point they didn’t like the ride or were scared, just give them a thumbs down and they’d stop the ride.  This was really nice as sometimes children do get scared but don’t know what to do.  Thankfully, we didn’t need to stop any rides but I do like that this park offers this.

Free Kids Foam Party Attraction!

One of the best parts of the day, since it was so hot, was the free kids foam party.  This was the first foam party we’ve ever seen in person and it was really neat.  

Foam parties run every day at 12:30, 2:30, and 4:30pm. This is a great activity f or kids of all ages and abilities.  The foam party area fills up with safe, non-toxic foam for kids to play in. It’s a bubble bath without the water!

There were lots of kids in their swimsuits but I saw some who jumped right into this party with just their clothes too.

Splash Zone

After the foam party, we walked a few steps to the Splash Zone and Hodge Podge Park.  The kids were able to wash all the soap off in the splash zone as well as just continue cooling off from the heat.

The splash zone is filled with a variety of sprayers, spouts, and even a big dump bucket.  This was one of the busiest parts of Como Town Park And Zoo on the day we went as the temps were in the high 80s.

Hodge Podge Park

The Splash Zone is located in Hodge Podge Park but there’s a lot of other great features too.  Hodge Podge Park is a super jungle gym that gives kids the chance to explore through climbing, sliding, swinging and bouncing. 

The entire park felt like one giant backyard.  And this engaging playground features climbing structures, suspended bridges, towers, slides, swings and look-out posts.

Such a fun way to burn off energy!

So as you can see, Como Town Park has a lot of options to keep the kids busy.  And of course, don’t forget to stroll next door and enjoy the free zoo!

Como Zoo – Visit For Free

The Como Zoo does not charge an entrance fee. While they do accept donations, feel free to come enjoy the zoo either way.  We got to see a variety of animals.  However, since the zoo was under construction, it was a little tough finding our way around this year.  But here were some of our favorites:

And in case you’re wondering.  Yes, our day was cut short because of a storm.  We didn’t let it ruin our fun.  After waiting for 1/2 hour to see if it would stop, the kids decided to dance in the rain before we called it a day!

So tell me, have you been to any amusement parks or zoos yet this summer?  

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