We had a 100% zoo membership card when we moved to Jacksonville from another zoo. What that means is that some zoos would reciprocate 100% of the admission fees with that card, while others would do 50%. Jacksonville is a 50% zoo, meaning if you have a membership there, you get in ONLY at the JAX zoo for free, and ALL other zoos are 50%.
If you plan on only using the local zoo three times a year, get the membership. If you plan on going to other zoos that are 100% zoos, then you might consider a membership from a zoo near family that has a 100% rating, especially if it's half the price of the Jacksonville Zoo membership. Since we plan on traveling to WI this year, it makes sense to have one of these cards (both MKE and Green Bay are 100% zoos). The only one we'll lose money on is the Jacksonville zoo, but there's a cushion built in because the membership zoo we chose was about $50 cheaper than Jacksonville.
The following list provides some nearby zoos that you can visit with your Jacksonville or other zoo cards. Remember that the 100% ones would still be 50% if your card is from Jacksonville, but other than that, all of the zoos on this list offer a discount, whichever membership card you have. Some of the zoos listed are on the way to WI for us. We've found it to be a nice break from driving to check out a local zoo. There are other closer locations along the East Coast, too, but we're not headed that way this year. This list does have every zoo in Florida that participates listed, even though it may take some effort to get down to Miami.
City
|
%
|
Distance
|
Hours
|
Albany, Georgia
|
100
|
3h 34m
|
8-8
|
Atlanta
|
50
|
5h 21m
|
9.30-5.30
|
Jacksonville
|
50
|
0
|
9-5
|
Gainesville
|
50
|
1h 50m
|
9-2
|
Melbourne
|
50
|
2h 50m
|
9.30-5
|
Miami
|
50
|
5h 15m
|
10-5
|
Sanford
|
50
|
1h 53m
|
9-5
|
Sarasota
|
100
|
4h 13m
|
10-5
|
St. Augustine Alligator
|
50
|
56m
|
9-5
|
Tampa (zoo/aquarium)
|
50
|
3h 30m
|
9.30-5
|
West Palm Beach
|
50
|
4h 12m
|
9-5
|
Louisville
|
50
|
12h
|
10-4
|
Asheville, NC
|
100
|
6h
|
10-5
|
Columbia, SC
|
50
|
4h 18m
|
9-5
|
Greenville, SC
|
100
|
5h 35m
|
9-5
|
Milwaukee
|
100
|
9.30-4.30
| |
Green Bay
|
100
|
9-4
|