rebbu

Hi

I see the following info on Oregon Zoo Website:
"The Washington Park Run goes through the forests of Washington Park to a station above the International Rose Test Garden and back to the zoo. Round trip is four miles long and takes 35 minutes. "

Are the Japanese Garden , Chinese Garden and Children's Play Area a short walk from this station.
We are thinking of arriving at the zoo in the morning , park our car there , explore the zoo and then take the zoo train to visit above gardens and come back ..
Do you think this will become tiring for a toddler ?

Thanks

Scarlett

The Japanese Gardens and the Rose Test Gardens are a short walk from each other. I don't know about the train, we usually drive .
The Chinese Gardens are in town on NW 3rd & Flanders, between the River and the Pearl District,
http://tinyurl.com/oaqot

I think the train sounds good with the baby..there are plenty of spots to rest and enjoy views from the Japanese Gardens, the zoo has wonderful strollers and places for babies to run amok on the grass
Enjoy!

FainaAgain

The zoo train now runs to the rose garden? This is nice... several years ago it didn't run our of the zoo!!

There is a forest (?) museum with intraction displays for children across the zoo. Check if it has interesting exhibits.

Toddler is from 1 to 4 years old, is this right?

rebbu

Thanks Scarlett. I didnt realize Chinese garden was outside Washington Park..

FainaAgain , I found info about zoo train on this link :
http://www.oregonzoo.com/AboutZoo/train.htm
My son is 2 years old ..

Scarlett

http://www.worldforestry.org/
The World Forestry Center is across the parking lot from the Zoo. Mmmmm they had a Chocolate exhibition last year

FainaAgain

Scarlett, did you go to this exhibit? At the end you had a choice of milk or dark chocolate, and of great quality!

2 year old may be too small for it.

FainaAgain

THIS IS SO COOL!! When I was there, I either missed it, or it didn't run

I want to go to Portland again

happytrailstoyou

I presume you refer to Portland.

If you are entertaining children or if you are a rail enthusiast, you will probably enjoy the train.

However, we were disappointed because we assumed it would travel within the zoo rather than in a forested area on the edge of the zoo (where no animals were to be seen as in some other zoos with trains).

noryglory

Depends on your toddler, obviously, but we have done this when our son was in the 3-4 year old range. Younger than that and they might wipe out. Bring a small travel stroller, if they let you take it with you on the train then you should be fine doing your other touring. I don't recall how far the gardens are from the station but you can see the huge kid's play structure from the train, so that could be a welcome diversion. As previous posters noted the train ride is through a forested area, you don't see much (if any) animals on this ride, from what I remember. I would bring snacks or something to entertain you child on the ride over and back, just in case they've had enough...

SaraLM

We just went to the zoo on Monday with our almost 21/2 yr old. We did ride the zoo train and yes it does get close enough to the Japanese garden, rose test garden and children's playground to walk (with backpack or stroller, too far for little legs after a day at the zoo). However, my little guy was pretty tired after a day at the zoo - I can't imagine doing all of it in one day, we actually used the train as a time to rest all of our legs. If your little guy sleeps in a stroller then you could do these but mine likes to go, go, go. The Japanese garden is also not really stroller compatible.

So short answer is yes it is possible but would make for a very long day, or a very short zoo trip.

Sara

miamatusow

Also, the Children's Museum shares a (large) parking lot with the zoo - it's a great place for a toddler.

Fodorite018

Sara--We missed you by a day! We were there on Tuesday, with friends who had small children. We did not do the Zoo Train, but saw the line of people waiting and it appreared to be a time that the parents used to let the kids relax a bit after all the stimulation.