Brookfield Zoo Membership -- Still a Good Deal With No Dolphin Show?

Recently my 5-year-old started talking up the Dinosaurs Alive! exhibit at the Brookfield Zoo. By coincidence, I had just received a zoo membership offer that added four tickets ($20 value for four adults) to this temporary exhbit in addition to the regular family membership perks. So I thought, what the heck, this zoo membership thing has finally become a good enough deal for me.

Today we went to the zoo to celebrate Nutmeg's graduation from nursery school, and bought the membership. First off, I found out that the Dinosaurs Alive! passes are not offered to all new members -- you need the priority code from the mailing to get those (if you got a mailing, you can sign up online, by mail or by bringing it to the zoo).

Then, after I had charged the $101 Family Plus membership, I was told that the dolphin show is closed and they don't know when it will open again. So instead of four dolphin show tickets ($13 value), we were given two extra guest passes.

Now, the cashier pointed out that the two guest passes are actually worth $24, more than the $13 value of the four dolphin show passes. But ... we would have used the dolphin show passes. We already get to bring a free guest every time we go to the zoo, and I just don't see myself bringing eight additional people along to the zoo in a year's time, especially since many of the moms I know here in the western suburbs have their own zoo member cards.

The whole thing has me wondering if it really made any sense for us to buy a membership this year. Fortunately, we were able to get the free Dinosaurs Alive! tickets, or I would have been really regretting it. The zoo's promotional materials say a membership will pay for itself in just one visit, but that's assuming you have four people and you go to every single attraction in one day, including the dolphin show.

For us, a family of 2 adults, 1 paying kid and 1 free (under 3) kid, our visit today would have cost $45. ($53 if we'd paid to park, but parking on neighborhood streets near the zoo is VERY easy.) In the future, I'll probably visit the zoo without my husband but with a guest (another mom with an under-3 kid), and we'll probably visit the Hamill Family Play Zoo, with its $3 entry fee. So on my next visit, the pass will probably save another $44. Taking advantage of the free parking or the free tram ride tickets we received will push us past the "pays for itself mark."

So yes, I guess a zoo membership is STILL a good deal with no dolphin show. Still, I'm bummed that we won't get to see it this year. Fortunately, I have a mom friend with a membership to the Shedd, and she has guest passes too.