Open-Air Safari @ The Wilds / Weasel Boy Brewing

Summary

For this event, we will do the Open-Air Safari at The Wilds, a ten-thousand acre conservation center in Muskingum County. It is the largest such center in North America and one of the largest in the entire world.

During this tour, we'll get up close and personal with wildlife in a customized tour bus built for adventure. Trained safari guides will share facts about rare and endangered animals, like rhinos and giraffe, as they roam, feed, and play.

The date and time of this tour

We will be doing the 12:30 p.m. Open-Air Safari on Saturday, August 29. The tour will last about two and a half hours.

There's a half-hour break mid-tour where we'll have access to restrooms, a water fountain, and snacks at the Carnivore Center's Terrace Grill.

What you need to do to attend

Signing up here on Meetup will not get you into The Wilds for the tour. You must go out to The Wilds' website and buy a ticket.

Please purchase your ticket, then sign up here on Meetup so I know how many to expect.

Attendance cap

There are 30 total slots/tickets available for this tour. (The Open-Air Safaris are the biggest tours The Wilds runs.) As I obviously have already bought one of the tickets, that leaves 29 spaces for everyone else.

If you are interested in this event, I urge you to buy a ticket at The Wilds' website as soon as possible. Since their website is obviously public, nothing prevents other people having nothing to do with GOhio! from buying their own tickets, thereby potentially taking an available slot away from you.

Additional notes on attendance

I have now run several events at The Wilds. While the location of The Wilds and the pricing of the tickets generally leads to small turnouts, the people who have gone have all enjoyed it and were glad they went.

If you've never been to The Wilds and you like zoos or animals at all, you are likely to find any tour at The Wilds to be a rewarding experience.

Tickets and pricing

Tickets for this tour are normally $49. However, if you're a member of The Wilds (I am), then this tour is free. Also, if you're a Columbus Zoo member (but not a member of The Wilds), then tickets for this tour are half-off, or $24.50.

Wilds' memberships pay for themselves if you go to The Wilds at least twice a year, and Columbus Zoo members get a discount on memberships to The Wilds. I will always run at least two events a year at The Wilds.

Tickets for all Wilds' tours must be purchased at least 24 hours in advance of the actual tour. You can't just show up "day of" and buy a ticket.

I've posted a screen shot, below, to help you be sure you're buying a ticket for the correct event.

Parking

The Wilds has two parking areas. The "standard" parking option is a large graveled parking lot at the bottom of the hill just as you enter The Wilds from International Rd.

A shuttle takes you from this lot to the Overlook, gift shop, and check-in buildings at the top of the hill. It's not a long ride; if someone put a gun to your head, you could walk it if you had to. But you'd probably prefer not to.

This standard parking option is normally $9. However, if you are a Wilds' member, standard parking is free.

There is also a small parking lot at the top of the hill next to the aforementioned buildings. This is The Wilds' "premium" parking option, and it is $30 (even for Wilds' members).

I personally usually select premium parking because I like having ready access to my car, but there's really nothing wrong with their standard parking, and I have parked in the standard lot before.

You do, however, need to allow a few minutes for the shuttle to get you to the top of the hill, then a few more minutes to walk to the building where you go to check in. Even if you select premium parking, you still have to walk a couple minutes to get to the check-in window.

Cancellations and refunds

Per The Wilds' Cancellation Policy: In order to be eligible for refund and accrue no rescheduling fees, cancellations must be made at least 14 days in advance of reservation. Cancellations made within 14 days of reservation will not receive a refund.

You may contact The Wilds at (740) 638-5030 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., or you can email them at information@thewilds.org. As long as you're giving them sufficient notice, you won't have any trouble should you need to seek a refund. They're generally nice people to deal with.

Waiver of liability

After you purchase your ticket, you may be asked to fill out a waiver of liability. This is a very short document and should take you no more than two minutes to complete.

Where we'll meet

We will meet at The Wilds, whose actual address is 14000 International Rd, Cumberland, OH 43732.

Please try to at least be in the parking lot absolutely no later than 12:00 p.m. (if not earlier). Assuming you elect for the "standard" parking, while there is a shuttle, it's not instantaneous. There's only one shuttle bus, and you may have to wait a few minutes for it to come back down the hill to pick you up.

Also, regardless of where you elect to park, when you first pull in to The Wilds, they have a small booth where you do a preliminary "parking" check-in. While there's not normally an issue here, I swear it's always the same old guy working in the booth. He's nice, but fairly inefficient even in the best of times, and last year there was a line like I've never seen before. I don't know if someone misplaced his Metamucil, but you probably want to allow a couple minutes to compensate just in case.

Think of this as though you're going to the airport to catch a flight. It helps to be on time.

The Wilds generally asks that people arrive at least thirty minutes before the scheduled start time of their tour. As I mentioned in the Parking section, above, there's an unavoidable time delay to get from the standard parking lot to the check-in window, or even from the premium parking lot to this window.

Please be on time! The tour bus will leave without you if you're late!

GPS / Getting to The Wilds

The Wilds is in a very rural area, but I've never had a problem getting there with my GPS (I have Verizon). I've also uploaded a JPG map, below, of Muskingum County.

Sometimes, though, it's hard to get a signal when you're at The Wilds and getting ready to leave. So you might want to consider downloading an offline map in Google Maps. Your cell phone should pick up a signal, however, within a few minutes after you leave.

The Wilds' Visitor Center does have free Wi-Fi.

Carpooling?

If you want to carpool, I recommend discussing this in the comments, below, to this event. While I don't myself carpool, I will do what I can to help you arrange something if I can.

The weather

Dress for the weather. Wilds' tours typically run rain or shine.

Binoculars?

You don't need binoculars for this tour, but if you have some you like, you might not be sorry if you brought them. I usually bring mine.

After the safari

For those that are interested, we'll stop at Zanesville's highly rated Weasel Boy Brewing Co. The brewery is a half hour from The Wilds, but it should be on the way back to Columbus for most of us. It opens at 4 p.m.

Weasel Boy has an in-house menu of pizzas, salads, and soup as well. The pizza is very good, and the brewery has an outdoor patio with a great view of the Muskingum River.

Weasel Boy's actual address is 126 Muskingum Ave, Zanesville, OH 43701. If you live in the area and can't make The Wilds but want to come out to the brewery, we'd love to see you!