Little Explorers Mobile Petting Zoo

I guess we can add one more 5 starts review. My wife and I booked the Mobile Petting Zoo for our 4 years twins. We made them come to our sons’ pre school and it was great as they could also enjoy it with their friends. Cecily was very professional and follow up when needed. The service was great and there was plenty of animals. All the kids loved it especially our kids. They were on time and left a clean place after leaving. I already recommended them to all our friends.
Their price are also very reasonable

I really wanted to give 4.5 stars but that’s not an option. Little Explorers was great. They were booked solid but notified me of a cancellation as soon as it happened and slotted our son’s party in. The animals were really gentle, more or less clean and very friendly. Sad that the pig was banished after he dug up some of the lawn (we didn’t care), but the rest of the animals kept the kids busy (alpaca, goats, sheep, ducks, a ton of different rabbits, a tortoise, and fancy chickens). The animal wranglers were super nice, had a lot of facts about the animals, and were eager to help the kids. Clean up was pretty good — we did find some poop but it was kind of smushed into the grass so not surprising that is was overlooked. Recommend doing a poop walk through at the end if you are super concerned about that. Also, don’t cut your grass before the animals come. We did that and the animals seemed to like the grass so we should have just left it. Taking of a half a star because of the $ 32 travel fee. Seemed to be a hidden cost. Why not just include that in the price? Party in Pleasanton ended up being about $ 400.

i recently booked little explorers for my son’s 2^nd birthday in mid august. long story short, on the day of the event, they did not show up at the expected setup time. after about an hour of trying to reach someone, i finally got a hold of the owner. kris was very apologetic and explained that there was a scheduling error and they thought the birthday was on the next day. i had confirmed with cecily earlier in the week so i was extremely disappointed and frustrated bc we had 25 kids waiting for a petting zoo including my own very excited birthday boy and his sibling! not to mention it was 100 degrees out and one of the hottest days this summer! after some back and forth, kris ended up having her team come
out regardless (albeit almost 2 hours late and towards the end of the party) and fully refunded my deposit and did not charge me for coming out. in my eyes, she «righted» her wrong. the kids did end up loving the petting zoo and even though the guests were almost on their way out, they did get to enjoy it for a bit. we got the pictures we wanted and my boys were happy. that’s all that matters! im giving little explorers 4 stars despite of this mishap bc i 1) understand that mistakes happen and 2) they truly handed themselves well by «righting» their wrong and honoring their commitment. we see them annually at the los altos fall festival and have been impressed with their petting zoo, so we are still fans. that’s how i found them in the first place! i would still recommend them but make sure that you confirm the date and get a contact number for day of should you need to use it. thanks kris and team for coming out and honoring good customer service.

Little Explorers was amazing! We hired them for my daughter’s 4^th birthday party and we couldn’t have asked for a better experience. They were professional, punctual and everything about their visit was easy. The kids (ok, fine, and the adults) loved all of the animals. And they’re not kidding — after they’d left there was no sign that my lawn had been covered with animals!

I did not experience any of the problems others did with lack of response. I had a very easy time booking. We had over 100 kids and they were able to make it work. I like that hay was laid on floor of asphalt which not only helped keep animal waste off our parking lot but also kept their feet from scorching as it was 87 degrees out. Also they had large umbrellas. I liked the little touches like bringing hand sanitizer and requiring everyone to use it as they left. These little touches showed they cared for their animals and customers. They did a great job.

The nicest people around! We had them come to our Preschool during our «Barnyard Themed Week.» Tyler and Stephanie were amazing with all of our teachers and children. We absolutely loved all the animals that they brought. The animals looked clean and loved. We highly recommend them!

Had a wonderful experience with little explorers for my daughters’ birthday party this weekend! Great staff and very cute animals — they were a hit!

Used them for my son’s birthday party. Prompt and courteous. We communicated via email. Kris answered all my questions in plenty of time. Easy to work with. On day of party, they showed up on time and set up. Everyone had a blast and the best part, I didn’t have to clean up! They took care of everything! Will use again!

Little Explorers is wonderful! I had them at a preschool function and will definitely be booking them every time. The staff was excellent. They loved the animals, they were friendly and Knowledgable. And the animals!!! Oh the animals! They were so cute and seemed happy and well cared for. Such a great experience.

VERY DISAPPOINTED/​SAD when they cut off the line and let no more children into «zoo» when there were only 5 – 8 kids left waiting. Happened at @So Shore for their Easter weekend event. There were tears, but no tantrums and staff did NOT seem at all sympathetic. We arrived well before posted end time.

Be very careful about relying on this woman even after she’s returned your email and given you a date. When I asked for an address to send the deposit she disappeared and I haven’t heard from her since: no information, no reasons, just silence. Be careful of her bait and switch communication. Better to just be honest.

Was so excited to use Little Explorers for our daughter’s 3^rd birthday this year, but after 3 – 4 un-​responded emails and multiple calls to get the owner to give us info to pay the deposit via PayPal to secure our party date (not sure why she wasn’t more on top of booking and receiving some «income»), I gave up and chose to go with Little Red’s Barnyard instead. Little Reds may not have the quantity of different species, but the owner called me back, was sweet as can be and booked my party the very same day! Wish Little Explorers customer service was better… I didn’t want to deal with unpredictability in booking or what not… I am sure they bring one heck of a zoo though and that is what I am most bummed about.

Fabulous for a 5^th birthday party!
Baby goals, piglets, an alpaca, ducks, bunnies, they have it all.
This company is professional, treats their animals great (from what I can tell), nice handlers who set up and clean up. I have seen them at Stanford Mall and other larger venues, they were a great backyard zoo, too.
Highly recommended.

Loved their work they had come home for my daughters bday and they did an awesome job. It rained slightly but thet were all prepared with umbrellas and tents to avoid the kids and animals getting wet.

Great experience! Hired them for my daughters 7^th birthday party and it was a hit with the kids and parents. No hidden costs, they were very professional in the booking and planning. Set-​up and the management of the animals during the party was awesome.
Communication was a little bare bones (something I note in other reviews). If they just did a little more proactive communication I think this would be a perfect service (e.g. call a few days before and confirm all of the details, a quick contact day of to confirm arrival time).

I love Little Explorers but it’s very disappointing that they don’t call you back after several phone calls and emails. It is much better customer service if you just return a call and say «sorry we’re not available.» I waited and waited and now I have no entertainment for a party because I waited for their call that never came.

My daughter was invited to a birthday party where these animals and their caretakers were the special guests, and I didn’t want to leave :-). If your child is an animal lover I would highly recommend. My new BFF is a goat named Molly. SO sweet!

We had Little Explorers over for our kid’s birthday party and it was so amazing. They very much care for the animals and the animals wee solo sweet and loved the petting. The area was kept clean and they provided hand sanitizer which is important with kids.
I used another petting zoo after Little Explorers because the other zoo had a pony and it was a mess in many ways. No one pet the animals because hey were cranky and dirty. LE zoo was clean and the animals were sweet and calm. I’m always going to use LE for my kids’ parties. i’m looking forward to the next one!

Wow wow wow!!! Little Explorers came to our house for our son’s 2^nd birthday party today, and we were blown away by their professionalism, promptness, and quality. First, their booking process was extremely professional, especially compared to the other companies out there. I contacted about seven petting zoo companies. Many never called me back or didn’t service my area. One company didn’t call me back for several days, then said they could come, then didn’t respond for several days. Kris with Little Explorers was on the ball and did her best to get my date in. She sent me information about the process in advance and took a deposit. This gave me so much peace of mind. (Reviews for another company I contacted said that that company failed to show up on the schedule day without any notice. I did NOT want a bunch of disappointed kids and adults and my son’s birthday party!)
I didn’t need to worry with Little Explorers. They came to set up half an hour before our party was supposed to start and stayed the full two hours, maybe even a bit longer. They brought a ton of animals (bunnies, adult and baby goats, ducks, a little pig, chickens, a tortoise, an alpaca, and sheep). All of the animals were healthy, clean, well-​cared for, and totally friendly and calm even with both toddlers and adults in the petting zoo area. There were two handlers supervising the animals at all times, and they were very patient and kind. They did a great job cleaning up (which was a lot of work since they had to lay hay down on the concrete). Everyone – adults and kids – had a great time. I’m not sure how I’m going to top this for next year’s party. Might have to hire Little Explorers again!

We just had Little Explorers Petting Zoo for our (you guessed it) «2×2 Noah’s Ark» birthday party. While we did experience a little back and forth with scheduling (I had to follow up a couple times) once we booked the date, it was smooth sailing from there.
The animals were friendly and adorable and the handlers were exceptionally patient and calm, in spite of all the over-​excited toddlers. Everyone was really impressed with the number and variety of animals that attended the party. They cleaned up extremely well — I walked the grass after they left and couldn’t find much more than a stray piece of straw. I was also impressed that they suggested a shorter visit than the three hours I originally requested. Chris mentioned that 2 hours would be about the amount of time that the kids would be interested in visiting the animals and she was exactly right. By the time they were ready to pack up, all the kids had had their fill and had moved on to other party activities.
Finally, the reviews about the dirty animals crack me up — these are FARM animals people, not dogs and cats. Yes, they are a little smelly and yes they have a little dirt on their fur, but they do roll in the mud as animals should. The animals seemed well treated and looked healthy and happy.
All in all, a great choice.