I recently paid a return visit to Happy Hollow Park & Zoo in San Jose, California. Unlike the chaos immediately after opening week, the park’s operations were more settled this time around. The crowds were smaller, the lines were shorter, and the rides turned around a lot faster. All the hiccups that were evident during the previous visit were gone. I actually enjoyed this visit a lot.

One noticeable difference from last time is that Happy Hollow had fenced off some of the metal sculptures that appeared in the entrance and throughout the park. A sign posted on the fences warned of hot temperatures. Kids just love climbing on top of the cute animal sculptures, and I guess someone must have gotten burned from those sculptures baking under the hot sun.

I was also able to get on the Danny the Dragon ride this time. The line was much shorter, so we did not have to wait too long to get a seat. The weather was much cooler so that waiting in line was not so unbearable.

When lunch time rolled around, I found it difficult to find an empty picnic area. Last time, Happy Hollow had a lot of empty picnic tables available for general use. However, this time, most of the picnic areas were booked, so we ended up at an area by the food court. We didn’t see anything in the outlying areas open to the general public.