Winston Wildlife Safari in Oregon

Growing up, I never knew the Winston wildlife safari existed, let alone was only 3 hours from us. We never did much traveling unless our grandparents planned it. So my husband and I make sure we do things with our daughter so that she can have great memories and experiences with us to look back on.

After I purchased the Groupon for Winston Wildlife Safari, my husband and I decided we should just make a weekend of it since it would be a long drive there and back in one day. So we planned our stay at the Seven Feathers Casino Resort in Canyonville, Oregon as it was only about 25 minutes south of the safari.

Seven Feathers Casino and Resort

Has a pool/hot tubs/sauna, nicely updated rooms, a spa, an arcade, plenty of restaurants and cafes on site. It was almost like I was back in Vegas! I figured with all of these amenities at Seven Feathers Casino and Resort, we’d probably have the best time spending our weekend there.

The first night we arrived, checked in, and then found a grocery store to pick up some snacks. It was an actual Dollar General store. Didn’t think they had any in the state, but I guess we just had to go further south to see one. I was kind of excited about that since I see tons of people posting about Dollar General deals and campaign managers looking for people nearby one. Unfortunately, there isn’t any in the vicinity of me. /tears

After we picked up our snacks and water, we headed back to the hotel and decided we should probably find something to eat for dinner. They had the option of a steakhouse, a cafe restaurant, and a buffet. There was one other option, but it was more of a bar, so we went to the buffet since my daughter is picky and I figure she would possibly eat something out of the options there.

We noticed we’d save $5 each off the buffet price if we went and got casino club cards so that’s what we did. Any money we can save makes me a happy camper! It was quick and easy and well worth it since you get a discount at their gas station, gift store, and what have you.

The buffet was decent for buffet food. My husband liked the prime rib and I liked the fried rice and the spicy mango salsa salmon.  There were plenty of dessert choices as well. I think my daughter was on a sugar high from eating a partial peanut butter brownie, chocolate chip cookie, and huckleberry ice cream.  But boy, was she in heaven!

After dinner, I decided I should go to the gift shop and get a swim diaper so we can go release some energy in the pool and get a workout from all of the food we just ate. I was hesitant that she would like the pool since she doesn’t care for hers too much anymore at home. But, she loved this one and didn’t want to leave. It was heated though, so that’s probably why.

The next morning, we went and ate breakfast at the cafe downstairs, which was okay. Then we headed off to the safari.

Winston Wildlife Safari

The Winston Wildlife Safari is a drive-thru safari, so I made sure to bring my DSLR camera and 75-300mm lens since I figured I may not be able to see them as well from the car if they’re out roaming around on acreage. My daughter enjoyed sitting up front with both of us and getting to steer the car. They say to only go 10 mph, so we were being safe of course. And they recommend rolling up the windows if any animals try to stick their heads in your car outside of the feeding area. We only had one instance where a bird came up and wanted food, but it was cool to be that up close and personal. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a shot of that since I had my big zoom lens on my camera.

I was hoping to see cats being able to roam around outside of a cage, but I guess you just never know when they may snap on people or the other animals. Better to be safe than sorry I guess.

They mentioned that if you see the rhinos on the road to give them space. They were passed out on a hill. It would have been cool to see them up close though.

This fella decided to stop and pose for the camera with his tongue out. As soon as he heard my camera click, he continued on walking. It was so cute and funny!

This bear looked like it was losing its winter coat and taking a nap under a log cover since it had been raining.

The elephants were far away and behind bars so I couldn’t get a great photo of them without all of that junk in the way.

His beady red eyes were kind of creepy. Mean mugging me while I snapped his photo.

This was the feeding area. This particular deer decided he was going to munch down the entire cup we paid $5 for. lol

These are white deer even though to me, they kind of look like shaved sheep.

They have a world class cheetah breeding program at Winston Wildlife Safari. So far, 210 cheetahs have been born at the park, making it the 2nd most successful center on Earth.

They also have an inside area with other animals and even a kiddie petting zoo with goats, a donkey, and mini ponies.

My daughter loved this little cotton-top tamarin monkey. She thought it was the funniest, smallest thing ever!

I wished we would have done one of the excursions, but it began pouring and they had canceled the train rides because of the weather. We’ll return in a couple years so we’ll try it then!