Looks like the Central Park Zoo is on my list now, too.

At the Zoo, un-Dora-fied.

My family has always teased me for putting place after place on my list. Rude to me at the local dry cleaners? Cut-off. Bad meal from the diner? Cut-off.

But, in my defense, if I love a place I totally spread the word and am incredibly loyal. It's not coincidence that six other members of my family use my dentist (and my father in law is a dentist) and just as many get their hair done at my hair salon.

But I digress.

I do have a list. And it is lengthy. And I wish I didn't have to add another place to it, but I do. And that place is the Central Park Zoo. Because they are now as Dora-fied as the Bronx Zoo, which had already earned its own spot on my list a few months back.

Cutting-off the Central Park Zoo will put a total damper on our family's usual Merry Zoo Day celebrations. But a person has to stand for something in this world. And I may be a lazy activist, but I'm not completely lazy. I do have a few principles. And one of those is that public zoos shouldn't show a Dora and Diego movie pretty much just because Nickelodeon paid them too. (Yes, I understand that budget issues mean that zoos really need this money.)

And if someone from the Wildlife Conservation Society is reading this... I would love to buy tickets to the zoo and come back. And my kids would love to even more.

Don't let Nickelodeon own you. Tell Nickelodeon that Dora and Diego will have to catch that robot butterfly somewhere else. Like the Children's Museum of Manhattan. (Yes, it's Dora-fied, too. And yes, also cut-off.)

If the Dora-fication of cherished children's places bothers you too, please support the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood. They have an anonymous donor matching gifts until June 30, 2011 so now is a perfect time to make a donation and to make a real difference in the lives of children.

Dora and Diego have taken over not only the Bronx Zoo and the Central Park Zoo here in New York City, but also the NC Zoos, the Cincinnati Zoo, the Detroit Zoo, and I'm sure there are more, too. With zoo experiences like this, maybe the kids should just stay home and play the Zoo Tycoon games instead.