Christmas at the Zoo

A magical place to visit during the holiday season!Penguin encounters, reindeer, visit Mr and Mrs claus -- what more can you ask for! The lights and fake snow (I think it's bubbles?) are also spectacular. Love the spiked hot chocolate with 'shmallow from hotel tango.Note: at night, most of the animals will be asleep. Don't expect to see the usual suspects out and about. Personally, I would skip the train ride. It's loud and a little lack luster compared to the rest of the lights around the zoo.

We visited on an unseasonably warm Saturday night after Christmas this year, and on our arrival at about 7:30PM a lot of the early arrivals were leaving and so we snagged a prime parking spot, and the crowds were not bad! We enjoyed a leisurely stroll around and all the lights were still working nicely on December 28 which was a big improvement over our sad experience 2 years ago on an after Christmas visit. The lights were beautiful and they do seem to add some every year. There were still some long-ish lines for the light tunnel and mirror maze, so we skipped those, but the crowds were definitely much lighter than my pre-Christmas visit last year. This will definitely stay on our list of holiday activities!

I'm not sure when Christmas at the Zoo actually started, however, I am sure of the fact that despite being a lifelong Indy resident I've never actually made it to the holiday experience. Finally, I can say I've been here. Okay, I looked it up. The Indianapolis Zoo was the first zoo in the nation to do a holiday light event. It started in 1967 and has definitely continued to grow. Highlights? Santa's Village is a wonder. You can visit Santa or arrange to visit vacation Santa. White River Gardens is also all decked out and part of Santa's Village. You can meet characters like Jack Frost and Ice Princess. You can visit Mrs. Claus' kitchen and help decorate cookies. She sticks around until December 30th, though you probably shouldn't tell Santa. You can go to Santa's Barn and visit his reindeer. Polar Pathway is great for photo ops and, yes, selfies. There's story time with Sprinkles and Holly that occurs nightly outside Cafe on the Commons. From 6-8pm, you can have a penguin encounter (weather and animal dependent). Tinsel Tavern will appeal to the adults with Hotel Tango spirits and wines from Daniel's Vineyard. For silly fun, Mirror Maze is a blast. Plus, there are simply lights galore (Honestly? My favorite part.). Christmas at the Zoo has long been recognized by USA Today as one of the top five holiday light events in the country. It's included in Zoo membership and is open until 10pm on Fridays/Saturdays (amazing date night not that I remember dating).Christmas at the Zoo features 100 percent LED energy-efficient lights and displays and the zoo even offers free holiday Christmas light recycling. There's so much more I could say. This was a blast and I honestly had as much fun watching families experience it. So much to enjoy. So much fun. It's a great date night or a perfect family experience. This is definitely one of Indy's holiday highlights and I definitely recommend it.

I'd never been to Christmas at the Zoo before and it was really fun and well done. There is plenty to see and do. Obviously the lights and animals but also caroler's, meet Santa & reindeer, Mrs Claus and her kitchen etc. A little advance planning will be helpful. If possible skip the weekend. We went Sat. night and it was busy. The parking lot was almost full when we got there at 6. Buy tickets online. Know what animal shows you want to see so you can pick time early. The dolphin shows are popular so get in-line about 20 minutes early. Be ready to stand in line for everything from purchasing drinks to getting on the train to pics with Santa. Know that for the evening tickets you won't see all the animals and some are more active than others. Bring your patience the zoo does a really great job with this event. Dress warm!!

Christmas at the zoo is always a fun Christmas-y thing to do here in Indy! Right now they have an arctic fox exhibit and oh my it was soo cute! Definitely a highlight of our zoo tripWe arrived at 3:30 and it was awesome because it wasn't super busy yet. We planned to see all the animals while it was still light outside and then we could enjoy the Christmas lights right as the sun went down around 5:30. I would definitely recommend doing this because the lines to go into the indoor exhibits got longer as the night went on. The last exhibit we wanted to go in was the oceans one and we were in line for 45+ minutes!! That's when it started to get busy around 5:15pm. If you want to skip the lines definitely go earlier in the day. As far as COVID goes, the lines were long because they only let a certain number of people inside at each exhibit. This was good to help with social distancing. Most people were wearing their masks 24/7 inside the zoo so I felt very safe.

A beautifully lit up winter wonder land with the cutest animals. To experience this seasonal treat you must go at night. I must say it's different at night at the zoo but fun to see all of the lights-there's so many colors everywhere! They do have animal exhibits to see and some inside to get out of the cold. We happened to go on a calm winter day so it was very tolerable. I especially loved seeing the reindeer and their huge antler racks. One was even expecting a baby and the representative with them helped to answer our questions and we learned a lot. They only carry 1 calf at a time and it takes approx 210-240 days to birth one. They are born with velvet covered antlers that is eventually shed. Females are territorial and will fight for dominance and use their antlers. Antlers can be broken off and or shed which does not hurt them. Christmas at the zoo is a great experience I'd recommend. They even had penguins on display that some got the chance to interact with.

It was a wonderful time me and my family had we had so much fun visiting Santa and mrs . Claus we had fun in the mirror maze and the hot chocolate was delicious.

I read somewhere that Christmas at the Zoo is rated a Top Ten zoo lights attractions in the country, and I think they are right. The Indianapolis Zoo does a great job of decorating the entire grounds with festive lights. I don't think you can wander anywhere without feeling the sights and sounds of Christmas.Having the Bicentennial Pavilion available is a game changer. The Santa's Village is located here with a variety of activities. You can visit Santa, check out the reindeers and penguins, and walk through the Tunnel of Lights. Additional concession stands are also available. In general, having the pavilion provides a reprieve from the elements during cold weather.Due to capacity limits, expect to wait in line to visit indoor attractions such as dolphins, aquarium, and desert. The event seems to be most crowded during the first couple of hours. If you can stick around a bit you can have a quieter stroll in the final hour or so. If you are not a zoo member, be prepared to pay for parking when you arrive.Christmas at the Zoo is worth the visit, I recommend doing it at least once or make it an annual tradition if you would like.

I went back to Christmas at the Zoo in 2018 for the first time in a few years and was super impressed with the changes they've made! As always, guests are free to wander the open exhibits (Waters, Forest, Dolphin pavillion, etc. - basically everything but the Plains) and see light displays throughout. The zoo has stepped up their game with light shows to sound, similar to Newfields Winterlights (but not nearly as sophisticated). The big difference is the Santa Village in the Bicentennial Plaza near the entrance. You can meet live reindeer, see Santa's workshop, get hot cocoa, visit the mistletoe gazebo, go through a snowflake funhouse mirror maze and see the pretty blue light tunnel. This area adds to the experience.My advice: go early around 5 p.m. or later when most kids have gone home as the line gets backed up on the weekends, sometimes all the way out to Victory Field! Or wait until post Christmas and the crowds aren't as bad, but it's still just as magical.

Christmas at the zoo is always fun however, there will be long lines and lots of crowds. Not many animals were out compared to the summer months but it is still nice to see all the lights.