Glowfari

Last year, I said it would be my last year because it started to feel underwhelming. BUT, I take it back because they outdid themselves this year!My friends and I have been attending glowfari ever since our families have been growing with little humans, so the last 5 years. We usually get tickets earlier in the season before it gets too hectic. We arrive early for some rides, picture with Santa, and then enter the zoo for the lights.We started off with the same schedule this year, but unfortunately it started to rain on us as we were waiting to take pictures with Santa. Which by the way, the santa section has been improving every year! Good thing we were able to get a 'rain check' (haha) to come back another day in hopes of no rain. We opted for a later date past the holidays again to avoid the crowd.We almost let the tickets go to waste without asking if we could get a refund or reschedule because we thought it was a done deal. Glad that we were able to get to see it in the end because this year might be the BEST Glowfari light display, in my opinion, since we have been coming.

What a wonderful family outing! I took my 17-month-old son, and he had an absolute blast! The light displays were incredible, and the interactive activities and bubbles made the experience even more magical. We ended the night with a scenic train ride where we even got to see a kangaroo--such a unique touch!The only downside was the long wait for the train and the frustrating wait for the gondola elevator. Unfortunately, only one elevator was working, which slowed things down quite a bit.Overall, it was a great experience for families, and we'll definitely be back. Hopefully, they address the elevator issue soon!

Try to go early to avoid linesAlways such a blastThey change up the lighting designs every year Great for all agesOakland zoo is hugeRiding the lift is always fun

Wow this evening holiday experience was nothing short of amazing! We booked tickets for a 6pm entry on New Year's Day since I only found out about this in December and tickets were already sold out for most weekends. Figured the crowd would be less after the long break, and we were spot on as we got to see everything within 1.5 hours with our little dumpling in tow. Parking was also free, which was nice because it's normally $16 when purchased on site (or $13+ $2 processing fee online) during their daytime operating hours. Y'all know I love me some free parking, it's also my second favorite spot on monopoly after passing go. Actually, maybe chillen in Jail for a few rounds works too, y'all can bankrupt me there!We loved that the zoo went all out on the setup of lanterns in every section of the park, especially the Nile River section. Tons of families were here and the kids all enjoyed it with much excitement. The gondola was spacious and luckily the queues were either short or nonexistent when we got to it. We skipped the train ride since it's outside of the zoo and had a 30 min queue and was a bit too cold for us anyway. Overall 10/10 would go again, and I heard the setup of animals are slightly different each year! Book tickets early since they do sell out for more popular days / weekends!

This year's theme was amazing!! There we dinosaurs, a whole barn full of chickens and pigs, and Egyptian tombs. Absolutely beautiful and breathtaking especially for the kids. We even saw the baby giraffe. Looking forward to next year.

Highly recommend!! We took our son as his Christmas gift and it was sooooo worth it. Grab friends or for a date night especially if you have kids!

Looove this exhibit! This was my second year with my friends and we liked that they switched up the themes so it wasn't the same as last year. I really enjoyed everything this year, especially the dinosaurs. Keep in mind the tickets sell out pretty quickly but well worth it to book ahead. I think the price is super fair too for what you get and they offer free parking, score! They also have food and drink offerings so you can grab a meal while you're there. I think the whole operations of this exhibit is great, easy to get around to each area, plenty of bathrooms are open and snack offerings throughout. And everyone that works there is nice and friendly. My only criticism is in the front there seemed to be some crumbled up food on the floor near the Glowfari sign where everyone is taking a picture and having food on the floor isn't ideal. Would be nice if someone was cleaning up this area more. I highly recommend this exhibit but get your tickets asap!

When your cousin wants to take her 1 year old to Glowfari and ask a bunch of 30 year olds if they want to go with.. I mean, sure why not? But expectations weren't high because what do you mean I'm not going to see real animals and only lanterns? Okay, well, shut me up because this was actually a really cool experience. As everyone says, buy your tickets early because this will sell out!Parking is free which was great. I wish they had someone directing you where to park in the parking lot, though, because it was dimly lit and so we were following the car in front not knowing how far in we were going to be. They scan your tickets at check in and you can grab a map on the way in.For the most part this was fun to walk through. The lanterns they have throughout the park were very cool and I couldn't help but wonder how they set up a giant pyramid. The Gondola ride is part of your admission and you can take it up to the mountain and see dinosaurs.If I had to complain, I think their online food system can use a tweak. I had ordered ahead of time online and was told I'd get a text when my order was ready and never got one nor did it give me a wait time estimate.

First time at the Oakland Zoo and it was a great experience. The lights are so intricate and the gondola ride was super fun. Wished we got there a bit earlier to also enjoy all the animals at the zoo while there was daylight. Favorite area was the Egyptian themed area. Such magnificent displays. If the lights in certain areas change up every year it would be worthwhile to revisit.

I've been coming to Glowfari since it began several years ago, replacing the old school zoo lights at the Oakland Zoo. It's become increasing popular and hard to get in, so plan ahead. What's nice, is that it's open well in to January, and some years, I wait until then so I have something to look forward to after the holidays.Tickets must be purchased online.As for the displays, it just gets more and more epic each year with different nature and animals themed giant lanterns. You can ride the gondolas up and see epic nighttime bay views as well as an upper level display. On the lower level, there are several walk through themed displays which change yearly.The children's rides area is also open, with train rides and Santa.The crowds can be a bit insane but weeknights are slightly easier to navigate (but not by much.)I love this event so much and it's a necessary part of my holiday traditions.Inclement weather does cause them to close and refund your tickets. So, it's a rainy few weeks,'it gets harder to get tickets and reschedule.Overall the staff does an excellent job of managing the crowds and everyone seems to be in awe and enjoying themselves. Well done, Oakland Zoo.