The Bronx Zoo’s Holiday Lights display glowed on Saturday night as families filled the grounds to explore a world of illuminated wildlife lanterns.
The exhibit is in the middle of its busy holiday season and is full of sights and activities for people who are looking for a holiday experience beyond Christmas trees and stockings.
The zoo has winding trails of illuminated animal kingdom inspired lanterns, delicious s’mores around an open fire, animal puppet shows and more.
As the sun goes down, guests are invited to see the glowing lights of huge lanterns, many which look just like the animals that already live at the zoo. There are six different trails lined with lanterns of glowing puffins, dolphins, giraffes and zebras.
Jim Baker was walking through a lantern trail full of oceanic creatures with his kids, five-year-old Maisie Clancy Baker and eight-year-old Alba Clancy Baker. Baker said that they come to see the zoo’s Holiday Lights every year from Brooklyn to meet friends and enjoy a fun, yet educational experience.
“Its a great way to enjoy the atmosphere of the holidays in the context of sea life and all kinds of stuff,” Baker said.
His eight-year old daughter, Alba Clancy Baker, was excited to share her favorite parts of the exhibit.
“My favorite part is the ocean,” Clancy Baker said. “But my favorite part of the ocean is the dolphins.”
In between the lantern trails, visitors had the option to stop and see a puppet show, have a virtual snowball fight, watch ice sculpture carving or slide down an ice slide.
Gina Talarico, manager of event programming for the Bronx Zoo said that the Holiday Lights exhibit was popular with visitors, but also a staff favorite, because they get to help families fulfill holiday wishes and create valuable memories.
“You don’t mind the cold and you don’t mind being outside at night because you know that you’re really here making the magic happen for our guests so that they can have a great memorable experience with their family and friends,” Talarico said.
She said that this year, the Zoo completely revamped its enchanted sea exhibit to become more immersive. The exhibit features projections and interactive floor graphics that Talarico said are meant to make visitors feel like they are truly under the sea. She said they also added some black light fish puppets that make it “fun and whimsical for kids.”
Children visiting Holiday Lights on Saturday took notice of the new and improved Enchanted Sea.
Eight-year-old Amelia Nieves told the Bronx Times that aside from the popcorn, she liked the fish puppets in the enchanted sea. Nieves’ brother David chimed in.
“It was like Nemo and a big fat fish,” Nieves said.
The kids went back and forth for about a minute debating whether the color of the “big fat fish” was purple, teal or beige. The sibling’s friend Alex Osborn, who was turning nine the next day, said that he also liked the enchanted sea exhibit the most, but preferred the interactive light graphics.
“You had to touch them and then they changed colors,” Osborn said.
There was also the new interactive zone, where kids lined up around a big ramp with inflatable tubes to rocket down the snow slide. There were two different slides, and at the top an assistant helped to push the riders over the threshold and down the big red and blue slide until they slowed and eventually stopped on the runway down below.
Kids and parents alike could also start a virtual snowball fight or take photos atop an illuminated ice throne.
Once families needed a break from the cold, they gathered around a handful of fireplaces and watched as children toasted marshmallows over the open flame. Once the marshmallow was properly browned, they retrieved graham crackers and chocolate from a Bronx Zoo employee to enjoy their homemade treat.
The Holiday Lights at the Bronx Zoo is open from 3 p.m., until the park closes at 9 p.m., and there are plenty of activities to keep the whole family busy. Guests arriving at 3 p.m., can also stop by live animal exhibits before they close at 4 p.m.
At 4:30 p.m., the park will feature a different kind of creature when the sun goes down and the lanterns start to glow.
Children’s’ tickets to Holiday Lights start at $26.95, while adult tickets start at $41.95. Flexible tickets that are good for any of the publicly available dates are offered at a premium rate at bronxzoo.com.
Reach Sadie Brown at sbrown@schnepsmedia.com or (214) 994-6723. For more coverage, subscribe to our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram!
