Earlier today my family and I went to the Bronx Zoo, which is located just north of New York City. We heard about their Halloween theme activities, affectionately known as Boo at the Zoo.
Some of the fun Halloween activities and attractions include a Haunted Habitat, Music & Magic, crafts, pumpkin carving, a haunted hayride, maze and more fun things to see and do. In addition to Boo at the Zoo, when you buy 4 or more tickets you will receive a limited edition Boo at the Zoo snake hat for FREE! Plus children 12 and under who wear a Halloween costume will get free general admission with the purchase of an adult general admission. I have to say there were plenty of little ghouls, gobblins, princesses and pirates all over the park. Even some adults were wearing Halloween costumes.
I love going to the Bronx Zoo. I love animals of all shapes and sizes. Some of my favorites include the Tigers and Lions.
The zoo had three baby tigers (one is pictured above). It was fun to watch them romp and play. One tiger had a pumpkin that he was chewing on and tossing around like it was a ball.
A couple of the adult tigers came right up to the viewing window. I wish I could have reached out and pet one.
One of the first Boo at the Zoo attractions we went to was the Haunted Habitat. The attraction is not scary, at least in my opinion. There were toddlers in the group my family was in and not one of them was scared. Maybe a child who is easily frightened and not keen on dark places might not feel too comfortable in the Haunted Habitat, but I think for the most part it will be enjoyable for all children. Plus when you leave you get a sweet treat (candy!).
One attraction I think that the little ones will enjoy is the maze. It’s located near the Butterfly House attraction. The maze features a maze made out of bales of hay and some non-scary Halloween decorations such as over sized spiders and a giant blow up pumpkin.
We didn’t have a chance to watch the Music & Music attraction. My kids were starving and wanted to go and grab a bite to eat. We did however have a chance to watch some master pumpkin carvers at work which was pretty cool (not to mention I love the huge pumpkins).
Near where you can watch the pumpkin carving there is an arts & crafts area set up for the kids. I think that is a wonderful idea. Also in that general area they had a place where you can roast marshmallows and make your own S’mores. We meant to go back and do that but we totally forgot before we left.
One attraction we were looking forward to was the hayride. We arrived at the zoo at 10:00 AM when they opened their doors, and the Halloween attractions all started at 11:00 AM. We were at the Haunted Habitat when the doors opened. By the time we made our way down to the hayride there was a huge line. We waited for a bit but then my kids got restless and wanted to go.
If you plan on going on the hayride you might want to do that first, especially close to 11:00 AM before there are any crowds. It looked like fun and we’re sorry that we missed it.
The whole zoo was decorated with a Fall/Halloween theme. There were plenty of pumpkins, Autumn flowers and corn husks to be found. While you are there make sure to look up in the trees too. You’ll never know what might be dangling over your head, like giant spiders. 🙂
I love how they decorated the zoo. It was fun and non-scary.
I thought the tombstones for animals that are extinct were interesting. Whom ever came up with that idea was genius. It was interesting to learn a little bit about the extinct animals and when was the last time they were seen. It’s so sad that these creatures are no longer with us.
Of course it wouldn’t be a zoo without an abundance of beautiful and amazing creatures. I love animals so I truly enjoyed visiting each and every building and animal habitat. Here are just a few pictures that I took (I took A LOT of pictures).
We had an unexpected surprise today too. Aside from the fact we bumped into former neighbors of ours which was really nice (a blogger friend of mine was also at the zoo today too), we saw a pure black squirrel just running about. He was not part of any exhibit. It was just a wild squirrel, similar to the gray squirrels that were running about. We’ve never seen a pure black squirrel before. I tried to take it’s picture but it was too fast for me and my camera.
The zoo is a wonderful place to go with your entire family. It’s a lot of fun to see animals we might not otherwise be fortunate enough to see in their nature habitat. It’s also great to learn more about these amazing creatures as well as what is being done to help protect them.
The Boo at the Zoo event is a fun way to celebrate the holiday in a non-scary (and educational) way.
Boo at the Zoo is held every weekend (Sat. & Sun.) until October 28, 2012.
For more information about the Bronx Zoo visit www.BronxZoo.com. You can also find them on Facebook (www.Facebook.com/BronxZoo) and on Twitter (@TheBronxZoo).
For ticket information or purchases visit https://tickets.wcs.org/mainstore.asp?vid=0&cid=1036.
Kimberly
*As a Bronx Zoo ambassador I received compimentary membership in order to visit and do this review. There was no compensation. The opinions expressed are my own and are not influenced in any way.
Noel MacNeal says
There is also the musical puppet adventure “Who Put the Trick in Trick-Or-Treat: Tales of Amazing Tricksters”, the show I created for the zoo and playing all BOO AT THE ZOO weekends at the Asia stage; 12:30PM, 1:30PM, and 2:30PM. Come back and see it!
Cheers!