ZooTampa: Creatures of the Night during the Day

 

Can you still enjoy the Creatures of the Night theming around ZooTampa without going to the night time event? After spending a Saturday afternoon at the Zoo I can say “Yes! You can!” I call it Creatures of the Night Day

There are 3 reasons you might want to visit during the daytime:

1. You do not want to participate in the scare zones, but still want to experience the theming
2.  You want to prepare your children ahead of time for the scare zones and other changes to the zoo.
3. You are visiting and Creatures of the Night does not fit into your schedule because it is only on the weekends

The decorations are incorporated throughout the entire park. It was fun to guess what I might see when I come back at night based on the decorations. Many of the Habitats had Jack o’ Lanterns and each one I saw had a different face carved into it. There are walls throughout the park that are fun photo backgrounds. When I arrived around noon, there were animal characters dressed in Halloween outfits taking pictures with children near the entrance. There is a giant troll that sits above the walkway that dips under the Safari road and leads to the back of the park. I thought he was simply a statue, but when I walked by at 3:30 he was moving and talking.

The Shoes are giving Wizard of Oz

I, too, would be silently screaming if I was in a box with snakes

The Scare zones have a 3 pumpkin rating system

1.    Great for all ages.
2.    Some jumps and scares. Good for most groups, but you may experience some eerie encounters.
3.    Eeriest of the areas. May be too intense for some of the younger creatures in your group.

Sacre Zone guide in front one of the scare zones

Some of the Scare Zones are simply walkways during the day. This gives families an opportunity to walk through in the daylight and mentally and emotionally prepare children for what they will experience at night. The Manatee building is one of the scare zones and features statues on a box along the path. At night some of the statues are actually actors, by walking through in the day you can spot the boxes that will hold an actor. Several years ago, my family walked through while my niece was small and the actors recognized that there was a small child in our group and did not scare us. We appreciated that because the area was rated for older kids at the time, but my niece wanted to see the fish and manatees. The night we went was not busy and there was not another group near us, so that helped the actors recognize that a small child was in the scare zone.

Sitting on the Siren's Throne

An empty box where an actor will stand during Creatures of The Night 

The walkway under the safari ride that leads to the back half of the park is a Scare Zone rated 2 pumpkins. If you are trying to avoid scare zones above 1 pumpkin, you will be limited to the front half of the park only by going at night.  When I walked through at 3:30pm the bubble machines where turned on in preparation for the event.

The Safari ride did not have any special theming to the story or decorations. I waited an hour to ride so I could find out, so you don’t have to! If you are trying to prioritize your day to experience the creatures of the night decorations and atmosphere and you see an hour long wait at the safari, I say save the ride for another day.  

The Chefs at ZooTampa have prepared a special menu for the season and you do NOT have to go at night to enjoy the special treats. At the Pizza Co. in Africa the only item that could not be ordered before 4pm was the calzone. The Medusa jack o lantern is a Bell pepper cleverly filled with Zucchini noodles to mimic the snakes on Medusa’s head. The zucchini filling is delicious. The bell pepper just tasted like a raw bell pepper. If I ate it again, I would eat the bell pepper first, so I could end with the better flavors of the zucchini and pumpkin seeds.

Cost

ZooTampa has changed their pricing structure in the last few years, so if you haven’t looked recently be aware that there are changes besides sticker price. The Pay for a Day ticket now includes Creatures of the Night and Christmas in the Wild. The Membership plans have been restructured and renamed.

Pay for Day: 

·        Ages 13 = $47.95

·        Ages 3-11 = $37.95

Creatures of the Night

·        $34.95 after 4pm

Membership:

·        $119 for a Pair (1 Member and 1 Guest)

·        $169 for a Trio (2 Members and 1 Guest)

·        $219 for a Quad (2 members and 2 Guests)

·        $248 for a Family (4 Members and 2 Guests)

ZooTampa participates in reciprocal admission with other Zoos around the country. If you are visiting Tampa and have a membership with another zoo you can buy a daily ticket for half price.

https://www.aza.org/reciprocity

Accessibility

ZooTampa has extensive information on their website about the accessibility accommodations available and what to expect. There is a 10-page accessibility guide available for download that includes contact information and additional resources on the website. Here are a few things I noticed while skimming through everything: 

• Purple wristband for Sensory Processing Disorder to shorten wait times for mechanical rides during normal hours.
• An overview of the pathway texture
• Adult Changing table in Wallaroo Station 
• Low vision map (located on the Autism Spectrum Disorders tab)
• Resources under the Autism Spectrum Disorders tab are in English and Spanish

https://zootampa.org/visit/accessibility/