We love to visit the Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium in the Winter.  Although wonderful to visit at all times of the year, visiting during the Winter offers a different experience than other times of the year.

5 Excellent Reasons to Visit the Omaha Zoo in the Winter:

Amazing Indoor Exhibits

Most of the Omaha Zoo’s major attractions are housed indoors, and are fairly close to one another.  Enjoy the balmy Desert Dome, Lied Jungle, and Butterfly Pavilion.  Stroll through the impressive Kingdoms of the Night.  Watch the gorillas play in Gorilla Valley.  Walk through the newly renovated Aquarium.  For a moment, you might just forget it is winter outside.

Less crowds

The Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium brought in record crowds last year, which will only continue to increase as more and more people come to visit the best zoo in the country!  In the Winter, there are many times we are the only visitors in an entire building.  The little ones can get up close to the windows and see all of the animals easily.  Additionally, with fewer crowds, it seems that the animals are actually more active.

IMAX Theater

With a zoo membership, the IMAX Theater is free!  Choose from 3 shows daily.

Peacefulness

With less crowds, there is less noise, less activity around you.  There is a wonderful sense of peacefulness, the sense you get when being out in nature.  The last time we visited, we walked through the entire Kingdoms of the Night exhibit by ourselves, not another person in sight.  We could clearly hear all of the wonderful sounds of the animals while walking through the swamp – it almost felt like we were really there.

Baby Animals

Five African lions cubs (pictured above), two males and three females, were born on December 29, 2012.  With smaller crowds, we were able to stay and watch the 2-week-old cubs up close, and observe one being fed from a bottle.  This is reason enough to visit this Winter!

Looking for more Winter fun?  Enjoy 80+ Things to Do in Omaha this Winter (Many Free!)!  New to the Zoo?  Be sure to read Helpful Tips for Visiting!

What do you love about visiting the Omaha Zoo in the Winter?  Please share in the comments below!