About OKC Zoo Lights
You can drive at least twenty to thirty minutes and explore what the OKC Zoo Lights Festival has to offer. After your driving tour, you can also re-enter the zoo for an extra walking experience. This will start in the entry plaza along with a musical light presentation made by the Miranda Family Light of Edmond, OKC.
The walking tour then continues through the Children Zoo along with the Lakeside pathway, where you can enjoy the immersive light displays and picture-perfect photo ops. You can also savor the entire night with different sweet treats like cookies and smores and delicious drinks available for purchase in the Canopy Restaurant and Safari Café.
OKC Zoo safari lights Dates (2022-2023)
The incredible and amazing OKC Zoo Safari Lights will start on Saturday, November 12, and run every night through New Year’s Day, Sunday, January 1, 2023, along with walk-thru and drive-thru experiences.
Keep in mind that the OKC Zoo Safari Lights will be open on Christmas holiday nights, counting Christmas Eve, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Eve.
How to Get to the OKC zoo safari lights
The OKC Zoo is situated only south of Remington Park within the area called the Adventure District. From I-35, you can exit westbound at NE 50th. Then from I-44, you can exit southbound at Martin Luther King.
Once you get there, you can expect to find fairy lights, various Christmas light shows, awesome twinkle lights, light festivals, blinking, and Christmas lights.
There are also curtain Lights, twinkle lights trees, light exhibition, LED curtain lights, icicle lights, net lights, meteor shower lights, and rope lights, among others!
Festival of lights Hours
The festival of lights event will open on Saturday and Sunday from 6:30 PM to 11 PM every night. Starting November 8 to January 9, the OKC Zoo Lights Festival will be open from 5:30 PM to 11 PM every night.
How Much It Cost to Visit the Oklahoma zoo lights
Online reservations are needed for OKC Zoo Lights Festival. The drive-up purchases won’t be accepted. Tickets are also limited to guarantee optimal guest experience.
Admission for the drive-thru experience will be $50 per vehicle for ZooFriends members. For the non-members, it will be $60 per vehicle. That fee also includes four walk-thru admission tickets.
For those oversized vehicles with 9 to 5 people seating under ten inches tall and 25 inches long, the admission will be $80 per vehicle for ZooFriends members and $90 per vehicle for non-members. The ticket price will include six walk-thru admission tickets.
On the other hand, the admission for walk-thru is only $10 per guest age three for Zoofriends members and $12 for the same age non-members.
Weather and What to Wear
Make sure you wear something cozy during your visit to the OKC Zoo Lights Festival. That’s because of the average temperature in OKC in December for a normal day range from a high of 11°C and a low of -0°C. Other travelers would describe it as cold and breezy.
Hotels nearby the zoo lights
You can enjoy the benefits of relaxation and rest with a healthy dash of whimsy and humor at one of these unique Oklahoma lodging properties.
- The Skirvin Hilton Oklahoma City
Situated in the middle of OKC and within walking distance of some top attractions, such as the Cox Convention Center, this amazingly restored historic hotel provides sophisticated guestrooms along with modern amenities.
- Hyatt Place Oklahoma City Airport
This place is known for its consistent and excellent hospitality and incredible service. Located 2.3 kilometers away from White Water Bay, Hyatt Place provides amenities and facilities which could make you stay longer or even revisit.
Each of their comfortable rooms comes with a sofa bed, a flat-screen TV, a hairdryer, a coffee machine, and a refrigerator.
- Colcord Hotel
This is one of the highly sought hotels in OKC. Featuring outstanding facilities, modern rooms, superb amenities, and so much more, this hotel will make even the most sensitive tourist feel at home.
Adorned with pleasant shades, the rooms’ color combinations create a laidback and casual atmosphere for every guest. On top of that, every unit comes with an iPod docking station, a flat-screen TV, and Wi-Fi.
- La Quinta by Wyndham Oklahoma City
Sumptuous and hot breakfast each morning, great amenities, quality facilities, and courteous staff—indeed, La Quinta is a unique place to stay in town. Sleeping and staying here during your visit brings you closer to White Water Bay, which is only a ten-minute drive away.
The hotel is also close to Martin Nature Park, which is only 8 kilometers away. Do you like to experience total satisfaction? A fitness center and outdoor pool provide leisure and recreational facilities.
From the coffee machine to a flat-screen TV with premium cable channels, everything is properly taken care of inside the guest rooms.
Where to Eat
Years of expansion have established OKC’s dining scene into an amusing tapestry, where residents tastes of chicken, catfish, and beef combine with global cultures. Here are some of the many restaurants that deserve your support.
These establishments have flourished and pivoted during the industry’s toughest times, setting themselves up to lead the way into the market’s next chapter.
- Café 501
Established in the mid-1990s, this place introduced upscale counter-service eating to Edmond, which is the neighbor of Oklahoma City to the north. Backed by a brand-new streetery and commercial bakery, they continue to serve its iconic Coyote chicken sandwich, house-made desserts, and brick-oven pizza on the street and for takeout.
- Nunu’s Mediterranean Café
Lebanese cuisine on the prairie predates Oklahoma statehood. This restaurant is a concentration of that heritage, along with some new tricks. The patio is the perfect place for a bottle of Lebanese wine and tenderloin kebab.
Do you like to dine at home? Their menu works for takeout and delivery as well, such as cabbage rolls made with vegetarian or spiced beef, hummus, and hashwa rice studded with fixings.
- The Hutch on Avondale
This place was once known as the Coach House—used to be the local standard-bearer for fine dining and culinary excellence. You can order their strawberry shortcake along with the vanilla ice cream or the brownie Sunday.
More Things to Do in the Area
A weekend getaway in OKC can be as quaint or as social as you’d wish in the state’s six diverse regions. Here are some of the things you can do in the area.
- Romantic cabin escape in Watson
Did you know that Oklahoma is a to place for romantic getaways, particularly the type where you can just snuggle down in a cozy cabin and hot tub in the middle of the woods?
The River’s Edge Cottages are a good example of remote cabin accommodation enclosed by 300 acres of privately preserved woods. On top of that, you can plan some romantic hikes on the trails or canoe on the lakes during the day and end your night with a warm bonfire on the fire pit.
- Visit the Road 66 Park
Route 66 Park provides different outdoor activities that your entire family will surely enjoy, particularly the small ones. The 148a-acre park boasts a playground where children can play and climb, or they can go skateboarding or rollerblade.
You can also find three ponds together with wetland causeways, informative signage, and bridges, including a mile-long walking trail. There is also a picnic shelter and amphitheater inside the park, not to mention the admission is 100% free. How cool is that?
- Take a walk at the Bricktown Canal
You can enjoy this destination by walking the pathway and appreciating the majestic sights. The canal is famous with residents and visitors alike thanks to its stunning murals along the path.
In summer, the shade cools down the entire water in the canal, while during the holiday season, the entire place becomes alive due to the glittering Christmas lights.
- Hike in the Martin Park Nature Center
This park is composed of a 140-acre nature park that incorporates recreation, wildlife, and education. It boasts an engaging nature center that puts emphasis on the state’s flora and fauna to create nature education opportunities for residents and travelers.
You can also watch some birds from an observation wall and check the different wildlife on the trail, like cottontail rabbits, foxes, beavers, squirrels, and deer, among other creatures.
What’s more, you can enjoy a quick snack or a hearty meal at the picnic area while animals and birds pass you by.
Thanks for reading here are 2 more zoo lights that you should visit:
Denver Zoo Lights
Detroit Zoo Lights
