Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo Anyone have any good tips and tricks to visiting Omaha Zoo?

[Jena]

I know I know, there are blogs with tips too. But I am more looking for other peoples tips that are related to my trip if that makes any sense lol.

So I am going to be at Omaha Henry Doorly Zoo on August 17th 2019. I am going with my mom, my aunt, my two adult cousins and their children all girls, ages 2, 5, 8. It's just us girls lmao.

And this will be my very first time I ever went to the zoo with any of my second cousins on my mom's side. We are staying at Omaha the night before so we will be already there in the morning so we plan on arriving at the zoo right when they open. So far the weather forcast for next saturday says the highest will be 91 F. With that being said, from my situation:

which area does anyone recommend doing first?
and last?
how fast do the stingray food run out?
Same with the Budgie food( or when they would be most hungry)
And giraffe food?
Anyone have a idea of when certain animals (any animals you can think of really) would be most active during a hot day at what times specifically like active during morning, mid-day, afternoon, noon, evening? etc.

And what animal keeper talk/training/enrichment do you all think is worth seeing at the zoo? I seen a lot are there but idk which is really worth seeing.

And finally which resturant at Omaha Zoo is worth going to.

Again if anyone can answer this questions I have and maybe throw in extra tips it will be appreciated so thank you!

 

[fuzbal11]

I managed to visit last year for 3 days and it was a blast. Here are a few tips that I would suggest. However, I didn't do any of the feeds or restaurants there (yes i'm cheap). There is a glass viewing/restaurant area at the top level of the jungle building which was pretty cool .

keeper chats: It took a 2nd trip to see the lions participate in their keeper chat. I had a blast watching a fossa training session just because I hadn't seen fossas active before (though it might not be a regular keeper chat). There are a few small exhibits in the wild kingdom pavillion, including archer fish. I missed the keeper chat there but I heard it involves the fish spitting. They actually ended up spitting on me when I was taking a photo, bad photo but it was still a pretty cool moment.

time to visit exhibits: everything I read about the zoo mentioned hitting the nocturnal area early since it can get super crowded, especially on a hot day. They usually feed the bats around 4 pm in the jungle building on the ground floor. During the day, they aren't very active but at feeding time they're flying all around you which is amazing. I know my nephew was pretty scared with them flying around your head so it might be difficult with the kids.

other notes: make sure you hit the red ruffed lemur walkthrough and there was an african wildcat at the entrance of the desert dome (only one i've ever seen).

good luck and have fun

 

[Jena]

I managed to visit last year for 3 days and it was a blast. Here are a few tips that I would suggest. However, I didn't do any of the feeds or restaurants there (yes i'm cheap). There is a glass viewing/restaurant area at the top level of the jungle building which was pretty cool .

keeper chats: It took a 2nd trip to see the lions participate in their keeper chat. I had a blast watching a fossa training session just because I hadn't seen fossas active before (though it might not be a regular keeper chat). There are a few small exhibits in the wild kingdom pavillion, including archer fish. I missed the keeper chat there but I heard it involves the fish spitting. They actually ended up spitting on me when I was taking a photo, bad photo but it was still a pretty cool moment.

time to visit exhibits: everything I read about the zoo mentioned hitting the nocturnal area early since it can get super crowded, especially on a hot day. They usually feed the bats around 4 pm in the jungle building on the ground floor. During the day, they aren't very active but at feeding time they're flying all around you which is amazing. I know my nephew was pretty scared with them flying around your head so it might be difficult with the kids.

other notes: make sure you hit the red ruffed lemur walkthrough and there was an african wildcat at the entrance of the desert dome (only one i've ever seen).

good luck and have fun

omg thank you! This will be useful! Now I got to call them and find out which keeper chat was the archer fish cause that would be pretty neat to see. I can see the older one actually enjoying the bats because she is pretty much outgoing and pretty brave. The youngest two probally lmao. I really wanna see those bats fly around me so much i love bats so that is something that is super useful so thank you so much!

 

[MidwestFan]

I recommend starting by entering the north entrance on the weekend. The children's area with the budgies will be right there. Honestly, the budgies being hungry is very variable, sometimes good luck and sometimes no luck at variable times.

From there, I would head up to the desert dome and the kingdoms of the night exhibit. By that time, the giraffes and elephants should be moved out to the yards, so I would head to Africa area. Even if the sign says the elephants are outside, the sign is wrong 80% of the time, so I would look inside the herd room before you walk past it to check. After all of Africa is seen, I'd check out the sea lions and then head to the new Asia exhibit. from there, cross over to see Madagascar and then the gorilla exhibit, followed by the orangs. Then take the elevator back up, by this time the heat may be setting in and the outside animals send to be less active. Go to the aquarium, butterflies, and the Lied Jungle. The younger kids may enjoy the Mutual of Omaha exhibit area. Then head back towards the north entrance, you can hit the kids rides and the stingrays. They seem to portion food throughout the day for the stingrays.

Food wise, the African restaurant is good with indoor seating (but no kids meals). Tree tops by the jungle has kids meals I believe. The new glacier bay area has good food choices as well.

Enjoy my home zoo!

 

[ThylacineAlive]

I visited for the first time in May and I started with Desert Dome/Kingdoms of the Night first. I then made my way to the aquarium, insect house, and Lied Jungle next as those buildings can get quite crowded as the day goes on. Don't miss the wild pavilion either, it can be easy to if you don't know what it is despite being right by the entrance. If you can find a time for an elephant presentation I'd watch it, it's cool to see the herd active in the large mixed habitat. If you do visit on a second day, I believe they have half-off entry for those who visited the day before (keep your receipt).

And for the record there are two wildcats still in the dome, one just usually hangs out off-show.

~Thylo

 

[Sarus Crane]

The Sable Antelope exhibit is next to a widely used helicopter replica that people can climb into and press buttons and operate (loads of LOUD sounds) at the far end of the zoo. I found this out the first day I visited last year and therefore decided to go directly to the exhibit first thing the zoo opened the next day so there wouldn't be any noises. My plan worked! Also, the Stanley Cranes like to sleep under the shade structure nearby so its a great time to film them waking up and dancing. As a final note, right before the zoo closes I suggest sticking around to witness the giraffe herd crossing the path to go to their barn. Its really cool and they look so much bigger when they're right by you. It felt like a Jurassic Park moment. With goosebumps, I was like "They do move in herds!!!" They look taller in person than in the video.

 

[MidwestFan]

How was the visit?

 

[Jena]

How was the visit?

The visit was awful. The zoo was great, the animals fantastic. But my cousins were not communicating with me with what they wanted to do and kinda abandoned me at the desert dome and took off which actually set off a metldown. I have aspergers, so abrupt changes like this can set off a complete melt down. So day 1 i ended up leaving little early but day 2 was great because it wasn't busy and it was just mom and i. The only few places I did not see were the wild kingdom pavilion and the kopje area of african grasslands because my mom was starting to act like a child because she wanted to feed those giraffes and started rushing in the middle of the lied jungle and we get to the giraffe feeding, and they of course weren't hungry. so we come back later and go see the elephants but meanwhile my mom was actually starting to whine about how she won't ever get to feed those giraffes and so we go then second time, still wasn't hungry. finally a hour wasted and 3 tries later the giraffes were hungry so we fed them. After that mom wanted to go home. And so I tried going to the aquarium as fast as I could then my battery died so that was the end of that and that was my second battery.. and then i didn't get to even visit the wild pavilion or see the kopje exhibits because i had to keep up with my mom who was walking really fast past these exhibits. Of course I also didn't go in the butterfly pavilion mainly because well im terrified of butterflies and i have no idea if the butterfly garden is something you have to walk in if you go in there so i just skip it. Other than that i got some jaw-dropping photos though lmao. My mom promise though to take me back there next year so hopefully next year will be a lot better. (i have family in kansas so it isn't that much of a big deal because we visit kansas often and omaha zoo is only 2 hours away from my aunt's house, and the flght tickets are really cheap too)

Also to everyone that gave me advice, THANK YOU! I very much appreciated and I appologize that I forgot to respond sooner. I was so busy with a lot of things that i actually forgot still thank you guys!