The Ins and Outs of the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska

This summer marked our first summer as a family of four. My husband and I, our two-year-old daughter, and our six-month-old son, were eagerly looking forward to our first vacation together. Travel with two children so young can be an experience in and of itself so we decided to stick relatively close to home. We chose the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha, Nebraska. It's just about a three-hour drive from our hometown. It seemed to be just the right distance for our first major road trip and would hopefully hold the interest of both children.

Due to my husband's work schedule, we had to do just a day trip to the zoo and back. We headed out one Saturday morning in June. We made excellent time to Omaha, but when we hit the interstate exit ramp, to the zoo, we could see ahead that traffic was really backed up. I checked my itinerary, but didn't see sitting in traffic listed-hmm.

What we didn't realize is that Rosenblatt Stadium, home of the Omaha Royals, sits right next to the Henry Doorly Zoo. What we also didn't realize is that the stadium seats over 23,000 people and that the Men's College World Series was taking place that very week. Oh, the madness.

We sat in traffic for close to forty-five minutes just waiting to get close to the zoo. We decided to get out the picnic lunch we packed and have an early lunch. It seemed like it would be a better use of our time so that when we actually did make it to the zoo we would be ready to set out and see the animals.

Our friends had said that coolers were allowed in the zoo but I never found that information on the zoo's website. I packed sandwiches, chips, and fruit for everyone with the intent of just bringing the food into the zoo with us and taking a break to eat at some point. We would have needed a pretty big cooler and that wasn't practical since we already had a double stroller and two babies to manage. We didn't actually purchase any food or drinks within the zoo so I'm not sure how reasonable, or unreasonable, their prices are. We tried to keep our trip relatively inexpensive so we just avoided their food and drinks all together.

We ate our lunch in the van and eventually got parked almost a mile away from the zoo entrance. We decided to shake off the traffic congestion madness and enjoy the remainder of the day. The walk up to the zoo wasn't really a big deal. There were numerous vendors for the baseball game and a few scalpers but all was well.

We ended up waiting in line to enter the zoo for about twenty minutes but that was to be expected given the tournament. The price for zoo admittance was pretty reasonable. Adults were $10.75, children ages three to eleven were $7.00, and children two and under were free. They also provide discounts to those who have zoo passes from other local zoos.

Once we were finally inside the zoo we had a great time. We had printed a map from the zoo's website before we left home and had marked out a tentative plan. We knew which exhibits we really wanted to hit and which ones we wouldn't mind missing if the kids ran out of steam. The zoo exhibits were very clearly marked and we found our way around without too much trouble. We did everything on foot, but the zoo did have a tram and steam train available for a fee.

Some of our favorite exhibits were the Scott Aquarium, Hubbard Gorilla Valley, and the the Garden of the Senses. The aquarium has a huge arch that you can walk under to view the sharks, stingrays, and exotic fish. It was quite the experience for our two-year-old. She was in awe as a shark swam high over her head and a stingray swam beside her. Our daughter enjoyed the gorillas as well. There were quite a few living in a communal group in one exhibit. There were large glass bubble windows where you get a close up view of the gorillas eating, playing, and relaxing.

The Garden of the Senses was the perfect spot to sit and rest. There were ponds for our daughter to explore and gorgeous flowers and trees to admire. We were disappointed that, despite our best-laid plans, we didn't make it to the Lied Jungle. We had heard great things about this tropical, rain forest environment and we had been looking forward to checking it out for ourselves. Looks like we will have to make a return trip.

The zoo is open from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. in the summer. It would have been nice to be able to stay longer in the evening. I actually think they just stop admitting new guests to the zoo at five o'clock because we did stay in the zoo until close to six o'clock. I never did hear any announcement indicating when they officially shut down the zoo and send everyone home. We exited through the gift shop on our way out but I didn't stop to take notice of any of the souvenirs or their cost. Both babies had done great but were beginning to wear out.

Overall, we had a great little vacation. Things really did go very smoothly, minus the extra 23,000 people who were headed in the same direction we were. The only thing I would really do differently is to not go to the zoo when there is any type of ball game being held at the Rosenblatt Stadium. The extra people and traffic just made things stressful and who wants to be stressed on their vacation?!?!

The Henry Doorly Zoo website