Fort Wayne Zoo Overnight

A couple months ago, we had the great pleasure of spending the night at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. It was a complete blast!

Ordering tickets:
At the beginning of the year, we spent the night at the aquarium in Chicago. The only downside was that it was quite expensive. We had so much fun though that I decided to search the internet for other experiences that are similar. That's when I found the one in Fort Wayne. I was able to fill everything out online. There were a couple different dates to choose from so we picked the one that worked best for us.

Itinerary:
-Introductions, Rules, & Expectations for the evening
-Dinner in Australia
-Evening Zoo Hike
-Animal Demonstration
-Behind the Scenes in the Zoo Kitchen
-Bedtime Snack
-Prepare for bed and take final restroom break
-Lights out!

-6:30am Wake up!
-breakfast
-Gallery Final Clean Up
-Animal Demonstration
-Wrap-Up & Review
-9am Exit zoo or continue on your own

Here are some elaborations on the above itinerary:
We started our night by bringing all of our things to the upstairs area of the shark tank. Then we visited Stingray Bay where the kids got to touch the stingrays and learn a little about them.

After everyone was done, we went back to the room with our stuff. For dinner, we ate pizza, carrots, soda, and water.

The evening zoo hike is a guided tour to some of the attractions. Along our walk, we saw the penguins, otters, sea lions, lemurs, komodo dragon, and red pandas.

Then, we walked over to the restrooms near the employee only area to the right of the main entrance before the tunnel to Africa. There, we had our animal demonstration. They brought out an adorable hedgehog. We loved learning about it while they walked around and let people pet her.

Then, we did our behind the scenes tour of the kitchen where we learned all about what the animals at the zoo eat and how they prepare everything. Then, we made our way back to the shark area to set up our sleeping bags. After we were done, we went upstairs for our late night snack. This snack included a juice box and goldfish.

Then it was time for bed. We were able to sleep fairly well.

The next morning, we started off our day with breakfast, which included donuts, cereal, and fruit cups with juice and coffee. Then we helped open the farm. Every single child was given a job. They had so much fun! We got to see and touch the giant tortoises up close.

My son's job included feeding hay to the donkeys, the cow, and the sheep. All of the kids really enjoyed having a job for the morning.

Then, we headed back up to the room above the sharks where we had a second animal demonstration. This time, it was a dove. They brought her around to all the kids again so that they could touch her.

And that was the end of our overnight experience! We did end up going back inside after we put all of our stuff in the car. But as for the zoo sleepover, that was our trip. I think the only thing I would have added would have been just one more thing, like a craft or game or something. But other than that, it was a very cool time that I think we would really like to do again!

Tips:
1. Bring those squirt bottles or mix-ins to add to a water bottle. You'll want to stay hydrated and your easiest option is to bring a water bottle to refill.
2. Bring a blow-up mattress or pad. We didn't, but I imagine the people that did were much more comfortable. You are sleeping on a concrete floor.
3. If you are a picky eater or just like to eat frequently, bring some snacks with you.

Roadtrip: Day 7: Gulf Shores, AL

We woke up in Gulf Shores, Alabama with a plan. We set out for Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo. I had found online that they basically specialize in animal encounters. One of those encounters happens to be with sloths! How fun, right? They also have encounters with kangaroos, lemurs, reptiles, and tamanduas. If you went to all of them, it would cost $40 per person plus the $11 it cost to enter. We decided we couldn't really afford that so we just chose to meet the sloths. We also got a cup of food for the goats and deer and a couple other animals. That cost $2 and you get to keep the cup, which is kind of cute. If you clean it really well, you can drink out of it later.

As for the sloths, you walk over to that area and give them the ticket you got at the counter where you paid. You then sign a consent form, sanitize your hands, and wait on a bench for the next available employee to take you in to meet the sloth. There are only allowed to be 2 people in the little room with the sloths at a time so with our party of 3, one of us had to stand in the doorway at all times. That was no big deal though. We just took turns. They encourage you to take pictures and ask as many questions as you like. There was no one waiting behind us so we didn't feel rushed at all. The sloths were sleeping the whole time we were in there and there are only a few places you can touch them so don't go in with the expectation that you're going to hold them or anything. It was pretty fun.

There were quite a few animals that can be fed the food that you buy at the front counter. And there are signs. That being said, we had PLENTY of food in just the one container. I'm glad we didn't buy more than that. It was fun though. And my husband thought it was really cool that one of the animals available to feed was the capybara.

After the zoo, we went back to our hotel to change, and then set off for the beach. My son had been looking forward to this moment the entire trip! We parked behind The Hangout ($5/4 hours). We brought along our beach umbrella (which I found to be the best decision we made!) and a beach blanket, plus some drinks and a couple toys. We had so much fun fighting the waves.

Then, since we couldn't just call it a day, we drove up to The Yard, which is a milkshake bar. We did have to wait in line for a while and it was probably 45 minutes between the time that we got in line and when we received our milkshake. And trust me, I heard plenty of older people complaining about it. But we weren't in a hurry so we waited patiently. Luckily, by the time we did get what we ordered, there was an open table for us. And man! That was probably the best milkshake I've ever had! We got the quart-sized build your own milkshake for $17 that comes in a souvenir mason jar. We got mint moosetracks with chocolate chip brownie cookie dough in the bottom, crushed oreos, gummy worms, and a brownie! It was so good.

When we got back to our hotel, we played around in the pool for a while before showering off, ordering a pizza, and getting to bed after our long day of fun!

My Favorite Fort Wayne Children's Zoo Photo Ops

I have been to A LOT of zoos. I absolutely love them! So I choose to go to them all the time. I think I went to 6 different zoos last summer. Crazy, right? Well, last weekend, we traveled to Fort Wayne, Indiana to spend the night at their zoo. It was so much fun! But that's a post for a different time. After we spent the night, we left to put all of our stuff in the car, then went back into the zoo and spent an extra 3 hours there. And while we were walking through the zoo, we found so many cool and fun photo ops! Let me tell you my favorites!

Here's a map to give you an idea of where these awesome stops are.

1. The Zoo Entrance
This is clearly the most photographed place in the whole zoo! I watched people sit on it, stand behind it, take large group photos, etc. We loved it!

2. The Tortoise
This turtle is almost the exact same size as one of the tortoises at the zoo! How awesome, right? Plus kids can ride this one.

3. The Peacock
This is just such a fun and inventive photo op! It is 2 pieces connected at the bottom that allows kids (and adults) to stand/kneel behind the body, in front of the feathers, to make it look as though the person in the photograph's head is on a peacock body.

4. Big Wave
This one is right by Stingray Bay. I just love this whole area of the zoo. It is themed amazingly! But we had so much fun with this one. I saw a family on the surfboard with one kid in front and dad in back with a small child on his shoulders. How cute!

5. Shark Head
This one is right next to the surfboard. Again, so fun! There's an opening in the back for kids (and adults) to get inside the shark head.

6. Penguins
Ok, so this clearly had to make the list for my family because penguins are easily our family's favorite animal! And I just love that there was space between two of the penguins for people to step in for a great photo.

7. Butterfly Wings
So these just look like pretty butterflies in a grassy area. However, when you stand in front of the butterfly, you look like a beautiful butterfly! (said in the voice of Heimlich from A Bug's Life, of course)

8. Orangutan
This is a beautiful statue of an orangutan. Who doesn't love taking cute pictures with statues? Plus, how adorable that the orangutan had his hand out and my son decided they needed to hold hands.

9. Komodo Dragon
If you don't look for this, you could easily miss it! So keep an eye out after you go past the Children's Treehouse.

10. The Safari Truck
It's a cute little truck that your kids can pretend to drive. Slightly less boring than the rest of my favorites, but still cool.

11. Sight-Seeing
So this isn't quite like the rest of the traditional photo-ops, but this was just too cute to pass up. They have a couple self-standing binoculars that are so cute to get a picture of your loved ones using. And if you can't use these for some reason, there's also a basket of handheld binoculars.

12. Eggs
How much fun is it for kids to pretend like they're coming out of a broken egg? Apparently tons of fun! Because my son had a blast climbing in and out of them.

Bonus Photo Op:
13. Dinosaur
The reason this is a bonus and not part of the regular list is because you have to pay extra to get to this. While on the train, you see this dinosaur off the side. It's pretty cool! You pass it twice so my recommendation is to look for it on your first pass and then get ready and take your picture on your way back.

I had so much fun writing this post, looking back at our weekend. It was so much fun.