The sun hits the side of your tent, and you pull back the flap to reveal a panorama of the African plains: a herd of elephants on one side, a snarling pack of lions on the other, and right in front of your camp, a baby giraffe nibbling acacia leaves. You spend the morning around the campfire, munching pancakes and trading tales of wildlife encounters from the night before. Then you pack the car, cruise down the freeway, and get home just in time for your daughter's Saturday-morning soccer game.
What sort of Africa is this? The kind that exists at the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park, one of dozens of zoological parks around the globe that host sleepover programs for kids and parents. Ben Stiller high jinks aside, spending the night inside a museum pales in comparison to a slumber session at your local zoo, where the exhibits are always alive—especially the nocturnal creatures that really don't come into their own until after sundown. Plus, zoo sleepovers typically result in close encounters of the animal kind that are impossible during normal daylight visits. During ours, my daughters have cuddled koalas, hand-fed rare white rhinos, and run their hands down the backs of some of the world's biggest snakes.
With thousands of animals spread across 1,800 acres of pristine bush, the San Diego Zoo's Wild Animal Park has more than enough space for a permanent overnight camp, and the mild Southern California climate allows for sleepovers at any time of year. The park's Roar & Snore tents are actually quite posh—outfitted with queen-size beds (with safari-themed sleeping bags and pillows), camp chairs, mini fridges, heaters, and lanterns. Rates range from $89 per child during the winter months to $209 per adult during the summer high season, and the price includes dinner, breakfast, snacks, and beverages.
At the opposite end of the spectrum are facilities like the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden, where you can bunk on the floor of the manatee aquarium or the Harold C. Schott Education Center with your own sleeping bag and pillow during a behind-the-scenes Nocturnal Adventure (available January to November, $35 per person).
In most cases, parents are required to stay with their kids overnight. Bunk with the Beasts Overnight Adventures at the Denver Zoo is one of the few that also has kid-only programs, where children ages 7 to 12 can leave Mom and Dad behind. Regular zoo educators (one keeper for every eight kids) look after the human youngsters, leading them on a behind-the-scenes tour and supplying them with dinner and breakfast (available year-round, $60 per child).
Some zoos require society membership to participate in overnights, as with the Snore & Roar sleepover at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., where overnight visitors sleep in four-person tents pitched on the zoo's Lion/Tiger Hill (available June to September, $45 per person; the required membership costs $40 a year for anyone not already signed up).
The Overnight Adventure at Seattle's Woodland Park Zoo is only for groups of 25 to 80 people. But that makes the sleepover perfect for birthday parties, family reunions, and other special events (available March to November, $39 or $45 per person, depending on sleeping location).
More U.S. zoos with sleepover programs:
- Atlanta Zoo
- Birmingham Zoo (in Alabama)
- Franklin Park Zoo and Stone Zoo (in Boston)
- Bronx Zoo
- Cosley Zoo (near Chicago)
- Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens (in Florida)
- Memphis Zoo
- New York Aquarium and Central Park Zoo
- Oregon Zoo (in Portland)
