The Henry Doorly Zoo

The Henry Doorly Zoo | Omaha, Nebraska

Growing up in Iowa, it was always just a known fact that the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha was the best zoo in the country — it even ranks top 5 in the world! It made for an easy weekend trip, and I have several happy memories of visiting with my family over the years. So when Curtis and I found out we were moving to Nebraska, it seemed like a no-brainer that for one of our years here, we should get an annual pass.

Now that our year is up, we can attest to the fact that it was worth it, both from a financial and entertainment point of view. It would have taken only three visits to make the price of the pass worth it, and we visited almost once a month, getting to know both the exhibits and the behavior of the animals fairly well. With the purchase of our pass, we were also given a one-time free entry to the Wildlife Safari Park located Southwest of Omaha.

But are you ready for the best part of all? The zoo has been open for 125 years — it opened in 1894. Out of its 125 years of operations, the first AND second baby elephants to ever be born to this zoo happened to be this year (2022), the year we happened to be members of the zoo. Elephants are my favorite animal. All this proves to me that God loves me and wants me to be happy. 😉

In all seriousness, if you have the chance to visit the zoo this year, DO IT! Sonny and Eugenia are the cutest and worth the admission price on their own. If you can’t make it until 2023, not to worry, because another baby elephant is due to arrive in February!

The story of how these elephants made it to the Omaha zoo is quite special — in 2016, the Omaha, Wichita, and Dallas zoos went in together to rescue 18 elephants from a drought in Eswatini. They were flown across the ocean in giant crates, which you can see on display in the zoo.

After visiting the zoo many times over the year, we found that going in the winter months is our favorite time to be there. The paths through the zoo are cleared of snow and ice making it a safe place to walk, and the outdoor exhibits are almost completely empty, especially in the mornings. We just dress appropriately for the cold and then visit the indoor exhibits when we need to warm up.

We always enjoyed walking through the desert dome and seeing animals that remind us of being in the Southwest, such as the coati and the javelinas. The gorilla and sea lion exhibits were consistently exciting because the animals were always active. But it’s hard to top the penguin exhibit in the aquarium. We could sit and watch them forever, because each one is doing something different and they all look hilarious with whatever they’re doing. Curtis really loved the ‘sloth bear’ — who looked like a bear, but with extra shaggy hair. Also during our year of being members, one of the giraffes had a baby named Arthur (July of 2021) and while he’s grown quite a bit over the year, he’s still noticeably shorter than the other giraffes.

If we were staying in Omaha longer, we definitely would have kept up our membership. There were a few events we didn’t take advantage of, such as “late nights at the zoo” (for a 21+ experience) or trivia nights, which we could have attended at a reduced cost. Overall, we highly enjoyed our year of being members!