Lived in the neighborhood. Based on the way drivers were ALWAYS loosing their shit in gridlock outside the zoo, I’d say parking is difficult.

So worth it. We live ours. Zoo lights alone make it worth it.

We go about 4x a year and the membership is definitely worth it. We go early and use the entrance down by the farm and park there, so there's usually no waiting in the huge line of cars.

Also, those carousel vouchers don't have a date on them. I've definitely used some from previous years without anyone batting an eye.

Yes, totally Boo at the ZOO, fantastic Halloween event that beats the light out of any Halloween event for kids in the entire DC area. Tons of people and tons of candy stations everywhere and the decorations and lights. I don't remember the details but somehow having membership made it much less expensive and well worth having the membership for the reminder of the year because of that.
You should find more info on this:
https://nationalzoo.si.edu/events/boo-zoo

Also, yes once you have the membership parking is non-issue and you feel more motivated to go to the Zoo because you don't need to calculate so much extra time.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are there before 9:15 on a weekend, there won’t be parking.

We’ve gone to the zoo on countless weekends in the past two years. We never arrive before 10 am and we had no issues finding parking.

There has never been a time when we didn’t find parking.

Have you visited the zoo recently?

As someone who works at the zoo, I find this hard to believe that you've NEVER had a difficult time finding parking. It's literally one of the biggest complaints that we receive. So yes folks, if you're coming to the zoo on a weekend during a nice day - get here before 10.

The worst that’s happened is we didn’t get the lot that we wanted.

I always like to park in C at the bottom of the hill near the kids farm. Most of the time we park there and it’s great.

Twice that I can remember, we had to park in one of the other lots because C was full. That’s it. 2 times out of dozens of visits in 2 years we didn’t get our preferred lot and had to park in A or B.

Yes. Get the membership level that comes with parking.

You get priority registration for the camps, which are nice, and also for some other special events.

Do they still offer free popcorn for members?

We really enjoyed the membership and went to the zoo frequently. We used to go to the Halloween Boo At The Zoo event which was easier if you had the membership.

https://www.dccirculator.com/explore/zoo-express-bus/

stop driving. Take metro.

Stop driving. Take metro. There is a new free circulator shuttle from Woodley Park metro to the zoo for the fat tourists that can’t walk the few blocks to get there. A membership is nice for other perks besides parking. And besides if you get there after 10:30 most weekends, the lot will be full.

If you live in close-ish driving distance, it's totally worth it. We do lots of 1-hour ish zoo trips. Just get there early to make sure you get a spot - by 10am on weekends, you're usually fine. Later, eh...

You also get discounts on their classes, which we've been impressed with so far. We have done quite a few of the pre-schooler classes and they've all been well planned and the kids really enjoy them.

Anonymous wrote:Is it worth it? What's the parking like??

ehh. parking filled by 10:30am. but good to donate. never did a kid bday. sleepover thing not worth it. trying dinosaur play soon.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you are there before 9:15 on a weekend, there won’t be parking.

We’ve gone to the zoo on countless weekends in the past two years. We never arrive before 10 am and we had no issues finding parking.

There has never been a time when we didn’t find parking.

Have you visited the zoo recently?

As someone who works at the zoo, I find this hard to believe that you've NEVER had a difficult time finding parking. It's literally one of the biggest complaints that we receive. So yes folks, if you're coming to the zoo on a weekend during a nice day - get here before 10.