I spent 30 minutes talking about the Columbus Zoo’s Wildlights display with Jeff Glorioso, the facility’s Director of Events and Promotions.
By the time we finished, I had to go take a nap. It was exhausting just listening to the amount of work involved.
The 36th edition of Wildlights is running at the zoo through Jan. 5. If Mother Nature cooperates, the zoo expects to draw as many as 400,000 visitors to the display.
So, back to the exhausting part.
There are about three million LED lights on display. As you might imagine, no one has sat down and counted every last one, but three million puts us in the ballpark. I complain when my wife asks me to run a string of 40 across our front porch. Who’s the poor sap stuck with stringing up all those lights?
Jeff said it takes more than one dude. It’s a bunch of dudes and women at the zoo. In fact, there isn’t a single department that isn’t involved. Workers start stringing up the lights around Labor Day. It involves ladders and cranes and ridiculous patience, all to be ready when the zoo opened Wildlights to the public on Nov. 22.
The forerunner of Wildlights was the zoo’s Winter Wonderland, which debuted in 1988. In that first year, 48,000 guests visited the zoo and its display of 120,000 lights. The name was eventually changed to Wildlights and it has attracted 8 million visitors to the zoo, but not all at the same time.
Each year, new displays are added.
“We try to have a wow factor each year,” Jeff said. “We actually start planning for next year during this year’s event. We’ll walk the grounds and see where we can make improvements or where we think the display might be lacking. It’s a year-round process.”
This year, for example, the zoo constructed a 16-foot wide, 200-foot tunnel of light through the North America region.
And that brings us to the halfway point of this blog, and time for a word from our sponsor.
Do you know what makes great Christmas gifts for kids of all ages? A Columbus Zoo membership and Zoombezi Bay Water Park season pass. They’re the gifts that continue to give throughout the year. To purchase your zoo membership, visit www.columbuszoo/membership, or call 614.645.3400. To purchase a Zoombezi Bay season pass, visit www.zoombezibay.com or call 614.645.3400.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled blog.
Returning this year are Wildlights’ three main animated light displays, all set to music. They are:
- Sparkling Spruce – Presented by Diamond Cellar, this animated holiday tree is illuminated with a captivating light and sound show within Adventure Cove region. The 42-foot tall Sparkling Spruce is adorned with 13,900 animated lights
- Jingle Jam – Presented by Nationwide, these 36 spheres of light dance to seasonal tunes at Shores Play Park.
- Holiday Magic Animated Light Display – Enjoy a spectacle of sight and sound as the lights around Conservation Lake are set to four different medleys each hour. One of the medleys honors holiday television shows with music from such classics as Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and The Polar Express.
One of the new attractions for 2024 is the Dinosaur Island Yule Tide Boat Ride. Jeff said the Dinosaur Island boat ride is a big attraction at the zoo. This year, the Jurassic journey has been given a holiday makeover. There is an additional charge for the boat ride, as well as the 12 Days of Wildlights Train Ride, the 1914 Mangels-Illions Carousel and the S’mores Experience.
Another returning favorite is the Rudolph and Friends Character Experience, where you can meet Rudolph, Hermey, Bumble and the true star of the show, Yukon Cornelius. (“I’m off to get my life-sustaining supplies: cornmeal and gun powder and hamhocks and guitar strings.”) See the cast at select times at Polar Frontier’s underwater viewing area.
And, what trip to Wildlights would be complete without the Santa Experience? The Jolly Elf is on hand to hear your Christmas wish list, and you can capture the moment with a photo. Reservations are recommended. To make a reservation to visit Santa, visit Columbus Zoo and Aquarium | Hours and Rates. Santa heads back to the North Pole on Dec. 23, because, you know, his schedule gets crazy busy on the 24th.
And now, a closing word from our sponsor.
Dads, you’re to be commended for taking the family to Wildlights when you really wanted to stay home and watch the big game. But you did the right thing and sacrificed the comfort of your recliner for quality family time. That’s why you deserve to treat yourself to a Wildlights beer. That’s right, you can finish off that visit with a seasonal craft beer from the zoo’s Jolliest Holiday Craft Beer Celebration. The hardy brews available throughout the park include Tracksuit Santa by the Columbus Brewing Company, Blitzen Ale by the Maumee Bay Brewing Company, Holiday Cookie by Powell’s Nocterra Brewing Company and Hunky Dory Apple Pie by the MadmoonCidery of Columbus. If you’re at least 21, help yourself to a satisfying beer, or cider, and maybe you can get home in time for the second half of the game. Or, maybe not. Does it really matter if you miss seeing your team roar back from 21 points down in the fourth quarter and secure a playoff spot with a two-point conversion with no time left on the clock? Quit whining, you big baby, and enjoy your family and the brew. There’ll be other games.
Wildlights hours are 5-9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday, and 5-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday. Wildlights is closed on Christmas Eve and Christmas. The Columbus Zoo is a cashless facility.
By: Robin Yocum
