What Boo at the L.A. Zoo is
The Zoo describes two fun-filled weekends with trick-or-treating stations, special keeper talks, pumpkin animal enrichment sessions, themed photo-ops and live performances, with costumes encouraged. Trick-or-treat, presented by MARS, runs at six candy stations from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. each day along the route from the Children's Zoo to Treetops Terrace; bring your own bag or buy one in the gift shop, and candy lasts while supplies do. Halloween Headquarters at Treetop Terrace has games and activities all four days, pumpkin painting for an extra fee, and free programming from Give Kids Art on October 24 and the LA Public Library on October 25; Bob Baker Marionette Theater performs at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. on October 31.
Also on: a Conservation Expo at the Rose Garden about bats, vultures and condors; a vulture and condor talk at noon each day at the World of Birds Show Theater; wandering costume characters in the Children's Zoo, a different film or show each day; a new inflatable corn maze; five decorated photo spots at Selig Plaza, Marketplace, Children's Zoo, Rose Garden and Treetop Terrace; and the LAIR reptile house. The pumpkin enrichment schedule was listed as coming soon when we checked.
Tickets: included with admission
Boo at the L.A. Zoo is free with paid Zoo admission or an active L.A. Zoo membership. The Zoo sells general admission, a Zoo plus Aquarium of the Pacific combo, and a Family Fun Pack for two adults and two children; the prices load in the Zoo's ticketing and were not readable on the page we checked, so take them from the official tickets page ↗. Lux4Rides sells transportation only. Zoo hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., the animals start going in at 4 p.m., and last entry is 3:45 p.m.
Members at the Family Deluxe level and above get an early morning on Saturday, October 24, from 8 to 10 a.m., with trick-or-treat from 8, keeper talks at 9, 9:30 and 10, and pop-ups from Give Kids Art and the Sloomoo Institute. Bring the membership card and photo ID; guest passes are not honored for that session.
Families: costumes, strollers and car seats
Costumes are encouraged for adults and children, with limits: no full-face masks, weapons, obscenity, or anything that could disturb patrons or animals. For the ride, that means prop weapons stay home and masks come off in the car. Tell us each child's age and weight when you book: a rear-facing seat, convertible seat or booster is $25 each per ride, up to three of each, installed before the chauffeur leaves for your pickup. Strollers fold into the cargo area; a Luxury SUV carries 7 passengers and 6 bags, an Escalade Elite 6 and 5, a sedan 3 and 3.
With candy ending at 3 p.m. and last entry at 3:45, most families are done by early afternoon. An hourly booking lets you leave when the youngest is finished rather than at a set time, and lunch nearby becomes a stop instead of a second ride.
Getting there: Griffith Park, free parking, one entrance
The Los Angeles Zoo is at 5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90027, in the northeast corner of Griffith Park directly across from the Autry Museum of the American West, at the junction of the I-5 and the 134. Parking is free. The Zoo's getting-here page does not publish a separate rideshare or drop-off zone; your chauffeur drives into the free lot and drops you as close to the entrance as staff direct, and collects you the same way. On an hourly booking the chauffeur stages where waiting is permitted and returns when you message; no car can wait at the entrance.
Boo weekends are the Zoo's busiest autumn days, so being dropped at opening is the easy way to see the lot before it fills. Metro Bus 296 stops at the Zoo for anyone coming by transit.
- From Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Calabasas or Pasadena: enter your address in the booking form; the fare is set by the mapped distance. Pasadena and the Valley are the short drives; the Westside comes up the 101 or the 5.
- From Orange County, Irvine, Newport Beach or Long Beach: a long enough drive that two transfers are usually better value than hourly; book both together and save 5%.
- From LAX with a visiting family: our LAX car service with car seats page covers the terminal pickup and seat options.
Timing a family day
Arrive for the 10 a.m. opening, do the trick-or-treat route from the Children's Zoo towards Treetops Terrace while the stations are stocked, catch the noon vulture talk, and plan to be out by mid-afternoon. On October 31 the Bob Baker shows at 11 and 1 anchor the day. The return pickup is a daytime one, so there is no late-night exit to manage; the only thing to decide is whether lunch is at the Zoo or a stop on the way home.