Last winter you could walk into the zoo's West Entrance on Phinney Ave and find Mount Rainier and Pacific Northwest woodland creatures glowing along the Wonderland Trail. With the zoo now covering the whole planet, where does a neighbor go this winter for lit-up Northwest animals?
When WildLanterns opens Friday, Nov. 13, Woodland Park Zoo will be showing an all-new set of displays organized around "One planet. Seven continents." Meanwhile the Phinney Neighborhood Association's PNAnimals, a set of animal lights the PNA describes as all found in the Pacific Northwest, come back to the neighborhood for the season. If you live between the zoo and the Phinney Center, you have two animal-themed light shows on one street this winter, and they cover different ground.
The Zoo's Lanterns Left the Northwest
The change is clearest when you put the two seasons next to each other.
| WildLanterns 2025–26 | WildLanterns 2026–27 | |
|---|---|---|
| Run | Nov. 14, 2025 to Jan. 18, 2026 | Nov. 13, 2026 to Jan. 17, 2027 |
| Theme | Wonderland Trail, Meandering Mangrove, Beneath the Blossoms, Forest Trailhead | Seven continents plus an underwater zone |
| Northwest content | Pacific Northwest woodland creatures and Mount Rainier | North America's bears, among the other continents |
| Kid stop | Interactive Zones | Interactive Zone |
According to the zoo, the 2026 route goes from penguins and orcas in Antarctica to snow leopards on Asian cliffs, giraffes, zebras and lions on an African savanna, and Australian marsupials. It also passes European meadows and ends at a coral reef full of tropical fish. The 2025 show had the reverse emphasis. It opened with Northwest wildlife and saved the exotic species for the mangrove and blossom sections, as The Seattle Times' Ticket described last November.
The hours haven't changed: 4 to 9 p.m., with last entry at 8:30.
Ten Blocks North, the Animals Are All From Here
The West Entrance sits on Phinney Ave N between N 55th and N 56th. The Phinney Center is at 6532 Phinney Ave N, which puts the two light shows about ten blocks apart on the same street. The PNA describes its lights this way:
"The PNAnimals are a diverse group; they swim, fly, run, and climb. Some we see every day, some only at the zoo, some we might count ourselves lucky to see even once. They all have something important in common: you can find each of these animals in the Pacific Northwest."
That's from the PNA's Winter in PhinneyWood page, which lists the PNAnimals as a season-long display running Nov. 21 to Jan. 1. The same page lists GloCone for Saturday, Nov. 28, from 5 to 5:30 p.m. GloCone is the PNA's annual tree of more than 3,200 programmable LED lights on the old air raid tower, and the lighting comes with carols and hot cocoa. Parts of that page still carry last year's listings, so check the dates there before you plan around them.
One walk up Phinney Ave takes you from the zoo's lions and coral reef to a set of lights made up only of animals that live in this region.
The Zoo's Calendar Decides Which Night Is Which
WildLanterns doesn't run every night, and its dark nights are useful to know if you live nearby. The zoo lists these closures:
- November: 16 to 18, 23, 26 and 30
- December: 7, 14, 24 and 25
- January: 4 to 6 and 11 to 13
Most of those closures fall on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, plus Thanksgiving and Christmas. On those nights the lantern crowd stays home, which makes them easy evenings for a walk up to see the PNAnimals or a quiet dinner on the ridge.
The theme nights work the other way. Each one draws a particular crowd to the West Entrance:
- Low Sensory Nights: Nov. 15, Dec. 1 and Jan. 10
- Night Owls, 21+: Nov. 20, Dec. 18 and Jan. 2
- Holiday Senior Stroll, with discounts for ages 65 and up: Nov. 22
- Pop Star Night: Dec. 13
- Seattle Sports Night: Jan. 16
Pop Star Night looks like the successor to 2025's Swiftie Theme Night, which also landed on Dec. 13. Seattle Sports Night returns, again on the show's second-to-last night.
The neighborhood's busiest stretch comes early. The lanterns open Friday, Nov. 13. The next night, Saturday, Nov. 14, the PNA's Winter Beer Taste fills the Phinney Center's Blue Building from 7 to 10 p.m. with more than 30 Northwest breweries and cideries. This year's theme is a trip to the year 3000 called Brewerama, and tickets run $15 to $75 for the 21+ event. The PNA calls it Seattle's longest-running beer festival. Then on Dec. 4 to 6, the 46th Annual PNA Winter Festival brings juried makers into the Blue and Brick buildings. Friday's 21+ preview night runs 5 to 8 p.m. at $25, or $20 for members. Saturday and Sunday run 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at $10, or $5 for members, and kids under 12 get in free. Tickets go on sale Nov. 1. The PNA's winter page counts more than 140 makers. WildLanterns is open all three of those nights.
Living Within Walking Distance Changes the Math
Most of the zoo's logistics advice is written for visitors who drive in. For WildLanterns evenings, parking is $15 plus taxes and fees in the Otter and Lion lots and $10 in the other lots, with that rate starting at 3:30 p.m. Member discounts don't apply to parking during the event, and there's no Park & Ride shuttle. If you can walk to the gate, you skip all of that.
A few rules matter more for neighbors than for once-a-season visitors:
- Tickets are tied to a date. Every ticket reserves a timed entry on a specific evening and can't be used on a different night. If a night sells out, the zoo stops selling tickets both online and at the gate.
- Passes give you flexibility. The WildLanterns page offers a Flex Admission Pass, which lets you reserve now and pick a date later, and a Season Pass for unlimited visits that the zoo says "pays for itself in less than three visits." Neither pass covers Night Owls.
- The early discount is still on. Through Oct. 31, full-price timed adult and child general admission is 10% off. Members get 20% off.
- It's rain or shine. Tickets are non-refundable.
- Bus riders get a free fare. Event ticket buyers get free round-trip fare on eligible Metro buses and Link light rail. Metro's Route 5 stops at Phinney Ave N and N 55th, right by the West Entrance.
If you live along the side streets, the zoo's neighbors page has the numbers you'd need. For a guest parked in or blocking your driveway, it points you to the SPD non-emergency line at 206-625-5011. For other urgent zoo issues, there's a 24-hour security hotline at 206-295-0078.
Where the Evening Starts or Ends on Phinney Ave
The newest place on this stretch is Stevie's Famous Pizza at 6000 Phinney Ave N, about halfway between the zoo gate and the Phinney Center. It held its grand opening in August in the former Zeek's Pizza space, the big blue building on the corner. PhinneyWood reported that it's the company's first location north of downtown and its largest restaurant so far, with a patio, four arcade games, and local beer and wine on tap. Counter-service slices before a 5 p.m. entry fit well with a timed ticket.
A block south, at 59th and Phinney, A la Mode Pies is building its new flagship café on the ground floor of the Woodland View Apartments. That's the same corner where the shop first opened in 2011. PhinneyWood reported in September that permitting had pushed the opening from this November to January 2027. Owner Chris Porter still plans to sell handmade pies on the corner during Thanksgiving week, and Thanksgiving pre-orders opened Oct. 1 on the shop's website. Thanksgiving is also a WildLanterns dark night, so the zoo is closed that evening during the week of the corner pie sale.
A January opening would put the café's debut in the lanterns' final weeks, since WildLanterns runs through Jan. 17. The PNA lists Jan. 1 as the last night for the PNAnimals.
If the lanterns have you thinking about what living this close to the zoo is like the rest of the year, from street parking on event nights to which blocks are an easy walk to the Phinney Center, that's the block-by-block detail Henry Shim Group works with every day. Book a Free Consultation and we'll give you a straight read on the ridge.
