Our family visits Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo Chicago every year. We love the spectacular light displays (over 3.5 million lights for 2025) and festive holiday spirit. We want to help make this part of your holiday tradition with our top 5 tips for a great visit and information about dates and how to reserve your tickets (or not). This post has been updated for 2025, and we will continue to add more information as we experience 2025 Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo Chicago.
Holiday Magic is being offered over 28 evenings in 2025. On all other winter days, the zoo is open for regular admission 10am-5pm (except for Thanksgiving and Christmas Day), and be sure to keep reading for information on days with free admission.
1. Make a Plan to Stay Warm!
This is winter in Chicagoland everyone! We suggest that you pull out your coziest coats, hats and mittens, but we also have a few others ways to stay warm during your visit!
Buy a Warm Beverage or Bring Your Own!
There are warm beverages and food options for sale all over Brookfield Zoo Chicago. You can find all of the dining locations, from small kiosks to large indoor restaurants, shown in the Brookfield Zoo Chicago app or on signs posted around the zoo. The zoo is even offering rentable “Holiday Igloos” where you can enjoy food and beverages in a private heated space. At the time of writing, the zoo has not yet provided further details on these igloos.
You can also bring a thermos of our own hot chocolate or tomato soup to the zoo! Brookfield Zoo Chicago allows you to bring your own food and beverages into the zoo. You are prohibited from bringing alcoholic beverages and glass bottles onto zoo property, but you can buy alcoholic drinks at the zoo.
Visit Indoor Animal Habitats!
Also, on the topic of staying warm, we suggest knowing which animals you can visit inside a warm building. For 2025, there are five indoor animal habitats open during Holiday Magic. These buildings are a nice place to get warm while visiting with some animals These are your five choices:
Gorilla Conservation Center
The Gorilla Conservation Center is part of the new Tropical Forests expansion that opened this past summer. This is the new indoor viewing space on the west side of the building (near the exit to the outdoor portion). This is a fresh and welcoming space with bench seating and indoor access to bathrooms and water fountains. The habitat area here is beautiful, but keep in mind that animals may not be in the habitat during your visit: this is not the expansive indoor primate habitat of Tropic Worlds but just one room. In any case, it is a nice place to warm-up.
Hamill Family Play Zoo
We like the Hamill Family Play Zoo so much that we have an entire post dedicated to it here: Wildly Fun Tips for the Play Zoo at Brookfield Zoo Chicago. Instead of rehashing the information here, I am going to point you to that post for all of the details on this wonderful space. This area is dedicated to kids, but anyone is welcome.
Australia
The Australia building is one of our favorites at Brookfield Zoo Chicago. You can find it on the north side of the zoo to the west of the north entrance. This building consists of several rooms including a walk-through bat habitat. My favorite is the area with the echidnas and wombats.
Living Coast (Formerly Living Seas)
The Living Coast is the indoor aquarium building at Brookfield Zoo Chicago with sharks, eels, a sea turtle named Pistachio and other fascinating aquatic creatures. It is also home to Brookfield Zoo Chicago’s Humboldt penguins. You can find The Living Coast building in the southwest corner of the zoo.
Restrooms as well as a large indoor restaurant are close to the exit to this habitat. In 2024, the zoo debuted a new themed light display outside this habitat. Our kids were delighted by the glowing iridescent sea creatures in this new “Sparkling Coast.”
Dolphin Bay (Formerly Seven Seas)
Dolphin Bay is the home for the bottlenose dolphins who live at Brookfield Zoo Chicago. It is located in the northeast corner of the zoo. During Holiday Magic, you can get a look at the dolphins from the underwater viewing at Dolphin Bay. You access the underwater viewing from a ramp on the north side of the building near Sea Lion Cove. This building also has indoor restrooms and a nursing pod.
For 2025, Brookfield Zoo Chicago has advertised that overwater viewing at Dolphin Bay will be available on select nights from 6-8pm. Those dates are December 4, 11, 18, 29-31 in 2025 and January 1-4 in 2026. For an above-water view of the dolphins, you should also check the schedule for a “Holiday Dolphin Show.” Just keep in mind that there is an additional fee for the show. Buy your tickets at the booth outside Dolphin Bay and follow the signs to the entrance on the south side of the building.
2. Visit Outdoor Habitats Too!
There are many animals in outdoor habitats to visit during Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo. Plus, since the zoo is rarely open after dark, this is a special time to visit these special residents.
You can see a lot of outdoor habitats (and lights) at once by strolling along the big cat habitats on the East Mall or the enclosures for the hoofed animals lined-up along the north side of the zoo, west of the North Gate.
Because of the season, the reindeer in the Wild Encounters area of the zoo (southeast corner) are especially popular. Wild Encounters is one of the newer sections of the zoo, and families with toddlers will probably like the toddler-sized toilets in the restrooms here. Wild Encounters is also the location for the other new light display from 2024: Candy Cane Lane.
3. Make a Reservation (or Not) to Visit Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo
The process for visiting Brookfield Zoo Chicago during Holiday magic has been changing developing over the last five years. If you did not visit during 2024, be sure to keep reading to understand the procedures and what you need to know. We are going to take you through the process for 2025.
In 2025, Brookfield Zoo Chicago is presenting Holiday Magic on November 21-23, & 28-30 and December 4-7, 11-14, 18-21 and 26-31 in 2025. There are also a few dates in 2026: January 1-4. On those days, Brookfield Zoo Chicago is open 3-9pm. Sensory Friendly Holiday Magic is being offered on December 4, 2025. On other dates during those winter months, the zoo is open for regular operating hours without the special Holiday Magic offerings.
Whether you need to make a reservation before your visit depends on whether you plan on entering the zoo from the North Gate (8400 31st Street, Brookfield, IL 60513) or the South Gate (3300 Golf Road, Brookfield, IL 60513).
You Need a Reservation for the South Gate During Holiday Magic
Some guests prefer the South Gate of Brookfield Zoo Chicago, because the parking is much closer to the zoo entrance than it is at the North Gate (and because it has sidewalks for pedestrians). If you would like the convenience of the South Gate, you will need to make an advance reservation for your Holiday Magic visit at brookfieldzoo.org.
Unless you have a membership for Brookfield Zoo Chicago, you will also purchase your tickets at this time. If you do have a membership or ticket vouchers, you will still need to make a reservation if you want to use the South Gate. There is a fee for this reservation service whether you are buying tickets or not.
The South Gate is also the closest entrance if you want to take the Metra’s BNSF line to the zoo. We were told that you will still need to make a reservation if you are entering the zoo on foot. You do not need a reservation if you are visiting the zoo during regular operating hours on dates not offering Holiday Magic.
You Do Not Need a Reservation for the North Gate
For 2025, you can visit Brookfield Zoo Chicago during Holiday Magic WITHOUT making a reservation by entering through the North Gate. You will still need to purchase admission or have a membership to Brookfield Zoo Chicago, so the zoo does recommend that you take care of that in advance on their website (brookfieldzoo.org).
Visiting Holiday Magic as a Brookfield Zoo Chicago Member
If you have a membership to Brookfield Zoo Chicago, you need to make any advance arrangements to visit during Holiday Magic ONLY if you want to use the South Gate. You get admission to Holiday Magic included in your zoo membership. Parking at the North Gate is also included for all members, but parking at the South Gate comes with an additional fee for all but Unlimited members.
Be aware: everyone is charged a “convenience fee” in the process of making reservations.
4. Be Prepared For Crowds Visiting Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo Chicago
Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo Chicago is VERY popular. We visit during Holiday Magic knowing there will be large crowds and we plan accordingly.
First, we talk to our kids about staying close together. Despite having 3.5 million Christmas lights, Holiday Magic can be dark in places, so it is hard to spot a group member if you become separated from each other. For this reason, we also put our own lights on our stroller and on our people: we like using battery-operated Christmas lights to join in the festive fun.
We also know that this is not an ideal time to visit the animals. It can be cool to see them at night, but the crowds make it difficult to get a good look. Instead, we use Holiday Magic visits to admire the wonderful light displays and come back during the day for better animal viewing.
Come Back to Brookfield Zoo Chicago on a Free Day to View Animals
Brookfield Zoo Chicago is FREE for everyone on Tuesdays and Thursdays in November (except on Thanksgiving Day) and on Mondays and Tuesdays from December 1 to December 23, 2025. In January and February, it gets even better! Just be aware that Brookfield Zoo Chicago still charges parking and attraction fees on these free days.
You might think the zoo would be very crowded on these free days, but in our experience, it is not. In fact, the zoo has relatively low crowds through the winter with the exception of Holiday Magic days. For all of our best tips on visiting Brookfield Zoo Chicago any day, see: Big Guide to Brookfield Zoo Chicago
5. Enjoy the Lights during Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo
In any case, Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo Chicago is crowded for a reason. The light displays are lovely and dynamic, and they get bigger every year.
In 2024, we enjoyed: (1) the two new lighting areas: Candy Cane Lane and Sparkling Coast (2) the lighted arches on the East Mall and (3) the mailbox where you can send letters to the animals.
The animals’ mailbox is just north of the central fountain. You can also drop-off a letter to Santa in the neighboring mailbox or meet the jolly guy himself nearby.
Other popular stops from years past include large lighted objects like the Giant Orb, which is very cool, but it also usually has a long line of visitors. The Jingle Bell Rock dance party behind The Swamp is cute, and has been a nice place for kids to wiggle around without leaving your line of sight. The Holiday Market was new for 2024 and is set to return in 2025, plus other gifts shops around the zoo are also open. Santa is taking visitors in The Pavilions; check his schedule if you want to make sure to see him during your visit.
The lighted ferris wheel from last year is not scheduled for Holiday Magic in 2025, however Brookfield Zoo Chicago is touting several new offerings. Those include (1) a big light-up maze and interactive light displays, (2) additional light tunnels and “a twinkling star walk-through experience,” and (3) a new holiday version of the popular dolphin show.
This is not an exhaustive list of everything there is to do at Holiday Magic, so check-out the app or brookfieldzoo.org, if you want the full list.
Thank you for reading about Holiday Magic at Brookfield Zoo in Chicago in 2025.
For tips on visiting another great Chicagoland attraction, see Top 5 Tips for Visiting Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium. We have more tips for Brookfield Zoo Chicago at Wildly Fun Tips for the Play Zoo at Brookfield Zoo Chicago, and for our exhaustive guide to visiting the zoo any day, see Big Guide to Brookfield Zoo Chicago. Thanks again for reading!
