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Holiday Events in PDX - Oregon Zoo's Zoo Lights at A Well Crafted Party
Christmas

Holidays in Portland: Zoo Lights + A Giveaway!

7 Comments Christmas

What are your favorite holiday traditions? My little family have begun traditions over the past few years that I hope will last our lifetime and possibly end up as traditions my kids keep with their kids someday. One of my favorite holiday traditions that we try to do every year is visiting Oregon Zoo’s Zoo Lights. This year the whole family attended and I got to share my joy of holiday lights and zoo animals with two very excited little guys! Read on to see my tips for an enjoyable #ZooLightsPDX experience, cute photos of kiddos, and a chance to win a package of 4 tickets to this year’s Zoo Lights!

This post is sponsored, all opinions are my own. To learn more about my posting policies regarding sponsored posts please visit my policies page. As always, thank you for reading more about the companies that help support this blog. 

Holiday Events in PDX - Oregon Zoo's Zoo Lights at A Well Crafted Party

Holiday Events in PDX - Oregon Zoo's Zoo Lights at A Well Crafted Party

If you were following my Instastories or Snapchat last week you might have seen my very, very excited posts about Zoo Lights. I just can’t help it. I LOVE the feeling that this season brings and the twinkly lights just push it over the moon for me. Don’t even get me started on how I feel about Santa and snow this season. Heart eyes all day long.

Tips for Making the Most out of Your Zoo Lights Experience

Plan your trip— Zoo Lights this year has some pretty great hours and fun extra opportunities. Plan your trip to make the most of your budget and experience. ZooLights is open 5 PM to 8 PM on Value Nights and 5PM to 9PM all other nights. ZooLights is open 7 days a week until January 1st with the exception of December 24th and 25th. Zoo Members get discounts on food purchases, gift store purchases, the carousel, and train.

Take advantage of Zoo Value Nights: Monday through Thursday November 28th through December 15th tickets are $9.95 (adults), $7.95 (seniors), and $4.95 (youth) with $1.50 off with proof of Trimet fare.

 

Tip: Take public transportation! While we had no problems with parking on a Thursday night and found that the parking fee was reasonable… I do recommend taking public transportation. Public transportation can drop you right off at the zoo and will give you a discount for your tickets. If the parking lot is full there is a parking shuttle from the overflow parking area, but it can mean some waiting in the cold. Might as well do a park and ride and make your trip less of a hassle.

 

Holiday Events in PDX - Oregon Zoo's Zoo Lights at A Well Crafted Party

Holiday Events in PDX - Oregon Zoo's Zoo Lights at A Well Crafted Party

Dress appropriately— It is Oregon in winter. It often rains and up where the zoo is located is often cooler than other areas of Portland. Dress for cold weather. We have gone to zoo lights for nearly 5 years now and I think this was the first year that we REALLY dressed for it. We had many layers on, a blanket for the kiddo in his stroller, and outerwear that was rain resistant. Thankfully we barely got a drizzle while there, but I was glad that we were prepared.

Holiday Events in PDX - Oregon Zoo's Zoo Lights at A Well Crafted Party

 

Get tickets for the Zoo Train— Maybe it is just because I have two little boys who love trains… but, this was my favorite part of the whole trip. The trains are decorated and drive through the zoo where you get to see the lights all while in a comfortable little cart. I had been waiting for huge lines at the train, but was pleasantly surprised to find that they gave us tickets for certain times which meant that when we went to the train we had a less than 5 minute wait!

Holiday Events in PDX - Oregon Zoo's Zoo Lights at A Well Crafted Party

 

Get your family photo in the tunnel of lights! There are so many great photo opportunities at Zoo Lights, but this is my favorite. I am so glad that it is a staple in the zoo light decorations and comes back year after year.

Win 4 Tickets to Oregon Zoo’s Zoo Lights 2016

Must be 18+ years of age or older, and a US resident to enter to win. Winner will be notified via email, so please leave a valid email address within your comment on with Rafflecopter. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning email to claim their prize. If they do not respond a new winner will be chosen. Upon confirmation, tickets will be placed in will call at the zoo under the winner’s name. Tickets are valid for one-time use from completion of contest through the last night of ZooLights (January 1, 2017). Visit the Zoo Website for more information about ZooLights. Value of four tickets is $59.80. No cash value. Non-transferrable.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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A Review of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum from A Well Crafted Party
Portland

Things to do in Oregon: Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum

1 Comment Portland

When looking for fun, kid-friendly activities to do in Oregon, Evergreen Aviation Museum and Wings and Waves Waterpark  offered complimentary tickets to explore their attractions. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Today I’m sharing all about the Evergreen Aviation Museum. But, you’ve got to hop on over to read about my experience at the Wings and Waves Waterpark!  To learn more about sponsored content on this blog please ready my policies page. Thank you for supporting the companies that help make this blog happen!

 

A Review of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum from A Well Crafted Party

 

The Evergreen Aviation Museum is HUGE. I mean, you have a ton of planes all over the place so the venue has to be huge. I’d highly recommend planning to peruse the museum for the entire day. It is important to plan a day at the museum to get your money’s worth as well. The price of admission is a tad more than what I would normally spend on an outing with my kids at $19 per child and $29 per adult. However, admission includes entry to Aviation Museum, Space Museum, & one movie.  There are a lot of attractions and we absolutely enjoyed the stay enough to go again.

 

A Review of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum from A Well Crafted Party

Highlights of the Aviation Museum

My son is really into both cars and planes right now. His age made this a prime attraction. Our favorite parts of the Aviation Museum included:

The educational and interactive plane exhibit

To the left of the admission stand as you enter the museum is an exhibit filled with plane related educational and interactive attractions. My son couldn’t wait to get into this section of the museum! We honestly spent a large portion of our visit here as it was fun going through each of the exhibits, playing and learning. You also get the opportunity to sit in a cockpit… everyone had to take a turn!

 

A Review of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum from A Well Crafted Party A Review of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum from A Well Crafted Party

The Spruce Goose

This plane is a sight to be seen for sure! We loved the Spruce Goose exhibit as it included a miniature replica of the building of the plane as well as a great informational video. It as the perfect place to sit for a rest after walking around the museum a bit and enjoy learning more about this amazing plane.

 

A Review of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum from A Well Crafted Party

The early flight exhibit

It is incredibly inspiring to see how far we’ve come in flying over the years. Getting to see those first airplane styles and read about the way they worked and the people that flew them was incredible.

A Review of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum from A Well Crafted Party

Highlights from the Space Museum

My favorite of the two museums was hands down the Space Museum, perhaps because space exploration has been so prevalent in my youth. I remember watching as a we launched rocket ships into space. Getting to learn more about the different missions and the tools that are used in space exploration was the most fun I’ve ever had at a museum.

The playground

My son’s absolute favorite part of the museum was the large playground right outside of the Space Museum. He liked pretending he was an astronaut in the spaceship play structure.

 

A Review of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum from A Well Crafted Party

A Review of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum from A Well Crafted Party

A Review of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum from A Well Crafted Party

The Titan II Missile and Launch Sequence

Walking down the missile silo of the Titan II Missile exhibit is humbling to say the least. This thing was massive. At the bottom of the silo was a launch room with a automated sequence you could experience what the controllers must have experienced at launch.

 

A Review of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum from A Well Crafted Party

 

Tips for visiting the Evergreen Aviation Museum

Timing: I don’t think that I can stress this enough. Plan and prepare for a whole day of fun at these museums. There was so much to see and do throughout the two museums. We tried doing the museum visits and the waterpark all in one day and ended up not being able to make it to the theater or really spend quite as much time as we would have liked at any one of the exhibits.

Lunch: If you are going to spend all day at the museums you are going to want to eat. There are cafes in each of the museums and you can certainly get a full lunch at either. We enjoyed the food at the cafe in the Aviation museum, however, we also spent quite a bunch of money! If you plan ahead and don’t want to buy a full lunch at the cafes then I’d recommend bringing a picnic lunch to have on the grounds of the museum. There are plenty of outdoor picnic areas!

Babies: Bring a stroller! We both wore our carrier and brought our stroller. I was so glad that we had the stroller. The museum is gigantic and we wanted to see it all. The stroller was handy for our bags and for the kiddo to get in a good nap.

 

A Review of Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum from A Well Crafted Party

Have you ever been to the Evergreen Aviation Museum? If so, what was your favorite exhibit?

 

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Sponsored Review: Waves and Wings Water Park
Portland

Things to do in Oregon: Wings and Waves Waterpark

1 Comment Portland

When looking for fun, kid-friendly activities to do in Oregon, Evergreen Aviation Museum and Wings and Waves Waterpark offered complimentary tickets to explore their attractions. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Today I’m sharing all about the Waterpark, but check back next week for my experience at the Evergreen Aviation Museum! To learn more about sponsored content on this blog please ready my policies page. Thank you for supporting the companies that help make this blog happen!

Sponsored Review: Waves and Wings Water Park

 

This picture is basically how we all felt about getting to visit the Wings and Waves Waterpark on a rainy Portland day. We had driven past the waterpark and museum a million times as we drove through McMinnville on the way to the coast. The big airplane sitting on top of the waterpark has always been a huge attraction on those drives for my son. We had always said, “we should go…” but never made the time to go. I’m glad that we planned an entire day for the museum and water park visit and sort of wished we had planned to visit in two days rather than squishing it all into one. There was a LOT to do and see. I had two VERY tired little boys by the end of the day.

Sponsored Post: What to Expect at the Waves and Wings Waterpark in McMinnville, OR

What to expect when you go to the Wings and Waves Waterpark:

The Evergreen Aviation Museum and Wings and Waves Waterpark website has a LOT going on as there are so many different attractions going on at one time. Using the FAQ page I tried to be as prepared as possible for what the day may bring and what might be needed. You have to be prepared with kids. There just isn’t an option! Read on for the answers to the questions I had before visiting the first time.

 

Sponsored Post: What to Expect at the Waves and Wings Waterpark in McMinnville, OR

 

How busy was the park?

I was pleasantly surprised about the amount of people the park could comfortably accommodate. We went on what the team member I talked to called a normal Saturday. It was busy, but not so crowded that I felt uncomfortable or had a long wait anywhere we went.

Where do we put our stuff?

There are a LOT of tables and chairs throughout the park for putting down beach bags and the like. I had brought my DSLR with me and my purse (gotta pay for stuff somehow!) and didn’t feel comfortable just setting those on a table while I ran off into the waves, so I purchased two Medium-sized lockers to put my stuff. The large lockers sell out pretty quickly, but at $7/medium locker I felt like I could afford to put away my more valuable items for the many hours we were splashing around. The ‘keys’ to the lockers were actually just wristbands that we wore so I didn’t have to keep up with anything extra. That was nice.

 

Sponsored Post: What to Expect at the Waves and Wings Waterpark in McMinnville, OR

My kiddo isn’t a strong swimmer… will it be safe?

Okay, so this was my biggest concern about the waterpark aspect of it all. My oldest son LOVES the water, but isn’t a strong swimmer at all yet. My youngest is 7 months and takes a lot of attention. While I knew we were going where each adult would be able to wrangle a child, I was worried that we wouldn’t enjoy the day as we’d be stressed about older kids in pools, etc. I had nothing to worry about. First, there are life jackets and many trained life guards. The lifeguards are young, but you can see their training in place the entire time you are there as they are actively watching and making signs to the other lifeguards in the area. Second, there are attractions for many levels of swimmers and non-swimmers including a splash pad area for the young ones.

Where to eat?

Swimming all day makes my clan hungry. There is a cafe at the waterpark that serves the basic fare of hamburgers, hot dogs, fries, salads, and such. The prices are not inexpensive, but they are not unreasonable either. They really felt like they were accurate with a sit down casual dining restaurant. However, if you have a big crew to feed and you don’t want to pay for meals at the cafe, you can bring a picnic lunch to have on the grounds (not in the waterpark) of the museum and park. There are picnic tables near the parking area.

 

Sponsored Post: What to Expect at the Waves and Wings Waterpark in McMinnville, OR

 

What to wear?

Bathing suits are the main attire at the Wings and Waves Waterpark. It is good to note though that suits with metal snaps are not allowed on the water slides.

 

Have you been to the Wings and Waves Waterpark? If so, what was your experience?

 

 

 

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