Six free tickets per membership
Member Nights run Tuesday, 8 December and Wednesday, 9 December at the Smithsonian's National Zoo. A membership reserves up to six free tickets. ZooLights general admission is $10 a person, so six tickets carry $60 of gate value.
The seventh person pays $10. The Member Nights page prices additional tickets at $10 each, which is also the public price.
Every attendee needs a ticket. The page includes children aged 3 and older in that rule, so a child of 2 does not use one of the six.
Parking is $30, and membership does not touch it
Event parking costs $30 in advance and $40 on the day. Every guest pays the special event rate, members included. Member benefits and daily parking passes do not apply to after-hours events.
Buy the parking with the tickets. The advance rate saves $10 a car.
Bus parking is $120.
15 percent off food and retail
Present the membership card and ID at in-park food and retail for 15 percent off. On a $60 food bill that is $9. On $40 it is $6.
The Member Nights page publishes no exclusions and no cap. Ask at the counter before the order goes in.
Festive glasses cost $1 with an attraction ticket
A pair of festive glasses costs $3. The price falls to $1 with a purchase at an in-park attraction. The carousel, the train and the winter maze each cost $6. Glasses and attraction tickets sell on-site only.
Six pairs bought with one attraction ticket come to $6 for the lenses plus the $6 ticket. Six pairs bought on their own come to $18.
The two nights, added up
Six people on a Member Night pay nothing for tickets, $30 for parking bought in advance, $12 for the carousel and the train, and $6 for six pairs of glasses at the reduced price. The total is $48.
The same six people on a public night pay $60 for tickets at $10 each, $30 for parking, $12 for two attractions, and $18 for six pairs of glasses. The total is $120.
The difference is $72. Sixty of it comes from the tickets.
Four hours on the paths
Member Nights open at 5 p.m. and close at 9 p.m. Last entry is 8:30 p.m.
The season opens 20 November 2026 and closes 3 January 2027. Public nights run 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Monday to Saturday and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday. Last entry is 30 minutes before close.
The Elephant Community Center and the Reptile Discovery Center stay open after hours on Member Nights.
What the ticket covers
Animal lanterns run through five habitats: ocean, desert, grassland, rainforest and polar. Holiday food and drink sell inside the gates.
Carolers perform each Saturday in December, one decade a night: 5, 12, 19 and 26 December. Film and music trivia runs Sunday 6 December, Sunday 13 December, Sunday 20 December, Monday 21 December and Tuesday 22 December. The page marks both as included with admission.
An Adults-Only Night runs Wednesday, 16 December from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at $19 a ticket with one adult beverage included.
Tickets are nonrefundable, and an exchange needs 48 hours
Tickets cannot be refunded. A member may move a free or purchased ticket to another date up to 48 hours before the original date. Exchanges depend on availability.
Tickets may not be resold. The Zoo asks guests to buy only through its own site and states that tickets from unauthorised sellers may be voided or refused at the gate.
Book the tickets and the parking together
Reserve the six free tickets through the member booking link on the Member Nights page. Add parking at the $30 advance rate in the same purchase.
Neither page publishes a membership price. A reader without a membership needs that figure from the membership page before the comparison runs.
For the hotel night, name a price per night on hotelhaggle.org and let the properties answer. Offers come back in 24 to 72 hours. The District of Columbia is not one of the four states on the seller-of-travel page.
