Fewer days separated Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, which lent a particularly frantic pace to the holiday season.
If you didn’t make it to Winter Wonderland or ZooLights, two of our area’s biggest holiday attractions, you still have time. Holiday lights twinkle just as brightly the week after Christmas as before, and you’ll be rewarded with smaller crowds.
About 1,000 vehicles drove through Winter Wonderland at Portland International Raceway on peak nights before Christmas, said Kyle Camberg, executive director of Sunshine Division, which runs the attraction as a fundraiser. The line of cars waiting to get in on Dec. 21 was an hour long, he said.
In past years, he said, the traffic has gone down by a third after Christmas, which makes it a good time to take in the light show for those who don’t love long lines. The last night is Jan. 4.
The ZooLights exhibit continues through Jan. 5, with a special Sensory Inclusive Night closing the season Jan. 6.
The light exhibit at the Oregon Zoo attracted 12,000 on Dec. 23, with average attendance between 5,000 and 7,000 a night, the zoo’s Marcia Sinclair said. Attendance dwindles in January.
Crowds make such an outing intolerable for families with children who are on the autism spectrum or have difficulty integrating information from their senses. That’s why the zoo is offering its second annual ZooLights Sensory Inclusive Night.
Tickets will be limited to 1,500 for each of two time slots — 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. — on Jan. 6.
The zoo worked with staff and families from the Beaverton Early Childhood Learning Center to adjust the ZooLights experience to better accommodate guests with sensory processing needs, Sinclair said.
For Sensory Inclusive Night, the zoo turns down the music’s volume, especially near animated lights, and slows down or turns off certain animations. Visitors receive maps with recommendations for where to use sunglasses or headphones, showing designated quiet rooms and marking animated light and non-animated light trails.
“It was so appreciated by families that we decided to make it an annual event,” Sinclair said.
On the zoo’s website, families can find a “social story” that is, a short breakdown of what to expect to help their children prepare for the experience.
“I will go to the zoo when it gets dark with my family,” it begins. “I will wait in line and I will see colorful lights and hear music!”
Early in the ZooLights season, a child thought the Daisy the Polar Bear statue was real and became frightened, Sinclair said. So the social story was updated to warn, “There is a plastic statue of a polar bear at the zoo entrance.”
For an inherently low-key holiday outing, tour the Pittock Mansion’s Christmas exhibit, “The Wonderful World of Books,” through Jan. 5. The rooms are decorated to reflect magical storybook settings.
