We are huge Star Wars fans. Huge. We have Star Wars movie marathons at least three times a year! All four of us love everything Star Wars, so when I saw the announcement for the Sacramento Zoo Star Wars Day, I bought our tickets right away!
About Star Wars Day
Whether you favor the Rebel Alliance or the Dark Side, at this special Sacramento Zoo event, you get to meet your favorite Star Wars characters — from the 501st Legion, Rebel Legion, Mandalorian Mercs and R2 Builders Club — without making a trip to a galaxy far, far away.
In addition to the normal scheduled activities at the Sacramento Zoo, like the animal keeper chats, wildlife shows, and giraffe encounter, animals unwraped treats housed in boxes and piñatas painted to look like planets, X-wings, and TIE fighters. There were also craft stations set up and Chalk It Up artists on hand creating incredible Star Wars chalk murals all day. The Conservation Carousel even ran to Star Wars music all day!
Attending The Sacramento Zoo Star Wars Day
Adult tickets were $15 and children tickets (2-11) were $10, so it cost $40 for Natalie, Carter, and I to attend Star Wars Day at the Zoo.
We had the 9:00 am entry time, parked behind Fairytale Town at around 8:20 am, and the line to get in was stretched all the way down the sidewalk almost to the stoplight intersection — and if you’ve been to the Sacramento Zoo, you know that’s a really long line! Luckily the zoo staff was on top of things. They scanned our tickets while we waited in line, so at 9:00 am the line moved quickly and we were inside the zoo snapping a photo with our first Stormtrooper only 10 minutes later.
Everywhere we turned, there was a Star Wars character, or group of characters ready for a photo, and most of the time, we didn’t even have to wait in a line!
We had our photo taken with TONS of different Star Wars characters, including Darth Maul, R2D2, Boba Fett, and Sand People, as well as many Star Wars Characters we had never met in person before like a bevy of bounty hunters, Emperor Palpatine, Kylo Ren, Rey, BB-8, and Princess Leia as a Bounty Hunter. The longest line we waited in all day was the line for the photo with R2D2 and BB-8, and even that line wasn’t very long.
Considering the fantastic collection of photos we left with, admission prices were a total and complete steal! Plus, the kids and I had a blast hunting for characters, visiting the animals, and enjoying some tasty treats.
If you’re a Star Wars fan and you haven’t been to Star Wars Day at the Sacramento Zoo, you’re missing out. And don’t think that it’s just for kids either. Natalie and Carter are 11 and almost 14 and they loved it. Groups of teens were snapping photos with characters, and even groups of adults without kids were on hand for photos.
Special Star Wars Food
Not only were Star Wars characters roaming the park throughout the day, the rest of the zoo got in on the Star Wars themed fun too. At some of the food stands, Savannah Snacks, and the Kampala Cafe, there were special Star Wars food options such as:
- A Han-burger: a burger with bacon, grilled onion, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, and house made 1000 island sauce.
- The Kabobafet: A skewer of marinated vegetables and chicken over white rice.
- Darth Nachos: Bell pepper, pico de gallo, jalapenos, black beans, avocado cream, and a blackened nacho cheese sauce.
- An R2D2 Club: Turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and spicy mayo in jalapeno cheddar bread.
- The Princess Leia Bun: Cinnamon roll topped with ice cream, chocolate sauce, and candied pecans.
Here’s the deal though… the lines for food were insane around lunch time! Earlier in the day we only waited five minutes for some popcorn, but around 1:30 pm, we waited for 45 minutes just for two ice cream cones. If you’re planning on buying lunch at the Zoo, it’s a good idea to eat an early lunch, not a late lunch!
After that we were so hot that we said goodbye to the zoo and headed home with a collection of photos that we’ll treasure forever.
Breakfast With The Empire
As a Sacramento Zoo Member, your day was even sweeter with a special Members-Only event — Breakfast With The Empire — a 45-minute continental breakfast of pastries, muffins, bagels, coffee, juice, and Star Wars Characters. If you had tickets to this breakfast, you got exclusive access to characters for photos with no lines.
We’re not Zoo members and no idea this event even existed. If we had, I probably would have just signed up to be Sacramento Zoo Members for this one event! We only found out about by by accident, when following Kylo Ren in an attempt to get a photo with him. He was the one character Carter really wanted to get a photo with and he quickly disappeared into the private event.
We weren’t going to be thwarted however, and waited outside with a snack for Kylo Ren to come back outside. He had to leave the building at some point… Our wait paid off and we caught them as they exited the building and got a few AWESOME photos — and I left with a happy boy.
Know Before You Go
- The Sacramento Zoo is located at 3930 West Land Park Drive, Sacramento, California 95822.
- Star Wars Day begins at 9:00 am and goes until 4:00 pm.
- A special ticket is required. Members however, receive free admission with no ticket required.
- Proceeds from Star Wars Day will benefit animal care and the general maintenance of the Zoo.
- Tickets are non-refundable. Rain or shine.
- Lightsabers are allowed but costume blasters or guns are not allowed by any guests except the official visiting Star Wars Characters.
