Kid's Birthday Parties

The Fort Worth Zoo Education Building shares the main parking lot with the Zoo itself. The building is located on the right side of the parking lot, toward the ticket booth. Look for a thatch-roofed cabana with a sign for Adventure Base Camp and follow the ramp on its right-hand side. From there, a bridge leads directly to the Education Building.

You can click on the green “book your party” button to view a calendar of available days (green means there is plenty of availability, yellow means there is limited availability, red means that day is sold out, and grey means that day is unavailable for parties).

If your package includes a parking pass, it will be mailed to you with your Zoo tickets. You will need to remind your guests about the $5 parking fee, we do not sell additional parking passes.

Our rooms are all purpose classrooms and come with plenty of chairs, three rectangular tables (that measure about 8 feet long), and a countertop along the back wall with a sink. You are welcome to bring decorations such as tablecloths and birthday banners, we just ask that you do not damage our walls and remove all decorations at the end of your party.

It is a 20-minute live animal presentation in your party room! Our keepers bring in three different animals (a variety of birds, mammals, reptiles all native or exotic), tell you a little bit about them and answer any questions you may have! Unfortunately, we cannot tell you which animals you will see, and you cannot choose certain animals, due to animal schedules and behaviors. If you’d like to request a certain kind of animals (maybe the birthday child loves birds! We’d love to introduce them to some of ours!) or you can request to NOT have a certain kind of animal (maybe the birthday child is afraid of birds, we do not want any party guest to be nervous or afraid during the presentation).

Yes! We do not provide food for any of our party packages, but you are welcome to bring your own! Many parties choose to have pizza delivered or bring in sandwich trays. We do not have a refrigerator to store food. We also do not allow external heating sources (burners, microwaves etc.)

Yes! We always suggest to at least bring tablecloths (you’ll need three rectangular ones) since this will make clean up easier. Balloons and candles are not allowed. We have magnetic whiteboards on one wall, which is a great space to hang a birthday banner. You can also hang anything on our walls if it doesn’t damage them or remove paint.

No. Our staff will be unavailable until 30 minutes prior to your party starting.

No. There will be a staff person at the front desk who will be happy to answer questions or assist you, but they will not be available to be in your party room for the entire duration of your party.

It is entirely up to you! What we normally see our party families do is provide food, perhaps a quick easy game or craft (if you are thinking of a craft, we suggest something simple and easy to clean up), open presents, look at the exhibits in the hallway, and have their animal presentation. 

You will get these vouchers when you receive your tickets. They can be redeemed anytime during the day of your party. Take them to the cashier to exchange them for your lettuce leaves.

Yes. If you’d like to extend your cabana reservation to be longer than the three hours included in the package, you can do that on the day of the party (not before), by talking to the Splash ticket booth attendant.

Yes. You will need to purchase additional zoo tickets online using the online ticketing system, be sure to select the correct time and wait to purchase additional Splash tickets until the day of the party at the Splash ticket booth.

Yes. Outside food is allowed. No candles, glass containers or latex balloons. You can check the Zoo’s website for more details about what you can bring into Safari Splash.

No. These are the only two packages we offer. If these packages do not fit your needs, you are welcome to come celebrate on your own by purchasing Zoo tickets online and booking a cabana and splash tickets when you arrive!

No. We cannot add Splash tickets or a cabana rental to our regular Birthday packages, you will have to do that when you arrive on the day of your party by going to the Splash ticket booth.

No. Unfortunately, we are unable to put the value of the unused Zoo tickets towards anything else and cannot validate those to be used other days. If you are a member, and most of your guests are members we suggest celebrating on your own by waiting to book a cabana and get your Splash tickets on the day of the party.

No. Your party packet will be placed at Member Services. You will be responsible for distributing your tickets to your guests, on the day of the party, Zoo staff cannot hand out tickets to anyone except the person whose name is on the reservation.

If you’d like to bring decorations, we encourage you to keep it to table decorations as it is difficult to get a banner to hang on our cabanas and the moisture from the Splash pad makes it difficult for things to stick. If you are bringing tablecloths, consider also bringing clips to keep them from blowing away.

No. We suggest enlisting a friend or family member to help you set up and break down. Bring a wagon(s) to take items in and out.

They will have to purchase Zoo admission tickets either online or at the front gate ticket booth. Splash tickets can be purchased at the Splash Ticket booth.

We recommend having a family member or friend stand in the front plaza waiting to hand out tickets to your guests.

Parking is not included. There is a $5 parking fee to enter the main lot. We cannot promise there will be spots available in the main lot. Parking is free for Zoo members.

We will reschedule your party if severe weather is predicted on the day of your party. If you decide to reschedule your party on your own, there is a $25 fee. If Splash has a delayed opening, we will extend your cabana time accordingly.

Unfortunately, since your rental begins when Splash opens, we are unable to get you into Splash earlier, but you are welcome to begin unloading your vehicle and have your things ready to enter the Splash pad at 10 a.m.

You will have access to the cabana from 10 a.m. - 1 p.m. Other guests may have reserved the cabana after you, so you must be out of the cabana by 1 p.m. unless you have extended your time.

The cabana included in this package (called the Elephant Cabana) is located to the left of Splash Snacks, and to the right of Tropical Treasures. Any Splash attendant will be able to direct you.