Posted by Gigi Allianic, Communications Chantel (on the right) visited the zoo with her family and was surprised to learn she was the 1.25 millionth visitor of 2024. Photo: Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren/Woodland Park Zoo. To mark its 125th anniversary, Woodland Park Zoo surprised a special guest with a gift pack and extraordinary experiences to celebrate 1.25 million visitors in 2024! A century and a quarter ago, the widow of Guy C. Phinney sold his sprawling, private estate to the City of Seattle for $100,000. The land, woods, and lakefront came with a small group of animals and became the lush oasis it is today, Woodland Park Zoo. Based on 2024 visitation and advance ticket sales for the remainder of December, the zoo expects to welcome 1.25 million guests by the new year. Zoo staff picked a date and time for the celebration, and the unsuspecting visitor, Chantel Frizzell and her family, got the surprise of the year when they entered the zoo today and staff informed them of their fortuitous ...