Houston Zoo back online after site crashes due to high traffic on first day of ticket sales

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — The Houston Zoo is back online after a shocking site crash on Wednesday when ticket sales went live for the first time since the shutdown began.

Tickets will go on sale for a second attempt Friday, May 29 at noon.

Houston Zoo officials said their site received 10,000 ticket requests a minute on Wednesday when it first tried to reopen.

“We know you love us, but we didn’t know you loved us THIS much. We were getting 10,000 ticket requests per minute, and our overwhelmed ticketing system couldn’t take it. In fact, you broke the system nationwide. We are working with our vendor to resolve the ticketing issue, and we’ll let you know when tickets will go back on sale. We love you!” the Houston Zoo said in a statement.

On Tuesday, the Houston Zoo announced it will be reopening June 3, while also following health and safety guidelines in the midst of the pandemic.

The guidelines include making online reservations, which is required for all guests and members.