Value for money (not the best)

AdrianW1963

AdrianW1963

Well-Known Member
5+ year member
Over the years of your visiting UK collections which ones do you think have been value for money but not the best zoo in the UK this is to include collections that give ride tickets or free return trips in the initial payment.

This is also for you to say which collection gives value for money on additional items fair rides, face painting, Food & Drink, Animal Experiences, Photograph’s they have taken of you, Feeding Experiences and any other items you have paid for after your initial payment.

My value for money would have to be Slimbridge WWT as a bird watcher you get the best of all worlds here with both Captive and Wild areas, must admit I haven’t tried the food or any other activity around the collection as I haven’t got time because of watching wild birds from the hides and walking around the captive collection taking photographs.

Closely followed by Hawk Conservation Trust only ever been once but my admit will be returning again next year what a place this is beautiful species and great displays but just misses out because of the lack of great hides for bird watching(they do have one that looks over a field)
 
Current prices for various collectons... I would say Colchester is a contender as they include Giraffe & Elephant feeds, a sea lion display and I think 3 other bird / animal displays throughout the day (although the quality of these are completely dependent on who is presenting in my experience).

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Noah's Ark used to do a reasonable deal in that if you visited after 3.30pm, Monday to Friday, then you only paid £5. An hour and half is plenty of time for the place, and this is a large, ABC collection. Not sure if the deal is still in place but the reduction definitely made the visit more enjoyable! ;)
 
Zia said:
Current prices for various collectons... I would say Colchester is a contender as they include Giraffe & Elephant feeds, a sea lion display and I think 3 other bird / animal displays throughout the day (although the quality of these are completely dependent on who is presenting in my experience).

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I think the Banham and Paradise Wildlife Park fees quoted aren't the peak prices, they are both at least £3 more, making them even worse value!
 
Based on price Knowsley's £15 car deal is good value if you include the free talks(Bird of prey,giraffe,sea lion). Can't comment on food/drink prices as we take our own but a reasonably cheap day out
 
Embu said:
Based on price Knowsley's £15 car deal is good value if you include the free talks(Bird of prey,giraffe,sea lion). Can't comment on food/drink prices as we take our own but a reasonably cheap day out
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I paid a tenner to get in a few weeks ago
 
The 'Gold Card' for the Aspinall costs almost exactly the same as visiting each once but gives unlimited entry to both for one year.
 
pipaluk said:
I think the Banham and Paradise Wildlife Park fees quoted aren't the peak prices, they are both at least £3 more, making them even worse value!
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Yes - to be fair, I didn't check for who has moved into their winter season pricing and who hasn't. These were just prices if you were visiting tomorrow.
 
Has anyone managed to get round everything at Chester in one day ? I had to do 2 trips last year as 1st time we did the elephant and rhinos talks so didn't manage the islands until trip 2.
 
£30 at London Zoo is exceptionally poor value, given the number of empty exhibits and those being “renovated”. I know it’s London, and things cost more there, but given that the city has so many brilliant free museums it’s a wonder that anyone would choose to head to the zoo...
 
I was going to say Cotswold Wildlife Park, which I think is excellent value. It was £15 if bought online, and I think that may even have gone down slightly (though my memory isn't entirely reliable. Edit: yup, now £14 online). They have an impressive discount for seniors, too.

Monkey World has excellent value "membership" (£35 To adopt a primate for a year with free entry to the park) and is a very good price anyway given the cost of other things in that area.

Compared to certain other safari parks, West Midland Safari Park is good value if you can take advantage of the free return visit.
 
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For me I am a member of a number of Zoo's.

Chester is £90 for membership and gives you 1 free entry into around 8 other zoo's.

However SZSL is only £65 and gives you 1 years free entry into around 10 Zoo's and 1 free entry to Chester.

I am a member of both and take advantage of free entry to Belfast, Twycross, Newquay, Paignton, Colchester, Bristol and Marwell Zoo,

I am a Gold member of Blackpool but its £91 a year, and it's actually poor value as you get no free admissions anywhere else and effectively have to go 5 times a year to pay for itself, whilst Chester and SZSL are far cheaper and have many perks. Blackpool do have member only days which show you behind the scenes which others don't however.

I've a few small Zoo's near me and I like the small collections more and are often £7-10 for entry. Or £25-30 for annual membership, which is great value for money, as I find things change more often in smaller than bigger collections.
 
Zooreviewsuk said:
Chester is £90 for membership and gives you 1 free entry into around 8 other zoo's.
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I've used Chester membership at other collections where reciprocal entry applies and its never been limited to one visit. Admittedly I've never tried to go a lot within the year to another collection, but the likes of Twycross and Colchester have welcomed us in on production of membership card, with no check as to whether we'd been already that year.

Is it now officially one visit a year, and if so, has that just been applied?

I agree that Hamerton and Cotswold are great value, and Chester's general admission for a very full day is good value. As for London, supply and demand applies, but if you travel to the capital by train as many people do there's a long standing two for one offer that makes it look more reasonable.
 
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