I'm sorry.
As a Moderator I have this extra edit function now and I pressed it by mistake instead of Quote. So it mangled your post.Twycross Zoo Himalaya Opening Date
- Thread starter tomzoo123
- Start date
I'm sorry.
As a Moderator I have this extra edit function now and I pressed it by mistake instead of Quote. So it mangled your post.
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
I'm sorry.
Think I`ve put it back close enough to what it was in the first place
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
Yes there are caves but you can still see the animal if its in it sorry but to me thats not something that I would say is away from the public eye if you can still see it.Also nobody has mentioned yet that the shop and the cafe is a shop lifters paradise as you can easily just walk off with stuff from them straight out of the exit as the tills are as far away from the exit as its possible to put them!!
Journeymaven
Member
thanks rubymurray for the measurements from the plans, at least that's one element I can compare to others. Definition of "getting away from the public" is different things to different people it seems, but certainly I would define it as 'not being seen' and 'not able to see' visitors, plus also an element of quiet, ie/ away if possible from voices.
still keen to hear from others, thanks for all the input
still keen to hear from others, thanks for all the input
Checked the plans and 1100m2 does seem to be right, it's about half the size of the centre itself, which is 2100m2. I do appreciate that size isn't the whole picture so will have to let you know in May whether there are getaways that aren't visible to the public, the Snow Leopards won't be in until then. I can't see noise being a problem though, I guess it will be completely insulated from visitor centre noise by the glass.
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
If there are get aways in which the animals cannot be seen by the public,I would say that you would be able to see them now,and I couldn`t see any sign of any when I visited about the only place that may be possible is in or under the tree`s when they have grown a bit more,but from what I`ve seen all the caves they can go in the public will be able to see them if they are in one of them,so to me the exhibit has been designed so that people can always see the Snow Leopards.
Isn't there a door through to the off-show area in the wall on the left hand side? I wondered whether that might be open for them to retreat in to. I'm not sure exactly what's in the off-show bit but it's quite big. When I went you couldn't get over to the window in the cafe because it was still closed, so I couldn't see the caves very well head on, I'll take your word for it though.
A few more points (none of them positive):
Non-restaurant viewing for the Snow Leopards seems fairly restricted, unless the animals choose to be at one end of the enclosure you're not going to see them wihout wading through diners;
At present it seems the viewing for the Himalaya aviary will be similarly restricted, there's a viewing window in the gents toilet which I find bizarre (honest officer, I've been hanging around in here for twenty-five minutes with a camera to take photographs of birds
);
At present if you go to the Himalaya restaurant midway through your zoo visit you have to get a wrist-band to allow your re-entry to the zoo which seems a pain in the back-side and a recipe for otherwise unneeded extra staff and extra queueing (spelling?). I know and appreciate some zoos need to do this when you need to to the car park which is not unreasonable but having to go through this rigmorole (spelling) to nip for a snack is stupid. This problem is caused by the next point;
The turnstiles are outside and beyond the entrance complex! Millions spent on a new entrance building and you walk through it to be confronted by some old style turnstiles you have to queue at to get into the zoo (queue time around 10 minutes on Sunday). This looks silly and again is just bizarre, I don't understand the logic -answers on a postcard please?
Maybe I'm being a little harsh, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of joined up thinking on display here (then again, as a Twycross regular, I'm used to frustration and disappointment).
Non-restaurant viewing for the Snow Leopards seems fairly restricted, unless the animals choose to be at one end of the enclosure you're not going to see them wihout wading through diners;
At present it seems the viewing for the Himalaya aviary will be similarly restricted, there's a viewing window in the gents toilet which I find bizarre (honest officer, I've been hanging around in here for twenty-five minutes with a camera to take photographs of birds
);At present if you go to the Himalaya restaurant midway through your zoo visit you have to get a wrist-band to allow your re-entry to the zoo which seems a pain in the back-side and a recipe for otherwise unneeded extra staff and extra queueing (spelling?). I know and appreciate some zoos need to do this when you need to to the car park which is not unreasonable but having to go through this rigmorole (spelling) to nip for a snack is stupid. This problem is caused by the next point;
The turnstiles are outside and beyond the entrance complex! Millions spent on a new entrance building and you walk through it to be confronted by some old style turnstiles you have to queue at to get into the zoo (queue time around 10 minutes on Sunday). This looks silly and again is just bizarre, I don't understand the logic -answers on a postcard please?
Maybe I'm being a little harsh, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of joined up thinking on display here (then again, as a Twycross regular, I'm used to frustration and disappointment).
Thanks for that Shorts - seems to be pretty much everything I feared from this complex confirmed!
I can't even begin to understand how they can spend so much money on this then make it so hard to enjoy (mind you, Tropical House anyone?).
I can't even begin to understand how they can spend so much money on this then make it so hard to enjoy (mind you, Tropical House anyone?).
Well summed up!
Let's not also forget the Borneo Longhouse with the largely pointless ethnological displays and very, very poor labelling and the still seemingly unfinished Elephant enclosure (far walkway still not accessible) -maybe they should finish one enclosure before they start another.
To end on a positive note (just to prove I'm not a professional cynic) Twycross has added a number of nice new species, especially birds, in the last year or so.
Yes - certainly true.
A few more points (none of them positive):
At present it seems the viewing for the Himalaya aviary will be similarly restricted, there's a viewing window in the gents toilet which I find bizarre (honest officer, I've been hanging around in here for twenty-five minutes with a camera to take photographs of birds
I think there is to be a large viewing window on the way in to the zoo as well. The exhibit looks like it's largely there to provide a unique experience for private functions though.
When I went I was given the wrist-band on the way in and didn't have to come back to queue (You nailed the spelling!
), maybe they are short on wrist bands but I'm sure that's what should happen. They would have to operate the wrist band system because people need to return to their cars during the day anyway. Agree it makes no sense to have to go back for one though.They are going to cover the outside waiting area with a huge canopy I believe and when the Snow Leopard exhibit is finished there will be a new toilet block where the temp ones are currently as well. I'm not too fussed about the way they have done this to be honest, to enable them to secure the external investment they seem to have had to make some concessions on what's in the centre itself, but I'd rather it was the best it could be inside with the external cash than much less spectacular and solely funded by the zoo, with payment taken inside or prior to entering the building.
Ugh. One of the most interesting (and expensive) exhibits in the place and normal visitors are going to get a fleeting glimpse as they arrive and leave.
When I went I was given the wrist-band on the way in and didn't have to come back to queue (You nailed the spelling!
But by giving a wristband to everyone they're wasting time and money - the majority of people wil not need a pass out anyway (or wouldn't if some clown hadn't built the biggest aviary, the main cafe and one of only two big cat exhibits outside the zoo!). Other zoos make do just fine with an ink stamp or a flash of the receipt.
Here you have hit the nail bang on the head. The concessions they have had to make have meant it isn't really any of the things it was meant to be:
Zoo entrance - no, it's not
Zoo restaurant - well, it's a restaurant, but it's outside the zoo so cannot be used by visitors without messing around with wristbands
Wetland birds exhibit - there are some wetland birds, but by all accounts any that are actually exhibited are purely by coincidence
Snow Leopard exhibit - there but the main viewing area is, again, outside the zoo. You can only get away with this when there are lots of similar animals inside the zoo (cf Tierpark Berlin's bears or Port Lympne's baboons) - big cats are rarer than Purple Heron's teeth at Twycross these days
Of course, we don't really know what the function rooms are like.
I really don't want to have judged this before I even get to see it but they're not making it easy...
Reading these posts about the strange design of 'Himalaya' in respect to general visitors- was this deliberately done perhaps to 'seperate' this area from the main Zoo-goers- if it has been designed chiefly as a venue for functions etc.
Do visitors to the Zoo have to actually go through it to get to the paydesks, or can they be directed to go round it? So if there's a wedding or similar going on in there, can they can close it off to the public without impeding the normal zoo visitor traffic?
Do visitors to the Zoo have to actually go through it to get to the paydesks, or can they be directed to go round it? So if there's a wedding or similar going on in there, can they can close it off to the public without impeding the normal zoo visitor traffic?
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zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
If you want to visit the zoo you have to go through this wonderfull building and enjoy its wonderfull authentic themed area inside,if you don`t want to visit the zoo you can pop in and see the Snow Leopard visit the toilets look and the Birds and pick up a free sandwich and cuddly toy on the way out.If their is a function on in the function room visitors will not be able to view the aviary apart from in the toilets but will still be able to see the Snow Leopards unless they are hiding in the off-show dens.
zoogiraffe
Well-Known Member
I couldn`t agree with you more,it is a real pity that the Pets Corner is now a dead-end after all the good work that Andy Moore and his team have done since he joined the zoo i hope all there hard work doesn`t go to waste now because nobody visits the place!
Blimey! Floodgates are firmly open now!