Port Lympne Wild Animal Park Something is coming...

Clouded Leopard said:
Instead of travelling to Africa to see wild animals, when most people cannot afford to travel abroad at the moment. They probably would be wanting similar with San Diego Safari Park which is successful with visitors. It could make a profit which would be ploughed back into Aspinall's zoos.
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From what I understand, the San Diego Safari Park has been financially struggling in recent years with less visitors. Still, I am sure they get a ton more visitors than Port Lympne.

An earlier article posted on here says that the redesign is in response to visitor comments. As much as some of us hardcore zoo fans would like the old way (me too - I have been there the last two years), I am sure we would all agree that a change like this is better than watching the place slowly die and shut down completely. Personally, I think they need to improve the comfort of the vehicles they use if they want to attract more guests.
 
I believe Port Lympne's problems of visitor access stem from the original ethos that it was still a private collection/breeding centre but would also be open to the public. It was never designed with much(any?)attention to layout as far as visitors were concerned, which must be almost unique in a 'zoo' collection open to the public.

Its mentioned in the blurb that (some) visitors have been unable to get to see everything that's on offer- which is more due perhaps to the huge distances and difficult terrain between some of the exhibits, rather than the true enormity of the collection.

So-they are finally addressing the longstanding problems of making it more visitor friendly, and I think what they are doing, though not particularly to my taste, is probably the only realistic way. Whether the '500 acres' becomes just one extended 'African experience' area or involves other geographic areas e.g. Asian, remains to be seen. But they probably have as many Asian ungulates in total as they do African at present.
 
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@Pertinax.
A fair assessment of the pros and cons. Even though I personally deplore the fact that now only 1/6 will visitor path-friendly, I can see the economic realities of making the place work for JAF and for your average Joe Public to enjoy their visit it is more than necessary to re-invent the place and promote better access to the animal richness on offer.

And lest best: it will remain a wonderful animal park for animals first and foremost. I personally look forward how they will market the walking spaces in 4 different segments. Sometimes even I could get "lost" in the spaces and myriad of pathways where most of the rainforest and primate species are. ;)

If the end-result will be more and more punters from both Kent and neighbouring areas as well as the more affluent city dwellers from London and surrounds will visit and re-visit and find the place worth their while the better it is for all and sundry. :cool:
 
While some of us were skeptical, these two articles do make it sound like an improvement. As a fan of PL myself who has been there the last two years, I think this all sounds good. Maybe I will have to make another trip to England!
 
It seems quite a revolution in philosophy concerning the park as a visitor experience and it seems to be taking place in quite a positive way so far.
 
"Port Lympne Wild Animal Exprerience Launches!" (per the website)

It's a shame that after spending "a million pounds" on an upgrade no-one could be bothered to proof-read the headline re the launch on the website!
 
The website carries a 'map' ( not a very accurate one) which outlines the reorganised pedestrian areas and the 'safari/drive' areas.

It seems that the Western(pedestrian) side has been 'zoned' into three sections but this is just obviously a cosmetic touch and the exhibits remain the same as before. But there now seems to be no pedestrian path at the bottom end below the Lions and Tigers. The pedestrian path to the new Pallas cat enclosure appears to be yet another dead end and doesn't connect up with the path past the bachelor Gorilla outdoor enclosures(which I thought perhaps it would). One new path links from here up to the top road.

The main change seems simply the overall amount of area changed over from footpath to lorry access only. Plus some landrovers to give a few shortcuts in the pedestrian area.

I wonder if there is a single Admission price for both areas- it looks like it.
 
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Port Lympe has been turned into a completely circular route, there is no longer the ability to explore as freely down little side sections. The route starts with the safari now included in the price although I hope this is optional as this will be more like a theme park experience in the height of summer. After the safari you are then dropped on the outskirts of carnivore territory or have the option to remain on the bus to basecamp, however the drivers are not allowed to pick up from here, seems a bit pointless to me. The house is also now closed but will be open for viewings on open days.
The park is obviously still in a state of transition and as a fan from childhood I dislike any change but I will wait to see how this affects the park. Negatively though you can no longer view the lions and tigers from the bottom road by the buffalo,which is a shame as they spend most of their time down there. I wonder if they have closed off this bit as they intend to make something here. Also the lions and tigers up the top are no longer signposted and when entering the park it does not feel like you can view them.
On the positives though the new Pallas cat enclosure seems to be good, saw a lot of children mesmerized by the fact they had no fencing or glass separating them from the animal. Also there are some nice educational messages around the enclosure. It seems to have the same positive affect that the new Baboon enclosure and the Colobus and Diana monkey enclosure have on visitors.
Also the coatimundis have been moved to Flamingo Land as they were not rare enough, I thought this was an interesting point.
 
emilystewart said:
Also the coatimundis have been moved to Flamingo Land as they were not rare enough, I thought this was an interesting point.
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Yet they took a load of Guinea baboons from Paris Zoo and these have been breeding freely in their newlybuilt enclosure.:confused:
 
Port Lympne changes - very, very disappointed

My family and I visited Port Lympne today (1st August 2011), and, sadly, we were all incredibly disappointed.:(
We visit regularly, usually twice a year. We loved the ability to walk around the whole park in whatever order we desired. We loved being able to stand, face to face with the animals. We loved the peace and tranquillity. We loved the choice of being able to go 'on safari' or not. We loved the restaurant.
Unfortunately, that has now ALL gone.
We arrived just on lunchtime, looking forward to a meal in the restaurant. Only to be told that it was now closed (it has - as has all of the area down towards the house), and we had to now travel to the top 'lookout' area on the Safari trucks to be able to get a meal.
So we are now forced to queue to get onto the Safari trucks with the crowds of other visitors, rushed past the largest, impressive animals (elephants, rhinos etc., which you can't now walk to) to end up being served food in a box at an open-air picnic table, eaten with plastic knives and forks!
We were then rushed back down the hill in the trucks to the 'carnivore' section. Now just a large 'playground' for the kids. We tried walking around here to see the tapirs, but ended up just milling around with the hundreds of other visitors.
Finally we discovered we could walk back up the hill past some of the Gorillas (couldn't find the Gorilla Pavillion at all), but weren't able to see the elephants or rhinos up close, or, indeed, very much at all.
We saw very few animals whilst on the trucks. In fact, had we not decided to walk back up the hill from the carnivores, we would not have seen anything of note! Thankfully we were able to see some gorillas and tigers up close.
The day was really quite stressful - especially since we were expecting a lovely days walking in the sunshine.
I am very, very sad that the option to walk the old routes has been closed off. Port Lympne MUST reconsider this decision.
We understand the financial need to have the trucks ferrying people who are unable to walk the paths, but they should make allowances for those of us who desire a truely up-close experience with the beautiful animals by letting us walk the same routes as before.
We won't be going back to it any time soon.
Such a shame. Such a shame...
 
Spacemonkey said:
We arrived just on lunchtime, looking forward to a meal in the restaurant. Only to be told that it was now closed (it has - as has all of the area down towards the house), and we had to now travel to the top 'lookout' area on the Safari trucks to be able to get a meal.
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That is a real shame - I really liked eating in the old conservatory - great homecooked meals too.

I hope you will write them a letter. The only way they will change things back is if they get direct feedback from a number of visitors.
 
Port Lympne changes - very, very disappointed

Additionally, I forgot to mention that the price of entry for a family of 4 (two adults, two kids) is now a whopping £83.80!
I couldn't believe it!

Also, the 'Safari Experience' vehicles are very uncomfortable, made even more so by the fact that many of them now pull large trailers, which contain more seats for more visitors, but which also have higher sides so that smaller children are actually unable to see out!

I have already sent them 'Feedback' from the Port Lympne website...
 
Spacemonkey said:
.
The day was really quite stressful - especially since we were expecting a lovely days walking in the sunshine.
I am very, very sad that the option to walk the old routes has been closed off. Port Lympne MUST reconsider this decision.
We understand the financial need to have the trucks ferrying people who are unable to walk the paths, but they should make allowances for those of us who desire a truely up-close experience with the beautiful animals by letting us walk the same routes as before.
We won't be going back to it any time soon.
Such a shame. Such a shame...
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Welcome to Zoochat.:)

Sorry to hear about your 'Experience'. Not the first comments in this vein about the changes at Port Lympne, but probably the most detailed we've had so far.

I think in their desire to become a really commercial operation they have ruined what PL originally was. I've always enjoyed my visits there over many years in the past, despite the huge walking area to cover, but I may well not go there again now either after these changes.

I hope your comments will be taken on board by them and carry some weight, but I think the vast majority of casual 'dayouters' may well be more satisfied with this style of visit than walking the long distances, I don't know really.:confused:

It seems the overnight stays at the Lodge are a more satisfying, if expensive, experience for some, but of course that doesn't help any day visitors who want to see the animals in their own time.

People on here would probably be interested to know exactly where you can still go on foot, i.e. which paths are still open, and which are closed, in the new designated walking route. Do you know if its been altered further since the Spring?
 
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