Is this a record?
- Thread starter Tim Brown
- Start date
devilfish
Well-Known Member
I don't know how new it is but Chessington have a 'zoo days' scheme on weekends and some holidays in the winter when there is only allow access to the zoo and Sea Life Centre. They come to about £12 on the door for adults, so I'm saving my next visit until November.
This is not the case for Flamingo Land at all. There are only a few minor 'attractions' within the zoo perimeter, a monorail some small merry go rounds and the water ride, which ambles past the mixed African exhibit. The zoo and the theme park are separate and there are several entrances from the park into the zoo area.
You do see people at Flamingo Land wearing wrist bands, but I think that these are people staying in the holiday resort and not day ticket visitors.
Can I ask, considering your credentials, why did you not make yourself known and see if they would give you free entry/discounted entry. I know that a lot of zoos allow both BIAZA and ABWAK members free entry. Are you a member of either?
That's not really the whole point though. I often get into zoos "free" as part of reciprocal agreements but it doesn't mean I'm not interested in knowing, and judging, what they charge for entry.
Pricing policy is an interesting and sometimes complex topic that's been touched on before and I'm sure most of us have been amazed at the poor hours spent to cost of entry ratios some places offer (Sea Life Centres without any discounts being the very obvious examples).
Generally the visitors in the zoo seem quite well behaved and there is not a lot of screaming and noise from them. Cant say that I have noticed the animals ever reacting directly to noise from the visitors, although you do seem to get the odd person banging on the glass, but I've seen that in many places over the years.
I've never noticed any reaction at all. They hear it everyday the Park is open.
Its a pity Chessington can't extend their winter 'zoo visit' price to the whole year, but probably it would create extra administration/organisational costs to differentiate between two types of visitor.
One for hantslad- i quite forgot...Flamingo Land gave out half price vouchers when we were leaving, valid for the rest of the season,ive got four.PM me with your address if you want them.And for Blossom im fairly certain the wristbands are for the so-called queue-busters.In all fairness the zoo is looking better than it ever has, tho its not as good as the zoo itself believes it to be.Around 15 years ago it was in a bit of a state to be honest.Even so i feel there is no need to devise a ride that circumnavigates the Lions or to incorporate the new pig yards into a madhouse of an adventure playground - i dont think Berlin or San Diego would do that somehow.Its as if they dont really understand what a zoo should be about and they are hell-bent on making the animals part of the "fun".
It's not much, but leaflets for Flamingo Land have a voucher for £2 off. When I visited on the 50th anniversary day I had a half price voucher from my local paper - I'm hoping there may be some more for my planned visit in September or October. Many people say to me it should be made possible to visit the zoo only and they all suggest a wristband system. If so many people think of it, I can only presume the management is not interested in it as surely people at the park will have thought of it too.
Where noise from the rides is concerned I believe someone did do a study on it a few years ago and came to the conclusion the animals were not affected. I have seen some bad behaviour from visitors there over the years, but not too much. I saw someone shrieking with laughter when one of the Mangabeys recoiled having bitten the cigarette lighter it had just been thrown, and I was told someone once threw a lighted cigarette on to the back of an American Bison. I suppose this sort of thing can happen anywhere, although F L does get a lot of unsavoury visitors. Mostly they stay in the rides area, but sometimes they have a quick look around the zoo. I don't know too much about the current situation as I have been only the once this year - up to three years ago I was going every fortnight, it was the loss of the Bird Walk that disgruntled me.
When I visited in June a keeper did tell me there was a possibility that "some areas of the zoo" would be opening over winter. If this goes ahead and only some areas are open I cannot see it will be worth visiting (I think it was the areas near "Children's Planet"). The winter opening seasons of the late 1990s and early 2000s were excellent, although the great days of the 1960s could never be matched - "Cuddles" the Killer Whale arrived in November 1968 of course. Oh dear, there's me living in the past again.
Where noise from the rides is concerned I believe someone did do a study on it a few years ago and came to the conclusion the animals were not affected. I have seen some bad behaviour from visitors there over the years, but not too much. I saw someone shrieking with laughter when one of the Mangabeys recoiled having bitten the cigarette lighter it had just been thrown, and I was told someone once threw a lighted cigarette on to the back of an American Bison. I suppose this sort of thing can happen anywhere, although F L does get a lot of unsavoury visitors. Mostly they stay in the rides area, but sometimes they have a quick look around the zoo. I don't know too much about the current situation as I have been only the once this year - up to three years ago I was going every fortnight, it was the loss of the Bird Walk that disgruntled me.
When I visited in June a keeper did tell me there was a possibility that "some areas of the zoo" would be opening over winter. If this goes ahead and only some areas are open I cannot see it will be worth visiting (I think it was the areas near "Children's Planet"). The winter opening seasons of the late 1990s and early 2000s were excellent, although the great days of the 1960s could never be matched - "Cuddles" the Killer Whale arrived in November 1968 of course. Oh dear, there's me living in the past again.
Tim many thanks for the offer, but the 10 days we there seem now filled with visiting family etc, many thanks Darren.
)Except that San Diego did devise a ride that circumnavigates the animals. I seem to remember a very nice monorail ride around a large proportion of the WAP and plenty of 'travelators' to carry people past the animals, all of which at the time were quite 'fun'.
I agree with Tim. I don't tend to visit the theme park zoos (Flamingo Land, Chessington) very much because I resent paying all that money when all I want to do is to tour the animal section. I'm not remotely interested in the theme park (even as a child I didn't "do" theme parks). It would be a lot fairer to introduce a zoo-only ticket, but I can't see that happening. But then I don't agree that zoos should be combined with theme parks anyway.
Flamingo Land did offer a zoo only ticket during weekends in December and the week leading up to xmas. It was advertised in the local paper, not sure if it was on their website also. It was £3 per person if I remember correctly.
The admission price IS ridiculous, especially if you have no intention of going on any of the rides. We put off visiting for nearly 10 years because we just couldn't justify the expense and only visited last year when we got tickets at half-price on ebay. It would be much fairer if the general admission price was set much lower and then people could pay for the rides separately. In 1998, prices were going to be slashed from £9.95 in normal season to £2.50 for adults in winter. Children under 14 and old age pensioners would get in for £2. The new deal was that visitors would pay-as-they-go for rides. Now that would be much more sensible!
Wah!! I did not know about that!!
When there was no mention of it there in October I presumed the idea had been abandoned. Blossom, you have ruined my evening!!!!Sir, you have expressed my views precisely!