First of all: Hi everyone, I m a new member of zoochat, are interested in zoos for many years and have visited more than 140 Zoos, Aquarias and Animal Parks worldwide.
To the Taronga picture above: 41 Australian Dollars Entrance Fee for an adult!!!! Who can pay this?? I mean, its an ordinary zoo, where also the so called working poor should be able to visit it.
I visited the excellent Taronga Zoo in 2007, but I honestly think that the cost of admission is absolutely outrageous. Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo is fantastic and costs $11, the Woodland Park Zoo has won a host of AZA exhibit awards and is $11 for most of the year, and most zoos in North America are about $15 for entrance. Taronga Zoo is not the worst of the most expensive collections, as Steve Irwin's Australia Zoo is $49 and Disney's Animal Kingdom is $75 per person plus $12 parking.
Is there a yearly membership that includes "Zoos Victoria": Melbourne Zoo, Healesville and Werribee? One price for all 3? It doesn't seem so from a quick glance at the various websites.
Makes the lifetime membership of Adelaide Zoo that I bought for my wife about 12 years ago (around AU$1000 back then ... now $1650) much more attractive now, given it gets us both into many of these zoos for free (Adelaide, Monarto, Melbourne, Werribee, Healesville, Taronga, Western Plains, Perth).
At $82 for two adults visiting Taronga, it only takes 12 or so visits to get our money's worth. I've never actually kept track of all the admission fees we've saved over the years - possibly already paid for itself.
I agree that Taronga is very much overpriced. That is the reason that I have not been there for several years and think it likely that I may never again visit this zoo!
I agree that Taronga is very much overpriced. That is the reason that I have not been there for several years and think it likely that I may never again visit this zoo!
You might never visit any other zoo in Australia then either!
Looking at this picture again I was curious as to what Taronga now charges. So, 10 and a 1/2 years on Taronga's price for an adult has increased to $47. This extra $6 is only a 15% increase.
By comparison, the other zoos I quoted above are now:
Adelaide Zoo: $37, an increase of 68%
Monarto Zoo: $37, an increase of 42%
Melbourne, Werribee and Healesville: $38, an increase of 61%
Perth Zoo: $33, an increase of 73%
National Zoo: $47, an increase of 65%
Aust. Reptile Park: $39, an increase of 73%
Alice Springs Desert Park & territory Wildlife Park: $37, an increase of 85%
Sydney Wildlife: $44, an increase of 38%
Currumbin Sanctuary: $49.95, an increase of 28%
The above prices are the adult walk-up price, from their websites. Most - if not all - have discounts for online booking (eg. Currumbin online is $39.95 online). The one exception was Sydney Wildlife who only advertised $44 as their online price - I couldn't find a walk-up price on their website.
So of these zoos the cheapest is Perth Zoo at $33, with most at $37 - $39. And Taronga is no longer the most expensive, with Currumbin claiming that title. Even with the online prices National Zoo at $44.50 still beats Taronga's $42.50.
Excluding Taronga's modest increase of only $6, all the other facilities mentioned above have increased from $11 up to $18:50, an average of $14.60 (more than double Taronga's increase).
Snowleopard above quoted Australia Zoo as being $49 - it's now $59 (and that appears to be the online price too) - a 20% increase.
I'm not disagreeing with Terry Thomas or criticising his view; I'm just pointing out that although ten years ago Taronga was double (or more than double) the price of 9 of the 12 other zoos I mentioned, but today - with the exception of Perth - the price difference between Taronga and the other zoos is only $10 or less, with one being more expensive and another the same price.
