Admission prices in the US

C

cwenwyn

Well-Known Member
There's a forum on the UK board about admission prices in the UK. They seem really steep to me - I think I saw a 27 pounds - which I roughly figure is $54. That's a membership at the Columbus zoo!

regular admission is $10
Ages 2 - 10 is $7
Ages 60+ is $7
Parking is $5

My friend with a membership to the Cincy zoo I think paid $7 with reciprocity.
 
cwenwyn said:
There's a forum on the UK board about admission prices in the UK. They seem really steep to me - I think I saw a 27 pounds - which I roughly figure is $54. That's a membership at the Columbus zoo!

regular admission is $10
Ages 2 - 10 is $7
Ages 60+ is $7
Parking is $5

My friend with a membership to the Cincy zoo I think paid $7 with reciprocity.
Click to expand...

These prices seem very low.. Does the zoos get income from other sources like corporate sponsor or do they enjoy higher visitor numbers so there is greater turnover.. Some say lowering prices in uk zoos would bring in more customers but only on holidays I think.. The normal day turn over would not really increase:)
 
cwenwyn said:
There's a forum on the UK board about admission prices in the UK. They seem really steep to me - I think I saw a 27 pounds - which I roughly figure is $54. That's a membership at the Columbus zoo!

regular admission is $10
Ages 2 - 10 is $7
Ages 60+ is $7
Parking is $5

My friend with a membership to the Cincy zoo I think paid $7 with reciprocity.
Click to expand...

Just to scare you guys across the water a day at the zoo here costs the following at these zoos based on 2 adults & 2 children

chester zoo £55.00 ( $80 approx )
London Zoo £60.50 ( $86 approx )

These are pretty well the price at most major zoos in the uk but compared to other places like amusement parks these prices are real good value & alot more fun
 
I do believe the Columbus zoo receives funding from business, as several exhbits bear the business logos... And I think, thought I'm not positive, they also get support from levys on the tax-payer...

Our Amusement parks, however, do NOT get tax-payer support. :) One of the best in the US is Cedar Point, in Sandusky, Ohio ("America's Roller Coast"). As a comparison to the cost of a day at the zoo, admission to Cedar Point is: Ages 3 - 61 = $43.99, plus $10 to park.
 
A lot of US zoos get financial support on (any of the following, if not more than one) levels: city, state, national, private donors, endowments, etc. Plus, zoos in the US push membership hard for that very reason--to make up the difference. Same thing with rides. I know Bronx is $13 (same as Cincinnati) but both offer several different ride packages that are sold almost as basic admission. A single membership at Cincinnati is somewhere in the $40 range--which if I'm not mistake wouldn't even cover admission to both San Diego parks.

When it comes down to it, zoos know when they can charge more. I'm pretty sure the Staten Island Zoo would be long gone if they tried to charge more than 10 dollar (they're at the $8 mark now) and that people would be ramming down the doors more than they do if San Diego was $20.
 
stephend said:
Just to scare you guys across the water a day at the zoo here costs the following at these zoos based on 2 adults & 2 children

chester zoo £55.00 ( $80 approx )
London Zoo £60.50 ( $86 approx )

These are pretty well the price at most major zoos in the uk but compared to other places like amusement parks these prices are real good value & alot more fun
Click to expand...

$80 for 2 kids and 2 adults doesn't seem bad at all; seems like a loaded Bronx package for all.


I feel like zoo size and times open go into the prices (this might just be in my mind). Are UK zoos much bigger/open more?
 
Quite a few zoo's in the UK are registered charities and therefore receive no government funding.

However those prices seem very cheap, how do other prices compare?
 
At the Los Angeles Zoo it's:

Adults (ages 13 - up): $12
Seniors (age 62 and up): $9
Children (ages 2 to 12): $7
Parking: Free
 
For the most part, I only know adult admission but as follows:

Bronx: $15.00
Woodland: $16.50 (high season), $ 11.00 (low season)
Omaha: $11.50
Philadelphia: $18.00 (high season)
San Diego: $35 (cheapest package)
Queens Zoo: $6
Prospect Park Zoo: $6
Staten Island Zoo: $8
Cincinnati Zoo: $13.00
Toledo: $11.00
Central Park Zoo: $8.00
National Zoo: Free (completely National Government funded)

That seems so odd for a zoo to be a charity and NOT receive state money.

What size are UK zoos? A lot of US zoos are like....here's the city metropolis...here's a highway...here's the zoo sandwiched in the middle....here's an apartment complex...you get the picture.
 
WOW. San Diego is only 100 acres and SDWAP is 180. Bronx is the largest US zoo in acres and that's only...265 acres.
 
cwenwyn said:
There's a forum on the UK board about admission prices in the UK. They seem really steep to me - I think I saw a 27 pounds - which I roughly figure is $54. That's a membership at the Columbus zoo!

regular admission is $10
Ages 2 - 10 is $7
Ages 60+ is $7
Parking is $5

My friend with a membership to the Cincy zoo I think paid $7 with reciprocity.
Click to expand...

That £27 figure was a conversion of Australian Zoo's entrance fee, not a UK Zoo's

UK zoos tend to figure in the £10-£20 range for entry fees
 
While the package deal at SD Zoo is $35, you can get in for either $26 or $28 without the bus/tram. Can get a single membership for around $70.

And the SDWAP is much larger than 180 acres, add a zero and that would be technically correct, although only about 800 acres is developed.
 
Having been to zoos all across the U.S., I can tell you that prices vary widely. I'm sure they charge as much as they can and still get good attendance numbers. The zoo where I volunteer, Reid Park Zoo (Tucson, Arizona), is very cheap: $6 adult and $2 children. Like many American zoos, we are part of the city parks department and receive some public tax support. Tucson's other zoo, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, receives no government support (being outside city limits) and charges twice that price. San Diego is very high but it is jam packed with tourists in summer.

Although there are a few small towns with not very good free zoos (like Roswell, New Mexico), there are at least three major free zoos I know of: National Zoo (DC), St Louis Zoo and Lincoln Park Zoo (Chicago). San Diego tried doing a free day recently, but they were so overcrowded that they vowed never to do it again. Reid Park Zoo is required by the city to do three free days a year, but they are complete mayhem, terrible for the animals, and no one on staff (or volunteers) likes it, but the city says we have to and that's that.
 
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