Card-only and online-only ticket booking for zoos

[Astrotom3000]

I can't comment too much on the card vs. cash debate as I exclusively use a card for zoo purchases (I do carry some cash, but never needed it). I will say that going card-only can be risky if there is an internet outage; that happened to my local movie theater one time, and I was forced to walk to a nearby bank in order to draw cash, only for the card system to come back online by the time I got back.

On the subject of online-only purchases, I am fine with that as well. However, I am NOT a fan of requiring reservations/booking time slots. One thing I always liked about zoos as opposed to other forms of entertainment (theme parks, concerts, etc) is how much they support spur-of-the-moment decisions. For example, during my Florida 2022 trip, I was not planning on visiting Jacksonville Zoo at all, but I reached the city at around noon after 6.5 hours during my drive down and decided right then and there to visit it. Granted, I had to purchase the ticket online with my phone, but I was able to get in no problems.

Requiring reservations and booking time slots puts pressure on the visitor, and it doesn't help that these tickets are usually non-refundable. Most people visit on their own time and pace, and I feel forcing them to arrive at a specific time puts pressure on them to do more planning then they are used to. They are also pressured into purchasing tickets earlier since they are limited, and most zoo websites show how much is left. Granted, I usually visit facilities on the weekdays and never saw a weekday get completely booked. I can understand this being a thing back when the pandemic was in full swing, but they really should not be continuing this system into 2024 and beyond.

Especially if they're not going to even enforce the time slots to begin with. On top of what others have shared in this thread, I too have had instances where I booked a time slot, arrived outside of it, and was still honored. My 2021 trip to the Greensboro Science Center had me arriving late and they still honored my ticket. I have also seen it not enforced in the other direction either; during my Atlanta 2022 trip, I booked a ticket for Greenville Zoo and chose the 9:30am time slot (as I knew Greenville would not be a full day zoo, I bucked my own trend and gave myself extra time in the morning). I managed to arrive early and was still let in without having to wait, no questions asked.

 

[snowleopard]

I thought of this thread after I had some correspondence with Oregon Zoo. That is a big American zoo with many ABC species and with 1.5 million annual visitors. Yet, there is still the policy of timed tickets and reserved slots for anyone wishing to pay the facility a visit, with a recommendation to arrive at the zoo "within 10 minutes of your scheduled time".

This very popular zoo has no more ticket sellers available onsite and 100% of all ticket sales are done online. It's extraordinary. Since there are no refunds, and the zoo is located in a rainy geographical zone, I can imagine that some families buy tickets and then on the day feel compelled to go regardless of the fact that they might be hesitant to head out in the rain. I wonder what the zoo does with people who just show up after deciding to go to the zoo at the last minute. It's hard to imagine that the zoo would turn them away, but if there aren't ticket sellers available and the visitors don't have their phones with them, then perhaps that is the case. Gone are the days when a family would drive up to Oregon Zoo and buy tickets on a whim, as if that's some kind of old-fashioned idea.

 

[15399]

This very popular zoo has no more ticket sellers available onsite and 100% of all ticket sales are done online. It's extraordinary. Since there are no refunds, and the zoo is located in a rainy geographical zone, I can imagine that some families buy tickets and then on the day feel compelled to go regardless of the fact that they might be hesitant to head out in the rain. I wonder what the zoo does with people who just show up after deciding to go to the zoo at the last minute. It's hard to imagine that the zoo would turn them away, but if there aren't ticket sellers available and the visitors don't have their phones with them, then perhaps that is the case. Gone are the days when a family would drive up to Oregon Zoo and buy tickets on a whim, as if that's some kind of old-fashioned idea.

I can't help but wonder if there's an equity issue here. Online-only ticketing may be fine for those with reliable access to the internet and with smart phones, but even now in 2024 there are people without those capabilities who may find that prohibitive from visiting the zoo. Zoos should be striving to appeal to as broad an audience as possible, as they serve an important mission that should be shared with people of all backgrounds, and the harder they make it to visit, the less people they can share this background in. Ideally, zoos would make it as easy as possible for people to visit- and for some people online ticketing isn't easy.

 

[ZooElephantMan]

I recently booked an online timed ticket to go to the Mystic Aquarium, and when I showed up 2 hours early they let me in immediately anyway without asking any questions. I wonder how many zoos and aquariums are actually more flexible about these timed ticket policies than they suggest?

 

[KiwiBirb]

I recently booked an online timed ticket to go to the Mystic Aquarium, and when I showed up 2 hours early they let me in immediately anyway without asking any questions. I wonder how many zoos and aquariums are actually more flexible about these timed ticket policies than they suggest?

Before the WCS changed the member admission system to be a ticket valid all day, I showed up at the wrong time slot quite a few times, being let into the park I was visiting each and every time.

I thought of this thread after I had some correspondence with Oregon Zoo. That is a big American zoo with many ABC species and with 1.5 million annual visitors. Yet, there is still the policy of timed tickets and reserved slots for anyone wishing to pay the facility a visit, with a recommendation to arrive at the zoo "within 10 minutes of your scheduled time".
This very popular zoo has no more ticket sellers available onsite and 100% of all ticket sales are done online. It's extraordinary. Since there are no refunds, and the zoo is located in a rainy geographical zone, I can imagine that some families buy tickets and then on the day feel compelled to go regardless of the fact that they might be hesitant to head out in the rain. I wonder what the zoo does with people who just show up after deciding to go to the zoo at the last minute. It's hard to imagine that the zoo would turn them away, but if there aren't ticket sellers available and the visitors don't have their phones with them, then perhaps that is the case. Gone are the days when a family would drive up to Oregon Zoo and buy tickets on a whim, as if that's some kind of old-fashioned idea.

Something else that I have noticed with these “advanced” tickets is that they can easily be booked at the ticket gate. I have done this several times at Bronx (reverting to the old way of just showing up ) and also at Cheyenne Mountain Zoo.

 

[Lori Patton]

I thought of this thread after I had some correspondence with Oregon Zoo. That is a big American zoo with many ABC species and with 1.5 million annual visitors. Yet, there is still the policy of timed tickets and reserved slots for anyone wishing to pay the facility a visit, with a recommendation to arrive at the zoo "within 10 minutes of your scheduled time".

This very popular zoo has no more ticket sellers available onsite and 100% of all ticket sales are done online. It's extraordinary. Since there are no refunds, and the zoo is located in a rainy geographical zone, I can imagine that some families buy tickets and then on the day feel compelled to go regardless of the fact that they might be hesitant to head out in the rain. I wonder what the zoo does with people who just show up after deciding to go to the zoo at the last minute. It's hard to imagine that the zoo would turn them away, but if there aren't ticket sellers available and the visitors don't have their phones with them, then perhaps that is the case. Gone are the days when a family would drive up to Oregon Zoo and buy tickets on a whim, as if that's some kind of old-fashioned idea.

It's very surprising that the Oregon Zoo requires all ticket sales to be purchased online. That is a major inconvenience and impediment to many travelers. I lived in the Portland area for 11 years and there is really only one freeway exit providing access to the zoo with no surface streets to speak of (unless one wants to drive through Washington Park from the downtown side). I moved out of Oregon 20 years ago and traffic through Portland was a nightmare then and many times worse now. I don't know how anyone could expect to arrive within 10 minutes of their entry time unless they approached it with the seriousness of showing up to work on time, which is a real drag. Thankfully, the Los Angeles Zoo has stopped requiring timed tickets for members.