Chester Zoo Islands - Opening and impressions

SHAVINGTONZOO said:
Would be interesting to see his explanation, but - even as a long-time Chester member and supporter - I find the commercial elements intrusive:

e.g.

1. As you walk in they photograph you, and try to sell the photos back to you when you leave.
2. You're 'invited' to make a voluntary additional donation as part of your admission price (some claim its voluntary nature is not always made entirely clear).
3. Inside you are invited to contribute to various causes, buy all manner of tat, have your face painted etc etc etc
4. I find the catering pretty reasonable, but there are many who find it expensive.
5. Then there's the monorail (extra charge) and the Islands boat trip (currently free but, I understand, to be charged for in future.

And then there's the Gift Shop. Which used to sell a range of decent books and videos (see how old I am ? :) ) but now seems entirely devoted to jewellery, soft toys, and tat.
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I share the regret over the increasing commercialization of everything, everywhere. Yet how is an organization such as the zoo to survive and to fund conservation work?
Raise the cost of membership to cover the charity's expenses?
Raise the cost of admission?

If zoo visitors won't make additional donations for conservation causes, then to whom is the zoo to turn?
 
I said most not all and just for reference I have some poundland toys that I brought my sisters children still here after a good three or four years that they still play with.

I wasn't having a go about the quality just the price increase and before anyone of the Chester faithful start Poundland have overheads too.
 
If you wan't blantant commercialism go to Alton Towers, on my last visit I went on the jungle rapids (or whatever it is called) boat ride. At the exit were machines to dry your hands at £2 a go.

the only thing that annoys me is the photographers at the entrance to RORa.
 
I agree with zooplantman regarding the increasing commercialisation of everything, although what I would point out in this particular discussion is that Chester's shops stock an awful lot of local products, such as Cheshire honey or work by local artists, for example.
 
bongorob said:
If you wan't blantant commercialism go to Alton Towers, on my last visit I went on the jungle rapids (or whatever it is called) boat ride. At the exit were machines to dry your hands at £2 a go.

the only thing that annoys me is the photographers at the entrance to RORa.
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There's probably more chance of my going to the moon than going to Alton Towers :D

How long have there been photographers at RoRA?

Will need to practise my 'death stare'! :)
 
Zooplantman said:
I share the regret over the increasing commercialization of everything, everywhere. Yet how is an organization such as the zoo to survive and to fund conservation work?
Raise the cost of membership to cover the charity's expenses?
Raise the cost of admission?

If zoo visitors won't make additional donations for conservation causes, then to whom is the zoo to turn?
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Oh I fully understand the need for funding (I originated the 100Club and obtained some corporate funding for the camels - of all things - some years ago) but I still find it intrusive - and if I took young children to the zoo I might find it expensively intrusive! ;)

P.S. I wonder how much the photographers raise for the zoo each year?
 
adrian1963 said:
I said most not all and just for reference I have some poundland toys that I brought my sisters children still here after a good three or four years that they still play with.

I wasn't having a go about the quality just the price increase and before anyone of the Chester faithful start Poundland have overheads too.
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Nowt to do with being so called "faithful" to either Chester or any other establishment trading in the same business, which i think you'll find they all do the same and run their retail business in the same fashion, they all do it, all of them.

It's called speaking as you find, and i dont really see the merchandise the same as you would in poundland, or of the same kind of quality you'd find in poundland.
It's really quite simple, no one forces anyone to part with their cash in a zoo gift shop and if anyone thinks they can get better for their quid, they just say no to the kid and keep their hand in their pocket.

Worked for my parents when i was a kid.
 
SHAVINGTONZOO said:
Oh I fully understand the need for funding (I originated the 100Club and obtained some corporate funding for the camels - of all things - some years ago) but I still find it intrusive - and if I took young children to the zoo I might find it expensively intrusive! ;)

P.S. I wonder how much the photographers raise for the zoo each year?
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Of the zoos £29.8m turnover £8.2m comes from 'commercial' ventures (food outlets, shops, photographs etc). The annual report does not break this down further, but the total commercial operation is clearly a significant proportion of their turnover and has increased by £500k from prior year.

Having been to the zoo many times this year I do actually think the photographers are far less intrusive than they used to be. There is definitely a market for these photos though, and I have witnessed several families very keen to have them taken as I assume it is part of the memory of their day out. It's supply and demand.....the zoo would not be offering this if no one bought them - the reason they stopped doing all the books in the shop- they just didn't sell.

My sister has 2 small children and she was very impressed with the gift shop at Chester as there is a very broad range of cheap gifts to satisfy the need to buy a memento. Face painting is par for the course at any attraction and even lots of adults get it done these days (!!).

The only real beef I have with Chester at the moment is the refusal to allow kids to play on the tuk tuks unless they have their photo taken. They don't operate this policy on the jeep in the Tsavo area, and I think it's greedy to do this in Islands.

I would be horrified if they start charging for the boat ride.....even though there was a charge for the old boat trip the fact that admission has gone up since Islands means in some ways the visitors are already paying for this and I don't think should be made to pay more.

Interestingly enough on the very original master plan for Islands it stated that the monorail would be made freely accessible to all visitors once Islands was open. I think this should be the case (although the monorail generates £500k income per year), but don't believe the current monorail could cope with the increase in passenger numbers if this was to happen. They would need to have way more carriages and maybe extend the track to cover more if the zoo.
 
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Monsoon Forest details

There are a few points that I noticed in my recent visit to Chester which haven't been mentioned here before.
First the roof is amazing - most of our photos here were taken on cloudy days, but on a nice day the blue of the sky and the visible clouds show just how transparent the roof is. ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) is good stuff apparently, it is also used in the Eden Centre and will be used in the new roof at Victoria Station in Manchester.
The actual indoor space is divided into three areas by netting and rope curtains across the visitor's path. The first barrier keeps birds out of the orang and gibbon area, the second divides the forest area presumably to separate the canopy and forest floor birds - although there were no birds on Thursday, just those misleading signs.
The waterfall may be giving trouble, it was off in the morning and dribbling in the afternoon. Greater flow may cause too much splashing, particularly in the tortoise enclosure. I would not be surprised to see some changes there.
One final thought, there is nowhere to sit in the Monsoon Forest, unlike the Tropical Realm. The only exceptions I have spotted are the terrace behind the crocodiles, which is hardly the place to stop and watch the birds, and the rock wall beside the entry to the crocodile cul-de-sac which is the most congested point in the building :( One of the aims of the building is to provide a warm attraction on a winter day, the building won't be as crowded then, but it would be nice to sit down.

Alan
 
gentle lemur said:
One final thought, there is nowhere to sit in the Monsoon Forest, unlike the Tropical Realm. The only exceptions I have spotted are the terrace behind the crocodiles, which is hardly the place to stop and watch the birds, and the rock wall beside the entry to the crocodile cul-de-sac which is the most congested point in the building :( One of the aims of the building is to provide a warm attraction on a winter day, the building won't be as crowded then, but it would be nice to sit down.

Alan
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At a previous members talk it was stated that the seating was designed to be flexible throughout Islands. In the peak summer months seating will be minimal to accommodate larger crowds and reduce congestion. During winter we were told additional seating would be provided for members or regulars to be able to sit and enjoy longer dwell times without the crowds. I can see already that most of the seating (which I have to say is pretty fantastic and unique to each island...using old trunks/cases, tree stumps, carved benches etc) is mobile and flexible. I hope they do add seating to Monsoon Forest. There are benches in the Bali starling aviary so I expect we can hope for the same in Monsoon Forest once the crowds die down....
 
Observations from yesterday:

The zoo are clearly reacting to all visitor feedback and (possibly?) comments on zoo chat. Yesterday I saw several improvements to the communication and set up within Islands and was impressed at the way they have taken on board the feedback. Clearly the zoo are on a steep learning curve, and to give credit where it's due have taken action.

There was a queueing system in place for the gharials, and a sign in the orang exhibit explains they were 'coming soon'. The invertebrates have been put into new see through exhibits with spot lights so can be clearly seen.

Babirusa were making a great show foraging at the front of their new enclosure, although I have to say the planting and state of this exhibit is very poor. It's full of weeds, mud and grass seed that has not yet established. The sparse planting that does exist was getting eaten! I appreciate the challenges of planting in an exhibit like this but am sure a better job could have been achieved. The old enclosure was lush and attractive, I hope the same can eventually be achieved here.

4 pied imperial pigeons have been added to the rear Bali starling aviary. They make a lively addition. All 11 starlings were very active and now seem to be showing nicely as they get used to the public for the first time in their lives. Javan sparrow numbers have also swelled with the addition of dozens more - to see such a sizeable flock flying around was very impressive. This is was a real highlight yesterday and I think will be popular with visitors.

I gave some formal feedback about the boat guides as yet again I had a terrible experience. Apparently they are all agency staff, and were only employed to sit on the boats to help explain the delays in opening. I was told very soon they will not be used and the boats will not have any guides on them at all. I got the impression the zoo is aware the guides are not great and I understand there has been a really high turnover hence the serious lack of knowledge and training. Perhaps nothing has been done about it as the zoo knew they were temps soon to be released from contract.
 
Slightly better experience of Islands and Monsoon Rainforest buildings is huge and impressive. However visiting in summer will be horrendous, have they not lean't from RoRA?

Croc viewing is a disaster waiting to happen, not that busy but people were being knocked over...

I will love visiting in the cold winter months but will certainly avoid in nice hot weather.
 
taun said:
Slightly better experience of Islands and Monsoon Rainforest buildings is huge and impressive. However visiting in summer will be horrendous, have they not lean't from RoRA?

Croc viewing is a disaster waiting to happen, not that busy but people were being knocked over...

I will love visiting in the cold winter months but will certainly avoid in nice hot weather.
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Obviously the zoo has not learnt from RoRA.

I agree completely about the crocodile viewing. Very poorly thought out.
 
taun said:
Slightly better experience of Islands and Monsoon Rainforest buildings is huge and impressive. However visiting in summer will be horrendous, have they not lean't from RoRA?
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is this a reference to crowds? I'm not in the loop so I don't know the connection being made.
 
Yeah, RotRA has quite narrow internal paths for zoo visitors, so there is a bit of a congestion/crowding issue - especially when an orang or two sits by a window next to the public.
 
TeaLovingDave said:
Yeah, RotRA has quite narrow internal paths for zoo visitors, so there is a bit of a congestion/crowding issue - especially when an orang or two sits by a window next to the public.
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I think overall the indoor corridor in Rotra is plenty big enough- its the actual viewing windows of the indoor areas that are the problem- they are too few and too small.
 
Chlidonias said:
is this a reference to crowds? I'm not in the loop so I don't know the connection being made.
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As Tealovingdave pointed out, in busy periods the paths widths will struggle and it will be unbearable, IMO. The outside paths were horrible on members preview days, felt like you were being pushed along.
 
taun said:
As Tealovingdave pointed out, in busy periods the paths widths will struggle and it will be unbearable, IMO. The outside paths were horrible on members preview days, felt like you were being pushed along.
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We visited on the preview days - paths were fine. We were able to walk round "the wrong way" without difficulty. Not doubting taun may have had a problem, but it wasn't the case for us.
 
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