Value For Money

[Brum]

Mr. Weasel has got me thinking with his recent review of Tropical World and its bargain price of £3.50 for an adult. Is this the cheapest collection in the UK?
Other cheap zoos I have visited are Birmingham Nature Centre (surprise, surprise! ) at £5 and recently Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, also for £5. The latter offer discounted entry after 3.30 pm and me and Devilfish took advantage of this during ZooHistorica. What other collections are comparable in price to these three that have already been mentioned?
What about aquariums? In the UK I'm used to spending approximately £20 per adult to visit the dreaded Sea Life chain and a lot of other aquariums seem to be well over £10 even though most offer about an hours worth of entertainment on average. What's the best value aquarium in the UK?

 

[pipaluk]

Mr. Weasel has got me thinking with his recent review of Tropical World and its bargain price of £3.50 for an adult. Is this the cheapest collection in the UK?
Other cheap zoos I have visited are Birmingham Nature Centre (surprise, surprise! ) at £5 and recently Noah's Ark Zoo Farm, also for £5. The latter offer discounted entry after 3.30 pm and me and Devilfish took advantage of this during ZooHistorica. What other collections are comparable in price to these three that have already been mentioned?
What about aquariums? In the UK I'm used to spending approximately £20 per adult to visit the dreaded Sea Life chain and a lot of other aquariums seem to be well over £10 even though most offer about an hours worth of entertainment on average. What's the best value aquarium in the UK?

Tropical World is certainly not the cheapest, several of the places in your Council zoos thread are cheaper: Tilgate is now £2, whilst the 2 London Borough ones are free i think
It still seems good value to me though.

 

[woody505]

there are ways to get cheaper admission into a lot of zoos. Tesco clubcard vouchers. Best value for money day out I had was at south lakes. Is it still free in the winter?

 

[Brum]

Tropical World is certainly not the cheapest, several of the places in your Council zoos thread are cheaper: Tilgate is now £2, whilst the 2 London Borough ones are free i think
It still seems good value to me though.

But how much time are you likely to spend at Tilgate or either of the London collections? I'm not just talking about price, I'm talking about value for money as well!

 

[zoogiraffe]

But how much time are you likely to spend at Tilgate or either of the London collections? I'm not just talking about price, I'm talking about value for money as well!

Tilgate is certainly a good couple of hours to go round so worth the money you pay in my mind.As for the others they are free so have to be value for money reguard less of time spent

 

[pipaluk]

Tilgate is certainly a good couple of hours to go round so worth the money you pay in my mind.As for the others they are free so have to be value for money reguard less of time spent

I'll be honest, i've never been to Tilgate, but having seen ZG's photos in the gallery i suggested my mother take my daughter & niece there last year, as it's only 25 mins from her & a cheap afternoon out. She thought it was excellent value ( bird lover whos an arundel wwt member), but my niece & daughter ( chester& whipsnade/colchester regulars respectively) werent so impressed, but for £2 for an adult & 2 kids you can't get anything better for 2-3 hours!

 

[Brum]

Tilgate is certainly a good couple of hours to go round so worth the money you pay in my mind.As for the others they are free so have to be value for money reguard less of time spent

Well that sounds promising, I've never visited Tilgate so assumed it would just be the standard meerkats, otters, domestics. I was assuming it'd be in and out for a zoo nerd!
As for the free entry ones, nuff said!

 

[Johnny Morris.]

Well value for money and amount of species you'd be hard pressed to beat Tring.
On the other side of the coin, The Living Rainforest, is the worst value for money collection i have ever visited.

 

[Brum]

Well value for money and amount of species you'd be hard pressed to beat Tring.

Very good, unfortunately I was aiming for live specimens. Not that I don't think Tring would be a fantastic day out!

On the other side of the coin, The Living Rainforest, is the worst value for money collection i have ever visited.

See, I find that Sea Life Centres and theme park zoos are by far the worst value for money but by all accounts The Living Rainforest can be compared to the others that I mentioned.

 

[pipaluk]

Very good, unfortunately I was aiming for live specimens. Not that I don't think Tring would be a fantastic day out!



See, I find that Sea Life Centres and theme park zoos are by far the worst value for money but by all accounts The Living Rainforest can be compared to the others that I mentioned.

Have to agree on SeaLife. I went to Weymouth a few years ago & if hadn't hung around for a few of the feeds, i may have only been there an hour for nearly £20..
Theme park zoos are a waste of money in summer & at £30, i'd place Longleat in that bracket too!

 

[lamna]

Sealife Birmingham is definitely a very low value for money, even for the Sealife chain.

It really stands out compared to how reasonable other attractions are in the West Midlands, Dudley, BNS, WMSP.

Are aquariums very expensive to run, or do their owners just really like rolling around in big piles of money?

 

[DavidBrown]

Are aquariums very expensive to run, or do their owners just really like rolling around in big piles of money?

Aquariums are very expensive to run because of all the infrastructure and maintenance needed to keep the water systems properly circulating, at correct pH, temperature, etc.

 

[Brum]

Aquariums are very expensive to run because of all the infrastructure and maintenance needed to keep the water systems properly circulating, at correct pH, temperature, etc.

Yes, I agree that aquariums are expensive to run but sometimes I think they push the price up because parents will be pressured to go by their children. I know from personal experience that no matter how much a small child loves animals they will love looking at fish more. It's a far more interesting display for young eyes and I think that certain aquarium chains exploit this fact.