leafcutter
Member
I visited London Zoo yesterday with my nearly 5 year old (part of a series of long promised 'pre going to school' trips to London's visitor attractions that can be put off no longer!).
Overall I was quite impressed - it has been a while since I last went (maybe 10 years) and there were some noticeable changes.
We got there at opening time with internet booked tickets so were able to get straight in past the queue for normal admission that was already forming (would recommend doing this if visiting). The first 60-90 minutes were very pleasant - got to see animals with hardly anyone else around. We were completely on our own through the big cats, childrens area and birds section! As we came through bugs and then back down towards the entrance things got significantly busier. When we arrived back at the entrance it was absolutely packed with what looked to be lots of school trips out and about. Definitely a good idea to go early.
Many of the enclosures had large panes of glass in front of them which made viewing the animals (especially for short children!) much easier and more immediate. The gorilla area was particularly good in this regard as you could get very close up. Not sure what the animals see (i.e. whether the glass is smoked or reflective on their side) but I think the gorillas could see us looking at them as they spent most of the time with backs turned.
The 'new' gorilla enclosure seemed ok - the outside island area did seem very open but the gorillas were out and about on it. From a human perspective it was again easy to see everything.
We saw pretty much every animal out and about which was great for my daughter. I remember zoo visits from my youth spent looking at lines of empty paddocks but this was excellent - only things we missed really were giant anteater and the okapi.
The childrens zoo was a bit of a mixed bag imho - the exhibits were good in that with the glass viewing ports into the enclosures you could get very close to the animals. The meerkats, mongoose, porcupines, aardvarks etc were all easy to see and entertaining. The tunnels into the viewing bubbles within the enclosures were a great idea. The playground elements seemed a bit out of place and my 4 year old was frankly more interested in seeing animals than climbing on netting. Also the story book elements were a bit dull and didn't really integrate with the rest of the exhibit.
The day was quite expensive - tickets aren't cheap and on leaving we passed people coming in and overheard several grumbling about the cost of getting a family in.
In summary we had a very enjoyable visit. Got to see loads of animals with very little stress which is surely the point. If visiting then I think book online and get there early would be the key things to remember.
Overall I was quite impressed - it has been a while since I last went (maybe 10 years) and there were some noticeable changes.
We got there at opening time with internet booked tickets so were able to get straight in past the queue for normal admission that was already forming (would recommend doing this if visiting). The first 60-90 minutes were very pleasant - got to see animals with hardly anyone else around. We were completely on our own through the big cats, childrens area and birds section! As we came through bugs and then back down towards the entrance things got significantly busier. When we arrived back at the entrance it was absolutely packed with what looked to be lots of school trips out and about. Definitely a good idea to go early.
Many of the enclosures had large panes of glass in front of them which made viewing the animals (especially for short children!) much easier and more immediate. The gorilla area was particularly good in this regard as you could get very close up. Not sure what the animals see (i.e. whether the glass is smoked or reflective on their side) but I think the gorillas could see us looking at them as they spent most of the time with backs turned.
The 'new' gorilla enclosure seemed ok - the outside island area did seem very open but the gorillas were out and about on it. From a human perspective it was again easy to see everything.
We saw pretty much every animal out and about which was great for my daughter. I remember zoo visits from my youth spent looking at lines of empty paddocks but this was excellent - only things we missed really were giant anteater and the okapi.
The childrens zoo was a bit of a mixed bag imho - the exhibits were good in that with the glass viewing ports into the enclosures you could get very close to the animals. The meerkats, mongoose, porcupines, aardvarks etc were all easy to see and entertaining. The tunnels into the viewing bubbles within the enclosures were a great idea. The playground elements seemed a bit out of place and my 4 year old was frankly more interested in seeing animals than climbing on netting. Also the story book elements were a bit dull and didn't really integrate with the rest of the exhibit.
The day was quite expensive - tickets aren't cheap and on leaving we passed people coming in and overheard several grumbling about the cost of getting a family in.
In summary we had a very enjoyable visit. Got to see loads of animals with very little stress which is surely the point. If visiting then I think book online and get there early would be the key things to remember.
