...why?
Zoo/Aquarium Hot Takes
- Thread starter pachyderm pro
- Start date
...why?
Sounds like they believe there's a crowding issue at zoos and aquariums.
Overcrowding is my main issue regarding the current status of most, if not all, membership programs at these kinds of facilities. It’s kind of hectic to visit these places when there isn’t a cap we don’t see at least prior to COVID. Weekends at family attractions like zoos, aquariums, theme parks suffer severely from overcrowding and this may be a way to curb the intake of visitors. It’s not an enjoyable experience for many other than children yet even then may not get to see/experience all they wanted. Some of us are fortunate enough to live within close proximity to a zoo or aquarium including some of the best in the country, able to visit as frequently as possibly while others have to make a plan to go visit for what could be a lengthy amount of time and effort placed into visiting these places. I feel that by having blackout dates to certain levels or days may help curb the overcrowding issue. There has never been a “chill” weekend visiting the zoo or aquarium especially it being a more visited attraction in the town/city is resides in.
Over-crowding is pretty much inevitable at large, popular zoos, this wouldn't change even if members weren't allowed to visit during extremely busy days.
The most significant benefit of being a zoo member is unlimited admission into the facility, restricting that would just turn people off of supporting the zoo.
Should have clarified by people I meant ZooChatters and other nerds.
While I agree with the overcrowding sentiments, I think caps will dissuade people from coming. Especially for families with kids in school, if they love coming and hanging out at the zoo on the weekends but their membership doesn't allow weekends, then what? No point in buying the membership and going if you can't use it. Most people who buy the memberships have it because they enjoy going whenever they can. I don't feel that putting blackout dates on memberships will help keep numbers of memberships up. Numbers will always be high on weekends, kids are out of school, and a lot of people have the weekend off. I've experienced the ebb and flow firsthand from working at my local facility. During the school year there's always as many people on the weekend as the rest of the week combined. They're actually able to come. Otherwise it's usually moms with little ones and seniors during the week. The weekends are insane, but that's where a lot of the cash flow comes from.
I get and understand the practicality of having a membership with full access to any said facility. Of course weekends are a perfect time for both families and many visitors to plan for visits. The kids are off, some people work a 9-5 job where their work hours are from Monday to Friday. The cash flow is definitely a benefit for the zoo or aquarium that experiences overcrowding on the regular especially if it’s one of the main attractions within the city or town. They are businesses after all so they need to meet or exceed their bottom line, whether non-profit or not. It’s just that overcrowding is truly thorn in my side and maybe it’s just me that feels overwhelmed with the crowds, yet I’m the one who lives in a heavily populated state so I guess I need to bite the bullet
Yeah, I'm not a fan of crowds either, but especially right now I'm glad people want to go visit and support zoos. Many zoos were in some dire straits there for awhile, and I've been really happy to see that they all have pulled through. On a more normal basis, I think crowds can be largely avoided with a little forethought and luck. I visited the SDZ Safari Park on New Year's Day a couple years ago and it was pretty busy. However most of the people were centered around the crowd favorites, the lions, tigers, gorillas, Africa Tram, and what not. Hidden Jungle was wonderfully quiet of people, and not too many people were hanging out by Shoebill lagoon or hiking up to the Bighorn Sheep and condors. Now the Cheetah run, my goodness that was a traffic jam!
I experienced similar situations a couple days earlier at the zoo. I think it's perfectly possible to avoid the majority of the crowds if you work your day right, and still enjoy your visit. I prefer a quieter day myself, but I'm also grateful that so many people choose to come to the zoos and support them. Particularly in the last six months or so we zoo enthusiasts owe a lot to the public that supported the zoos during shutdowns and are excitedly returning to visit their zoos.
Absolutely agree with the overwhelming support the general public has bestowed on zoos and aquariums during these dire times, zoos and aquariums an opportunity to learn as well as have a relatively safe trip out of the home too! Generally the visitors are compliant with the rules regarding COVID procedures at the zoo by being safe and it’s truly a reassuring sign that we all want to get out of the nasty turmoil we underwent last year. I do try to make a “battle plan” when visiting the zoo or safari park, seeing what I want to see and photograph. I always take my time in the calmer sections when I do go out just to avoid people and view in piece. And another point I agree with, I LOVE Hidden Jungle! So many birds and pretty quiet other than the chirpingYeah, I'm not a fan of crowds either, but especially right now I'm glad people want to go visit and support zoos. Many zoos were in some dire straits there for awhile, and I've been really happy to see that they all have pulled through. On a more normal basis, I think crowds can be largely avoided with a little forethought and luck. I visited the SDZ Safari Park on New Year's Day a couple years ago and it was pretty busy. However most of the people were centered around the crowd favorites, the lions, tigers, gorillas, Africa Tram, and what not. Hidden Jungle was wonderfully quiet of people, and not too many people were hanging out by Shoebill lagoon or hiking up to the Bighorn Sheep and condors. Now the Cheetah run, my goodness that was a traffic jam!
I don't know about this one. For the past few years, I've been visiting the Zoo and Safari Park once every two months, and I really feel like the crowding you describe has been easily avoidable. As I've often gone with family or had my own class schedule to compete with, we were often relegated to weekends, but in recent memory, there's only been one day that was so crowded I ended up leaving early, and that was October 2020 (I made the mistake of not considering that a Saturday visit to one of the few open attractions in California during the kids free month was a bad choice). Other than that, for me it's been pretty easy to find uncrowded days, so long as one avoids weekends where events were being held, like some of the nighttime zoo weekends, or holiday weekends. Even the most crowded days I've experienced at the zoo, where I've had to park in the very back of the lot, still don't feel as hectic as most days at places like Knott's Berry Farm. I think understanding when a zoo is likely to be crowded and considering whether or not you want to take it on that day is better than a formal blackout because freedom of choice is valuable to a lot of people, especially people who might be available only on weekends, which are usually the days that get blacked out.
I’ve been there on weekends myself which haven’t been the greatest for me in my opinion and strictly avoid October as a whole when I do plan to visit just solely for the increased attendance. The only time I actually have visited during October was ever a short day for me as well since I had gotten new camera equipment to test out but made my day a short one just because it became a bit too much. I completely understand that some can only visit during weekends and it is great to have that availability made to you as the membership holder to be able to visit when you please, it doesn’t burden you by not having made a planned visit and can just walk in, at least prior to COVID, at day you want. Yes the zoo may not get anywhere near as packed as say Disneyland, perhaps the largest family attraction in the state, which on average during the past decade would get about 15-17 million people annually. That’s not to say the zoo itself isn’t a slouch, which one of the more recent years had record visitors number of 5.5 million visitors with the zoo getting 4 million and 1.5 for the safari park. Right now the zoo and safari park are going to be implementing blackout dates rollout for their less expensive/residential tiers for new memberships and don’t know how existing ones are affected. Time will only tell as to why they blacked out weekends including some weekdays in the mix from what I saw. Maybe to some I do seem melodramatic about the overcrowding issue but it’s how I feel about it and my hot take has flaws in it as well
Overall, I’m more than happy to see the love and support our local zoos across the country have gotten which during the recent closures had impacted many and were in dire need of assistance. They are a source of education, some light exercise by walking all day, and a pretty safe trip out considering COVID, and a place that visitors of many ages can enjoy as well. I’ve even seen some of the same members visit around the time I’m there so perhaps they too also make a “battle plan” to see when they can visit and what they want to do 
I completely disagree with this. I absolutely hate crowds, they're one of the top issues for me (autistic) for numerous reasons, but hurting zoo members is the absolute wrong way to go. Members are the people who really keep zoos going. Look at how many big membership sales zoos had over the last year! Members are more likely to get food and more likely to buy souvenirs, because they're more invested in the zoo. They also talk about their membership with friends, other parents, etc which brings in more money. If you black out days when people are more likely to go, you're going to lose a lot of members.
For me personally, with several major zoos an equal distance away, having blackout dates would likely cause me to go elsewhere with my membership. I already go with Philly because it includes parking (which is free elsewhere) and I get reciprocal at other zoos on the list (Smithsonian, being a free zoo, doesn't get discounts at most other places).
This is why this is my hot take after all I do agree that memberships and their contributions are much desired and sought after. It’s one of many reasons why such programs along with incentives exist such as discounted purchases or free parking being perks. They do special days/events for members or at least early sign up for such things. They’re more likely continuing contributor of funds to your facility and a somewhat steady income coming in since they’ll be repeat visitors. However, it is not a given every member well spend a significant or any amount of cash at their facility. Prior to COVID, many zoos and aquariums allowed re-entry due to knowing visitors wanting to step out. Of all the facilities I’ve gone to(LA Zoo, San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, and Aquarium of the Pacific), they offered such policy prior to COVID. I’ve done this myself multiple times in order to eat and I am willing to bet others have used this policy as well for any given number of reasons. And if you live in proximity to a zoo/aquarium and or know the area, you may not choose to eat or shop there. I’ve also not shopped some days or eaten anything at all from what they provide and will even pack my own lunch with occasional water refills for free.
As I mentioned in a post before, San Diego is implementing that plan right now with new memberships and yet to see how that affects current membership numbers. It’s perhaps the biggest player in the game regarding zoos in the states, I don’t know why exactly blackout dates exist for their less expensive/residential membership tiers. I’m not going to stop visiting my local SoCal zoos for that reason but I can’t also say that it won’t stop others from not going. Who knows truly and only time will tell honestly.
I do agree that memberships and their contributions are much desired and sought after. It’s one of many reasons why such programs along with incentives exist such as discounted purchases or free parking being perks. They do special days/events for members or at least early sign up for such things. They’re more likely continuing contributor of funds to your facility and a somewhat steady income coming in since they’ll be repeat visitors. However, it is not a given every member well spend a significant or any amount of cash at their facility. Prior to COVID, many zoos and aquariums allowed re-entry due to knowing visitors wanting to step out. Of all the facilities I’ve gone to(LA Zoo, San Diego Zoo and Safari Park, and Aquarium of the Pacific), they offered such policy prior to COVID. I’ve done this myself multiple times in order to eat and I am willing to bet others have used this policy as well for any given number of reasons. And if you live in proximity to a zoo/aquarium and or know the area, you may not choose to eat or shop there. I’ve also not shopped some days or eaten anything at all from what they provide and will even pack my own lunch with occasional water refills for free. As I mentioned in a post before, San Diego is implementing that plan right now with new memberships and yet to see how that affects current membership numbers. It’s perhaps the biggest player in the game regarding zoos in the states, I don’t know why exactly blackout dates exist for their less expensive/residential membership tiers. I’m not going to stop visiting my local SoCal zoos for that reason but I can’t also say that it won’t stop others from not going. Who knows truly and only time will tell honestly.
ThatOneZooGuy
Well-Known Member
Alright, hot take time! Also I’m not sure how hot this take is, but here we go anyways!
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is criminally underrated, and easily deserves to be generally regarded as in the top 10 US Zoos. As much as it pains me to say it, Cheyenne Mountain easily beats out Denver for best Colorado Zoo, especially with the recent Waters Edge exhibit, and the replacement of the old Monkey Building, Cheyenne Mountain was already great and is improving exponentially each passing year. Although, to be fair, I’m not a huge fan of Scutes as compared to Tropical Discovery (Denver), and their map is atrocious.
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is criminally underrated, and easily deserves to be generally regarded as in the top 10 US Zoos. As much as it pains me to say it, Cheyenne Mountain easily beats out Denver for best Colorado Zoo, especially with the recent Waters Edge exhibit, and the replacement of the old Monkey Building, Cheyenne Mountain was already great and is improving exponentially each passing year. Although, to be fair, I’m not a huge fan of Scutes as compared to Tropical Discovery (Denver), and their map is atrocious
.
San Dieg--
~Thylo
~Thylo
This is how I feel about Columbu-
Its pretty underrated at least on this forum imo but it is consistently ranked high on polls and blogs that aren't run by zoo enthusiasts such as USA Today.Alright, hot take time! Also I’m not sure how hot this take is, but here we go anyways!
Cheyenne Mountain Zoo is criminally underrated, and easily deserves to be generally regarded as in the top 10 US Zoos. As much as it pains me to say it, Cheyenne Mountain easily beats out Denver for best Colorado Zoo, especially with the recent Waters Edge exhibit, and the replacement of the old Monkey Building, Cheyenne Mountain was already great and is improving exponentially each passing year. Although, to be fair, I’m not a huge fan of Scutes as compared to Tropical Discovery (Denver), and their map is atrocious