To be shocked at the cost of family days out?

Because there was nothing wrong with not going on expensive days out regularly? We all survived, and believe it or not enjoyed doing free things such as playing in the park with our friends, or building forts in each others garden/living room. We were not breaking rocks in the desert.

People talking about how in the 70s and 80s they could not afford to go many attractions - you do realise that was 40 to 50 years ago? Why should we accept going back to that kind of life?

I feel your pain OP! A trip to our local 'attractions' (theme parks, zoos etc) is £20-25 per person including for children over 2/3.Crazy money, especially if you have to then buy lunch etc.

But I am of the opinion that such things should be 'occasional treats' though anyway, afew times a year.Not somewhere kids go all the time.I think it loses its novelty then.

5 of us so we drive to london and park in an out edge tube station for £5 or so so costs a tank of petrol - much cheaper than trains.
hotel rooms have managed to get a family room in Paddington for £100 or so a night.
we always do some museums that are free and if we do a paid attraction we do 2-4-1 tickets or Tesco Clubcard points etc.

We've stopped going out for meals as a family as it's £60+ and so quickly spent.

We have annual membership for national trust as a Christmas present, annual parking pass for nice country park near us and annual pass for a museum which does good events (both together come to under £80).

We go to a farm/zoo attraction once a year on holiday and that's about it.

I follow the two local cheap things to do with kids Facebook mum accounts.

I do too. The best way to visit legoland is when they’re under school age. You can get a toddler pass for about £45 now and it covers a toddler for an entire year plus any adult.

When my eldest was 1-4,(about 8/9 years ago) they also had a really good deal for annual passes. It was only £40 for an adult, and she was free until she got to a certain height/age. So at one point we were going to legoland most weeks as parking was also included! It was the best value pass I’ve ever had.

But what annoys me is they racked up their Xmas prices. We took her when she was about 3, and paid something like £15pp and the child got a Lego toy included and a Santa visit. Now it’s £29pp upwards and an extra £20 odd to see Santa!

Oh yes, I think it’s 2-for-1 on a lot of attraction tickets if you’ve travelled by train which is really good! It’s not valid during school holidays but pretty sure it’s valid on weekends so will save you a lot of £££

You can in some cases get a cinema discount if you have AA membership for your car.

Yes, I remember childhood holidays in Cornwall or Norfolk going to national trust properties (we were members) or the woods for a picnic. I remember getting leaflets from a display at the supermarket and excitedly trawling through them looking for the picture of a leaf that meant it was national trust and we could go there. I lived in hope for years that the national trust would take over somewhere like Thorpe park or Alton towers!

Agree with others, at the risk of sounding like an old codger 'big' days out like the zoo or similar were a once a year birthday treat (& that was instead of a party - I was offered the choice). It does seem that these days it is 'expected' to provide expensive days out as the norm but you have to be strong and just accept that DC don't need constant expensive 'entertainment'. When our DS was younger we went to the park, picnics, community & church events, cubs,scouts, local sport teams etc ... nothing very expensive and he grew up a well rounded, sociable child.

DC are teens. Days out to these places were £20-25 a family when they were toddlers. It's now that each. My wages haven't gone up by 4x.

Yes even an hour in a trampoline park is £12 pp , two hours at soft play £10 pp.

And that's a small portion of the day

Problem is I think it creates a bit of a circle that kids expectations massively rise that life is always fun filled - rather than long bouts of boredom with some special fun days mixed in-

I think this is true. I was a kid in the 90s and, although we were less comfortable than you sounded (we didn't go abroad til I was 11 and even then it wasn't far), it was similar. We had a caravan for holidays in the UK. We went to the park a lot. We entertained ourselves. I had the best childhood and I'm trying to replicate that for my DD.

DD is a similar age to a couple of my friends kids. She spends a lot of time playing in the garden or running round the park compared to my friends kids who are either battling for screentime or paying through the nose for constant activities. We love our bear hunts, picnics, going to see the baby swans etc. I don't really go in for comparisons because it benefits no-one. But what I have noticed is that her imagination is out of this world, and I can sit and chill on the patio for half an hour while she makes "potions" or plays with the fairies in her garden, or picks flowers. She will sit and watch the birds. My friends can't.

I'm not trying to pretend I'm an amazing parent or anything. I'm just muddling through and I know I'm lucky she is more interested in the outside world than screens (don't get me wrong, she loves a screen but would rather go look for butterflies). But you can see the difference the type of activities kids do has on them.

It's bonkers.

We've tried to massively cut down on days out unless it's something free like walks/picnics. We are lucky that where we live there's lots of activity-walks where there's stuff for kids to do along the way to keep them motivated.

We have annual family passes to our local zoo (€100 for 3 of us, youngest is free) and also for our local pool (€120 for 4 of us).

That's it for us for the summer!

We normally get an annual pass for somewhere as our Christmas present from the in-laws and do a different place every year. We don't do overnights.

I'm a whizz at shopping around for voucher codes and 2for1s - I also tend to look for venues which you pay once and have free entry for a whole year - lots of family attractions do that now (Beamish, Alnwick Castle, National Space Museum etc) or places like West Mids Safari Park where you get a free return visit - these kind of tickets were never available just a few years ago. And there are lots of really good free museums - RAF Museum etc

I also do the Sun Super Saver codes, Kelloggs vouchers and many railway lines if you travel by train you get 241 tickets. You've just got to be savvy

Lots of places also do mums or dads go free for mothers/Father's Day etc

I take a packed lunch and there is a limit on gift shop expenditure.

everything is expensive now - just to take my 3 to the local leisure centre swimming for an hour is £10 - when my twins turn 4 it will be £18! For a cold shower and questionable cleanliness

99's with a flake from the ice cream van for 3 kids will set you back a tenner these days

Shows are expensisve, but you can often get cheap tickets on the day (from Leicester Sq booth, or Covent Garden booth).
If you are not fussed about what you are seeing, then you see what is available.
I last did this a few years ago - pre covid. (check for suitability for DC etc)
Train tickets are cheaper if bought as soon as the cheap tickets are relased (12 weeks ahead). But this applies to the national railways rather than commuter railways.
Family events with children. I still feel angry that on a visit to London Zoo with my 3 DC, our tickets cost more than a family ticket (1 adult 3 DC, cost more than 2 adults, and 2 DC). I queried this, but was told that this was the price. If I had been quicker and said my DS (then age 13) was 16, it would have been cheaper!!! , but he did not look 16, and I dont think I would have got away with it, anyway.(It was many years ago).
Always look for deals when buying tickets.

We bought annual passes for Alton towers this year and we've really had the value out of them. Random Saturdays, inset days and dh and I have even booked annual leave days and just gone on our own. We are theme park enthusiasts though so never get bored of it and the kids love it. I worked out if we'd paid each time for tickets we'd have spent around £1k so far and it's not even summer holidays. Zoos are so expensive now and now the kids are older they're not really that fussed. An afternoon at our local garden centre can set me back £80 odd quid after I've paid for lunch and entrance to the farm.

We bought the passes as Christmas presents and they've been great although I realise we are very lucky that the cost of these was within our means. We always take a packed lunch and being regulars we know how to get the most out of our day. We also live in the north where house prices etc are lower so our mortgage etc is manageable. I have no idea how average earners in London manage it.

Westfield is also pretty cheap to park in

Yes days out are ridiculously expensive.

However were going to london in a couple of weeks and its definitely not costing £1500

Train advance tickets from south east £46
Tower of london and Eye deal £160
Premier inn 1 night inc breakfast £165
Show £285

£656 plus food for 3 people.

Days out are so expensive nowadays!! I’ve booked a few things ahead. For me and 2 DC…

x3 tickets for Harry Potter World £139.50
x3 tickets with mid fast pass for Legoland £237
x3 tickets to Xmas panto £94

Doesn’t include travel, parking, food/drinks 🙈

Days out were always expensive. The difference now seems to be the expectation that zoos/soft play/attractions are a regular thing. I grew up in the 80s and my grandparents took us on an annual zoo trip, and it was a big deal (and we were a fairly mc family). My dc are teens now and paid outings weren't that frequent, because they were expensive. My sister's dc are both early primary school and they seem to be at trampoline park/soft play/farm every other weekend, where they meet with friends and put it over social media. Also as a child and when mine were young we never ate at these places, we'd bring a picnic along, but it seems very standard now that eating out is an essential part of the trip.

There's a cheaper entry to big London attractions (like the Tower) if you have travelled by train.

I remember very few days out like this in 60s and70s and very few meals out and we were quite comfortably off-I do remember though going abroad twice a year from the age of 8 . (1969)

I do notice on here though the amount parents seem to spend on hobbies and activities these days-and a lot of them aren't cheap- I think some of it comes from peer pressure - 'everyone goes there etc' some of it from a feeling that kids need to be active all the time. Problem is I think it creates a bit of a circle that kids expectations massively rise that life is always fun filled - rather than long bouts of boredom with some special fun days mixed in-

it annoys me how soon they charge full pricing too, some places are from 18 months! Still in a pushchair and napping- yet getting charged full amount. Kelloggs often have two for one. Club card too- though not as good as it used to be. Merlin passes do a Black Friday sale and the off peak one I think is 79?