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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to wonder why adults pay and children go free?

32 replies

entropygirl · 30/04/2012 12:53

So I went on what will undoubtedly be the first of many stupid pseudo educational trips with DD yesterday to an aquarium...

The whole point of the affair is to show the baby fish, turtles and otters etc. I couldn't care less...I hate fish, turtles are boring and the otters smelled really really bad....

So why did I have to pay £8.75 and the baby goes for free?

AIBU to think this is totally backwards?

OP posts:
knowitallstrikesagain · 30/04/2012 13:01

You will be grateful for this system when you have another child!

How old is DD? Can you put off expensive trips for a while?

UnChartered · 30/04/2012 13:02

think of it as reverse psychology...somewhere to take the children for free..

WorraLiberty · 30/04/2012 13:05

Because if adults got in for free, the place would be full of dossers and people trying to keep out of the rain I expect.

Plus, some people have 2 or 3 kids to pay for.

Birdsgottafly · 30/04/2012 13:06

Adults are economically active, children aren't. Not everyone visits attractions with their children, why should they get in for free?

It encourages adults to take children, if they get in for free. For some families they wouldn't be able to go if they had to pay for all of their children.

Plus what they lose in the entrance cost they know that they make on drinks/snacks/gift shop.

oopsi · 30/04/2012 13:07

because people with more children tend to have less money! It's basically a charge per family

foreverondiet · 30/04/2012 13:44

FFS.
Its a charge per family as:

  1. Children have no money, adults do
  2. If adults were free they'd attract non economically active adults and no children
  3. To attract those with bigger families to still come as no additional cost
  4. To make it more reasonably priced for single parents
  5. Charging for kids (and adults free) would only work somewhere like legoland were the kids really really want to go (pester power) and there is little to attract adults without kids.
MarysBeard · 30/04/2012 13:49

I agree with those sentiments expressed above, but then why do some soft play places charge for adults? It not like the kids could go in on their own, is it?

knowitallstrikesagain · 30/04/2012 13:55

I would guess that in the soft play, it is the wear and tear caused by adults that requires the most upkeep. Therefore if you have little Johnny accompanied by mum, dad, uncle, grandad etc all clambouring aroung on the equipment to entertain him, it will cost the centre more in the long run.

All soft play places I know just charge for children though, as they know adults will spend a fortune on coffee/cakes.

Birdsgottafly · 30/04/2012 14:38

It bothers me more that parents/carers have to pay to take the children/people who are disabled, to the toilet, tbh.

Original poster
entropygirl · 30/04/2012 17:21

gosh I forgot I posted this....

I do get that even if you were charging for the children the adults would pay but seriously who the hell would want to go to an aquarium if it wasn't for a childs benefit?

OP posts:
Original poster
entropygirl · 30/04/2012 17:22

our local soft play charges per kid and adults go free...

which given that have a proper adult trampoline is a total bargain!

OP posts:
averageyorkshiremum · 30/04/2012 18:16

Actually, I think it's moved on a bit from charging a minimal amount for adults (wear/tear) at clearly child-centric activities, to completely taking the piss. There are softplays, farms, activity centres and the like near me which charge £7 plus for adults and @£5 for kids (nothing for adults to do btw except eat and drink and watch your child enjoying themselves, maybe that's what you get for your £7 and I'm simply being churlish!) It does price you out of a day out with grandparents and ds though- 3 plus adults and one under 5 starts to clock up.

squeakytoy · 30/04/2012 19:19

who the hell would want to go to an aquarium if it wasn't for a childs benefit?

quite a lot of people would.. photographers, people who like looking at marine life... aquariums are not just for kids..

TidyDancer · 30/04/2012 19:24

I went to the London Aquarium without the DCs.

So yes, YABU.

Original poster
entropygirl · 30/04/2012 23:07

squeaky this one had no redeeming features for adults....maybe in london and other swanky places this is not the case but round here is 5 raggedy fish and an otter smell...

OP posts:
Minshu · 30/04/2012 23:21

I love my little local aquarium, and drag my poor DD round in spite of her normally being more interested in the other children than the fish, otters, monkeys, iguana, frogs, seals...

I have an annual pass - £8.75 per visit is a bit steep.

knowitallstrikesagain · 01/05/2012 08:18

entropy you refer to DD as a baby. How old is she? Does she need to be taken to places quite so expensive yet?

extremepie · 01/05/2012 09:40

YABU.

I love fish.

And turtles :D

Original poster
entropygirl · 01/05/2012 09:58

know no the main problem with the whole thing was that DD was too young to get it (10 mo)...but I really thought she would...she loves her stuffed animals and recognises the words fish and turtle, but apparently not that interested in real animated ones....which is odd as she is massively into chasing cats around when she gets the infrequent chance at a friends house...

OP posts:
Lueji · 01/05/2012 11:47

Why do parents think that their babies are interested in expensive educational stuff?

I didn't take my DS to the zoo until he was at least 3 and I LOVE animals (being a biologist and all :)).

MadameMessy · 01/05/2012 12:02

10 months!!! No wonder you were pissed off! Kids of that age dont need educational trips like that, save it for when she is 3.5+

SooticaTheWitchesCat · 01/05/2012 12:10

I woulnd't have taken my babies either at that age.

Original poster
entropygirl · 01/05/2012 12:11

hmmmm I just thought she might like see real fish etc.

I suppose it is a mistake to have started the piano lessons too...

gah...babies are boring...

OP posts:
fizzwhirl · 01/05/2012 12:12

Pricing has nothing to do with fairness. Prices are chosen to maximise profit.

For the aquarium, it seems like discriminatory pricing. Adults who visit aquariums without children really like aquariums (I love aquariums, and will tend to choose an aquarium over other attractions, even if it's tiny Grin). They place a higher value on the visit than a family who are just looking for a day out to occupy the kids. The discriminatory pricing allows the aquarium to get additional money from dedicated aquarium-lovers, while still keeping the less-interested family customers who would be put off by a higher cost.

That strategy obviously that doesn't apply to soft-play, children's farms etc. I'm not really sure what's going on there. The only thing I can think of is that supply might be limited by perceived 'busyness', i.e. if a place feel too 'busy' then people won't go. Maybe adults increase the feeling of 'busyness' more than children (because they're bigger, or adult-areas are too limited). Or maybe they find that more money is spent per child than per adult on additional food and merchandise (pester-power at the gift shop) so they'd rather have a higher proportion of children.

Alternatively, maybe people make decisions about where to go based on price per child, and actually demand isn't sensitive to adult pricing.

Any other ideas? Grin

Original poster
entropygirl · 01/05/2012 12:17

tbh I think I might have liked the aquarium better if I had been alone....fractious babies never really improve the situation....

I could normally watch seals messing around for hours also.

come to think of it the admissions sales person did make a comment which in hindsight may have been based on the fact that she had rarely seen a baby that young going round.....

I really don't get child development yet DD loves pictures of fish in books, she likes cartoon fish on octonauts and will find fish pictures if I say 'where is the fish' so how the hell can it be that actually moving swimming pretty fish don't interest her at all???????

grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

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