To think that Theme parks/Zoos etc.

[GenderApostatemk2]

Are now priced beyond the means of ordinary families?
I looked for Chester zoo tickets, haven’t been for years and was horrified at the cost - £25 adults/£20 kids. For 2 adults /3 kids would be £110! That’s obscene, factor in food and petrol you are talking £200 for a day out, that could be 3 weeks food shopping for a family.
I don’t remember things being so relatively expensive 20 - 25 years ago when DD was little, we used to go to lots of places without worrying about the cost.
It’s £70 just for me, DH and 2 year old Dgs, we can easily afford it but it horrifies me.
Even when DD /Dsil + 3 kids go to soft play it’s £35 for only 2 hours!

Am I just hopelessly out of touch?

It was hugely expensive when I was a child so 30 odd years ago... theme park/zoo etc was a once a year treat, and we were lucky compared to our friends

Even back then, it was pay for first visit, then half price (or possibly free?) to go back - they did this so you would spend on rides, drinks etc. We used to always go back!

I bought my dd, sil and dgc family annual pass for Bristol Zoo and Wild Place. If you go often as they don't is excellent value for money. It is always more expensive to go as a 1 off. I don't grudge paying for zoo as the feeding cost for all those animals must be enormous. A lot of zoos lost a lot of money due to Covid as zookeepers still had to.be paid to feed and clean out animals but no visitors meant only government handouts. Take a picnic to keep costs down and really you fuel cost is nothing to do with entry fees.

*they do go

I think the zoo has always been a big ticket treat. We used to go once in the school holidays as one of our big exciting days out.

A trip to a zoo is literally a whole day out and an occasional not more than once a year type treat though, rather than a more regular thing.

I think a lot of people have got into the habit of thinking paid for attractions are an every day/week thing. 25 years ago it was far more the norm that your average family day out would be local country park with a picnic. I remember family holidays as a child because it was about the only time my parents would actually pay to get in somewhere.

If you want to go a few times buy an annual pass it does work out cheaper if you actually go.

Another tip is to take a packed lunch because the food there is expensive.

It is a full day and a fantastic zoo.

We've done membership for our local zoo for years, as others said it works out as good value.
Plus with the membership we get to go to various other zoos once per year, so when we went to N.Wales for a holiday we went via Chester and had a lovely day there too for free.

I agree. I have 5 DC so it’s absolutely astronomical to visit somewhere like Chester Zoo when you factor in fuel costs on top of the admission. I think it would have been around £125 for the day, we chose Knowsley instead and saved about £30.

The biggest rip off is Eureka in Halifax. I think it cost us £80 and they haven’t changed the inside of it for 20+ years. They give you annual admission for that price but I wouldn’t bother returning, we were finished in an hour.

Businesses are not charities, if they can find enough customers at the price they are offering, then it's obviously not "too expensive".

Plus the actual costs of running a zoo and caring properly for the animals.

I am always puzzled at people who expect everything for nothing. You wouldn't work for free either would you?

With zoos, part of the deal when you visit us that, in exchange for being able to see animals you would not normally see, part of your admission fee goes towards ensuring their continued survival and protection. If you want to see these animals, be prepared to contribute to their survival.

My complaint is against the food offer in many of these places. I don't mind paying a fair price, I don't expect a Michelin star quality, but so many times it's completely uneatable.

It’s a lot but it’s a Big Event for the dc isn’t it? We go to a zoo probably once a year in the summer hols (excluding if there’s a particularly good one on holiday) and they remember it and talk about it and look forward to it. And if you don’t pay it then they’ll never get to go!

It's a whole day out seeing wild animals, including the elephants. It isn't expensive for what it is. Chester Zoo is my local zoo. We recently went to Blackpool Zoo, a few things were better, but there isn't a family of elephants, who we have watched on television, so we are sticking with Chester. I'm happy to support Conservation. As a child I went to Southport Zoo. Lots of concrete enclosures and no enrichment. That would explain the costs. Thinking back the animals must have lived in misery. We are all on top up benefits and have to think carefully about what we spend on, but we consider a Zoo trip worthwhile.

Where are you travelling from that food/petrol is £90? We take food and only buy the refillable drink deal and an ice-cream.

Members don't need to book for Chester Zoo anymore. We went yesterday afternoon!
Advance tickets may change in the summer holidays though. The zoo are trying really hard to enable members to just be able to turn up. Members don't make much money for the zoo but are more than likely to get a drink/ice cream/ lunch unlike those that have paid to get in.

As a child I went to Southport Zoo. Lots of concrete enclosures and no enrichment.

My local zoo was the sme when I was a child and within 10 years suddenly they made it into top 10 in Europe (good placing in the world too) and have amazing name in preservation. It's mindblowing the change. Before it was concrete so people always saw the animal. Now there are enclosures with singns saying basically if you don't see them, tought luck, we want them to be comfortable and have option to hide.

I still remember that concrete cages. The change is just absolutely amazing. In many of the zoos. And this is what the prices reflect, yeah

A pp has hit the nail on the head, days out used to be once or twice a year treats (along with takeaways).
In this age of social media and parental guilt, people feel they need to be doing something every weekend, sometimes more in holidays.

We recently went to Whipsnade Zoo, it cost around £80 for two adults and one older child (didn’t have to pay for the youngest). We took a picnic to try and limit the expenditure, but the picnic and petrol still cost around £20 so roughly £100 altogether.

It seemed like a ridiculous amount of money to spend before we went, but once you’re there you realise that the place is huge. We were there for 8 hours and still had more stuff we could have gone and looked at. It’s a bit lacking in some ways at the moment due to covid but was still a really good day out and no one complained of being bored or wanting to go home (which usually happens at some point on a day out) so overall we felt it was good value for money in the end.

However, in the past we have been to smaller zoos and whilst there might be a £20-30 saving on the overall costs of the day, it’s never been as good and we definitely wouldn’t get 8 hours of entertainment out of them. So the additional cost seems justified to me. Can’t comment on theme parks as we haven’t introduced the DC’s to that hell yet.

We always buy annual memberships for zoos. They work out great value. Some of them include entry to other zoos around the country.

That price sounds about right op. I do wonder where you've been for the last few decades because it's always been expensive as far as I can remember. I'm in my mid 50's.

On a slightly different note, soft play has gone up a lot since things reopened. All our local ones now charge for adults and the charge for under-5s has definitely rocketed. And it’s fixed time slots (90 minutes to 2 hours depending on the facility), which were previously only enforced in summer holidays. So last week when I took my 1.5 year old, it cost £9 before we even get onto a coffee and a snack. When we go in the holidays with my older child, it will be about £17 plus snacks. And yes, I know you don’t need to buy them but we will.

Ironically, we would previously have timed it around lunch and probably spent the same or more, but now we will be buying snacks and eating lunch at home, partly due to cost and partly due to the lack of flexibility in timings.

I completely understand why, and I’m grateful these places are still open and taking hygiene seriously. But soft play is no longer a £3-5 morning/afternoon out here (SE England).

YANBU

£35 for 3 children and 2 adults to book into our local soft play online. £9.25 for each child 4+ years old! An extra £1 per person on the door if you don't book in advance.

Looked at two local but small theme parks.

One is £2.50 per ride ticket so £7.50 a pop for all 3 kids to go on a ride. Sometimes an adult will have to accompany so £10 or £12.50 a go. Even if only went on 5 rides the whole day, still a lot. Alternatively £20 for each child wristbands for unlimited rides and £2.50 per go for adult accompaniment. Add on parking £6 for the day.

The other wants £26 for each of us - so £130 just to get in. No family tickets or BOGOF promos etc available. At least parking is free...

Looks like beach, country parks (parking, cafes etc still extortionate) and local swimming pools only for us over the Summer.

@Janaih

A pp has hit the nail on the head, days out used to be once or twice a year treats (along with takeaways). In this age of social media and parental guilt, people feel they need to be doing something every weekend, sometimes more in holidays.

This is true actually, when I think about it. We had the odd day out through school to castles / farm parks and whatnot, but outside of school unless we were on holiday then days out to country houses / zoos / theme parks were very rare! In fact apart from one visit to Legoland I can't recall any other theme park trips as a child. Zoos and country houses, yes, but not theme parks. And I'm not that old (early 30s)! We'd go to the village playground a lot or to friends houses but rarely out elsewhere.

Should also say that I don't mind paying that for the good zoos and theme parks, particularly the zoos. The overheads must be enormous and they are constantly looking at ways to make the animals environment better.