To think the price of days out for kids is excessive?

[Niniope]

Looking at planning days out with DH and just turned 2 year old DD and a bit shocked by the prices!
We earn decent wages but both work part time and have quite a few outgoings.

For context we live in greater Manchester and have been to pretty much every museum in the area, as well as regularly going swimming, soft play, parks, and farms - a lot of days out are free or under £15 for us all.

I was trying to plan going to an aquarium and as DD is over 90cm it would be £72 for us all! Looked at sea life and that equally would be £52 as they've changed from under 3 go free to under 2 go free!

Cbeebies land would be £105, which although not feasible for us to spend I can rationalise more as a big day out, but an aquarium we will spend a couple of hours at before she naps!?

I was also looking at visiting a WWT site but that would be over £30, which is also a bit excessive when we can walk around numerous bodies of water and nice countryside for free.

I know these places have got to run and meet overheads but the prices mean they are just inaccessible to us. We just can't justify it to then not be able to do anything else for the rest of the month.

Am I being a skinflint?

At two years old I really wouldn't bother with expensive activities - she'll have just as much fun wandering around the local nature reserve or NT property feeding squirrels or looking for deer.

You really don't need to do paid for activities five days a week - admittedly it's harder at this time of year, but once summer comes it'll be much easier to keep her entertained outside for free.

You can sign up for NT now on a monthly direct debit, if balancing costs is a concern.

The most bizarre pricing I’ve come across is the adventure playground at Blenheim. You have to pay on top of entry (£38 adult/£22 for over 3s), and they charge adults £5 each to come in and supervise their children (£7 per ticket). Why would I pay to go stand in a playground?

It is indeed a great playground but they got rid of a free one when they opened it.

Wow! Fuuuuuuck that for a game of soldiers.

YANBU, we have DD who is under 2 still but usually end up spending at least £100 each weekend on days out, lord knows what is going to happen when we start having to pay for her properly

Im hoping in summer it will be cheaper since there are more free things to do outside, atm due to the weather people are forced into indoor attractions I’ve found.

It's expensive yes! Expensive for everyone.... not just for 'kids days out'

But no it's not excessive

Woburn Safari has always been mine and my children's favourite day out as quite local. Not cheap but well worth it, the steam train, paddling boats, and play areas are all free.

OP do you have any toddler groups in your area, they are good morning/afternoon fillers?

Wow all the above is pricey is that what all parents pay when they take kids out.

These have always been extremely expensive one a year or in a blue moon treats. Stick with your local stuff. At 2 she won't appreciate the difference

Friends took their 2 year old to London Zoo, she feels in love with a panda shaped bin just last the entrance and that was the entire trip for her. Hugging the bin

Just to add I think most parents use vouchers, deals or points when booking these days

I don't think it's ever been normal to do zoos, aquariums and theme parks on any kind of regular basis. My parents weren't struggling but I still remember our weekends being made up of trips to the local NT properties, or the park, or playing pooh sticks on the local rivers. Or we'd go to the garden centre to look at fish, or to see all the displays at Christmas.

Everything else was saved for a once a year "trip" - normally one during each of the "big" school holidays. They certainly weren't things we did regularly.

As may people have mentioned an annual membership for something is your friend ! We live close enough to both Whipsanade and London zoos so we have ZSL membership! We tend to do Whipsanade more on summer or if we just are popping in for a few hours and London in the winter as it's less exposed and has more inside bits!

We have national trust family membership which is around £11 a month. I use Tesco vouchers for days out. Sometimes sealife is buy one get one free. What about a short bus ride to a different park or library just for a change.

"Unfortunately not, now you have to buy a merlin pass!"

Which is brilliant value for money if you plan the year out well. She's a bit young though. Stick to the free and cheap stuff until she's about 5/6

Going forward for birthdays and events ask relatives to buy year long passes or gift money so you can buy passes. (National Trust, rail cards, soft play).

Keep your eye out for promotions for cheaper entry. Save them and stagger there use throughout the year.

Check your local library for kid friendly events.

Book onto daytime toddler courses (swimming/baby gym/music) gets you out of the house during the morning and fill the afternoon with crafty activities.

Head to parks in different areas, especially during school holidays as there may be free/cheaper events available in the park.

I'd get an English Heritage or National Trust pass now, as they can both be paid for monthly rather than upfront and are about a tenner a month. Probably just do one depending on who has more sites in your area. Then save the more expensive stuff like Merlin passes or zoo membership for when your DC is older or until Christmas at least.

We have 4 children so any sort of "big" day out is getting on for £100 just for entrance fees and that's with me free or discounted as DC carer 😱

Grandparents pay for a nature reserve pass for us each year for Christmas, we also have NT passes and a gym membership so most weekends will be one of those things!

2 year olds just don't need such places. A nice park and fish and chips and an ice-cream, with a few friends. Job done.

We never pay standard prices. Either look out for promotions, go off peak times if cheaper, or get annual passes and go frequently.

Or look out for the free one day pass offers which come out a couple of times a year (check MSE website)

I actually don’t have an issue with most of these places with how much they charge for a child. My issue is how much they charge for an adult! Unless my child can come in unaccompanied (unlikely at 4), the adult ticket price should be free/very cheap at attractions aimed purely at children. (I accept it’s different for things like Alton towers which attracts plenty of adults without children in tow.)

wellington country park mentioned above is a classic example. £20 for my child is actually fine. However she can’t go in by herself and I won’t get £20 worth of enjoyment out of it! And it doesn’t even include the bloody train, that’s another £1 each on top. GRRRRR!!

Another near us is Chobham adventure farm. That one doesn’t even allow picnics so you get sucked in to paying £10+ per person for lunch on top of the extortionate entry fee.

And before anyone suggests it, I don’t like walking and find national trust properties very dull to walk around. None of the ones near us even have a decent playground so not worth it for that either.

I wouldn't mind paying that for Wellington for a 6 year old but it's a bit of a stretch for 2 year olds. Especially when the toddler pass at Legoland is £60 for a whole year!

I’m really shocked by this amount. That’s £5200 a year. Where are you going? My 2 children a little bit older than this and we spend way less including 1:1 music lessons for 1 child and 1 parent.

If the WWT place is Martin Mere, it's great! They have some cool birds.