To be shocked at the cost of family days out?

[holidaaay]

My sister was talking to me earlier and she said she’d seen that tickets for x4 to our local zoo are £25 each. As soon as a child turns 3 you pay full price for them. £100, just to get there. I couldn’t believe it!

It got me thinking how everything is just this way now and almost feeling a bit sad about it.

Take a weekend to London. £300 return for everyone’s train tickets (that would be a very good deal, too!) easily £200 per night for the cheapest of hotel rooms a walk out of the centre. If you’re there for two nights that’s already £700, not to mention shows, food, attractions whilst there… I reckon you’re then on at least £1500. I don’t know who’s affording it.

Of course, you could limit or go without those types of activities and spend a lot of time in parks and having fun at home or finding local free things to do at the museum and library. Nothing wrong with those things at all. But nor do I think it’s far fetched to hope some of the more ‘exciting’ activities and trips would be just that little bit cheaper so families can make some memories alongside doing the everyday things. It would be nice to think the zoo and a weekend to a big city weren’t activities reserved for the rich.

We have a few years before we will be paying full price for DD. We are likely going to be one and done, finances hugely influencing this and we don’t earn badly. I just don’t know how families with 2+ children do it- school holidays must cost parents so much money especially if the weather is crap. Never mind then factoring in other costs in the year like holidays and Christmas, any childcare bills you have to pay for monthly.

Has it really always been like this or prices just steadily getting more stupid?

Places like Disney have increased their prices to a level where people without high levels of disposable income can’t afford it. They don’t want families who can’t afford the food, costumes, photos, queue jumping upgrades. The entry is just the start of the rinsing …

Travel to London and big zoos have always been amongst the more expensive days out, even when they were a relatively lower proportion of income. You have to be strategic about it. Vouchers, booking well in advance where applicable. See what annual memberships are available locally, try and find one you can rinse and then move on. Or keep it if you're getting the value.

Normal families are being priced out of fairly traditional activities. A trip to the zoo is easily £100, and that’s before lunch, a visit to the gift shop etc. A trip to London for us in the West Country to see a show, stay in a hotel, meal out and hotel is easily £1500. My twin girls want to see Matilda in the summer hole we said ok. Tickets in crap seats are £435 for the 4 of us. A holiday in Europe in school hols for a week is going to be in excess of £3,500.

It’s all bonkers.

Prices have risen massively. Before covid we used to go go to London for a weekend away fairly often. Since not once. The prices are eye watering.

YABU about the zoo, @holidaaay . Chester Zoo has been over £100 for a family for many years. Hell, my kids are in their twenties and we’ve been paying that for most of their lives.

If you live close enough for membership, that’s very economical, otherwise it is an annual (or every other year) trip. Which is as it should be, frankly.

Keeping animals healthy and stimulated while running a breeding programme is eye-wateringly expensive! If we want animals in captivity we need to pay a bucketload in order to fund it.

Days out with children can be incredibly pricey but don’t need to be. A bus or train ticket to somewhere for a picnic or a paddle is something they remember at least as much as a visit to an expensive attraction.

A 2 night stay in London is a mini-break, not a day out. And even that can be cheaper if you book the train in advance, have a family railcard, go to the Diana Playground and South Ken Museums etc rather than shows.

70s/80s and we never had such days out - I think expectations grew over the decades!

If we went on holiday for a week ( so aged 7, 8, then nothing till aged 12 or 13 ) then my parents would buy national trust membership that year and that would be it- if it wasn't nt we didn't go

We took a picnic , never a cafe

I never went to a zoo or theme park or took a short break which needed accommodation - had never stayed in a hotel or b&b till I was 20

Did possibly 1 theatre trip ( local) every year or 2 - the panto

Cinema / I think I had been 4 times by the time I was 16

Gig/festivals - nope apart from locally organised free events

Guess there was a brief period where that became affordable but I don't think it was normal or traditional

Family days out are super expensive that's why we only do two during the summer holidays rest is filled with free days out having picnics etc.

On top of day to day costs there's no way the average household can afford doing lots of days out where it costs to get in.

Merlin cards if you live near to their attractions / London , NT / EH membership, annual pass to a local attraction - the outlay is more originally but probably works out cheaper over the year . We don’t have Merlin anymore because my kids are adult but I have a NT / EH membership and I worked out that for NT alone if I’d paid for all my visits last year I’d have spent at least £3k as I take the dog somewhere a couple of times a week without any visits I make without him .

It’s obscene. I suppose at least with a theme park or the zoo you’re getting a full day out. There’s an aquarium by us that you could walk round easily in less than 30 minutes and it’s £28 for over 13s and £19.50 for kids. Blackpool Sandcastle is similar in that it costs a fortune for 3 hours. It’s even £6 each to get into our local petting farm, and there’s a couple of sheep, a pig and some chickens. And then you have to pay 2 quid for a little cup of carrot sticks to feed them.

@greencartbluecart wages rose, and they have since fallen.

Indeed - but I was commenting on "traditional " holiday activities

Pedant in me thinking traditional should be more than 1 generation

Don't get me stated on wage deflation

think expectations grew over the decades
Exactly. I had a trip to Whipsnade once a year if we didn't have any time away booked in the holidays,and went to the Palladium Christmas show every year as our 'family' present from my wealthy, London based, Uncle.A hotel stay in the city was never an option.
I think there is a pressure to give DC all the experiences. It is not realistic.

Agreed! Recent example we’ve experienced: London Eye costs £29 adult £26 over 2 years old. £110 for a family of 4!!! Yes there are some discount codes, vouchers, blue light etc etc but invariably not compatible with school holidays or you get the discount off the walk up price which is £42 Vs the £29 pre booked. It is extortionate!!

Yes, I would say that going to London for the weekend and staying in a hotel, going to see shows etc is a holiday really!

Zoos have always been expensive, it was £16 when my now adult kids were primary age.

Contrary to many people's opinion here, children don't need lots of activities, certainly not ones with entry fees - instead go to the park, go walking in the countryside, get involved in your local wildlife trust perhaps. Big attractions are an annual treat

I agree - the astronomical prices do make a lot of things unattainable for average families. I’m always so relieved when attractions don’t start charging until 5 years old!
Holidays seemed completely out of our league until we thought about camping. Around £100 = 4 nights. That’s for a pitch that comfortably fits a 4 man tent, so just over £6 pp pn! Lovely campsites with facilities, play areas and walking trails. Kids absolutely love it, even if my back doesn’t lol.

I was a child in the 70s and we went out regularly to zoos , aquariums , the cinema and into London for museums etc but then as I’ve discovered from other threads on here my parents were exceptional .

Top tip is to get them a Blue Peter badge ASAP. Free entry to the Tower of London, plus a bunch of other places. They are quite easy to get, just get the child to watch an episode and fill in a feedback review, or make something relevant that they want to make, and send a picture (plus you fill out a form).

Things are pricey, I went to Paris just for a day because it would of worked out almost same as a day in London, got Eurostar early morning and late back for £60 return and spent £35 on food throughout day, walked evedywhere and saw major sights. It was fab 🤣

Manchester to London on a family ticket booked week before (it's an Avanti offer, no Railcard needed) is £111 return. Two adults. Two kids. Travel down 3.30pm Friday, come back Sunday 5pm.

Free activities like science museums when you are there. Clipper boat for the price of an Oyster

Picnics with food bought from M & S at the tube.

We stay at Archway Premier Inn. Cheapest has been £35 for a Friday night, £80 for a Saturday - it's usually £150 for both nights. Zone 3. Right above the tube.

For non London weekends we always stay at Premier Inn.

Warwick was £80 for a weekend, Castle 2 4 1 cereal boxes were £50 and we were there all day. Following day was a free wander around Stratford upon Avon.

Cardiff £200 for 3 nights. Science museum was £30.

I take our camping fridge with milk etc and I pack cereal / croissants etc which saves £40 for breakfasts. Lunches I do a nice pack up.

Other activities we do at weekend we're here are walks, cycles etc. Cinema was £35 for all of us. £30 for kids to do climbing wall / ninja warrior / skatepark etc. We'll do theme parks but always 2 4 1 cereal packs.

I don't think it's that expensive if you are cost conscious.

We have both EH and NT. we can go whenever we want, it includes my 3 DGC and there are some gorgeous places. Well worth it.

@LadyFeatheringt0n and to be honest even if you don't- 2 supermarket lunch meal deals sat in the park at around£9 - isn't going to break the bank -

i think things have gone up hugely recently. I think lots of places did things during Covid then never stopped. Eg wirh my daughter adults were free at soft play. Then during Covid they had to massively limit numbers so started charging a few pounds for adults. Then never stopped when restrictions stopped. Also, you used to be able to just turn up and stay however long you liked. Now you have to book an hour/2hours in advance and then you’re kicked out. So what used to be a whole morning or Afternoon is now an hour or so.

i think theme parks are very good value compared to 20 years ago. I’m sure I remember my parents refusing to let us go to Alton towers or Thorpe park because it was £25 per ticket in the early 00s. It’s only £35 now. Meanwhile the local farm park has gone from £14 to £20 per person in the last 4 years!!

The other thing that pisses me off is adults paying full price at kids attractions. Kid £20 - ok. Me £20 to accompany my 3 year old’- what?! Kids don’t pay full price to attend adult attractions (national trust, museums etc), why do adults pay full price for kids attractions??

Totally agree with you. It's extortionate, especially when they're so small. You have to be smart about it.

We do a lot of free stuff. Parks, picnics, bear hunts in the woods, free events in town centres etc. We also do cheap and cheerful for rainy days - take her to B&M or The Range and let her pick her own activities (and get a few other things for other days / back ups). She made sun catchers the other week and loved that. 3 quid for three of them.

I also joined a LOT of local Facebook pages. I mean loads, for the surrounding areas (I'm talking 30 miles ISH). It means you see a lot of moaning, whinging posts but also the free events. So we go to car shows, music festivals, food festivals, family days, markets, etc.

Then there's National Trust and English Heritage membership. Little ones love things like castles. Last time we went to one we made our DD a paper crown and everyone we saw joined in with pretending she was the queen. She had the best day. They also have a lot of activities on too, falconry displays, family days, Easter egg hunts etc.

A lot of the forestry places have kid friendly trails. There's Gruffalo / Zog / Stickman trails. Most of them are free.

Which means that we can save our "day out" money for things we think she'll really love. We did the zoo last year and got free returns within 12 months. So we went again this year (and we take a picnic to things like that). Things like the sealife centre aren't too badly priced. If you do things like Legoland you can often get cheaper entry by booking that AND something else on the Merlin brand.

This kind of thing can make a real difference to the cost of a London trip. We drive to Ealing Broadway, very close to the M4. Free to park on the streets nearby from Friday teatime all weekend. Elizabeth Line gets you to the West End in no time and for very little money.

We have done London very cheaply. Shop around for a Premier Inn. We’ve never paid more than £100 a night for a 2+2 family room. For an extra £9.99 you get an adult breakfast and two free kids breakfasts. Free museums and galleries all over the place, the parks etc. Obviously you can spend a fortune, but you needn’t. Even food is more than do-able on the cheap. Get the Too Good To Go app, buy picnic stuff from supermarkets.

But on the wider point - family days out are ridiculously expensive. Four tickets to a theme park or zoo will be at least £120. We never buy food at these places cos it’s invariably both wildly expensive and deeply shit! But we swear by Premier Inns and the Lidl bakery. I will second anyone else who has been recommending NT and English Heritage membership. Historic Royal Palaces is another good one, and includes up to 6 kids which is useful if you want to take their friends (or have six kids yourself, in which case well done for remaining alive).