AIBU to think family days out have become unaffordable?

[ThisAmpleCritic]

Half term. Trying to find things to do to keep the kids occupied. Why is everything SO expensive?! We’ve exhausted the local free activities including various walks, playgrounds, splash parks, travelled to the nearest beach. We want to do something a bit more special and have looked at more “day out” type activities, including children’s theme park, zoo, steam train, castle, national trust etc but it’s just unaffordable. It frustrates me how as a family we’re considered good earners but we just don’t have enough left over to justify £100+ for one day out, not including travel and food and the inevitable ice cream and gift shop visit.

Is anyone else struggling with the cost of family days out or AIBU?

Days out are as expensive as you make them. We have family membership to a couple of local attractions at a total cost of about £400 for the year, and we make good use of them. We always bring a packed lunch, and never buy anything in the gift shop. If we fancy doing something different it’ll be a nice walk or a bike ride and a picnic, or a trip to the free local outdoor paddling pool. If we’re visiting family in a city then we’ll go to a free museum.

Also, it costs me £7 to take two kids swimming… it sounds like that might be unusually cheap?!

National trust membership plus picnic makes it significantly more affordable if you go a lot during the year. I’ve taken my kids to 2 NT places this half term and all its cost (in addition to membership) is petrol and a round of ice creams. We’ve also gone to our nearest big city to the free museum (although paid for planetarium tickets, £10 all in) again utilising the picnic room that is usually used by school. We went on the bus which is super cheap, avoids parking costs and is part of the fun for little kids.

I am always gobsmacked by people paying for meals out on day trips to be honest, no wonder it’s unaffordable.

Mine are 6 and 3 and have never been to a theme park, water-park or a zoo. I don’t feel bad about it.

Seen a couple of people mention steam trains. These are mostly struggling due to the cost increase, of coal in particular, plus the wages of their employed staff (not helped by the employers NIC rise), and the sheer cost of maintaining, often, miles of track, lineside vegetation, bridges, embankments, station and other buildings etc. They're also hamstrung by the same H&S legislation as the "real" railways, because of the potential risk of serious injury and damage etc. They basically cost an absolute fortune to run. They're mostly charities, and mostly run by lots of volunteer unpaid staff alongside a relatively small number of permanent/paid staff. No one is making a profit out of them (except for a few that aren't charities). Like other non profit organisations, they're finding it harder and harder to get grants, so when something major needs doing, i.e. a bridge is found to be unsafe, they have to do fund raising to raise, often, tens or hundreds of thousands to repair/replace it. The reality, is that even with relatively high ticket prices, and often relatively full trains, they're still running at substantial losses. Hence why many are turning to "specials" like dining trains or afternoon tea trains, where they can charge a premium to raise more "profit" per train - as there are still plenty of people willing to pay premium prices for a premium service.

YANBU, most big days out now are pushing £150 just for entry fees for a family of 4, once you add in fuel, lunch/drinks/ice cream you can easily be at £250 for one day out for things like zoos, theme parks etc

I've found a few things to be a bit cheaper:
Bowling, depending on the venue. We are between Shrewsbury and Wrexham and Wrexham bowling is nearly half the price.

Climbing walls, usually around £15 a child

Arcades where you pay to enter then it's free play - not everywhere but there's 2 within 90 mins of us.

Inflata-nation is reasonably priced

So shorter 1-2 hour things and then check the local area for decent playgrounds/walks. Tends to work out cheaper but still feels like an exciting day out

I also agree with this. We’ve been ‘out’ 3 times (bank holiday Monday, Tuesday and Thursday) and my 6 year old was desperate for a day of very little today. He’s currently 3 hours deep into Lego having had a bike ride to the supermarket this morning (as I do think kids should have some daily exercise).

@Wafflesss

I am always gobsmacked by people paying for meals out on day trips to be honest, no wonder it’s unaffordable.

Ditto, I think it comes back to lack of organisation in that they're not organised enough to take their own drinks/snacks/picnics etc.

It's not as if the food is ever worth the money in the big attractions. You usually have to queue, then pay way over the odds for pretty crap/poor/cold food, then suffer crap tables/chairs in a naff place to eat it, and often the choice is poor too. If the food offering was good, it wouldn't feel so bad paying over the odds for it, but often the entire food "experience" is poor and when you've paid a fortune, it's simply not worth it.

Most attractions have "picnic" areas, and most have indoor picnic areas in case of bad weather, plus the option to "pass out" to go and get it from your car when you're ready to eat, so it's not as if you have to carry it around with you.

When DS was very young and we first started going to attractions, we bought drinks/meals at the outlets, but soon realised it was crap and expensive, so just got into the habit of taking our own. Still do it now, even though it's back to just the two of us and we're more likely to be visiting a garden or stately home than a theme park - still have the flask and cool-bag in the car with our lunch!

Kids have just been fiddling about this morning (not devices as I go nuts if they are sat on them) and then we are going up the skatepark so free this afternoon. I usually take them swimming in the holidays but not been this time.

That is pure insanity!!

I guess people probably get discount codes or 2for1 from various things still? No way the normal family can afford that kind of money for one day out

I have been busy at work during half term and (secondary age) kids have been occupying themselves during the day - homework, meeting a friend at the park etc.

Not sure why/when parents became expected to lay on entertainment and expensive days out. A theme park is a once a year treat in my opinion. Zoos etc, very rarely visit.

We do a theme park trip with guides annually in our county which is always popular as parents just have to pay for 1 child not the whole family.

I would recommend national trust or English heritage membership.We had a family membership when our kids were younger and could get into any owned by them for free on the day but the membership costs around 3,0 quid per month which means if you bring a packed lunch it costs a lot less at once in the holidays.

Another one here saying I don't think they are more expensive. Like PP's my family was middle class and my parents valued days out, but trips like the zoo or theme parks were rare due to the cost. Days out would be free things like a park or museum. We would bring our own food and rarely bought food out, except maybe a ice cream. I was an adult before I ate popcorn at the cinema.

In my family it is the opposite. My mum constantly planned things for us to do in the school holidays. She is the same now - asking what the kids are doing and heaven forbid they're at home with no real plans. I have never been one to pack in activities /days out. One decent day out in the school holidays is fine - thes rest of the time the dcs just arrange to meet up with friends at the park etc.

I used to buy an annual pass for a couple of things each year and they are often discounted if you buy them early in the season. I also used to subscribe to things for discounts and unsubscribe straight after! Packed lunches all the way and then only buying ice cream etc. mine were lucky and occasionally got pocket money from relatives and this was spent in gift shops from quite young so it became normal.

Agree - I had the same growing up - going to a theme park was a once a year treat and it was really exciting. The rest of holidays were entertain yourself playing with local kids. Did the same for my daughter .

It has always been expensive. I think we have higher expectations than when we were growing up, especially from seeing things on social medi. We didn't go on many days out and my parents weren't poor. I think we went to a theme park twice as teens and that was about it.

Half-term is one week and you've already done walks, splash park, playgrounds and a day at the beach. I can't really see why it's the end of the world that you're not also going to the zoo.

Why do parents think their kids have to do an activity every single day? Kids can just play at home sometimes, you know. If they can't, it's because they've never learnt how to amuse themselves because they've never actually had to.

I didn't have big days out to the zoo or a theme park or a big attraction during every school holiday when I was a child, and I don't think many of my friends did either. Those things were a very special treat because - just as they are now - they were expensive.That's normal.

These days out have always been expensive. But you take a packed lunch and avoid the gift shop. You’re a mug if you buy food out and let the kids go into the gift shop.

Are you the type of person that is stuck in ‘the olden days’. Do you expect your kids to live like you did decades ago when SO many new and exciting things are available right now. This is why parents plan and put money into days out.

Kids should be able to play outside but to a limit as well. My kids have been to SO many theatre shows, exciting days out , trips to theme parks etc - all planned out in advance. I think it’s sad to just expect them to go play outside, or a boring park and picnic.

Op I do agree with you, it’s expensive. I’ve taken my two to a museum , lunch and a wander around, ice cream and it was almost £100.

Also there is plenty of free things to do as well- natural history and science museum, again you need to plan in advance

Days out and holidays are a fairly recent invention in history. They’re not essential.

Paid days out ('entertainment') have always been costly and there are more options now than before.
It is hard to battle to do packed lunches, ice cream from supermarket because 1/5 the price etc. And so easy to be tempted in by the businesses looking to take your money.
As OP is doing, heading to free things locally has to be a winner. I also think children need to be bored, to create their own play and entertainment. So many children are either 'screen' or organised activities these days, and to find time for lego / garden / board games / cooking / out in street with other kids etc is a think we should all look to do more of.

Wow.

YABU

When I was a kid our family days out consisted of home-made sarnies and boiled eggs, drive in the car to a beach or forest, swim/play rounders, picnic lunch then home late afternoon.

Only cost petrol and parking.

If that's all you can afford then that's all you can do.

There's nothing boring about a park a d picnic. Kids love those usually.

It's adults that think it's boring

If your kids think a park and a picnic is boring you only have yourself to blame.