Adults at petting zoos/farms/kids days out

[ExtraHotDoubleShot]

Has anyone else noticed a massive uptick in grown adults (many in late teens and 20s) going on days out aimed at kids/young families? I’m finding it increasingly irritating - small children having to queue behind grown adults to stroke rabbits or see tanks of fish.

(Exception where there is clearly a disability at play)

But adults have been enjoying Lego for decades. Have you never watched Lego Masters?

Zoos are much nicer now than when I was a child. The animals have a lot more room, their enclosures aren't just barren tarmac, they have room to behave in a less unnatural way and welfare standards are much higher.

I'm going to treat myself to a day at a small zoo a few miles away and pay extra so that I can go into the enclosure and meet some capybaras up close.

I'm 71...

I went on an alpaca trek from my 47th birthday this year with dh and kids. It was great fun, and as children had to be accompanied by an adult, was definitely aimed at adults. Is this really that different? Some adults like animals.
I also made up numbers for my daughter’s laser tag party team. There wasn’t an age restriction. Is this also out of bounds?

Please post pics on The Litter Tray topic!!

Ok will do! They are pretty adorable!

OMG, I'd love to meet a capybara up close 😊

What do you think adults ought to do instead? What is a more acceptable adult leisure activity?

It's a specific marketing point of lego that it's for all ages, they have more complex age 18+ sets and normal ones have an age range of up to 100+ (they changed it for David Attenborough I believe, who no one would accuse of being childish!). It's very strange that the poster quoted is surprised by adults being in a shop to look at products that are actually marketed towards them.

I was born in the wrong decade. 70s child - adults came first, served first, kids were not centred at all. Now it’s all changed so kids come first for everything so I’m not expected to want anything if a kid is queuing?
seems a bit rubbish to me.

The one near me is effectively a rescue, so the cats don't spend forever in the cafe, they get adopted to homes. I always look through the window in passing and they seem pretty relaxed, they're usually either asleep or sniffing people's food.

I haven't been in because it's expensive, I think you pay £8 to get in and then the food isn't especially cheap, so going to be upwards of £30 for lunch for two 😮I get that the money goes to the welfare of the cats, I just can't afford that much for a random lunch.

Why can’t I go to an aquarium or go to a zoo? Mostly they are about conservation with huge amounts of information on boards, I could say why are you going when your child can’t even read the boards?

how about we just share like good children and accept days out are for everyone!!!

When your fanny dries up and all joy has left your body.

Let's hope you take your children to a petting zoo at the weekend. I'd hate for you to not work in the week like adults should....

We love a zoo, visited a brilliant one this year on holiday. My mid 20s daughter also does and was at one last week. They aren’t reserved for children

You don’t stop having fun when you get old, you get old when you stop having fun.

I remember going to Marwell Zoo on my own as a young adult and being really surprised by the number of kids that had zero interest in the animals - they seemed to only be interested in the gift shop and playpark. This seemed to apply in the petting area too.

This is my boy.

I don't even have to go to a petting zoo!

Well OP is 35 so I guess fun has left the building by then.

A skunk?

It's not the activities themselves which are the problem so much as the way people now feel entitled to behave. I too visited theme parks, animal sanctuaries etc. in my 20s. Saw lots of kids enjoying themselves and it was great fun. I never felt particularly out of place. But nor did I feel the need to push myself to the front of the queue or make a big thing about it.

People are louder and more in your face about the way they do things nowadays, and the whole 'Kidulting'/'InnerChild' thing on social media gives a kind of legitimacy to adults behaving in very obvious, brash ways that wouldn't have happened in the past. Plus the inconvenience of having to edge past or keep out of shot of people filming themselves constantly. It does kind of dominate the space.

Pet a fluffy rabbit if you like (I'm not judging!) but ffs why do you have to post to thousands of people that you've done it?! And were all the likes worth bashing the toddler behind you out of the way 😂?

Yes! He's lovely and loves to cuddle.

Op ..I would with the elderly. Animals are bought into the homes I work in as it's a huge benefit to the residents meeting them. According to you only children are allowed to pet an animal. Work places are allowing dogs in now due to the huge positive impact they have. Yabu. I want to stroke a rabbit and don't have one.

Thought it was, cute.

This is so true, you see all these parents trying to force their children to take an interest, but all the kid want's to know is if they're getting an ice cream next.

I didn’t know you could have them. I’d be scared they might let off their famous smell 😁 Beautiful glossy coat.