Anyone been to the zoo?

[Stircrazyschoolmum]

Just wondering if you enjoyed it and how the timed tickets worked? Do they empty everybody out before letting the next session in? (I can’t see how that’s practical at Whipsnade?).

Thank you!

I’ve been to Whipsnade, but prior to school holidays. At Whipsnade they suggested, but didn’t enforce, that you limit your visit to 4 hours to avoid overcrowding. The place is big enough that it was really easy to socially distance, so even if people are staying for the whole day I don’t think it would cause problems. The slots for lots of places are more about managing crowds as you go in I think.

We had a morning slot but didn’t actually arrive until half way through it, that’s perfectly allowed. You just have to turn up at any time in that slot. We had a great time. It was when all the indoor exhibits were still closed I don’t know if some have reopened yet. It felt very normal. Would definitely recommend it as a day out.

We went and we had a set entry time but no time we had to leave by. It was busy by the time left

I went to Colchester Zoo a couple weeks back (and going again end of month). You have a half hour slot for arrival, but theres no limit on how long you stay. There is a one way system around the zoo itself though.
I much preferred it to how it normally is in the summer holidays, in fact i usually avoid like the plague in school holidays due to crowds. The one way system was a little awkward though, we have particular favourites that we like to see.

With Whipsnade they do not empty the zoo out, so if you go for 10am you can stay all day. I presume they count on people not staying all day so that the 2pm people will not push it to capacity.

We are members so go frequently and we left before 2pm as the next slot arrived.

We also went to Paradise Wildlife Park, you do not have to leave at a certain time, but the timeslots for entry manage the crowd coming in.

Both Zoo’s felt safe and were being cleaned frequently.

We have been. It’s fine - you turn up any time within your slot and essentially stay as long as you like (they suggest a 4 hour max, but it’s not enforced/unenforceable). So much space there that it’s irrelevant really. Cafes only doing takeaway and there’s a huge queue for the shop, but really nice!

We went to Marwell a few weeks ago, was absolutely fine. No timed slots, they just limit tickets for the day. Wasn’t too busy, lots of sanitiser around. Couldn’t stay too long at each enclosure so they didn’t get too busy, but wasn’t a problem.

Went to Marwell Zoo at the end of June on members only day - no time slot needed to get in, you just turned up on your booked day and it was fine. Have also been to Twycross Zoo and the Yorkshire WP and both were much busier and more difficult to socially distance. Both also had massive queues for their gift shops so gave those a miss

I have been to 3 different zoos. Each with a time slot to get in but no time limit on being in the zoo. We had a lovely time at each one and social distancing was no problem.

We've tried to go to our local wildlife park a couple of times and the website is a bit shit so I can't book a slot and renew our membership at the same time.

And I keep forgetting you have to plan everything a week in advance now so keep missing slots anyway. It's pissing me right off and I can't wait till all this time booking bollocks is done with.

Thanks guys, this is really helpful. With the nice weather and holidays cancelled it will be nice to go out for the day!

We’ve been to Chester twice. You can book either a full or afternoon ticket. The full day tickets can obviously stay all day & afternoon from 2pm I think. It’s less to do with crowds in the zoo & more to do with crowds at the entrance. They’ll have a fixed number they can accommodate all day but rather than everyone arrive all at once or a very similar time, they stagger the times that everyone can go in. At Chester, the afternoon tickets are cheaper.

We’ve enjoyed it. But not overly anxious & I don’t think children need to socially distance in the whole. And I don’t feel the need to move miles apart when passing other people outdoors. The chances of catching anything from walking past someone are vanishingly slim. I make an effort to move as far as I can and not literally brush past but I don’t throw myself into a hedge.

Chester felt fine most of the way around, a few queues that def weren’t very distanced but we just avoided them. Mostly as queuing with a 3 year old & 4 month old isn’t my idea of fun! If you have an issue with your kids getting close too or playing with others, I perhaps wouldn’t advise it as they naturally kinda congregate around the animal enclosures & the play areas!

Been to London Zoo. They don’t ask you to leave after a certain time period. The time slots seem to be there to make sure that everyone doesn’t arrive at the same time. As to be expected, 12 and overs must wear masks in the inside exhibits. However, there are a couple of exhibits (e.g. lemurs) where over 3’s must also wear masks. This is presumably because the animals come very close and they don’t want the virus passed on to them. It’s therefore worth checking what the rules are at the zoo you visit as not everyone has brought masks for their young children and were being refused entry to those exhibits.

We went to Chester zoo today. No timed arrival. Very well organised. The zoo did everything they could to aid social distancing. One way route/controlling numbers of people going into inside exhibit areas etc. Masks only need to be worn when using toilets and inside exhibits. There was no social distancing through when walking around, as the paths are too narrow. I felt this put us at a big risk as we were in close contact with so many people all day.

We went to Marwell zoo and had an absolutely brilliant time. I can't remember enjoying a trip to the zoo so much, I think it was just the novelty of having a day out!

I went to London zoo when it first reopened. It was lovely and quiet and calm. Really enjoyed it.

Quick update to say we had a lovely time at London Zoo today. Much quieter than normal for high summer and at no point felt crowded or rushed. We booked a 12.00 ticket and stayed till 17.00 which was enough.

To repeat bunseygirls excellent tip, there are a couple of enclosures where over 3’s are expected to wear masks (monkeys and lemurs notably) fortunately I had spare masks with me as otherwise this would’ve caught us out. You can buy a child’s mask for £5 in the shop but this is a bit of a pain given the one way systems.

Otherwise a great day out with more open than I was expecting.