Zoo?

[Peanutbutteryday]

Hello. We are hoping to take our Dc to the zoo this summer while I am on mat leave (DH has time off work and we have always said we’d like to go there)

dc will be 9 months in summer. I know she won’t get tonnes out of it - but we took her to the farm recently and she was asleep for some of it but then she did have a little look at the goats (and their funny faces).

are we mad to buy a years pass for the zoo? We’d literally only need to go once more in the year to break even - and we are just a short tube ride from the zoo so travel costs are negliable.

Honestly... try an aquarium instead. A lot more sensory for little ones. At the zoo animals are further away.

Depends

• how expensive it is
• how much do you enjoy going to the zoo, as it's mostly you who will be looking at the animals

Took my 12 month old to the zoo an he liked it but for a little bit. Took him again last week at 18 months and he liked a lot more. He loves the smaller animals, fish, butterflies, birds, goats. Bigger animals he is not so bothered with. I think an annual pass can be worth it because you might want to go several times for only an hour or so instead of one long trip.

Go for it , as a pp said with a pass you can just nip in for an hour or two rather than thinking you have to stay for hours to get your moneys worth .

I think it's worth it if you like the zoo. If it's a nice place to walk round while on ML or on the weekend.

London Zoo you would get a lot of use out of a pass. You can go to Whipsnade too which is a great day out

Its a nice, safe place to walk with easy access to toilets and baby change facilities and somewhere you are happy to go for yourself then get a pass.
Even if she's asleep for most of the time or you take advantage of her snoozing to read a book.

If it's for DCs enjoyment then leave it a couple of years, 3 year old love the zoo.

Thanks all it’s London zoo and about £65 for one visit (2 adults) or £140 for a year. We really are very close to it so could easily pop in just for a couple hours here and there. I’ll look into the aquarium too good idea!

If I were that close, I'd make it into a year's pass, but I'd be open and honest and admit it was for me.
Your little one won't mind if you are at the best zoo in the world or in your local park looking at squirrels and feeding the ducks.
If you enjoy going to the zoo, then go, and enjoy it. If you are paying to go once, it sounds like it is worth the extra to be able to go every month.

We had one when DC were around that age, they showed some interest but it was more so I had somewhere different to go for walk and meet friend who also had a pass

I had one while I was on mat leave as we are also close to the zoo and it was nice to go somewhere different. We didn't get the most use out of it because Covid hit a few months in but we definitely used it enough to break even (and would have used it much more without Covid)

If it's somewhere you want to go for a walk, even a few times, then absolutely not mad.

We have an annual pass for London Zoo and get a lot of use out of it (we're close enough to walk). You only need to make 3 trips to make it worthwhile so it's excellent value. When they're crawling/toddling it's great just to have a place they can roam without cars/bikes passing and no dog mess in the grass. The displays are set up so they can get good views of most bits, eg glass so they can stand up and see inside. And there are enough indoor displays to make it worth a visit on rainy days (if you aren't paying for entrry).

There are other places in London where you can see animals for free or cheaper - check if any city farms are near you, there's Battersea children's zoo (not so many animals but the play areas are great). Colchester Zoo is supposed to be a bit less overwhelming than London Zoo.

Thank you! Sounds like you’re even closer than us! I think we will go for it. It will be nice to have somewhere to go as Dc certainly likes getting out the house. We’ve gone to a couple of city farms - spitslfields, Hackney - but I think the paths at the zoo are better from memory. We found the farms a little cramped!

Definitely get one if you're close - we live near whipsnade so we have the zsl one, and it's great to have for when we need to get DD out of the house for a bit or at a loose end. Sometimes we just look at the farm animals and spend an hour at the playground!