Chester Zoo Chester Zoo now charging visitors to park closer to entrance

I believe it's 4% of the parking spaces available.

 

as long as it does not affect disabled parking, that's the main issue, but really to park closer to the zoo for £5.00 seems a bit of an odd idea, to be honest

 

Dudley offer a premium membership which includes a car park pass.

 

What about ecological footprints and being environmentally conscious and sustainability? It is not elitist and should concern us all. Perhaps CZ had that in mind?

Agreed though it should not affect parking for those with disabilities.

 

Am I alone in being a bit fed up of Chester Zoo's constant line about needing more money to prevent extinction? I think its a wonderful zoo and does fantastic work, but the amount of revenue they see is staggering as it is. I feel like they've rather lost their perspective when it comes to the value of money and what it means to the average member of the public.

 

I feel like that too. In distance terms, it's probably the closest zoo to me but I only visit about once every 5-10 years due to the cost.

 

Really? That's a little sad -personally I'd generally rather pay to visit Chester once than most combinations of two smaller zoos* for a similar total price. Also those zoos half the price are generally half day zoos, if that (i.e. there's a big element of "you get what you pay for"). That said, I appreciate it's different maths if you're a family of four and that it's possible (and sometimes quite pleasant) to stretch a smaller zoo to full day.

Incidentally, where do you go instead?

*Exmoor and Hamerton might run it close if the mood took me (but the travel costs would be insane )

 

But the public keep turning up in - it appears - ever increasing numbers.

 

That is crazy to me. Especially when you could get an annual pass that gets you into multiple other collections.

 

Although I suppose it depends on if you are bringing a family etc. Obviously it is your money and you do with it as you wish! I just can't imagine Chester being my 'local' zoo and only visiting once a decade.

 

Due at least in part to the relentless publicity given by the BBC, our 'national broadcaster.

Some of the smaller 'half-day' zoos cited, might be rather larger if they had even a share of the coverage - let alone half of it...

 

It's current TV show is on Channel 4 and it was doing pretty well for itself before the it started, or the BBC series a few years ago.

 

I am surprised that anyone would argue that such TV coverage has not had a massive effect on the featured zoo's attendance figures...

 

As for the parking charge, I guess they could make £1k+ a day extra in busier periods, it might add another £100k to the pot so to speak & if people (as they will be) are happy to pay a fiver extra to save themselves a 50-400metre round trip depending on when they arrive then I guess that’s their prerogative & as long as Chester spend the money wisely then I genuinely can’t see the issue. I won’t pay the extra myself: when visiting on my own I would park wherever was available I enjoy walking, when visiting with my disabled wife I would park in the disabled section (closest to the entrance) & when visiting with the kids (4 aged 10 or under) I would again park wherever was available & if they had to walk a little further than before then the exercise will surely do them no harm.

 

BBC formerly, Channel 4 latterly, and other series continuously featuring a very limited number of major collections with almost saturation coverage - my point remains, that this is a very likely reason why the 'public keep turning up in - it appears - ever increasing numbers'. Desmond Morris, Philip Wayre, Peter Scott and Johnny Morris did the same on a lesser scale, for 'their' zoos before many zoo-chatters were born, but without such obvious and successful advertising of the 'product'.

 

Its all a matter of taste though, isn't it? For example I know someone who finds walking around a big zoo like Chester a huge challenge - so for them visiting a couple of smaller collections on seperate days is likely to be far more rewarding, and will probably result in them seeing more animals than they would by going round as much of Chester as they can manage.

Also to follow up my earlier comment on things like the car park charge helping prevent extinction, I can't help but feel as well that some of these extra charges are more likely to fund things like the Oakfield pub (£2 million wasn't it?) or the Predators display. Yes, it could be argued, these things bring in more visitors - but they are not a guaranteed success, and indeed, its hard to prove that something like Predators actually has increased attendance numbers. I agree with the view that Secret Life of the Zoo is the biggest boost to visitor numbers at Chester, and things like baby animals of key species are always a help too.

Just to conclude, I still think Chester is a brilliant zoo - maybe the best in the country - but I am getting a bit cynical of certain aspects of it, particularly in relation to commercial and marketing stuff. When it comes to the care of the animals though, its first class!

 

Absolutely, each to their own, all the way. I fully appreciate peoples different circumstances lead to different patterns of visiting (and that they can vary over time or on a whim, I know mine do).

My original post was made more in response to Angel saying that they only visit Chester once a decade, or so, because of it's high entrance fees.

 

I prefer to visit Dudley or Yorkshire Wildlife Park. I appreciate that most people will prefer Chester over both of these but it's all down to personal preference. I would be the first to acknowledge that, in terms of range of exhibits, Chester far outweighs the others but I do think it has become much more commercialised over the years which puts me off. Plus the fact that the last time I visited, they seemed to have inserted children's play areas just about anywhere there was a spare inch of grass. Given the choice, I'd much rather have 2 half days at Dudley or YWP than 1 day at Chester.

To answer Zia's comment, although Chester is the closest zoo to me, it isn't exactly on my doorstep so I have to factor in travel costs and time as well.

 

I dislike Chester's excessive commercialism, but ... I can also remember crisis AGMs where the whole future of the zoo was in question. I also find it pretty simple to ignore it.

On the question of "priority parking" I wonder if this is something picked up from other attractions? (Do other visitor attractions do it? # ) I do know that other attractions offer "queue-jumping" at a premium price.

I also suspect it's largely aimed at the internet pre-bookers as an optional "you can also add priority parking to your basket"? By the time one has booked for 3 adults, 1 OAP and 4 children the option of paying an extra £5 for priority parking is hardly likely to make a big difference.

Since I never pre-book, never take children, and park wherever I find a space (that's if we haven't come by public transport) it's not going to make any difference to me.

# Alton Towers offers priority parking. It's £18 per car ! At that price, where is the general parking? Derby?

 

You're actually not far off the mark There is a monorail involved or a looooong walk.

Lots of bigger attractions (like the Merlin theme parks) offer priority parking and still make everyone pay for the non priority spaces. Even standard Merlin passholders. You have to have the extra-expensive Merlin Pass to get free parking. And somehow they get away with it!