I had one chap (not sure if he was staff or volunteer) tell me that he wasn't sure if the Orangs would be brought over from RORA or if the zoo would buy new ones.
I passed on that opportunity Actually it seems to be quite a good idea (now that we have established it's an aid to the concentration of younger visitors). I nearly asked for a copy out of interest.
Actually no, she was one of the regular zoo presenters, which is what irked me somewhat. I could've overlooked it from a volunteer. Having said that, I did hear one volunteer say that Islands would have a far more important impact on conservation than any negative impact the local newt population may have suffered during the building phase, which I'm not sure the local wildlife groups would've been too pleased about.
An inaccurate comment anyway, as I'm sure I read that the mid term impact of Islands on the newts is actually extremely positive. Their numbers have hardly suffered due to the build and with the expanse of water channels in Islands it is estimated their population will balloon.
Talking, as we have been, about misleading information the zoo's marketing department has just pulled a master stroke on the Islands blog...... By being 100% honest about the entire build and it's delays!! They have removed all of the members (negative) feedback from the original "phased opening news blog" (which I think is the right thing to do to be honest) and communicated a brand new update which explains EXACTLY what visitors can expect to see and what facilities are available. At last they have ditched the spin and just been totally upfront, and I hope regained some credibility. Here's what they are now saying about the opening .... "Islands is a new and ambitious project, the like of which hasn't been attempted before. As much as we’d have loved to open everything together, not everything stayed right on schedule, so a few weeks ago we announced our 'phased opening' plans. Phase one includes Panay, Papua, Sumba (including the Lazy River Boat Trip) and Sulawesi. Phase two, later in the summer, will include Monsoon Forest and Sumatra. We’re also spending more time than originally planned on completing the Bali Starling temple area but Bali is visible from the Lazy River Boat trip. Animal welfare is, of course our top priority. We moved a number of animals in to Islands before the preview weekend with the Visayan warty pigs visible for our member previews. The cassowary are in their new home, and during the first week of opening, we’ll be introducing the anoa and the banteng to their new and expansive enclosures. Our next priority will be to complete the Bali Starling Temple, the macaque and babirusa enclosures, and then to prepare Monsoon Forest and Sumatra to open later in the summer. We’re still working on getting the orangutan enclosure just right, so for the time being they’ll remain in Realm of the Red Ape. Islands will evolve and grow over the weeks, months and years to come and we hope you are all as excited to see this evolution as we are. We'll have regular updates here and on social media as things progress and as soon as phase two is ready to launch we'll contact all of our members and email subscribers". Perfectly pitched...... Let's hope they make sure all their staff and volunteers read and cascade the same message!!!!
Mr Gill does this and gets slated. Leave it up and say sorry. I would have preferred not opening and open it all when it was done, the whole put is to try and even out the peak and troughs so why not have an autumn winter time (might mean a few weight and reduce the summer peaks).
I agree that they should have left it up, but any call of double standards is undermined by the fact that ChesterZooFan has never, to my knowledge, taken part in any Gill-slating on here. The statement is well-worded, but would have been even better released before the preview weekend! I think it's important, though, not to let the mishandling (mis-prediction?) of the schedule overshadow or colour our opinions of the actual exhibit that has been (mostly!) built - which appears to be, from what I could see Saturday, a very good one.
I was disappointed to read on here that so few animals had moved to 'Islands' but having just returned from my 'member's preview'; I'm glad. It gave me the opportunity to enjoy the amazing detail in the build and design which I might have overlooked had the animals been there. Now I've got weeks of visits to look forward to as the animals move in and I can savour each development and move as it happens. Well done and thank you CZ.
I agree, the enclosure are huge, the lazy river journey was great....even it it was a ride around to spot the construction workers. Monsoon rainforest, building looks great and so do the orang exhibits. However I feel let down by the whole experience. I was going to see animals in this themed exhibit and well I saw ONE. If I had been pre-warned that nothing was there I might have come away from it all a bit more positive and upbeat. Top marks to the Chester zoo employee (as I he is one, seen him around for years there) that kept our boat load of bored people entertained for a couple of minutes.
When will it be open to the public? Is there an extra charge to go in? It looks fantastic but I can't see people being pleased if there's little to see.
From tomorrow, and no - it's part of normal zoo entry. The gate prices were meant to jump up a little when it opened but I think they've been adjusted downwards again for now as it's not complete.
Although my tag name suggests I may be slightly biased towards the zoo (!!) I like to think I am totally impartial and certainly not reluctant to critique the zoo where I feel necessary. The reason I feel it was appropriate to remove all the comments (including a lot of positive ones too!) was more because they became outdated once the zoo released their new (more factual) opening strategy. All of the comments were based on the zoos original claim that "most of the animals have been moved to their new home in Islands" which was misleading. By releasing a new "opening strategy" statement the old one obviously had to be removed, and along with it the comments attached. The zoo has publicly recognised they had lots of "useful feedback" from the members preview weekend, and based on this have subsequently released their new statement. In my opinion this allows them to wipe the slate clean. By no means do I think this is a white wash...the fact remains that any comments can still be left on any of the other Islands blogs. To my knowledge the zoo has also never deleted any negative Facebook comments - of which there have been quite few! I have always found Chester to be honest, trustworthy and credible. I think they did slightly mishandle the communication for the opening of Islands but have since redeemed their credibility by being totally upfront. I agree this is a distraction from the fact that Islands is a stunning and incredible achievement which has, and will continue, to exceed all expectations!! I have never been to South Lakes and although have read with interest the threads on here about Mr Gill, I don't feel qualified to make judgements on his, or SL's, integrity.
Honest appraisal of current "Islands" Being a platinum member, I have visited Chester Zoo countless times and never left feeling underwhelmed. Positives- Yes your imagination allows you to fully appreciate Islands will be absolutely amazing when it is up and running Sadly today it just wasn't close to being ready Negatives- 1) 20 minutes queue to enter, further one hour queue for the boats 2) Only warty pigs to be seen. Nice landscapes but felt more like a botanical gardens than a zoo. 3) Restaurant not open and only basic "tasting menu" on offer (think curry and rice is of "boil in the bag" variety as was told food was premade and ie you could not just order a side portion of rice.") One of the volunteers mentioned they were "trialling and assessing which foods were popular to add to the menu". One of the older catering people had already told me the official restaurant "was not signed off last Wednesday as expected, and so they've just got some basics to tide over"! (No working toilets on Friday either) Given how good the food is elsewhere at the zoo it was embarrassing. 4) 4 month old not allowed on boat (have to be able to sit on their own) Understandable but website FAQs talks bout buggy park and implies not an issue. Going to Chester zoo regularly, I was expecting a positive experience for all of the family- but kids want decent food and animals. I really would have been content to wait a few more months (and for my son to be able to sit), as would many others and hence the queues and disappointment would have been lessened for everyone without any real negative feeling. I think the Zoo should put signs near the entrance explaining the lack of animals and catering. When you care about a zoo you appreciate honesty.
That is absolutely the worst thing they could do, and it makes me wonder who is managing their social and marketing communications these days. They were always going to get found out - back in February there was open talk in the zoo of Islands not being ready until late summer (at the earliest) so it was hardly a secret. Such a shame that the impression of what will be an amazing exhibit is being tarred by negativity that could have been avoided.
I suspect there will be some trepidation looking to tomorrow! Given the "mixed" reaction to the members previews, with sympathetic audience, timed and ticketed admission it could get pretty lively from tomorrow with the general public! I predict a lot of "we queued for an hour and all we saw were some pigs".
