Elzbieta W.
Absolutely AWFUL !
Absolutely AWFUL !! Paid £76.68 for 3 adults and child under 2 years to go for Childs birthday treat. Really wanted to see the big cats. We are over 1.5 hours drive away so diesel not cheap these days . Got there and saw that it was £30 to go in with car or turn around and drive short distance to a FREE car park which we did !! You can tell immediately that they must be short of money as the whole zoo if unkept with grass up to your knees and poor conditions for the an animals. Pushing a pram around on large bits of gravel if hard work! Went to see the Cheetahs - closed! Went to see the Lions - closed! Went to see the Brown Bear and Wolverine - closed! Walked for ages around the Monkey enclosure where there was supposed to be 10 species of monkeys - absolutely NOTHING ! Yes, it was a hot day but there was literally no sounds and no sign of anything - not even in the shaded areas provided. Went to see the African Wild Dogs -empty enclosure. All we saw were 3 very sad elephants and an infant in a terrible looking bare enclosure, male elephant with nothing to do, some giraffe, rhino (one looked very thin as you could see its rib cage !), boring flamingoes, went in the butterfly house where there was a small crocodile but to be honest that looked like plastic. Wanted to see the Penguins but couldn't get through an enclosure that was closed. By now all 3 of us are really annoyed, angry and upset that what should have been a lovely birthday treat for my granddaughter was just a horrible day walking around seeing nothing except long grass and empty enclosures. After 3 hours we left. Staff in the cafe were as miserable as sin, no bins there either - was told to throw away my orange segments into a recycling bin for plastic etc. When I queries it I was told by a boy staff member who looked about 12 that it was fine as they would sort out the contents later !! We passed a member of staff who asked if were having a nice time and our answer was NO - we came to see big animals and most were nowhere to be seen and it WAS NOT to do with the heat - they were just NOT THERE. All he could do was shrug his shoulders. Horrible day out and a total waste of money. Of course they are not going to advertise on their website that big attractions like the big cats are not there otherwise nobody would book any tickets. Bit of a scam and will NEVER set foot in that place again. If you want a great day out with animals go the Cotswold Wildlife Park which is amazing and the grounds are all beautifully landscaped and perfectly clean. Even on a hot day you see ALL the animals. Whipsnade is a dump that looks like nobody has cared for the grounds and landscape for years . Don't waste your money !