Very poor show (Flamingo Land)

Member Name: Fiver29

Product:	Flamingo Land
Date:	05/03/09 (459 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Payment by Clubcard vouchers

Disadvantages: Poor zoo

We visited Flamingo Land after we'd heard lots of great reports about how big it was, how good the zoo was, and the rides were great. Most of the reports came from friends so I had no reason to disbelieve them.

Unfortunately that wasn't what we found when we got there.

My first visit to Flamingo Land was as a child, in those days it was just flamingoes and a couple of roundabouts, this time there wasn't a flamingo to be found!

Basically the park doesn't know what it is, whether it's a zoo or a theme park, and because of this it succeeds at neither.

There weren't enough animals really for it to be called a zoo, because when I think of zoos, I think Chester, Edinburgh, or Blackpool were there are species galore. And they've all done their best to improve conditions for the animals. At Flamingo Land there was the barest giraffe enclosure I've ever had the misfortune to see. My daughter missed seeing the lions, because they were on an island that could only be viewed properly from the water ride (which she doesn't like), even then if you blinked you missed seeing the lions. There were some cubs which I saw, but my son didn't because by the time I'd been able to point them out the boat had moved on.

Other animals were completely hidden from view, which is good in a way, because animals like privacy too, but not good for the viewing public.

So all in all the zoo section was a complete wash out as far as we were concerned. Which is a pity since my son is determined to be a zoo keeper, and zoos are important to him.

The rides were ok, but having been to Blackpool just a few weeks before, the kids weren't bowled over by those either. At the Pleasure Beach they went on the rides over and over again, until I eventually had to drag them away because I was bored of standing and waiting. At Flamingo Land they went on each ride once, except for the balloon ride which they quite enjoyed.

I can't comment on the extreme rides because the only larger ride we went on was the Corkscrew, which was fine, but a bit dated now.

We were rather unlucky because there was a group of what can only be described as roiding chavs in the park on the day we went. So their foul language and general antisocial behaviour spoilt things at bit. And I have to say the staff made no attempt to ask them to curb their language in front of any children, nor ask them to quiet down.

Luckily we used our Tesco Clubcard vouchers to pay for the entry fee, otherwise I would have been very unhappy at the price charged (which would be £66 this year). I also find it incredible that children pay the same price as adults, yet they can't go on the bigger rides.

Summary: Not a place I'd go back to.