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Woodlands Leisure Park (Devon)
by chris scott
On Thursday October 18th myself and my family 7 in total went along to woodlands theme park, where we paid around 80 pound for the family.
We arrived on park and started on what we thought would be a great day out for the family . We were told that there was one attraction on your park closed that day and a few bits of paper saying ... what times rides were open. We went to the first ride that was open where we found a sign saying " to use this ride please ask a ranger" we then walked around trying to find a ranger. After being on park for 50 min's my children then got to go on a ride. We then went to the next ride that was supposed to be open, where we found the same sign, we then went looking for another ranger. Which is more like wheres Wally as they where nowhere around again. After walking around we found a ranger in a red top, when asked if we could use the rides he just shrugged his shoulders and said " I don't understand I'm putting decorations up for Halloween" . After 2 hrs of being on park we had been on one ride seen 8 signs saying we could only use the ride if we found a ranger and 3 signs saying closed. Pottery place only open on weekends. We then went to the circus train ride and yet again a find a ranger sign, which after another 10 min's I did find someone who then told me " the person has gone to diner and taken the keys for the ride with them so come back in 30mins when they return" So I was now a bit upset about the way customers are being treated. I went to find somebody to talk to, I found a man in a red top again and asked if there was a general manager for the park , he told me " I don't know" then walked away.
I found reception and asked to see a manager to speak to. He arrived and said there was rangers around and that the rides where all open, and that it was me not looking for them. I told reception I was not happy and I was going to leave park because now in just under 4 hrs I had paid 80 pound for 1 ride and to walk around looking for rangers that where not there or to busy getting things ready for Halloween the following week ( forget the the customers they have this week). She sent the same manager out again , who told me it out of season and quite what did I expect. Well I expected something on park, if not why was the prices not adjusted to suit or for what was on offer that day it sould be closed completely. He then just thrusted a piece of paper in my hand and said tell them, it was a number for head office, I made a call straight away. Spoke to a lady that said I couldn't speak to anybody that would give me a refund because the manager of the park never had authority and nor did head office, only directors could do this. So I asked to speak to one, I was told no, the only way was write a letter. I was on the phone trying to sort this out a crowd of about 10 people were forming asking if I was talking to head office as they were also disgraced by the park.
80 pound is very expensive for a walk around a park with no rides and loads of litter and rubbish.
i sent a email as soon as i got home, this email was ignored , no reply, so i send another saying i was not happy about the way customers were treated and ignored when there was any complaints. as yet still no reply.
RUBBISH THEME PARK AND WOULD NOT RECCOMEND TO MY WORST ENEMY.
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The Parrot Zoo (Friskney)
by PerfectPeaches
We live on the Lincolnshire/Cambridgeshire border and since I have been living over on the east of the country I have found that there is quite a lot to do in terms of attractions. About two months ago I had a rare Sunday off from showing and my other half decided that we should do something as a family. I remembered when we drive to ... Skegness to take the dogs for a beach trip that I often see a sign for a Parrot Zoo so we decided to have a google and take a visit.
To be honest I had no idea that there was a Parrot Zoo unless I had seen the signs on a car journey a few times. It is about 45 minutes away from where we live and isn't as well advertised as it probably could be but after finding it's very professional looking website we decided to take a visit. Just a word of warning should you want to visit, the post code will take you to the opposite end of the road it is situated on but there are signs all along the road!
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Where is it?
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The Parrot Zoo
Dickonhill Road
Friskney
Boston
PE22 8PF
Friskney is a small village situated on the outskirts of Boston. About a 15 minute drive from Boston town centre and easily accessible from towns such as Skegness, Spalding.
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What is it?
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Well, the name happens to give it away! Quite simply it is a zoo full of parrots (about 1500 to be exact)! The zoo is a registered charity and is run from both private and public donations. Basically they do rely on public support to keep going. Not only do they have a wide variety of parrots they also have merkats, reptiles as well as giant tortoises. It is set over quite a few acres attached to a private home but despite it's small scale it has been well put together and thought out.
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What to see
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Once you have paid your entry fees you walk directly into the outdoor eating area which is attached to the café (more on that shortly). You then walk directly onto the path leading you around all of the enclosures where you can see what the Parrot Zoo has to offer. All of the birds seem to have a large enough enclosure based on size of the bird giving them plenty of room to fly. I of course always find it a bit sad to see them in such way but they all seem incredibly healthy and well looked after.
Outside each enclosure there is an information board giving you the information you need on each and every bird, reptile, mammal that they have at the zoo. It is just enough information for you to take in. There is a path to follow around the whole zoo which makes it easy to follow and you don't miss anything
Two key areas which I particularly enjoyed was the walk through aviary and the special needs area.
** The Aviary **
This is where you can walk through an aviary full of friendly parrots ready to sit on your shoulder and to interact with you. You can buy monkey nuts at the reception desk and the aviary is a perfect place to get up close with them
** Special Needs Area **
Probably the most tranquil area of the zoo as it is set around a beautiful landscaped garden with a lovely pond. This area is specifically for "high demanding birds" which need one to one care such as medication.
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Hungry?
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Should you be feeling a bit peckish (not pun intended!) or just fancy a drink you have the choice of the Nestcafe restaurant which is jungle themed and sells a selection of hot meals and cold meals which are quite reasonably priced. There is also the Cockatiel bar should you fancy something a little stronger - we didn't venture in the bar simply as we went in the morning.
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Facilities
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For the younger ones amongst us there is an outside adventure playground fitted out with heavy duty wooden play equipment. There is a shop where you can pick up your souvenirs as well as the toilets which were incredibly clean and well kept.
Set around a peaceful landscaped garden area with a delightful pond and the sound of running water, our Special Needs Arena is where high demanding birds receive that special 'one to one' attention. The majority of birds that reside in this area are receiving medication and dedicated services for illnesses developed in pet situations.
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Our Visit
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When we arrived on Sunday morning we were quite surprised that the main car park at the side of the zoo was full so had to park in the rather small overflow car park which didn't take long to fill up, clearly it seemed this was a popular place to visit. The staff at the front desk were incredibly friendly and helpful which was nice especially when we managed to choose to visit on a cold slightly damp day.
It was personally nice to have a small zoo which just had one path to follow as I have found that other zoos I have visited that have numerous ways round I tend to miss enclosures and animals but at the Parrot Zoo it was easy to follow and I didn't miss anything. A lot of the birds are quite friendly and are obviously very use to having people feed them which is quite sweet.
The zoo certainly has a wide variety of parrots which I personally liked seeing and my daughter seemed to enjoy seeing all the colourful birds and those that would take the monkey nuts off her. Of course, as you were walking around you saw people having their hands nipped by the birds which of course is what can happen when you feed them, you just have to be careful!
My main highlight was the walk through aviary as it was nice to see the smaller parrots and birds able to fly around a lot more freely and to interact and they certainly will sit happily on your shoulder. As much as I love seeing such tropical and interesting birds I do feel sorry for them that they are couped up but apparently the Parrot Zoo do have breeding programmes trying to help the more endangered species which is nice.
Overall, I really enjoyed the visit to the Parrot Zoo but it isn't somewhere you would go and expect it to fill the day as you will probably be there for about 2 hours and you will manage to see everything within that time so don't go expecting it to be this large zoo when really it is actually quite small and compact which is definitely not a bad thing.
If you are in the area whether living locally or visiting on holiday/break then it may be worth a visit should you need something to do for a few hours then the Parrot Zoo is definitely a worthwhile visit. Unlike other similar attractions the entry fee isn't overpriced either which is definitely a plus. I'd definitely give the Parrot Zoo 4 stars simply knocking a star off as space is limited and a lot of the enclosures are repeated throughout the zoo.
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Admission Info
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Adult (16-59 years) £6.95
Children (3-15years) £6.50
Under 3 - Free
Concessions
(student, OAP, Disabled, Carers etc) £6.50
Family Ticket - 2 Adults and 2 Children £23.50
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Twycross Zoo (Warwickshire)
by dog lover
We arrived on site and were immediately confronted by the manager who was rude and confrontational advising us dogs were not allowed on site. There were no signs to be seen. We asked if we could leave them in the car and were told we would have to leave having traveled 90 miles having seen the zoo as listed dog friendly on many sites. ... Twycross's website's guidance suggests that the rules are only during summer talking about hot cars and the RSPCA's guidance on hot cars.
Luckily having friends in the area we went to leave our dogs with them. On entry we were again confronted asking what we had done with the dogs. The prices were extortionate and at no point were we advised a special needs discount was available despite two of our party having obvious special needs. Alot of the animals were inside and due to cleaning we were unable to enter the internal viewing. Most the site was not disabled friendly and in attempting to enter areas staff were rude and unhelpful
The areas we saw were dirty both for the public and in the animal areas, many animals were in small cages which did not seem appropriate and many of them were not available for viewing. We used to visit twycross regularly but we will no longer visit as the site has gone downhill since our visit last year. On writing a complaint we received no response despite requesting one and have therefore taken this complaint further in addition to warning other dog owners and special needs groups about our terrible experience
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