A good family day out with lots to see (West Midland Safari and Leisure Park)

Member Name: shrimpy_80

Product:	West Midland Safari and Leisure Park
Date:	08/01/09 (91 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Friendly staff, lots of animals, nice looking exhibits

Disadvantages: Food not great and expensive - take your own!

I live locally and have visited the Safari Park many times during both my childhood and adulthood! The place has changed a great deal over the past 10 years or so and the price has increased accordingly.

There are basically 3 main areas to the park. Firstly the drive through safari, then a walk through animal area, and finally the amusement area.

It is worth noting that you don't have to drive through the reserves as soon as you arrive but can park and visit the other areas. If you visit during during the summer holidays and arrive later than about 10.30am you are better off leaving the drive-round til later on in the day. However, if you are planning to use the amusement rides it can be somewhat difficult prising the younger members of the family away so in this case, its worth getting up a little earlier to get around the reserves first.

On the whole, the reserves are fascinating although, as most of the animals are left to roam 'free', how closely you get to see them will vary depending on their mood. However there is plenty to see so you should not go away disappointed. In particular there are a great number of lions, the elephants are highly visible in their enclosure, and the zebra and rhino once again are usually pretty prominent. If you have visited in the past you will no doubt remember and will possibly have had your car devastated by the monkeys. They were hugely entertaining but sadly the park no longer has these so be warned! The white lions and tigers are spectacular though and very unusual.

The walk through section of the park is fairly recently modernised and has an educational feel to it. The creepy crawly house doesn't have a great deal of exhibits but does contain worker ants which are always a hit with kids in my experience!
The reptile house is larger with more to see and features some very impressive snakes. The bat cave is also worth a mention as it features free flying bats which have always been quite 'active' whenever I have visited - however be warned it is fairly dark and smells pretty potent so might not be much of a hit with smaller kids.

Finally, the rides. The park is aimed at the family market so doesn't feature anything too hair raising but there is a good, fun assortment and lots for the smaller ones which makes a nice change. Make sure you check the height information though as there are a lot of restrictions and the staff are quite strict with them. In particular, some of the kids rides are unsuitable for older/taller children so it is worth spending a couple of minutes reading all the information before you start to prevent disappointment-there is a lot to take in at first but it is actually fairly well explained so don't be put off! Also the rides are charged separately and cost about the same again as the admission - good if you have either elderly or very young children as you can choose to only pay extra for those who will be using the rides. You have the option of a multi ride wristband or individual tickets - the band may seem expensive at around £10 but is much better value than the tickets which, in my opinion, are pretty poor value unless you have a small child who gets bored easily and definitely won't get their use out of a band. Again, this may seem confusing; the first couple of times I visited I asked the staff selling wristbands for advice and would definitely recommend this as they were very informative and helpful.

One final note on the staff, on the whole the customer service standards are very high compared to similar parks I have visited. In particular there are a number of more 'mature' members of staff operating the rides which makes a nice change from other parks I have been to where the staff don't seem old enough to put your life in their hands!

Prices for 2009 are not yet on the website but check it out for more info www.wmsp.co.uk

Summary: Definitely worth a visit