South Lakes Safari Zoo Reviews Summary

Facilities & Cleanliness

Pros:

• "Toilets were immaculately clean."
• "The zoo is very clean and almost litter free, there are plenty of benches dotted about."
• "Very clean with massive gift shop at the end."
• "The toilets are clean and well stocked and there are plenty of hand washing stations."
• "Toilets are clean and maintained."
• "Very clean and kept well all staff very friendly."
• "Parking is ample with disabled parking very close to the entrance."

Cons:

• "The zoo facilities are a bit tired in terms of the cafe and toilets etc, some investment is really needed here."
• "The place does need updating, it looks very run down."
• "Everywhere looks run down and overgrown and a lot of places are just abandoned."
• "The facilities are a health hazard and the cafe smelt like literal poo."
• "The zoo is feeling very run down, and parts of the playpark equipment seemed dangerous."
• "Some areas look a little neglected, like the old train line/newer train line and it's hut and the old meerkat enclosure up by the 'wild' section."
• "The whole place is u kept and overgrown with weeds and bushes."

Staff & Service

Pros:

• "The staff at the zoo made the day though, each and every person was super friendly and knowledgeable."
• "All of the staff were super helpful."
• "Friendly staff and amazing animals."
• "All the staff were friendly and knowledgeable."
• "The staff were very knowledge about the animals and you could sense that they cared about them."
• "The staff upon arrival were friendly and helpful."
• "Very friendly and knowledgeable keepers made my daughter's birthday."

Cons:

• "The ice cream stand near the Red Panda enclosure was suffering from a poor WiFi connection for the card reader and just 1 member of staff to work the kiosk."
• "The gift shop was good, but with only one member of staff serving customers whilst two just watched was very poor."
• "Food and drink was extortionate and the staff gave off weird vibes upon arrival like none of them wanted to be there?"
• "The guy who did it seemed miserable."
• "The cafe in the Bear House was disgusting. Smelly, dirty and badly kept."
• "The staff could use a bit more training, as they do seem a little uneducated about customer service."
• "Also the man was very rude and abrupt in doing so, even going to the point of plunging the customers already in the shop into complete darkness."

Animal Encounters & Experiences

Pros:

• "We really appreciated walking through the large enclosure with peacocks, marmot, kangaroos, lemurs, and capybaras."
• "What an AMAZING day out! I took the kids here on the world giraffe day deal, £20 each for zoo admission, chance to feed the giraffes and a cuddly giraffe toy each for them."
• "Their animal experiences are absolutely amazing."
• "Being able to hand feed the capybara's really made my day."
• "We did 6 animal feeds on our first day at the zoo."
• "The honey badger was fun to watch being fed."
• "Seeing the tigers climb a pole to get their food was a highlight of the day."

Cons:

• "Bit disappointed. Hardly any animals out. Locked in their enclosures, which aren't accessible to the public."
• "The queues for the feeding took 30+mins, which was silly."
• "We were disappointed that tickets weren't checked as we were in a queue of people, many who hadn't paid to do feeds."
• "Some animals were locked away which was sad to see."
• "The animal feeding experiences are far to oversold."
• "Only negative was the feeding sessions. Despite pre booking them, the penguins was too full (to the kids disappointment) and the other 2 had substantial queues for our designated time slot, which takes time away from being able to explore the rest of the zoo."
• "Pushing hand feeding various animals at £15 a go ...watched the otter feeding they got to give it 4 bits of fish...for a zoo promoting natural feeding to pimping out their animals to make money."

Accessibility & Family-Friendliness

Pros:

• "The Zoo is Wheelchair friendly."
• "Most animals are left to free roam the grounds and like to interact with the public."
• "We took a wheelchair user around with us without any issues."
• "Cheap entry for a family of 4 ticket at £25."
• "Great for buggys and wheel chairs."
• "Good selection of zoo animals and was wheelchair accessible all the way round."
• "Fantastic zoo for the family, very good viewing zones and a good selection of shops and food stalls dotted around the park."