Colchester Zoological Society Anmeldelser 

My wife and I have always had a zoo pass so we can take our grandchildren. We used to go once a week but since our passes have expired we have not renewed.We find renewing passes very difficult to do web site very unhelpful we dont like having to decide as a pass holder when we can visit and when we can't
We shall not bother renewing sad really but staff could be more helpful instead of saying you will find all you need on the website. Grandchildren will miss not going as it was a great day out

As others have expressed passholders being penalised and victimised by the zoo director, instead of a thumbs up for all the years of continued support passholders have offered the zoo, instead we have been blamed for the zoo's funding crisis, basically for some passholders apparently not turning up, I can imagine booking that far in advance peoples plans might have had to change as lives normally do but the zoo don't answer the phone or respond to emails even if you was to let them know, there is no procedure in place to surrender dates or change dates so why is the zoo blaming the loyal passholders, I will never buy another annual pass for this zoo and likley won't ever return when mine runs out.
What should have happened was the zoo should have froze passholders passes temporarily until things turned to some sort of normality, a small discount to compensate on day passes could have been offered for loyal passholder support, this way it would have worked out fair in distributing attendance, helped with the funding, and no passholder would have a pass they can't use when they can't get a date to suit, it is pointless offering extension to the pass if you can't get tickets anyway.

Went to the zoo today with my family wasn't to impressed, areas got shut early with nothing to say they was shut up which meant we missed a bunch of stuff or we had to walk far back and tell others that was going that way. When we was in the bear part some staff came in and said they was gona turn the lights off and didnt even give us a chance to leave properly before turning lights off so we couldn't see anything, I'm normally very impressed with the zoo but I wasn't happy this time it wasnt worth spending nearly £70 to miss alot, I understand with this covid thing but it was the shutting stuff an hour and a half before closing that annoyed me wont be coming back for a while

Free the animals. Good day out.

Visited the zoo this week for the first time since lockdown with kids and grandkids. Whilst the grandkids enjoyed it we were shocked at the apparent lack of covid awareness with many sanitiser stations empty and no apparent controls over the number of people entering the indoor enclosures resulting in cramped conditions- ideal for virus transmission. The zoo really needs to address these shortcomings asap or visitors will stay away.

We visited the Colchester zoo yesterday and was very disappointed with their lack of covid awareness. Lots of hand sanitizers but most were empty, no one around to monitor the indoor spaces so lots of people without masks, people not social distancing also ignoring the no entry signs.
We were warned before we went that the zoo was very lax in their attitude as friends experienced this after lockdown. We should have listened.
Get a grip Colchester Zoo or lose your visitors! We won’t be back 😖

We took our granddaughter to the zoo a long awaited treat.
We found the route around the zoo so confusing wondering if we were missing bits of it keeping ending up where we had already been the social distancing was difficult.
I found the loos to be plentiful around the park and quite clean.
There seemed to be few animals but the best area was where the giraffes were mixed with other animals.
Sadly we were in awe of the beautiful tiger.but I found it quite distressing watching it circle continuously around its compound. We did have a good day but I do feel guilty for supporting the captured animals especially that poor tiger!

I visited Colchester Zoo for the first time yesterday with my family. I was lucky enough to have a sloth experience which was amazing. The keeper was incredibly knowledgeable about Gallina who I was feeding and the other sloths that they have. She did her upmost to make sure I have a perfect sloth experience which was really appreciated.
All the staff members we spoke to were very friendly which was nice, there seems to be a really high standard of customer service across the board.
It's a big site with a lot to do, the social distancing measures were a bit confusing but it's a very new situation and a hard thing to manage.
My children loved the big park near the entrance, the koi carp and the lorikeets. It was a lovely day out for them and we would love to visit again.

Myself, 2 adults and a child went to visit the zoo yesterday and I do not see what people on here are moaning about. It was very well run, considering what's going on in the Country. It looks to me as though they have put great effort in to try and keep to the social distancing guidelines. There were plenty of animals to see and many places to sit (in the shade) as it was 36 degrees. There were hand sanitisers everywhere, lots of hand washing places and masks had to be worn inside buildings, which looked like most people stuck to doing. We went on the little train, which had screens in place and a knowledgeable driver. Well done to the zoo. We had a nice day.

With they’re ‘social distancing’ in place you had no choice but to be all bundled together with the people that came in on the same time slot as you... the arrows were extremely confusing, you just couldn’t go where you wanted and you just couldn’t avoid groups of people. Other zoos allow you to go in and go where you like, then if you did see a big group at least you could choose to go the other way. Would not recommend this Zoo all the while social distancing is in place.

Took my family for a treat. Cost £174.99 for the day! Wish I hadn’t offered to treat everyone! Unfortunately we were very disappointed with our day. After reading about timed entrance, I actually thought social distancing would be in place. Not at all. People were so confused as to which way to go, and at junctions you had no choice to come into close contact with others. Being in our 70s we certainly did not feel safe, and seemed to be the only ones wearing masks! As for the animals, I think they have all got used to being on their own and have gone into hiding. I won’t be visiting again.the only bit we really enjoyed and felt safe, was the African enclosure. So sad.

I have been a loyal passholder with the zoo for years. I recently renewed our family passes and waived the three months free we were entitled too, also the 15% renewal discount as we love this zoo and want to support it. After purchasing our passes I then realised there were no slots available for passholders. As a member of the general public purchasing a ticket I could choose any day, any time. I am incredibly disappointed that tickets slots have been so unfairly distributed that general public have an abundance of slots and passholders appear to be offer such a limited number that they are sold out immediately. The balance is not right. Both myself and my husband are keywords we've had no break during the covid restrictions, our children have been in childcare throughout. We have two weeks off work and are desperate for some family time with our two children wanted to take them on their favourite day out, but we can't. I put in a formal complaint but was told there is nothing they can do to help me other than suggest I attend after 3pm. This is not something we can do with two young children who have their tea at 4pm and get ready for bed between 5-6pm My only option now is to request my passes are cancelled and reimbursed (there is no guarantee this will be permitted). Then I can easily purchase my ticket as a member of the general public and convert my ticket into a pass again. Can't believe loyal supporters of the zoo are being treated like this, the zoo have really let down the people who guarantee their income.

Really pissed off now. Have been trying to go to Colchester Zoo now for couple of weeks on days that I am free to take my 2 and a half year old with no success, the reason for this is because I paid up front for a Gold Pass!!!!!! If I want to pay on the day, no problems, pick what day and go. I understand that things have changed but I have paid for something that I am not being allowed to use. Penalised for giving the zoo money up front, that is NOT GOOD CUSTOMER SERVICE, virus or no virus. DO NOT BUY A YEAR PASS.

UPDATE 27 July 2020
We gave up on trying to get tickets as Passholders and paid again full price to go to the zoo with family. So even if we could have used our passes there would have been 2 extra adult tickets, we all had ice creams, drinks and spent in the shop, so the Zoo would have got money out of us anyway even if we could have got in using our gold passes.
I have written, through the website complaining but had no response, no shock there then.
But what was a shock was the total lack of enforcement of the social distancing rules inside the zoo, i resorted to putting a mask on, one of the 0.5% who did so that day. What was the point of making everyone stand apart to get in when its a free for all inside!!! Shocking.

UPDATE 1st August 2020
Now received an email from the Zoo with a letter from the Zoo Director where he actually say " Gold passholders have not been mistreated" WHAT!!
He then goes on to say how well they are doing with passholders and encourages people to visit and upgrade to Gold passholder. Unbelievable.
And there was me thinking he was going to say to Gold passholders that if you have been unable to use your pass and have then paid again to get in anyway we will refund the entrance fee as you are a valued customer, i should have known better.

Terrible state of organisation post lockdown. Has anyone explained to Colchester Zoo staff that there is a very real threat still of a killer virus out there
Baby changing facilities disgustingly filthy and we went in only 4 minutes after someone apparently marked the cleaning sheet as complete on the wall!

Once inside there is ZERO marshalling on social distancing so we find ourselves packed into areas with large numbers. And we booked a slot expecting to be taken care of and given a safe environment to enjoy the zoo and instead there were so many people there and very little in the way of any risk management.

As for the animals.... WHERE HAVE THEY GONE? In over 40yrs a regular visitor to the zoo this was the least I saw here. Hardly any animals, loads shut off..... just what is going on? So sad and disappointed as it was my sons first trip ever to a zoo and we were left feeling concerned for our wellbeing as well as extremely disappointed indeed. Absolute waste of money I am so genuinely upset to say as I really wanted to support the Zoo.

We usually love this zoo and have been passholders for 11 years. We went today as a family but we were all disappointed. If I had to pay, even the current reduced entry rate, I would feel cheated. You have to prebook your tickets with timed entry, fair enough. Our time was between 12.30-1pm. Entry was fine. Marshalled by an army of employees. If you are early you will not get in early. Once inside the issues started. The one way system is an absolute nightmare! From the start you are following the route in a massive caravan of people. Social distancing? - forget it this is not remotely possible. There are too many people all going the same way and stopping to see the same animals. Alternative routes are literally blocked off by the zoo. There is only one way to go. As none of the enclosed spaces are open, the hoards of people have nowhere to disappear into. Social distancing on the few food kiosks open, was non existant too, as too few were open for the sheer amount of people. Imagine a really hot day in summer with the zoo packed to capacity. That is what it felt like. We made our way round in 2 hours and left again by 3.30pm. By that time tete was a massive queue of people trying to get into the zoo still. We normally love this zoo but they got the way they organised the re opening wrong. The one way system needs to go. Hopefully with the playgrounds and indoor areas allowed to open from 4th July, the zoo will open these and the crowds can disperse more. Today was Not fun and solely based on that I would not recommend to visit as the entry price if you are paying is still too high. We won't return until more restrictions are lifted to actually allow for social distancing.

PLEASE TRY TO SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL ZOOS IN THIS TIME OF CRISIS

MANY A FANTASTIC TIME HAD WITH OUR GRANDCHILDREN AT COLCHESTER ZOO

( I HAVE NO CONNECTION WITH THE ZOO)

The zoo has so many “new attractions” it’s basically a building site. It’s very pricey for the little to be seen...just because it’s huge doesn’t means it’s worth While and there’s not much going on. Such a shame

Colchester Zoo is worth every penny! Exotic animals, nice enclosures and dedicated staff who genuinely care about their animals.

I've visited Colchester Zoo twice within the space of the past year [in August and March] and can honestly say I highly recommend a visit. The African Experience is my favourite attraction. In my last visit, I went with a large group of friends and the price was unbeatable for the experience we received. I look forward to my next trip.

The extraordinary animal experience is wonderful and great value for money. I did my research before booking this and all other zoo's and animal experience places charge £100+ for just one or two animals. Colchester zoo charges £160 and you get to meet, feed & sometimes even touch loads of animals including elephants, giraffes, otters, meerkats, lemurs, rhinos, tigers, monkeys, penguins and so much more. The staff are excellent and the experience could not be faulted. If you are an animal lover you will really enjoy this. We took my mum for her 75th birthday and we are going again for my 50th. The price includes breakfast, lunch and all the drinks that you need for the day. They even supply gloves when feeding the penguins, otters & elephants. I touched a rhino, gave an orangutang a drink & fed a tiger! It is a whole day but both my mum & I are disabled and we did worry about the long day but it flew by. Mum & I both had mobility scooters and when my one struggled to get up the hill the tour guide lady pushed me up it, and I am not a small lady! I would honestly say that this counts as the best day of my life.