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West Midlands Safari Park: General Discussion

WMSP Park Operating Hours CONFIRMED
The 2013 Opening Hours for West Midland Safari Park have been confirmed, along with the events & event dates. The park will be open from February 9th 2013-November 10th 2013.

This year's park opening hours in November are different to previous years, as the park will close on November 3rd 2013, then reopen on November 9th for 2 days, before the park closes for the winter on November 10th.

The park will be open from 10am-5pm during off peak times, and 10am-6pm during peak times. On bank holidays, the park will be open 9am-7pm but FREE TICKETS WILL NOT be accepted during bank holidays. In August, the park will be open 10am-9pm, and during Spooky Spectacular the park will be open 10am-9pm. On the Firework Display night, the park is open 2pm-10pm, and on the last day of season (10th November) it will be open 10am-4pm.

The events this year are the same as previous years, with the return of Spooky Spectacular, Fireworks Festival, Summer Nights & Santa Safari.

Spooky Spectacular will be on the 19th & 20th October 2013 & 26th October-3rd November 2013, and promises to be filled with spooks, scares & more for all the family!

Summer Nights will run through all of August, and the park will be open until 9pm each night!

Firework Festival will be on the 9th November 2013 & Santa Safari will run from November 23rd-December 24th 2013. During Santa Safari ALL RIDES & ATTRACTIONS are closed, and only the safari will open.

With Opening Day coming soon, the park seem to have a busy year ahead, with many different events & another year of great prices & opening times.

Don't forget, you can join Safari Sundown at our FIRST BIRTHDAY MEET UP on Opening Day at WMSP from 11am-5pm, more details on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/safarisundownuk)

Source: www.safarisundown.co.uk

Seems the park STILL have some of the best opening hours in the UK for theme parks & zoo's at the moment. All I hope is that at the Spooky Spectacular this year, we finally get a Horror Maze. It also seems the park are open longer than Merlin Attractions (Alton Towers, Thorpe Park etc..) Also, not to forget it's WMSP's 40th Birthday, so lets hope they celebrate it in the park like Towers did with their 30th Birthday celebrations!
 
Just thought I'd let any WMSP fans know, the Otter Exhibit which had it's planning app approved is still going ahead (I think) but will be opening either this summer or next season (2014), so far nothing has been revealed about new attractions/exhibits for this year, and weirdly nothing has been revealed for birthday celebrations for the park. I personally would of thought this year would be a big year for the park, being it's 40th anniversary. However, if were getting nothing new this year, does this mean the park are saving up to pay for a big investment?
 
Otter Exhibit Plans

Location Plan
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Plans
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Existing goat area, to be transformed into Otter Exhibit
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Existing goat area, to be transformed into Otter Exhibit
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Existing goat area, to be transformed into Otter Exhibit
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Location Plan 2
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Elevations
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Elevations
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I hope you enjoy these updates. I update this Forum with the news a few hours after I update my own site & pages, so there is sometimes delay. These plans have been approved, and the exhibit should be in construction either now ready for summer, or this year & closed season ready for 2014. I bring these updates generally for any WMSP fan, as there is currently no WMSP fan group apart from SS (Which is mine), so sometimes it's nice to be able to hear the news from WMSP rather than bigger parks. I'm off on park in 3 weeks time for Opening Weekend, and I'll be taking plenty of pictures of the park, so if you want any pictures of specific areas, animals, exhibits or rides please drop a comment below.
 
Are the goats staying but being relocated? Im glad that the otters are coming to the park I find otters really cute, however I did enjoy walking through the goat exhibit too so do hope that they are relocated.
 
I'm not sure if they are relocating the goats, that's something you'll have to wait for until the exhibit is built. I imagine the park cannot just 'get rid' of the goats, so they probably will end up keeping them. Remember, that most of the goats that were in that paddock are now up by Lemur Wood in their own little area where the public can walk past. Most of the other goats will most likely be moved up there too, ready for the exhibit. :)
 
Is this the paddock down the bottom next to the entrance to Lemur Wood?

If so, must be doing it because of that naughty goat which constantly tries to get in and terrorise the lemurs!
 
The planned Otter Exhibit and current Goat paddock is in/will be in (otter exhibit isn't built yet) Discovery Trail next to the Sea Lion Show & Reptile encounter. Most of the goats were moved up to a paddock in the Lemur Woods. As you finish walking around Lemur woods, you come to a metal cage with a door, you pass through that and then you get to the goat area, before walking down to the Meerkat area. :D
 
There sure has been a hive of activity today in terms of West Midland Safari Park news! 3 pieces of news have been revealed today, including price rises & one of the UK's longest Halloween events to be held at WMSP in October & November 2013. Here's the news from Safari Sundown.

Price rises, extended event dates & a Severn seal have been among our top stories today about West Midland Safari Park, so let’s kick off with the hive of news activity that's been buzzing around today!

Spooky Spectacular event dates EXTENDED
The annual Spooky Spectacular event has been extended in time this year. The event will run from October 5th-November 3rd, meaning there will be just under a month's worth of scares for the whole family!

The park has divided the event into 2 sectors, off peak & peak. During peak times, Spooky Spectacular will run from 10am-9pm (MON-FRI) and during off peak times 10am-5pm. Rather than opening the park at 10am and having the event start at 5.30pm, the park have extended the amount of time the horror comes 'alive'.

It's still uncertain if the park will be making any ultimate scares this year for the older members of the family, such as Horror Mazes, but all will be revealed closer to the time of the event.

Entry admission cost INCREASES
The park's adult summer season price (Feb-Nov) has increased by £2 from £14.99 to £16.99. Children's entry price is: £12.99. This excludes wristbands. It's suspected the park have increased the entry cost due to a bad year in 2012 in terms of visitor numbers, however there could be another reason.

Severn Seal spotted again!
WMSP & Bob Lawrence have stepped in to help save a seal that keeps appearing in the River Severn around the Stourport area. Here is a statement from Express & Star Newspaper:

Bob Lawrence, director of wildlife at the Bewdley attraction, has been on alert since police called him to help capture the creature, when it was spotted in the snow on the side of a riverside road in Shrawley near Stourport.

“It was just getting dark when I received the call on Friday. I gathered my trailer and catching poles, but by the time I got there it had long gone, probably back into the river,” said Mr

Lawrence. “If we can find him on dry land again maybe we could catch him and take him back to the sea. It might take two or three people and even tranquilisers.

“I will be contacting Natural England to see what we should do and where we should take it.”

Customers and staff at the nearby Lenchford Inn did a double-take when they spotted the seal.

David Taylor, the pub’s owner, added: “Around 10 or 15 people all drove up to see it and they managed to encourage it back into the river.

“Goodness knows how it got there. It’s just lucky it wasn’t hit,” he said. It comes after the Angling Trust said it would apply for a licence to shoot the animal, nicknamed Keith by some and Bob by others, as a “last resort” to protect fish stocks. The organisation has since stressed that it is doing “everything possible to get the seal back out to sea without it being harmed.”

Meanwhile, supporters of Keith, who is actually thought to be female, have set up a Facebook campaign group and printed T-shirts since she was first spotted in October last year.

And a petition calling on the Environment Agency to relocate Keith has attracted more than 3,500 signatures, some from as far afield as Malaysia.

Hopefully WMSP & Bob can capture the animal and take it back to safety.


That's all the news that's been revealed today about WMSP, from Spooky extensions to a seal in the Severn, we sure cannot wait until Opening Day which is in just over 2 weeks time. Remember, you can discuss all the latest news & information on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/safarisundownuk, on twitter: @SafariSundown or on our forums: http://safarisundown.createaforum.com/index.php

Like I've said before, I HATE posting on this topic about 2 times a day, but I update it because there are a few WMSP fans out there, who want to know the latest news, which is why I add posts whenever a piece of news is revealed. ;D

Seems like WMSP have one of the longest Halloween events in the UK this year, and hopefully this means we finally get a Horror maze or scare zone for the older members of the family.
 
Re: West Midlands Safari Park: General Discussion

£16.99 is quite a rise - about 13%!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
 
Still a very good day out for the cost. I generally think it's down to a poor season in 2012 (bad weather being a main cause of this). A few staff members were telling me how 2012 was a bad season for the park, so like any park they need to bring back the money they lost in 2012. Don't forget, they also provide return tickets for free if you pay £16.99 admission, which is other good deal.
 
Still, it wasn't many years ago entry was about £7.99! :)

But thing is, I'm fairly local and I might visit, but Otters do not make me want to return to be honest. I may end up going but it depends as I have a MAP.
 
£16.99 excluding ride wristbands is a heck of a price in my eyes, and a massive jump to!
 
This is where I think personally West Midlands begins to look expensive. Whilst the safari is a good decent part of your day out, and the rest of the zoo is good too, it begins to look expensive when you add in the wristbands.

The ride selection is good if basic and personally I prefer theme parks with zoos such as Drayton or Chessington rather than zoos with in the nicest sense fun fairs.

I wish them well though but for me it's just too dear.
 
Small Edit in this post: At the moment yes, but if you purchase admission, you get a FREE return ticket (continued offer throughout 2013). You also get 10% off when booking online. The park want to make a good job & progress from the cheap, safari looking group they believe they are. So, in order for them to get the money they need for the Hotel, Waterpark, Multi-Million pound re-ferb in the Amusement Area & Safari which means major new theming elements, new safety fences & procedures and so much more, they need the money. This means, raising costs, raising food costs and shopping costs.

Safari Sundown will not know when a new ride is being built over closed season UNLESS we make better connections with WMSP which were working on. Reason for us not knowing if a new ride is being constructed is because WMSP don't need planning for new rides (because their travelling rides). However, we do know when a new coaster is being built because planning is needed for that (with the exception of Twister, which does not need planning), so they may even be introducing a new ride in the summer like they did last year when Hurtling Hippo's has opened (Summer 2012). They didn't release that their was a new ride until opening day of the new attraction. I'll collect as many photos and check to see if there is any construction going on at the park in the Amusement Area when I visit in 11 days time for Opening Day.
 
Rising the costs of souvenirs are a step in the wrong direction if im honest. Merlin have got it spot on with price wise and im willing to pay there prices West Midlands Safari Park however when I visited wanted £12 for a TINY teddy. Ridiculous for its size tbh along with the other merchandise they have. It really is over priced.
 
Forgive me if this sounds argumentative I in no way mean for it to be.

West Midlands Safari Park is very very expensive for the day out that it provides. Yes it does provide both animals and a theme park, but for a wristband and entry it is a huge cost when compared to other days out such as a standard zoo or a full theme park. Yes, you do get to return for free, but I'd be very interested to see how many people take this up.

I'd prefer to see a lower entry price, but I imagine they'd prefer to keep the expensive pay once and then return for free policy. I'm sure it's more beneficial to the park.
 
To be honest, with Chessington opening Zufari, and the park being an actual 'Theme Park'.
Wouldn't it be better value for money to go there? Because you'd get a Safari, a probably more exciting one (I'm just going off speculation, as I've never been to either parks), and a full theme park.

So, would WMSP be a bit pointless going, obviously not if you're in the local area of course.

:)
 
WMSP and Chessie have different targets. Neither of those visiting one are likely to visit the other. Let alone the fact WMSP is a full blown safari with a couple of rides, whereas chessie is a full blown park with a couple of animals.

WMSP is expensive. Though it's alright returning with the free visit then paying for the wristband. I imagine that's what most people do, and that's their most lucrative return.
 
If they are planning on becoming a park or ''resort'' as the trend seems to be now then they do need to really consider more permanent attractions in the amusement area.

Although they have tarted up some of the traveling rides nicely they need permanent ones. With the hotel coming, its still not really a two day park. They need a headline attraction or attractions to keep people coming.
 
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