I’d seen the brown tourist signs for the Welsh Mountain Zoo on previous trips to North Wales, but we had never visited the place so as we were staying in North Wales for the week, we decided to pay it a visit.

Not knowing exactly where it was, we headed to Colwyn Bay and followed the brown signs from the A55. It’s only about 5-10 minutes off the main road and easy to find.

The actual entry roads to the zoo are quite narrow and steep. When we got to the entrance there was a small traffic queue to the pay booths. It’s worth noting that they also offer a free shuttle bus service from Colwyn Bay railway station.

The entry fees are clearly posted on the pay booths:

Standard Admission Rates
Adult (16+ years) – £9.85
Children (3-15 years inclusive) – £7.25
Family Ticket (2 adults and 2 children) – £31.10
Seniors – £8.60
Students (NUS Card) – £7.25
Under 3 – FREE
Admission is free for visitors who are confined to a wheelchair. Carers pay normal prices.

We weren’t sure at this point if it would be good value for money or not – it was cheaper than Chester Zoo (which we have visited a few times) but was there enough to justify the £31.10 it cost us to get in? We decided to give it a go.

After paying, they give you a free map of the zoo and you drive in and park up. There was ample parking so we were parked up and ready to explore quickly. The zoo is spread over 37 acres right on top of a hill with stunning views.

It seemed we had arrived just at the right time (around 11:15) as the daily events started at 11:30am with the Chimp encounter. This is where you sit indoors in a theatre style arrangement and one of the keepers talk to you about the chimps. It was very entertaining, especially with the occasional input from the chimps behind her banging on the glass asking for food!

Other events are Winged Wonder Bird Display and Penguin Parade & Sealion feeding and training.

There are too many animals at the Zoo to list, but there is a great variety to keep you occupied for a few hours.

The camel enclosure

Sea Lions

View from the Zoo looking west towards Conwy

View from the Zoo looking north towards Colwyn Bay and the Irish Sea

After watching a couple of events we took a look around for lunch. The Zoo has two cafes – the Flagstaff Cafe perched overlooking the penguin enclosure and Colwyn Bay – this cafe serves drinks, sandwiches, paninis and other snacks. The other cafe is the Cafe Safari – a larger cafe serving hot meals. This is the one we opted for. The food was well cooked and seemed “home cooked”. I opted for Lamb and Leek pie, Mrs Fidget had lasagne with side salad. The boys had pasta with sauce and cheese and sausage chips and peas. The facilities were clean and modern. The only gripe I had was the number of people “minding tables” for people in the queue. It meant we had a difficulty in finding a table to sit at after we had been served. Not really the Zoo’s fault, but might be an idea if they put some signs up to deter it. All in all, it was a really nice meal – well done to the Welsh Mountain Zoo for not just serving up the usual junk food you often find at tourist attractions.

After eating, we continuted to explore for severl more hours. Also at the Zoo was a large outdoor adventure playground which the boys spent a good hour or so running around.

Conclusion

The Welsh Mountain Zoo is not a big place, but there is certainly enough to keep you occupied for 4-5 hours. It’s well laid out and the staff/keepers are really friendly. There is something for the whole family and people of all ages. We would definitely visit it again and we found it excellent value for money.

Score: 8/10

The Welsh Mountain Zoo
Colwyn Bay
Clwyd
North Wales
LL28 5UY

Telephone:
+44 (0)1492 532 938

Website:

www.welshmountainzoo.org

The Fidget family hit the road today as a special treat for my son’s Birthday. The destination? The new Legoland Discovery Centre at the Trafford Centre, Manchester.

Excitedly we parked up in the Barton Square car park at the Trafford Centre and walked through the Grecian influenced open air Mall. We found the Legoland Discovery centre easily.

On approaching the entrance, there was a queueing system set up on the outside, but not filled out. There was only about five or six families in front of us but as soon as we went to approch the queue, a member of staff informed us that “the ride is broken at the moment”. What was “the ride”? Was it a major part of the attraction? It sounded like it was – but how do we tell an 8 and 4 year old that we are not going in because part of it was broken? You can’t – it’s cruel. “Is the admission price reduced?” I asked – “No, sorry Sir, there’s no discount or refund” she responded, looking embarrassed.

So, we felt we had to continue or have to very disappointed children on our hands. “There’s also a 30 minute queue” she added. “That’s fine” we said – looking ahead and just seeing a handful of people waiting. I have to admit, first impressions were not promising. Staff were courteous but there was an overall feeling of disorganisation.

She wasn’t wrong. We couldn’t understand what the wait was for – there were five members of staff apparently doing nothing apart from letting people in in dribs and drabs.

Admission prices

Entry prices are not cheap. At £11.85 for adults and £9.30 for children (under 3′s free) it works out at £42.30 just to get in. I checked the website before I left and noticed you get a 15% discount for buying tickets online – sadly it would not let me buy tickets for “same day”, so no discount there – nor was there any warning that the main attraction ride was closed. We duly paid and continued in.

After walking past the checkouts, the boys stood in a corner of the walkway whilst another member of staff enthusiastically took their photograph and handed us a ticket “in case we want to buy one”.

Round the corner and another queue – this time for lifts up to the 1st floor. Fortunately, the wait was not too long and we were elevated up to the Lego Factory.

Lego Factory

After (yet another) short wait (three queues so far and nothing to see), we entered the Lego factory. Please don’t let the name deceive you - this is not a factory. It’s simply a mock-up of shiny plastic tubes and “machines” with a member of staff, “the professor” trying to get the machines working with the assistance of the children in the audience. Fun for the kids, nothing really for the grown ups.

After the factory, we were confronted with the photo collection booth. After seeing your “loved ones” on the screen, you are relieved of another £7.00 for a single print.

Now you enter Mini World – a collection of famous buildings, towns and cities from the North West (and oddly the Bullring in Birmingham). This was actually rather good. Like a model village made entirely of Lego. The lighting also changes from night to day every few minutes. Scenes include Blackpool, Manchester, Chester, Liverpool and the Lakes (oh and Birmingham!).

After this you enter the main hall section where you can roam around the remaining attractions:

Lego Studio

This is a “4D” cinema showing a 3D Bob the Builder story along with water, smoke and “snow” effects on the audience. This was good and plays around every 20 minutes  so not too long to wait. Both the kids and adults liked this.

Fire Academy

The kids enjoyed this. It’s basically your standard “soft” play-centre stuff with climbing equipment and slides etc - just Lego branded.

Duplo Village

Village is rather an exaggeration to be honest. It’s a table with tubs of Duplo for younger visitors to play with.

Lego Racers

In this section, you can build a racing car and run it on the tracks provided. This was not too bad – the kids enjoyed it and created a competitive atmosphere where they were trying to construct the fastest car and win the race.

Princess Palace

This was a small wooden white and pink coloured section with a member of staff sitting in the middle face painting.

Kingdom Quest

The description sounds good:

Climb aboard your mighty chariot and set out upon your noble knight’s quest to defeat the skeletons, vanquish the trolls and rescue the captured Princess

We saw the ride, but as prewarned – it was not working. I do feel this was possibly the “main part” of the attraction.

Lego Universe

A darkened room where you had to break the beams of light to fill in a jigsaw puzzle on the wall before the timer runs out.

Cafe

Having not had lunch when we arrived, no problem we thought – after all the website the website promises:

Choose snacks or a full meal for the whole family from our great selection of hot and cold food.

This is just plainly wrong. The cafe offered a small selection of prepackaged “petrol station” sandwiches, cold pasta or salads in plastic tubs or a large shelf of “Tuna melt” panini. The alternative was a cake.

As we were a captured audience, we had no alternative so we had:

4 x “petrol station” sandwiches (£2.45 – £2.95 each)
1 x Latte (£2.00)
1 x Hot Chocolate (£2.00)
2 x Slush
3 x Cupcakes
1 x Muffin

This came to around £23.00 which I felt was a little expensive for what we got. A hot meal (as advertised) would have been preferable and felt the website and marketing blurb is misleading. The prices on the menu board also varied from what was charged at the till.

Once you have finished upstairs, you head back down to the Lego shop. You can buy pretty much every conceivable Lego kit or part you can think of. There’s also a pick and mix section.

The verdict

We spent about 3 hours in the centre. The boys had a great time and all the staff were friendly and helpful. However, there is little for adults at the attraction. Because of this, I’m struggleing to understand why they charge more for adult tickets than children – it’s all very child orientated.

The cafe was a big letdown as was the broken main ride – they could have warned of this on their website or discounted the admission fee. I also think the marketing material overhypes a lot of the sections (Duplo Village?).

The map on the website and the copy given to you on entry is deceptive too – it makes the place look a LOT bigger than it was. In fact Mrs Fidget didn’t realise what half of the things on the map were until she read through this article!

Legoland’s owners, Merlin, should follow Gulliver’s World’s example and charge less for adult tickets. I think the entry fee for kid’s is fair, but an adult should not be charged more than £5.00 – after all, they HAVE to accompany the children.

Would I go again? Not sure – it’s a lot of money for what it is – especially the adult ticket price. I was very dissapointed about parts not working or broken. I’d have liked to have seen it all working properly so i could review it properly – but I can only judge it on what I see.

Have you visited? Or do you have any questions before you visit? Post below and I’ll do my best to answer any questions you have honestly. You can buy the tickets from our shopping site here.