West Midland Safari and Leisure Park Reviews 152

Poor experience when myself and a good friend went to the safari park with our 2.5yr & almost 3yr old children for the under 5’s week. We decided against even attempting the drive around the safari in case the kids got agitated and opted for the walk around safari instead which was fine.
We walked back through the theme park area which the kids looked very interested in and were asking to go on. It was just opening at that time so we joined the queue for a little penguin wristband. My friend was asked to take her child out of his buggy and stand him against the measuring pole. He has a disability (which isn’t mine to disclose of course) but it was clear as day that he couldn’t hold himself up alone as my friend was supporting him the whole time. She was then asked to put his shoes on which agitated him and he got quite upset which was distressing. Then finally when we were issued our wristbands we set off to some rides, first to the Jurassic cars I think they’re called? To be turned away because my friends little boy cannot sit independently in a seat alone. Well we weren’t made aware of this rule before purchasing wristbands and this could be seen clearly when my friend had to hold her child up against the measuring bar! We were turned away from any ride we tried and were told the only thing we could POSSIBLY go on was the carousel (the sled). Both children were upset now knowing that their wishes were being denied. FYI they are both very switched on kids and knew that we were being told no to several rides.
Just leads me to my main point that they are just money grabbers and don’t care if you don’t know the ride T&C’s before purchasing wristbands! And not INCLUSIVE like their website says many times over and over. 1 ride that potentially included a little boy that can’t hold himself up alone, pathetic if you ask me. So many parks that are far better than this one.

I then emailed a complaint (my friend did too) and I said I think the least they could do was refund us both for the wristbands as we didn’t get to take the children on a single ride (didn’t bother with carousel as they were both very upset at this point) and seeing such disappointment in the kids was not nice for us mothers to endure!! I stated I would have even happily taken a free wristband for a future visit as I’m pretty local and if the complaint was dealt with well then I’d return probably a few times. They refused everything, so I will not be returning. £7 per wristband for us mothers struggling to get by day to day with the current cost of living makes a fair difference if we got that bit of money back and to simply to get nothing out of it for our kids made it even worse - the day was for them!! For such a large business to not be willing to spare £14 is what I find the most ridiculous.

I can see many reviews similar to this one saying that they are just in it for the money so I needn’t say anymore really. If you want a good day out that’s genuinely inclusive to all go elsewhere. Oh and the food is massively over priced too!

Fantastic day - may 4th bank holiday. We booked the 10:30 timeslot for the safari, no queue when we arrived. Entrance is a little confusing as it's two lane, but funnels to single vehicle entrance - was initially irritated that people couldn't wait and tried to go down the side of me, but I think it's not clear.

The wait for the carnivore enclosure gates is not clear either - a sign might help people who are getting frustrated, noticed a few people were starting to sound their horns (which seemed daft in a safari park!) - when you get to it, the wait on a hill is caused by an initial gate you can't see, and once through this it was easier to deal with the queues and similar gates. A lot of people struggle on the hill, a few clutches destroyed!

Didn't see the lions, but highlight was a particularly friendly camel who enjoyed sticking her head through our car window for a tickle.

I can see how people's experience may differ - it took around 2 hours to go around the safari - had it taken longer I think I would have started feeling a bit fed up.

It's not true that animals are moved away to cater for the lodges - it is true they have been moved for the benefit of people staying in the lodges, but the routes take you passed these areas anyway - we didn't feel we missed out.

The theme park area was nicely done - we really enjoyed the parrots! The dinosaur area was impressive (if a little in need of some patching in places on some of the models!). Ride waits were fine - despite it being a bank holiday I didn't feel it was overcrowded. We enjoyed the tiger enclosure. We didn't have time to see everything.

Yes, everything inside is expensive relatively - food, drinks, pretty standard for this sort of place. Found it easy to buy both however, although we brought a picnic and had great fun rolling down the hills outside the park.

Staff were fine for us!

Guess it's somewhat luck of the draw - we had a great time - nearly didn't go after reading all the negative reviews after purchasing the tickets!

Went to West Midlands safari park 2/5/26 for our grandsons 3rd birthday,Riding round to see the animals was a very big disappointment there were fields with nothing in at all half the animals wasn't even there. All the signs saying different Animals like white lions Tigers & so on were nowhere to be seen. They seem to be more interested in putting Animals by the cabins where you can stay overnight for a fortune. It's a real shame the safari park has changed a lot doing this it's very mis leading when the children are disappointed because the Animals are not in the fields. There was a lot of fields empty so uou drive through seeing hardly anything for what we payed for. Also walking round the park went to see the bats for instance inside no bats there but instead fish, wasn't any signs saying no bats available. We walked round a lot again some cages with nothing in, its a disgrace & very misleading to the public. All they seem to be interested in is your money.

If you want to burn your hard earnt fuel and sit in bumper to bumper stand still traffic with not a single Animal in sight then this is the place to go, you cant feed the animals any longer and that reflects massively on there overall lack of malnurishment

Went on 18th April for my Nephew's birthday, first of all your website is atrocious not only does it not explain your tickets clearly which led to us having to purchase 2 additional tickets as your BOGOF offer is deceiving, the drive through itself was disappointing and the language I am using is not a true reflection of what I want to say...The whole experience and theme park was just dire, absolute waste of your money and the staff are just lost, why would you stick people at a barrier with no access to take payments and when you ask why they have no answer, also safari for 5 tigets and animals that resemble more of a fox/dog! Will never go there again, even if you paid me

ear Sir/Madam,

I am writing to formally raise a complaint about my recent visit to Burger & Co at West Midlands Safari Park.

During our visit, I was very concerned about the cleanliness and overall hygiene standards. The table we were seated at was extremely dirty. I politely asked a member of staff if she could clean the table before my son sat down. Unfortunately, she responded in a rude and hesitant manner and only carried out a very half-hearted attempt at cleaning it. I felt I had no choice but to clean the table myself using my son’s baby wipes, which resulted in thick black residue coming off the surface. This was extremely unpleasant and unacceptable.

In addition to this, I observed staff handling food without wearing gloves. They were moving between handling the tills, sauces, and drinks, and then directly touching food with their bare hands. This raised serious concerns about food hygiene and safety standards.

The quality of the food itself was also very disappointing. The meal appeared rushed and poorly prepared. The chips were soggy and saturated with grease, and the chicken was significantly undercooked, which is particularly worrying from a health and safety perspective.

Overall, this experience fell far below acceptable standards in terms of cleanliness, food quality, and customer service. I would appreciate it if this matter could be investigated and appropriate actions taken to ensure improvements are made.

Judging by the previous reviews these get ignored by the company so this is for those yet to go...still terrible experience a year on. SO expensive throughout..but as they say it's the people that make it so if the staff had been pumped it may have felt almost worth it but they were all so grumpy and obviously badly managed. One of the rides the staff was so rude and told me I can't drive and refused to be helpful. As we scanned our tickets a staff member was defiling my children with his woke views... total waste of time and money.

Visited today, very warm day & lots of visitors, was just after 10.30 to join the queues, have come many times…just never seen this amount of pushing in from cars, direct signage saying do not stay in right hand lane….yet the thing was full!! Parking on crosshatches & nearly having gate hit a few cars. This is NOT what the experience is all about people…it’s about the animals 2.5hrs toget through as too many selfish people out there now crossing into right hand lane, only to push in or near miss or just create a third line. Unforgettable memories for the wrong reasons. Rides out the back. Well again queues galore it’s only NMarch, can’t believe what it will be like come summer!! Americans have got his all over us, they totally know how to entertain the queues & keep us entertained…come on WMSF…fine or stop these people rebooking…not what we were expecting at all

The safari is totally pointless. Basically sat in a traffic jam for 2 hours with 3 bored kids. I can’t understand why it took 2 hours to drive around? There is literally nothing to see. The road was then blocked by two safari trucks parking side by side. They only moved when others started to beep their horns.

The park was ok, we didnt try any of the rides, not massively exciting sadly.

Got half price tickets so only paid £66 for 4 of us thank goodness.

Price of food is criminal, £22 for a pizza in Dino Diner and £15 for a cheeseburger.

First and last time we will go which is a shame as I’ve been wanting to go for a couple of years.

One positive though, the lodges looked very nice and all the animals seemed to be on view for anybody paying £1,000 per night to stay there. The lookout to the giraffes and elephants was also nice.

Absolutely waste of money we went today hardly any animal to see crazy traffic disappointed kids in almost every other car including ours waste of petrol,money and a whole day to see Absolutely nothing 😑 avoid at all cost

Just had a trip to WMSP with our 2 Gandson's.... and i must say that im deeply disappointed in the state of the park, seriously in need of some money spending on the grounds and a better system for actually seeing the animals.
We started our drive round and saw only 2 lions briefly, no white lions, no elephants, no tigers, no african dogs etc which was disappointing and the way some people drive round is ridiculous you are basically in a traffic jam for hours and really didnt see a great deal. After thats anticlimactic drive we went to the walk through park and there was so much closed and rides that didnt work and toilets with no paper and were a mess the dinosaur exhibit was so dated and falling apart.
After a walk about it was clear the whole place is now just a run down cash grab with nothing going back into the grounds or up keep of the park.
Over priced food and drink was also an issue on site and the coffee van in the play area just needs shutting down completely selling dish water not coffee. Sad to say it but we will not be returning again very disappointed

have been to the park several times to see animals but today my daughter wanted to just go on the rides so we turned up thinking we would need to pay 75 pound for 5 of us. but no had to pay admission fee which was 160 quid then another 75 just for rides which i find so stupid only so many times u want to see the animals. had a good day but cheaper to go alton towers or drayton manor

Were currently sat on the car safari. It's absolute garbage. We've not moved for 25 minutes because of the number of vehicles they allow through. We've paid to sit in a traffic jam.

My sister and I spent a couple of days at wmsp. First day we had the VIP Carnivore experience and met Nicola, Emma and Nick. What an experience it was! All 3 were outstanding in their knowledge and friendliness. Had amazing time, very special and memorable. We met the 2 Cheetahs, the 4 Lion brothers and momma Sumatra tiger (Dorga) and her 4 offspring with feeding and help clearing them out.
The 2nd day was staying the night with the Lions at Nairobi Lodge. The stay was perfect in every way, we were welcomed by all 4 brothers sitting together on the hilltop directly outside the lounge window, they went indoors after dark but at 3am we were woken up to an hour of roaring sporadicly before quietness again until 8am when the boys came back onto the hill of their enclosure and roaring in unison. Wow!
Thank you WMSP, you were brilliant and those animals are well and truly cared for. 🙏❤️

Stopped in the lion lodge for the 2nd stayed in December last year. Don’t think we will be going back. The lodge is expensive and last year the food was great. We had a lovely warm meal for dinner and breakfast was a cooked English breakfast. This year the only options for breakfast was cold continental like corn flakes and yoghurt or a mushroom bagel or something. My kids couldn’t eat that considering the money you pay it’s overrated. Feel they’ve got greedier each year. The Santa’s grotto is lovely though especially the Santa we had. The safari has got boring too. Won’t return

Been today for a visit with my family it was alwful hardly no animals out the lady at the desk Amanda was so rude wouldn’t except my carers paperwork so made me pay … it’s gone so down hill then we lost one of our tickets so wouldn’t let us in the park bit with out paying again please don’t waste
Your time and money so disappointed there’s nothing to see there other than a few cows and deers

Considering how much money the company must make you refuse to pay your builders, leaving them 15k out of pocket. Disgusting, you should be ashamed.

Unclear for buying tickets on the website.

There were buy 1 get 1 free but no notifications that cannot offer the free return and warning during the process. However, it was expensive than bought the original one.

It was ridiculous and also sent the free return link to me.

Always only said all were your responsibilities.

That business strategy of this park will make it closes soon.

Everything now seems geared to the lodges, with animals being moved to the lodge viewing areas, there really seems little point in the safari drive. Held in the pens only to find no wild dogs (they have african wild dog lodges) & no white lions (they have white lion lodges) they appeared to be completely empty compounds!
The dinosaur trail and ice age trail are unkempt with many of the exhibitions showing more that a bit of wear with no obvious upkeep.
The the rides, no pirate ship, no water flume and no rhino rollercoaster, so a third of the rides for 10+ year olds out of action.
It just feels like they have prioritised lodges over everything else which is really disappointing as these are for the elite few really.

Loved the drive through it took us 1 hour to complete gutted no white tigers would have liked to see more animals on the drive lots of deer type animals we liked the wild dogs. Food was very average and cost over 60 pounds for dinner for 4 and a snack later of 5 dounts and 4 drinks was 21 pound which I thought was expensive. The walk through was great and we enjoyed the birds and bats that flew all around you. We had a talk about a stick insect and a chinchilla this was good the girl that done the talk was great. The rides what can I say terrible I got our wrist bands which was already paid she said 4 rides are not working is that OK I said it would have yo be as I already paid too many spinning rides the ghost ride was rubbish the monkey ride broke with people on it so shut for a hour the drop just dropped once and then done not worth the money