West Midland Safari and Leisure Park Reviews 157

Do not bother booking with these lot, the park is grossly overpriced, the theme park is utterly shambolic with closed rides and rotation (more closed rides), DO NOT BOTHER PAYING FOR THE THEME PARK - you will have to queue after purchasing your tickets, with only 1 booth open, then hardly any staff in the theme park. The customer service is non existent, they just fob you off and decline any refunds or adult conversations. I do not recommend booking at all, you will not get value for money, there is plenty to do in the area. I wish I'd seen the Trust Pilot reviews before I booked, the Google reviews are a nonsense.

Terrible experience barely seen any animals way too expensive Felt like I paid £100 to be stuck 2hours in the traffic jam there obviously never again...

This review is from a disabled persons perspective.
Prior to booking we looked on WMSP to see if I could hire a mobility scooter and we could, very reasonable prices too. On arrival (23 December 2024) there were no queues, we drove straight to the disabled parking bay which is ample with plenty of spaces near the toilet block, disabled access via Radar key which was brilliant, well laid out with room and changing tables if required.
We took my wheelchair across a path to pick up the scooter, very sturdy not the small scooters most places rent out, the staff said they would look after my wheelchair until we returned the scooter. we entered the park via the front walkthrough and scanned our tickets at the checkpoint, small queue nothing that created additional waiting times.
There are a few places to buy drinks and food on the entrance walkthrough, expensive but expected. First part of the park has a few inclines that could be difficult if being pushed or self propelled, not extensive but requires effort.
More toilets (Disabled) can be found in the Dingo diner on the left as you enter, can get busy at peak times, bear this in mind if you use a scooter/ pram, opposite the diner is another disabled toilet but access is steep, definitely wise to book a scooter! All access to walks are easily accessible to chairs and scooters, the new walk around is a little steep for manual wheelchairs but ok for scooters. There is a steep incline to go to the other half of the park, manual wheelchairs would be difficult, no problem to scooters. More toilets both disabled and others are situated near the Hippo enclosure on the left approximately 50 yards from the bottom of the hill, eateries and kiosks are a plenty throughout, access to all areas via wheelchair and scooter.
We spent 5 hours on the park and the mobility scooter only lost 25% of the charge in this time.
For a family with disabled a scooter is a must and the price is well worth booking, great day out good disabled facilities, helpful staff.

Took 6 year old Grandson for his 1st visit. Took advantage of a reduced annual pass for both, as it worked out about the same price as one visit. Disappointed that no carers/senior concessions. One price covers all.
Website said fully open for half term, not quite true, some snack huts and gift shops not.
Fair rides didn't open until 11.30am, we get there just after 10am hoping to have a look around before going on the fair rides first and then safari drive. Had to kill time for 90 mins, walked through the dinosaurs. The models were moth eaten and broken with bits of the fibre glass exposed. Ride ticket booths don't open until 11.30am, despite long queues and then only one window initially
Some rides looked tired and weren't going, the dodgems were so slow, I could have crawled over broken glass quicker. In the arcade, they were only just filling up the change machine with 2p's at 12.15pm, no where else to get change.
There was one brief reasonable moment, my Grandson had a children's combo meal at the burger cafe, it was plentiful for him and the service was quick.
The last cars through the safari was at 2.30pm, which we just made due to lateness of the rides opening and getti g something to eat. Lots of mud and some grass, very few animals. When we got to where the giraffes were spotted, they had completely disappeared.!
They are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, based upon this visit, they will be lucky to survive another five years max. There appears to have been no maintenance or sprucing up in the park over the Winter, especially in light of their anniversary. The place looks tired, drab and reminiscent of those " amateur " animal parks beloved of comedy shows where they stick a hat on an animal and pretend it's something else.
First visit in about 30 years, can't see me renewing my annual pass. Must do better.

West Midland Safari Park offers a fantastic opportunity to see a variety of animals up close, and the drive-through safari itself was the highlight of our visit.  However, be prepared for extremely long queues, especially during peak times.  The drive-through section, while enjoyable once you're in it, involved a considerable wait, which unfortunately ate into a large portion of our day.  It's clear the park struggles to manage the flow of traffic, and this significantly impacts the overall visitor experience.
Beyond the safari drive, the amusement park area felt distinctly geared towards young children.  While it's understandable that family entertainment is a focus, there was very little on offer for adults or older thrill-seekers.  The rides and attractions seemed primarily aimed at younger children, leaving those looking for more grown-up entertainment somewhat disappointed. This, coupled with the long queues for the safari drive, made the day feel unbalanced.
While the animal viewing was excellent, the long wait times for the drive-through and the limited appeal of the amusement park for adults significantly detracted from our overall experience.  West Midland Safari Park has the potential to be a truly fantastic attraction, but it needs to address its queue management issues and consider expanding its offerings for a broader age range.

We booked WMSP as a special treat for us and our 3 kids aged 2-6 as a “birthday treat” for my husbands “big birthday”. We had heard good things about staying overnight in the lodges and we certainly weren’t disappointed there - we booked tiger lodge with hot tub as it’s my eldest’s favourite animal. We got some great viewings of the tigers which was lovely, and the lodge itself was awesome - so well themed and laid out for the 5 of us.
We also got lucky with the safari drive on the first day and had incredible interactions with the giraffe’s, as well as getting super close to the African lions (closer than we had even gotten on safari in Africa!), however on our second day we did the safari drive in the afternoon (entered circa 2pm) and were really disappointed the giraffe’s were being pulled inside by 3pm so we didn’t get to interact with them that day. I found that quite bizarre for them to be pulled in so early given the last entry is 2.30pm - you’d miss them entirely! However we did get some good interaction with the Rhino’s and incredible shots of the lions this day.
The food inside the park and the lodge was OK - the park food was very much ok, nothing great and I wouldn’t get too excited about it, the burger place had a decent wrap but the pizza’s in the dino place were rubbish.
The lodge food - I’m disappointed there isn’t a fussy child option, as I know our middle child isn’t the only fussy kid out there. She basically ate nothing for our entire stay as the pasta had bolognese with it so she wouldn’t eat the pasta full stop, and I don’t think it would have been difficult to get hold of the Nutella individual spreads for the morning - they had individual mini pots of jam etc. annoyed that we ordered orange juice for breakfast but got Apple juice with no rhyme or reason?! However the adult meals were decent at dinner.
Lastly, the theme park - how bizarre. There are several theme parks around the country with very similar rides, with lower height limits, some were even tamer at WMSP and yet the height limits and the OCD PC health and safety seemed somewhat bizarre, and frustrating - it made me think there had been some major incident but on searching, nothing major seems to have happened there, so I’ve no idea why the height requirements are so absurdly high! WMSP - take a look at the likes of Crealy or Paultons Park and please adjust!
Overall though we had a great time, would recommend staying in the lodges and think we will return in a few years!

Don't do it. What a horrendous experience. The drive through is absolutely rammed with no management of the traffic whatsoever. The right lane is suppose to continually flow but people just do what they like and stop anyway, totally grid locked like a traffic jam for 2 hours with no toilet available. You hardly see anything. Kids hated it.

The park itself is just a total rip off, wanting more money to go on some rubbish rides, several were shut anyway, as someone has mentioned already it seems the lodges are the priority and block alot of the areas to get a good look at the enclosures. You need to remortgage to afford a one night stay in one of them. Bet they make a fortune 😂 I've glad I've been the once so I know never go anywhere near the place again. Cheers!

Extremely rude and racist behaviour from the ticket officer, got complimentary tickets for not attending theme park and on arrival guy never accepted complimentary tickets and told me to purchase or go somewhere else. Absolutely ridiculous

The drive through was horrendous. 3 hours of two laned bumper to bumper stop and start traffic. Like the M25 on a bad day. 95% stationary 5% moving. We got about 15 minutes of quality viewing of the animals. The other 2hours 45 mins was just being stuck in a traffic jam. The rest of the park was good and the staff we encountered were very friendly and helpful.

Absolutely disgusting we booked on line and paid £94 for my family there safari and wrist band package.
When we got there the whole place looked tired and worn out but we didn't let that stop us.
Went went on the safari or should I saw spot the animal drive and was totally shocked at what wasn't there.
Apart from a few deer couple of rhinos and elephant there was 2 tigers 5 lions and 3 hyenas of a some giraffes certainly not a safari in my eyes.
A waste of 2 hours and all the traffic was ridiculous with no control or consideration.
When we went to the amusement park there system had failed and we didn't get our wristbands included in our purchase price the system had failed and didn't include them.
We were basically told unlucky and had to pay a further £37.
The staff there were terrible and had no customer service.
My son who had to wear a purple wristband could only go on 3 rides on his own because the height charts were all different.
On the log flume because my son had a purple wristband he could not go on but we showed the woman his height she said if we buy two more tokens he could go on.
I said does that mean he would have to take his purple wristband off she said no.
That said to me you cam do what you want if you pay more.
I would rate this place a minus 10 and that is being generous.
If I was you I would just put your money I. A pot and burn it you would get better satisfaction.
Simple answer don't go

Officially broke my Ribs on Monkey Mayhem, been liaising with West Midlands Safari Park, provided all documentation as proof.. their response below ( they clearly do NOT give a damn or have any care towards their customers) I would stay away from WMSP if I was you..

"Thank you for getting back to us with the photos, this has helped us locate the correct CCTV timestamps. We can see via the footage that you attended Monkey Mayhem at 4pm and after you had exited the ride, sat on the bench for a few minutes near the photo booth, before heading off into the Park.

We do clearly state on the ride information signage before you enter Monkey Mayhem: 'Caution Intense Ride'. The nature of the ride itself means that it can be fast, have sudden drops, shudders, twists and motions. We have had thousands of visitors on this ride but no incidents of this nature before.

Unfortunately, we are unable to establish that the injury was caused by the ride and are not able to accept liability for you injury at this time"

To see the Rhino ,Elephant's and Giraffe up so close was amazing , although the Hippo enclosure was not very good , the thing that spoilt the day for me was ,the aquarium is absolutely rubbish, you really do need to sort that out .

Disappointed is an understatement. I remember going as a child and it was great! I decided to take my family and it’s probably the worst place in the UK to ‘view’ animals. VIP cars and tour vans took priority over everyone else so when you got in to an enclosure you didn’t get to see anything as they were parked in front of the animals every time.

I felt very sorry for the animals as the park just seemed to be a massive traffic jam with a few zebras and rhinos. All those fumes surely can’t be good for them. I was shocked with the amount of cars that were allowed in at once and hardly any rangers about if anything were to happen. There was even a broken down car in the middle of it that was still there when we left… with the people in it still!

It didn’t get better in the park…. Completely run down, utterly filthy and the toilets were vile! No way did I change my baby in the changing cubicle it was absolutely disgusting. The toilets were covered in excrement and no cleaners in sight. The whole time I was walking around I felt dirty. Despite the signs advising to use hand sanitizer there actually was none when you eventually found a dispenser.

Then we come to the rides, only half filled so waiting times were longer. Workers having to give rides a push start! Most things closed due to be broken. Jesus the place is just falling to pieces and instead of putting money in to fixing rides, making better animal enclosures and generally keeping the place clean they are just making more of the safari lodges that cost you £1000 a night. It’s laughable and just shows this is a money grabbing establishment.

Would never go back. Annoyed that we wasted so much money going there and if you’ve had the same experience as us then don’t bother trying to get a refund as they don’t offer them.

Wish I'd brought a book, I was so bored, the drive through is a joke, 20 gates telling us to keep windows shut because of the dangerous few lions that where asleep and the deers looking things.. £16 for 3 cornets(cheaper inside) and saw a dozen animals as the rest where in hiding, more staff and empty fields than animals.
The giraffes where cool though.
Had more fun on the motorway here.
Would not recommend.

The park is looking very tired the animal reserve was awful hardly any animals at all just deer mainly all they seem interested in is the lodges the giraffes and elephants are all by them really was disappointing and we won't be returning the cost of food and drink is absolutely disgusting 50 pence for abit of sauce on a icecream 7 pound for 2 bottles of pop not even cold if this park wants to continue it needs to spend some money on it get some animals and improve the whole experience they certainly make enough money

Where to start?

- They increase the prices without warning.

- We arrived at the time we had booked, but the queue was so huge it took 45 minutes to just get in the gate.

- The place was packed. There were 2 lanes of traffic all the way around the park which were crammed full of cars. It was basically like paying to sit in a traffic jam for 4 hours.

- The safari park was so overbooked and with no stops for refreshments my four year old child had to pee in a carrier bag.

- On the occasion you got to see an animal up close then you can guarantee a minibus would be in front of you and block the view.

- Aside from the rhinos and giraffes which could easily be seen due to their size, all other animals were hard to see because of the overwhelming number of cars.

- The manually operated gates will close with no warning, and they damaged our car. What’s worse is that customer services will shirk responsibility because the “light was red”, even though there is no time between it changing from green and the gate quickly closing and striking your car! Imagine if level crossing barriers just turned red and immediately a train comes barrelling across.

- The driving tour took so long that we had barely any time to see the park attractions before it closed. Made even worse by…

- Queuing up for an ice cream for 35 minutes even though there were only 3 people in the queue while the world’s slowest kid dishes out ice cream like he’s trapped in a time warp.

- The food was all run out. Everything I asked for was gone, all that was left was chips.

- The elephants are caged away and can barely be seen.

+ The giraffes are beautiful and they come right up to the car.

+ The sea lion show was great.

I have been twice and both times stayed at the lodge. The family enjoy the experience very much. The second time was slightly more disappointing as we were told the animal feed was not free anymore; we managed to get them for free as we informed them we are staying at the lodge. The park is overall overpriced.

The lodge wasn’t cheap but was worth it for the experience (rhinos and giraffes lodges); however, the soft touches are lacking ie no facial tissues provided, mirrors were hung too high or low, faulty blinds, slightly stale bread and difficult to flush toilet.

Overall a good experience but can much improvements needed.

Very disappointed with our visit for my daughter's 7th birthday. The staff are very rude have no compassion for families with making a complaint.
Return ticket is a scam you cannot select your dates to return back.
When we arrived at the park entry prices had changed in price and the reception lady said it happens all the time prices change constantly. Another family coming behind had the same issues.
The safari drive was poor not many animals to see. The elephants and giraffe's was caged in around the house they build as a money earner which is disgusting prices to stay.
Most of the rides was not working and wasn't advertised they was not in use after paying extra for wrist bands .Disappointed with the place won't be returning. Chessington is a much better zoo for the same price.

Sadly my review aint the best for this place been here several times and its never been positive the park itself looks run down and depressing they make out its all about poor funding but its poor management,cost of a meal here is extortionate and very hard a normal family to afford even a drink of coke or pepsi is £4.50 and after paying £11.90 for a meal your landed with 50p charge for a tiny ketchup sachet its a bit wrong really and as for the park staff moral is miserable you can see none of them are really happy to be at work this place needs serious attention and so does the facilities for the wild animals i try be positive but theres nothing positive here just a place to take money and god knows what there doing with it all

I returned after 10 years to show my grandbabies the fantastic WMSP that myself and my children gre up with.. What a disappointment!!!! What use to take 2 hours to get around took 20 mins. Animals look thin and unloved there was very few about to see let alone interact with. Lots of fencing has been put up so its more like a very unkept zoo than a SP. They sell you animal food but loads of "don't feed" signs so came back with the 2 boxed we bought. The structures are old and unkept, focus seems to be on the lodges and fencing animals around them. It use to be such a beautiful well kept and loved safari park, it makes you cry to see it and what animals are left. Fair was fine it was a fair, the smaller animal enclosers and viewing galleries again dirty, unkept and grotty with thin, unhealthy looking species in them. SHAME ON YOU, owners are more money lovers running the place than the old animal lovers that use to be.