Overview

After reading previous reviews I was a bit worried about our day at the zoo in my chair because it does not handle even very slight steps, I cannot get over the threshold at my mother's house for example (she has a ramp and gets in and out in her chair no problem) and even dropped kerbs can be a challenge if they aren't totally flat. The road to the car park is very narrow and windy and I couldn't reach to get a ticket meaning my poor partner had to get out and walk around to get one holding up the queue. Lots of reviews say there's only 4 blue badge spaces but there's at least 10. I ended up going into one of the end ones and it was a challenge to get into the space properly due to the wall beside it not being straight. It was an even bigger challenge to get out without hitting the wall where it sticks out! The car park is on a very steep hill, I wouldn't fancy it in a manual chair to be honest but going very slowly in my electric chair it was fine. On arrival the person at the desk warned me that lots of electric wheelchair users run out of battery due to the hills. This wasn't a concern of mine because I've used it on less than ideal terrain loads of times and I have a special enhanced mode for things like steep hills. I have to say she came across like she didn't believe me but I understand why if it's happened to loads of people before she was doing the right thing by warning me. There's a disabled toilet right as you go through the entrance so I decided to go to the toilet since I wasn't really sure where the next one would be. The toilet absolutely stunk of pee, there was what was probably pee all over the floor and I had to clean the toilet before I felt I could use it (I always carry a travel pack of toilet wipes in my bag). The toilet had some grab rails, including a pull down one but no alarm cord. It clearly should have one as the reset box is on the wall but there was no actual cord. There was sufficient space to move around and even turn my chair which is usually my problem in toilets. I'm slightly ambulatory so can stand to transfer but there would be sufficient space next to the toilet to allow for a slide transfer. They give you an accessible map if you need one and it shows you steep hills and hills that are too steep for a wheelchair, of which there's only actually one. However their app is great! I didn't see it telling me this anywhere but I figured it out when I was messing about. If you go to the map and choose where you want to to (to an animal or restaurant etc) you can click get directions. Once the directions map comes up there's a "route options" button and if you press that you can choose only wheelchair and pushchair friendly routes. I thought this was brilliant and in an ideal world people should be told this at the desk so they know this is available. You only have to choose the option once and any new route you ask for will use that option. It's like a sat nav for the zoo, brilliant for me with my terrible sense of direction! It categorises "steep" and "very steep" hills but I have to say what it considers steep I would say is very steep. It comes up with a warning if there is no suitable route but it told me I couldn't get to the capybaras from where I was and I managed, there was a very steep little bit of hill but I got down it fine. The hills weren't really a problem for me on my enhanced mode but I didn't attempt the one it says isn't suitable. The actual terrain was challenging in places though and my chair was often slipping and veering off to the side because of loose terrain. I did manage though and I didn't crash or anything. We only went into one of the cafes but that was also fine in terms of accessibility. I could see most of the animals, some of the viewing areas I couldn't see over the fence/wall but usually there was another area where I could see from. There is a lack of dropped kerbs as other reviews say and some of the pavements are very narrow. Thankfully I noticed this before going on one to see an animal as there would have been no way for me to get back down as there was only a dropped kerb at one end and I definitely couldn't have turned or reversed due to how narrow it was. I tended to stay on the roads and other than that one animal I couldn't see from the road due to being so low down this wasn't a problem. Get your ticket validated in the entrance building and you don't pay for parking if you have a blue badge, although no one actually asked to see mine and I guess just made the assumption when they seen my chair. When we left I decided I should have gone to the toilet before driving home but it turns out there's actually a toilet in the car park. It's a very weird toilet with 2 toilets and 2 sinks but totally useable and much cleaner than the entrance toilet had been which surprised me. Again though no pull cords but there wouldn't be anyone to answer them there anyway as it's far away from the building. We really enjoyed our day but I do think less powerful electric chairs would maybe struggle. There's a little bus though that can take 1 wheelchair and a couple of passengers and the number to call for it is on the accessible map. I didn't use it but I did see it driving by us a few times so it seemed quite well used.

Transport & Parking

There's about 10 disabled spaces, try and avoid the ones next to the wall if you can. The wall is not straight making it difficult to get in and out of the space. The car park isn't huge and is shared with the hotel, it's also on a steep hill.

Access

Most things were accessible. There was a definite lack of dropped kerbs but I just went on the road for the most part. I could see most of the animals but there were some things I could see over because of walls or fences. The terrain wasn't great and my chair slipped a lot and veered off to the side. It's very hilly, I definitely wouldn't attempt it in a manual chair or if pushing a chair. In those circumstances use the little bus instead.

Toilets

Great in terms of size and amount of space but not clean and no pull cords.

Staff

We spoke to the staff at the desk and a few volunteers we bumped into and all of them were really nice

Photos