Stirling, Blair Drummond Safari Park

I have rated this based on our day out last year. We had a great day out. There is a great play park for kids - this is the main place our kids want to go when they come to this safari park ! We headed straight there as that is what they all wanted to do. We had three 12 year olds and two eight year olds in our group ! We also really enjoyed the sea lion show which takes place two or three times a day in high season. Check the times of this show as you go in so that you can plan your day. There are other feeding times etc you can watch as well but we didnt. You can also pay as a birthday present to do something like feeding or looking after meerkats ! Its about £60 but for someone that would love that its probably worth it ! We drove through the compound that contained lions and bisons. And then we walked to look at giraffes, elephants, zebras and a few others ! All good fun. We didnt do the dodgems etc and we took our own picnic. You can take your own BBQ stuff as there are barbecues there. The 12 year old kids tried the flying fox over the water although it looked a big dodgy to me ! Could do with updating perhaps. And we went on the pedal boats on the lake which was relaxing. We were given life jackets so it seemed safe. So we had a good day out. There is also a good strawberry farm with play park right next to it if you are looking for things to do on other days of your stay. In fact the whole area between Stirling and the villages to the north of Glasgow such as Killearn, Fintry etc are lovely and there are nice country pubs in quite a few of the villages.

My college class and I went to the safari park for a day with my marketing lecturer. It was a reasonably good day out, the staff were helpful to a certain extent but some were unenthusiastic. Alan the bus driver was very helpful as he told us some useful information on the animals and park itself. Overall my class mates and i had a fun filled day out.I would recomend it to anyone. Have fun! :D

In normal circumstance I am an avid fan of Blair Drummond. The facilities are well thought out and there is plenty to do - not the case in September!

Visited and despite being charged full price everything apart from the animals of course was closed!!

Staff very non -existent and rude in some cases. Completley un-interested.

Very disappointed!

Should have had a warning on web page of some of closures, would have influenced us one way or another!

I thought it was a fantastic day out for the whole family. Value for money as we were entertained from 10am until close at 17.30 for £11 per adult and £8 per child. We took our own picnic so didn't need to spend extra cash on food and drinks. I would highly recommend to my friends. Great day out!

It is rubbish. Please people, do not spend your money on this place, it simply doesn't deserve the cah. It was £30 for just 3 people to get in. Honestly, you can't even really call it a 'Safari Park' can you. I mean on the driving thing there isn't even any monkeys. And it's pathetic how you have got to have tokens to get on the stupid rides. Go to Louden Castle, or Knowsley, or buy some clothes whatever. Do not come to this place!!!

blair drummond safari park is a brilliant day out for all ages! Loads to see and do all included in the ticket price. Sea lion show, birds of prey display, safari talks, boat safari, bbq's, etc. Staff were very friendly and helpful.

Our first trip to Blair Drummond was on Easter Sunday and we had a brilliant family day out. There was so much to see and do - it was very well laid out with ample space to move around to ensure that we got to see all of the attractions. There are plenty of picnic areas and the BBQ area ensured that basically everyone could get a seat when they were eating.

I would recommend driving around the animal enclosure when you arrive at first as it looked really busy later on in the day. Make sure you go to the Bird display and whatever you do don't miss out on the Sea Lion show - it's well worth the short wait.

I would absolutely recomment a trip. We took our 2 year old son and he loved it.

Good value for money, lots to do for the kids and parents. Great family day out. Best place in Scotland for a day out. Will need a whole day to do and see everything. Nothing bad to say.

Blair Drummond Safari Park is situated about 4 miles from Junction 10 on the M9. It's not far from Stirling and is roughly an hours drive from Edinburgh and Glasgow.

**OPENING TIMES**

The Safari Park opens at 10am and closes at 5.30ppm, with the last admission at 4.30pm. This is every day of the week!

**ADMISSION PRICES**

The cost to enter the park is £9 per adult and £5 for a child aged 3-14 years inclusive.

Senior citizens are £5 and people with special needs are £4!

Children under 3 are free.

If you check the local papers you sometimes find vouchers for children to get in free. Alternatively you can go on to their website and print off a voucher for a child to get free entry. There is only one voucher allowed per vehicle!

Coach Parties of 15 or more get special rates when booked in advance!

You can buy a guide book for £2 on admission. You will be asked when paying!

Your admission prices includes the following:

* Wild Animal Reserves

* Pet's Farm

* Performing Sea Lion Shows

* Giant Astraglide

* Boat Safari to Chimpanzee Island

* Adventure Playground

* Picnic and Barbecue Areas

*'Flying Fox'* Five-seater Pedal Boats

**PAYING AND GETTING IN**

When you arrive at the Safari park, You drive up a long driveway before reaching the booths to pay! The passenger usually pays rather than the driver so be prepared for that! There is a coach queue and a car queue!

You will know when you are in the right place as you approach an area which has 2 large Giraffes, which bend forward to each other to make an arch! It's ok these are not live animals and ate just a signpost!

You then drive through and follow the road round! You can see the animals to your left hand side on the drive up! You drive for about 2-3 minutes before you reach the car park, where you can get out and have a look around, or you can continue to follow the road and see the animals!

If you drive towards the animals you will drive past the BBQ area and picnic area and continue on to drive past the boating area!

There are 2 signs at the bottom of the road. One is animal reserves which is the way to the animals or way out! Continue to the animal reserves or you may have to pay to get back in!

**ANIMAL RESERVES**

The animal reserves can take up to about 30 minutes depending on what the volume of traffic is like! It took us about 20 minutes and it was quiet as some deer decided to walk in front of us! On this twisty road there was a slow speed limit that I can't remember now!

You see deer, camels, lions, tigers, bison and some other animals. Most people drive slowly on the way round to get a good look!

It is not advised that you open your windows or get out of your car! If you do happen to break down, there are signs telling you to stay in your car and sound your horn!

Be careful when driving round as we had a few impatient people who overtook us and nearly crashed into us! Also the safari vans can suddenly come flying past you! One almost hit my father in laws car and they were behind us!

I was always under the impression that the animals especially monkeys would come up to the car! Nothing like this happened to us! But when other relatives who were late in arriving said that the animals started to come up to the cars! It must just depend on the time of day!

Also there were no monkeys to be seen, so no need to worry on that score!

The elephants are behind fences and so are the Giraffes and the Zebra's! The Giraffes have 2 viewing points where you go onto a platform and see them high up! Watch out at the one nearest the water as the come quite close to go into their home!

**PERFORMING SEALION SHOWS**

There were 4 shows on the day we visited! These were clearly marked outside the Theatre where they are held! You can also not the times while you are paying! The 20 minutes show had 2 sealions who showed you their tricks of clapping, waving, catching rings, doing jumps, putting their litter in the bin and a few different tricks!

The theatre was on 3 sides round a pool for them to swim in! There were plenty seats when we went in! There is a buggy park in the entrance hall to allow your to park you buggy as you are not allowed it in the theatre area!

Outside the theatre there is a small pool area behind a glass partition and that allowed you to watch the sealions while the shows were not on! This does tend to get busy as soon as a show came out! Go when a bit quieter and there is not such a rush.

**GIANT ASTRAGLIDE**

This is situated next to the sealion theatre, and is very clear to see. It is free and we took our 3 year old on our knees to go down! It is staffed as well!

You take a rough feeling rug and climb right to the top of the slide! You then get to go in groups of 4 and go on the slide!

It is a fast and bumpy slide due to the rugs and watch out for carpet burns! I got a very sore one on my arm!

The only time I wouldn't advise this is straight after a sealion show as it gets very busy! We actually went on during the sealion show and found we never had to wait in line as it was a constant turn over!

**BOAT SAFARI TO CHIMPS ISLAND**

This boat is about a 15 minute journey round the lake and round the island where the chimps are! The staff on the boats slow down so they don't frighten the animals and they sometimes throw food to them! It's a quick journey and the chimps are only on the right handside of the boat you watch out for them!

The queues were long when we joined but 3 boats loaded together and loaded quickly so there wasn't too much a wait.

The best idea is for someone to join the line and everyone else sit a table nearby and then get in line when a boat comes in and before the crowd starts!

**ADVENTURE PLAYGROUND**

This sandy area has a pirate ship which involves a lot of climbing! The boat can be explored, but little ones need to be well supervised as it can get busy with older children.

Round the boat are lots of buckets and spades. The sand isn't wet on a hot sunny day so not much luck for building sandcastles!

There is 2 baby swings which there can be a long wait for. There are also tyre swings which are popular and a huge climbing frame that reminds me of a fortress and there is a slide from the first level and a huge twisty slide from the second one! of the adults went down with our 3 year old and complained of having to push themselves down as it is not that slide!

If you have older children this is ideal for them to burn off some energy while you have a coffee at the cafe just next to it! There is outdoor seating and this is an activity area which requires parental supervision!

**PICNIC AND BBQ AREA'S**

The BBQ area is just opposite the adventure playpark, while the picnic area is a little further down, with a few picnic tables but lots of grass to sit on if you bring a blanket or rug!

We didn't use the BBQ area, but a few families had brought the disposable BBQ's and we cooking on the main BBQ's with them. There was a sheltered area there too in case it rained, and a lot of people were sitting there!

We managed to get a table in the picnic area and it was a bit of a squeeze! It would be better to have a quite a few more tables! 14 of us squeezing into one table was a bit hard!

**FLYING FOX**

The flying fox is right at the bottom of the park near the way out sign! You take you seat thing up the stairs. The staff member helps you on and then off you go, across the water passing some near bushes and wham bam....... you've hot the stopper bit! OH MY WORD!!!!! It hurt my ankles! Only 2 of the 10 adults didn't take part in it! There is a height restriction and although I am tall enough, I had a few problems climbing on my seat. Meanwhile my Sister in law who is tall, found it hard having to crouch down to get on it

**FIVER SEATER PEDALOES**

We didn't actually go on these, but lots of people were on them, and shouted and waved to other members of their groups!

It appeared safe enough and the staff seemed well knowledgeable when it came to getting on and off them! These are next to the Flying Fox, so watch your head if someone goes over while you are underneath!

**PAYING ACTIVITIES**

FACE PAINTING costs £2 and is just before you get to the Astraslide. You have a choice of about 10 faces and you also get a free balloon.

There are a few shows like the dodgems and little kiddie rides which cost about 2 tokens per person. these are available at teh kiosk at £5 for 10 plus 2 free! Works out about 50p each and these are easily swallowed up if you have 2 kids or more!

**SHOPS AND KIOSKS**

There are a few kiosks around selling either food or drinks and ice creams!

These charge about the usual theme park prices.

There are also 2 shops which sell a variety of Safari animals and souvenirs as well as other things!

There is a cafe which sells hot meals and snacks, we only used this for a coffee when we arrived. There is also a kiosk which sells BBQ food which is cooked while you watch!

**OVERALL VIEW**

The Safari Park is a great day out. It does tire you out so be prepared, to be tired. The best time to go is during the week if you have some holidays or on a Saturday outwith holiday time or trips time!

The day we went was warm which made it a good day out but had it been raining, I don't we would have had such a good day.

It's cheaper to take your own BBQ stuff or take a picnic. That is what makes the day. Then you'll have more money for souvenirs when you leave!