Yorkshire Wildlife Park Reviews

Lots to see, brilliant

Its a fabulous local park and all the animals have great enclosures and appear to be well-cared for.

We visited in December for the winter illuminations and had a fabulous time. My only complaint would be that the footpaths in some areas were very poorly light, and some of the walks between different sections are very far (especially for small children). There should be several routes you can follow (clearly signed) so that if you are less able to walk long distances you can have a break or modify your journey through the park

Animals kept in huge enclosures, especially the Polar Bears with their own lake.
Lions enclosure is brilliant, as is the Tigers. ALL the animal enclosures are very well kept.
Plenty of eateries. Lots of seats dotted around. Pathways generally even and very clean. Very pleasant and easy to wander round. Photography is very easy.
We stayed at the Hex Hot 50metres from the entrance. Brilliant Hotel. Very comfortable beds. Clean and room maintained well. Great shower. Lovely towels. Only slight problem.....Disabled Parking is a bit of a hike.

I booked day tickets for myself and my daughter along with mobility scooter hire only to find on arrival they had misrepresented disabled accessibility.
There is a very long walk from the Blue Badge parking area to the reception where we could collect the scooters.
Although the Park may say they cater for people in wheelchairs those with mobility issues are unable to tackle the long walk and there are no staff within the parking area to assist.
Admittedly, the Park do say it is possible to drop disabled visitors near to the reception the drop off point, in my experience it is still too far and in any case does not cater for when all people in the car have mobility issues. They still have a long walk up the path.
They have not made reasonable adjustments to enable ALL disabled people to access the Park.
On complaining about the misrepresentation about the access and requesting a refund I have been completely ignored by the Company even though my request contained constructive suggestions which could improve the situation.
The Park do not appear to care about the customers experiences so long as they have your money which they ensure they do not have to return.

Yorkshire Wildlife Park Wild Live Safari Night, Attended Russell Watson Concert 20/08/22. Russell was great, YWP were extremely poor in design, information & management at the ingress phase. Email directions gave Google postcode which takes you to the ready mixed concrete business next door. Maps don’t link event to parking. Hive & Wildlife Park car park is same car park, no signage referring to event parking. No staff in car park. Having driven up & down Hurst Road looking for concert parking, we gave up and parked in main Wildlife Park car park hoping it wouldn’t be closed after park closed. Eventually worked our way through shopping/ restaurants to ticket booth to be greeted by first member of staff since entering. At ticket box staff dismissive of incorrect postcode “I must be mistaken”. Give me a map that did not show the location of the event, told to walk through wildlife park and closed his window. Still no signage or directions until at other side of park down a lot of long, winding paths, then staff stood in groups of 2 or 3! Pedestrians directed across roads of priority parking traffic, once in the event field, gold silver & bronze sections divided with metal fences, this seemed well designed. Pitching up is a bit of a free for all to ‘claim your space’. Arrived in a bad mood & didn’t get chance to browse merchandise or food, spent the entire evening wondering if car would be in locked car park! On exit again not much direction from staff, pedestrians, mobility scooters, prams & people carrying large picnic baskets & children directed across priority car park exit road and left to wander through the wildlife park back to Wildlife main car park. Walkways were well lit with fairy lights but it is quite a long walk on some uneven terrain. Again no staff guiding through Hive or car park exits. When you’ve been once I think you know what to expect, for first timers be prepared to wing it a bit, expect a long walk, staff smile & are friendly but ineffectual. I would suggest they provide a map which shows the event location in relation to the car park and the path through the park, signage in the car park showing event parking & which number car park your are in would also help, as well as relocating some of the staff at entry & exit times to the car park. Google maps is no help at all, the venue is new and shows fields next to a ready mixed concrete works.

Amazing place animals are looked after very well and look happy and healthy. Animals have alot of room to roam around and you get very close to them with hardly any chain fences. staff are very helpful and knowledgeable nothing is too much bother
Have just bought annual passes
The place is clean and tidy.
ONLY DOWNSIDES:
FOOD AND DRINK OVER PRICED
AND SHOP QUITE EXPENSIVE

Amazing park, highly recommend, we’ve held an annual pass for years now. The animals are so well looked after that I sometimes feel they have come to see me, the space is amazing and the staff even better, we love going as always something to do. The only slight negative I would have is how expensive ice cream and drinks are. Apart from that highly recommended there’s plenty of picnic spaces and toilets are clean and plenty of bins. It seems no matter how busy the park is it’s so big so you can see all the animals. We love the park !

Had a FANTASTIC day at this park including the most AMAZING Carnivore Experience. Our ranger was knowledgeable, friendly, helpful and did her very best for us. The range of animals we were able to feed and observe ‘up close’ was brilliant and breathtaking.
A day I will always remember.
I wish there were more than 5* to give this truly spectacular park.