Beale Wildlife Park — Attraction in Basildon

I was disappointed with this park day out, you pay quite alot to get in at £15.50 each person for the amount of stuff not in good condition and under construction.

They have take apart to many exhibits for renovation in one go and let other with plants grow to fill to much of the space so you can't see anything. The plant was done wrong on the first place by choosing the wrong plant varieties for the space. It felt like they had let most of the go to new homes or the had all slowly perished and not been replaced.

I was most unhappy with all of the water features not running as that's a massive part of the experience for the garden parts and it took all enjoyment out of it.

They had also taken down the info of the exhibits as were replacing it but it seem stupid as you surely order new signage before doing this if poeple are paying for entry.

The drink where horrendously expensive in the vans and you couldn't see what drinks the restaurant sold as there was no menu and the drinks are behind a counter. The queues were horrendous are all of the food stations.

The most disappointing thing was there was no vegan option on the menu in the pizza restaurant and the burger van obviously handles meats and doesn't have a separate grill for vegan. This caused massive problem for me as I was being a carer for somebody that was vegan. So I could not provide any food for them while we there at this site so I had to take them somewhere else.

There were some good things about the site, the child's Play area looked pretty good and there was a Splash/pool Park area, but at £15.50 per adult + what ever you pay for a child to enter I don't think it would be worth it for a family to go as I think it long-term...

Smallish wildlife park with nice ideas (lovely sculptures, nice pathways) but unfinished projects (closed areas without any signs of work, water fountain out of order, etc). Entering the park took way longer than anticipated, had to queue for about 15-20 minutes (despite we had pre-booked tickets), because they have not separated the pre-booked visitors queue from the queue for buying tickets at the gate. If you have a membership, you could enter quicker, though. The ponds would need some cleaning, but most importantly, some enclosures for the small and medium sized animal (meerkats, prairie dogs, porcupine, etc) looked very small, and the animals were going around their enclosure wall looking down and sad (one of the meerkats even tried to dig through under the gate). Bigger animals like emus, ponies, zebras, etc) had nice big pens, they were looking happier. The food options were okay, even though the prices were on the high side, waiting time for tables were not okay, though. Could be that we went there at the same time when everyone else did, but I found the waiting time a bit too long. The staff were super efficient though, and the waiting time for the food was alright actually, so as the food (with the exception of the children hamburger, which was only a bun and a burger patty, nothing else. Good thing that there were quite a selection of free sauces and condiments at our disposal to spice it up, but still. Overall, I must admit, this place didn't live up to my expectations (or rather having visited Birdworld a few times has raised the bar...

We came here on a whim, taking a detour off the M4 travelling back to Wales from Wembley. Wanted to make the most of the day and not just spend it driving so a quick Google search for Animal attractions nearby brought up Beale Wildlife Park so we thought we'd give it a go and we're SO glad we did. We had a brilliant afternoon (two adults and a nearly 12 year old). There's plenty of animals to see, and I especially recommend going to see the Binturongs. They're incredible to look at. With your entry price they give you a ticket for the little train which takes you past half of the park. There's different play areas, a paddling pool and plenty of places to sit with a picnic (just watch out for the free roaming peacock who likes to help you clean up your crumbs) We had a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon and would definitely recommend a visit if you're in area. Compared to alot of places with similar to offer, the entry price is reasonable and they offer Blue Light discount also. The gift shop is pricey, but what gift shop isn't? They have some lovely things there though....much less tat than you would usually find in a gift shop.

All the staff we encountered were friendly and happy to chat to you. Sadly, the snowy owl was off display while they await a new enclosure. My daughter was a little miffed as owls are her favourite but the rest of the afternoon and the other animals made up it.

All in all we really enjoyed our off the cuff visit.

A little gem tucked away that is well...