Cotswold Wildlife Park & Gardens — Attraction in West Oxfordshire

EDIT. Unfortunately I have had to review my rating due to disability discrimination issues. The park is pretty accessible in certain circumstances. But I really feel they have missed the entire point of carers and why it's not acceptable to charge those who require a carer. The vast majority of attractions offer free carers tickets to those in receipt of carers allowances. This is because the law states no one should be forced to pay more simply because of disability. It's impossible for many people to access the park without help. Come on management this place is heaving in summer! You aren't losing money. You have a brilliant changing places toilet yet don't seem to grasp that people using it require another person to help them use it! Then you have the fact that not everything is actually accessible. Disabled people don't all have a wheelchair. Your ticketing system prevents disabled people attending. Releasing tickets 4 days beforehand means it's near on impossible to plan a day out if you need to travel and to book carers. Same with your scooter hire. I'd love to sit down and hash this out with whoevers idea all this was. Someone is going to end up challenging the legality of charging for carers and the park will end up paying out. You can't charge the same for less amenities! Please rethink.

Love this place and have visited for many years. Getting in was a palaver as it took longer to get from Burford roundabout than it did to get the there from Oxford! Some information via social media would have helped. We had no idea why the queue was so long and as we had already purchased tickets we waited. Once in the park you weren't aware of how busy it was unless you wanted food/ drinks /toilet. If you wanted the train you'd be better off later in the day as the queue was insane. Everything was pretty much as I remembered. I didn't quite understand why they had closed off one end of the walk through bird/wallaby /tapir enclosure? It made it a bit of a trek to walk back out again instead of simply adding pads to the exit. Especially as the entry ones had dried out. That was the only disappointing part of the place. Many animals weren't there and the ground around the wallabies was dry and simply mud. Overall its a great value day out. Take a picnic and be prepared to wait a while to actually access the park. If they didn't charge for carers this would be a great day out for all. They have really let themselves...

I first noticed the wildlife park over twenty years ago whilst passing through the area. As someone who enjoys visiting such places I promised myself I would one day find the time to visit. Finally, last week, I kept that promise. It did not disappoint.

Upon arrival the six coach loads of school children did make me consider turning around and going home again, however, I’d already paid for the tickets the evening before - very easy service to use and I love that it tells you how many tickets are left when you book. FYI there were 299 still available when I placed my booking. Thankfully the park is so large and so well laid out the only time we encountered any little people was as they began a talk at one of the cages, so we were lucky enough to be able to move around them.

I’ve never visited a place before which has so many seating areas, food huts, picnicking areas or toilets, all evenly spaced around the park and the toilets were exceptionally clean - something I was surprised by with so many kids around.

I have regularly logged onto their penguin website over the years, and having arrived around feeding time was expecting it to be exceptionally busy; again I was pleasantly surprised - as I was throughout the whole of my visit - by how quiet each encounter and area was.

From the tiny mice, to the donkeys, giraffes and rhinos the animal areas are well laid out, a really decent size and very open, ensuring you get to see the animals without having to stare through multiple layers of wire fencing. Obviously the lions are safely caged but they have large, clean glass areas for viewing at several sports around their home, and the raised area above the wolves is just perfect.

The children's play area made me want to be a kid again and I think they are missing a trick by not replicating it for adults! I was genuinely surprised at how many people had dogs with them. First park I’ve ever visited that allows them, or at least that I’ve seen any at. Thankfully all the owners - bar one who thought it entertaining to allow her dog to bother the pigs in the farm area - were well behaved.

The staff on site were friendly and helpful, happy to chat about the animals they were tending, or keeping an eye on.

My only disappointment of the day was the fruit bats. At another well known park you are able to walk through their enclosure; here you can only view them through a...

This place offers an amazing day out! To save money and ensure easy entry make sure you book in advance online!

We arrived, got through the check in easily and drove straight in without queuing. Car parking was easy as we were guided in by a number of parking attendants who gave every car plenty of space.

After a short walk we were in the park.

I visited here a lot as a young boy and have always had fond memories of the place. 40+ years on, the wonders they offer still don't fall to impress!

The animals appear to be well cared for, healthy looking and seem to be given the space they require. The huge range of animals to see is fantastic. We saw so many, including lions, leopards, rhinos, giraffes, zebras, camels, monkeys, lemurs red pandas, wolverines, meerkats, tortoises, wolves, a large selection of birds along with various reptiles, insects and amphibians.

There is an affordable train that takes you around the park. You go in a large loop of the park and can see a lot of the animals as you ride in it.

For younger children, the adventure playground seemed very popular and brings back memories of time there as a child.

I didn't use the cafes or restaurant during this visit, but they seemed popular and the food others had looked good. Inside looked very busy, but there were plenty of tables available outside.

There are maps dotted all over the park so you can plan where you are going as you wander.

Some of the park is only accessible if you don't have a dog with you (I don't own one, and wouldn't consider bringing one to a zoo if I did!!) but I overheard several dog owners who seemed unhappy at the restrictions - maybe don't bring a dog to a zoo full of animals!? 🙄

Due to the large size of some of the paddocks, the park is spread out over a fairly large area. To see all of it does require a fair amount of walking, but it is all flat so doesn't require a lot of fitness.

We spent almost 5 hours here and saw everything. I could have easily spent even longer, as alongside the animals the range of plant life is astonishing. They really keep the park in great condition and free of rubbish.

We will...