Crocodiles of the World — Attraction in West Oxfordshire

We were very excited to visit here as a family. We were sorely disappointed upon arrival.

Firstly, it was way too busy. Grown adults were shoving my three year old out of the way in order to take photos of the animals. The one-way system makes no difference whatsoever. It just creates points at which people bottle-neck. Also, considering the sheer number of people who were there (and the fact that there is not one, but two cafes on such a tiny site), the two female toilets were not sufficient. The impression is given that making money is king, and the customer experience is second to this.

The car park is a very-tight shambles and the buildings themselves seem to have wood chip boarding everywhere (See photos). The glass of the enclosures was dirty (it was hard to see some of the animals through it!) and multiple cases had cracked glass.

I also found it disappointing that so much of the ‘greenery’ was dead. There are species that thrive in tropical conditions. It seems unnecessary to have dead plants everywhere (in AND out of the enclosures).

I understand the temperatures have to be high for the animals, but the temperatures in the main croc house are ridiculous. We left 2 minutes into the feed as we were physically pouring with sweat. Many people followed behind us before the feed/talk was over. I imagine it may of been bearable had their not been so many people in there, which was a real shame.

Very expensive at £44 for a family for an hours experience (max).

Despite all of the above, it was enjoyable at points! The animals are interesting and unusual. It just needs to be dramatically cheaper, have timed-slots with maximum visitor capacity, and have a general tidy/fix up.

My review rating is so low as the problems I encountered today are all in reviews from up to (and over) a year ago and, evidently, nothing has been done to rectify any of the issues, despite...

My almost 4 year old loved crocodiles of the world and has told everyone from nursery and strangers we meet about meeting real crocodiles.

The main animal attractions are great. The crocodile house is really well planned out. There was a mix of being able to see into the water of the enclosure and walkways above so different views were available in different enclosures. The enclosures themselves looked appropriate and interesting for the crocs too.

We went during the pandemic (May 2021) and the one way system worked really well and while we had to queue a small amount to get in it was not over crowded inside.

There are some tortoises, otters and meerkats which were also enjoyable.

My one issue was to get between the two sides of the zoo you have to go through the gift shop. While I accept this on exit is inevitable it meant going around the zoo 4 times as we did going through it 4 times. Wasn't the end of the world it's just a bit of a pain with a child who then wants toys etc.

I didn't have any food but there is a large area for picnic tables next to some basic play equipment.

Update April 2022: I have been back 5 times and loved it each time.

Most restrictions no longer in place but the main one way system works well both to distance a bit and keep things organised. Croc feeding is also back on which is pretty awesome to see.

They are investing in the park which is great to see as they have made a new enclosure for the fishing cat with a bridge across the path and I believe are looking to make a bigger crocodile house as the 25 Nile crocodiles grow. Prices have gone up a little since I first went but I still think it's a great value day out. Having an annual ticket option would be good as my son loves it.

Still not had the food there not really my kind of thing but there are two cafes and loads of outdoor seating for...

I don't know how some people say it is only 30 minutes to get round there. We spend 2.5 hours and still hadn't seen it all. Was fun going around the crocs. There were also some snakes, lizards etc. Was fun to find them in their homes as some were well camouflaged. The encloses, although small, were clean and the animals all look happy. We just missed the feeding of the Meerkats but heard the talk on them. We did see the feeding of the crocodiles. Luckily got there early. found just one bench seat that had two people sitting there. I was able to take up the third space with my grandson. It was so hot in there, I would have passed out had I been made to stand. Not their fault, the crocs need the heat. Luckily I had a fan with me and used that. The feeding was great. We were just by the glass side, and several of the leapt up into the air and sliding down the glass side. You can tell by all the scratches on the glass, they are used to doing that. Downside was couldn't understand a single word the guy was saying, it was very muffled. Other people said the same thing. We had lunch in the cafe. Now that was disappointing. my baguette was horrible. The cheese and ham was fine and I ate that, but the baguette. I have never seen such a white baguette in my life, it was as though I had not been cooked. It was terribly dry. An attempt had been made to put the smallest amount of butter or whatever on it, but that did no good, the baguette was still white, dry and inedible. For £7.29 that was very expensive. Excluding the cafe, we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. Will be coming back again to see the parts we missed. We went on a Saturday, didn't find it extra busy although car park quite full...