White River Gardens is a botanical garden located at White River State Park in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Established in 1999, the gardens are managed and operated by the Indianapolis Zoo. In 2021, White River Gardens' 3.3 acres was home to nearly 50,000 plants of more than 3,000 species.
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Before I begin I want to say that this is in no way critical of the person that helped us. He was very polite and informative and I know he was just enforcing policy. However. We were absolutely FLEECED for a $250 photography fee, called a “sitting fee”. There is no transparency about this astronomical fee on their website, FAQ, or initial call to the facility.
Other outdoor venues in the Indy area (think Newfields, Garfield Conservatory, etc.) charge $50 or below for their photography fee. We informed them that we would be only there for an hour (the fee is for full day attendance). No change to the price. We informed them that there were only three of us (the fee is adjusted for four people). No change to the price. We told them that we’ve had professional pictures taken at the zoo in the past without prior knowledge of the sitting fee with no issue. No change to the price.
Overall, I feel like I’m being financially punished for doing the right thing and going through the humiliating process of paying extremely high prices for what?? An hour of pictures??. And, this venue holds a special place in our hearts, we got engaged here. I feel so burned in so many ways. Never again. Beware future guests!
Edit* the day we arrived for an hour of pictures not a SINGLE person asked for our “sitting fee” or asked why we were on the premises with camera gear at all. Even when I voluntarily added that information at the gate not a person acknowledged or cared. Three uninterested nods later I actually laughed. I am still thinking about this highway robbery...
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Gorgeous in the spring and summer. Free admission with Zoo admission. This garden is the gem of Indianapolis. It's not only beautiful and well maintained, they have an indoor butterfly "garden" as well. In the gardens there are nice, picturesque almost private little nooks to rest in, a big beauful space for weddings, fountains, ponds, water lilies, a zillion different flower species and some whimsical animal statuettes. At first I felt the whimsy was out of place. The next time I went, I really looked at them and they are fun and one particularly hilarious statuette of 3 ducks walking on the edge of a pond and the middle duck is expounding with his wing, and looks like he wants to push that duck into the water. This one gave me the biggest laugh! This place is definitely a must-see in...
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The botanical garden is not seperate from the zoo. I want to see plants at the botanical garden, not animals that don't belong here in pathetically small cages.
I wanted to walk thru the gardens at 3pm, an hour before closing and the required combined charge is $30. There is no discount option for late entry or separate fee for visiting the botanical garden. I refuse to sponsor animal kidnapping and showing off as false conservation. If there was a true conservation, they would dedicated all of the space to local endangered animals like the woodrat or Indiana bat, and more on the...
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