Forum: We thought the $2.50 admission price for bird park covered everything

After reading that Jurong Bird Park tickets would this month be priced at $2.50 for all local residents - the admission price when the park opened in 1971 - my wife and I decided that it was time for us to visit the attraction (Bird Park marking 50th year with $2.50 admission, Dec 30, 2020).

I couldn't even remember when we had last visited the park and we did not want to miss this wonderful anniversary offer. Tickets usually cost $32 for adults.

So we went on Tuesday. But our excitement in getting such a "steal" turned into utter disappointment when we found out that to visit every aviary (and there are five in the gated areas) and watch two shows, we had to each pay an additional $2.50 at each zone. This worked out to a hefty sum of an extra $17.50 per person.

So we ended up paying $20 each - by then we had no more money for our afternoon coffee - instead of $2.50 as advertised.

We saw later that the park's ticketing website said $2.50 was payable at each gated area, but we missed seeing that.

But that's not all.

We discovered later that as seniors aged 60 and above, we would usually need to pay only $15 for a ticket, which would have entitled us to enter every aviary and watch every show.

This would have been cheaper than the 50th anniversary offer.

Would the bird park care to comment?

Lim Boon Seng

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