Monkey World Reviews 37

I don’t know how anybody can give this place less than 5 stars, or be critical. It is a rescue centre, and reading the backstories of some of the residents packed an emotional punch.
Four of us visited and spent a lovely afternoon, in fact we were the last to leave. We were impressed with the whole place; from the size of the enclosures to how clean they looked. (We didn’t see every resident but didn’t expect to - its nice they have so many hiding places in their enclosure!) The Woodland Walk was lovely - just letting nature do its thing, with so many established trees. They’ve put up nest boxes for bats and birds, and left woodpiles. People might think it’s ‘overgrown’ or ‘unkempt’ - it isn’t.
Favourite bit was seeing the young Orangutans - just gorgeous.
So many of the residents here have had terrible, abusive lives before being rescued by founders Alison, Jim, and their team. It’s a comfort knowing the chimps that were rescued from a life of lab cage experiments, and the ones that had their teeth knocked out so they could be used as photographers props, don’t have to go through that unimaginable pain any more. We should be grateful that people like this exist - literally dedicating themselves to the plight of mistreated animals, and bringing about changes in the law with their campaigning.
We paid about £60 to get in and were happy to pay that to contribute in a small way to the residents’ upkeep.
We found the staff all friendly, food and drink was fairly reasonably priced, the play park was great and the gift shop was large and well stocked.

Sad to see the place looking tired, overgrown with bushes etc...most of the monkeys looked bored, only stimulation appeared to be bed sheets in their pens, the whole place looked tired and dated.
One area had a small pool, no water looked as though it had been empty for months, needs investment and a revamp. Even the gift shop was selling VHS tapes????
Heart of the place has been lost with the founders.

The most important aspect here are the animals, and they are very well catered for. Lovely big enclosures with plenty of stimuli.
The play areas for visiting children are good too.
My only negative view is the cafes. We didn't want hot meals just a bottle of drink and snack to walk round with.
At the first cafe near the entrance we bought sausage rolls but they were spicy with herbs and not what my 4 grand children like.
The bottled drinks were in short supply and the snacks were not child appropriate, no kit kats/twix or the like, but thick chocolate coated bars of whatever.
The 2nd cafe we tried for an ice cream but only had Vegan ice cream left. It was a hot day in school half term so should have had more supplies.
We did eventually find an ice cream stall further on with a lovely lady attendant, but the most popular flavours had sold out, vanilla and mint chocolate chip.

Monkey world is not a zoo,it’s a rescue Center for endangered primates and animals that have suffered at the hands of human beings in this country and the world .Alison the owner is truly a outstanding person and has given her life and passion to achieve what is monkey world and sister rescue Center Dao Tien her efforts are amazing.Our family have never missed an episode of the television series we have come to know the joy and sadness that the staff and animals alike have gone through,the likes of Jeramy and his love of the Chimpanzees especially is fantastic and all credit to him,Infact all the staff give 100% of their love to the well looked after animals.It was our pleasure to visit and the guided tour was great our son has adopted two of the animals Mimi Loren and the amazing Bart it was great to see them up close.A great place for anyone that cares thank you all . Warmest regards from the Jefferies family 🦧🐒🐵❤️

Amazing Place for everybody who Loves Animals . All of the animals Very Handsome and happy ! You can cuddle the monkeys and feed the birds. We Proud commend Monkey Land ! Just Visite you wont regret !!

Absolutely brilliant! We visited earlier in the week as it’s close to my in-laws.
Really noticed the fact that it’s not at all gimmicky like a standard zoo, you don’t feel like you’re being ripped off. Staff friendly & knowledgeable.

Saw literally no primates. No warning that when it is cold temperatures there’s a chance you won’t see anything . Extremely small area , walked round in 10 minutes. Rude staff demanding you to wear a mask in the open to protect the primates ? But there was none to see let alone be in close proximity too. Terrible experience. Much better to use the admission to visit the tank museum across the road. Would of had a more pleasant walk around the car park for free then what we paid for . Also no refreshments available either.

Arrived 3 minutes after 12Noon to be told they don't allow entry between 12 - 12:30 because the "man" is on his lunch break, I kid you not.

Whilst we were waiting, a woman came out of the park to get something from her car for her baby, they wouldn't unlock the gate to let her back in as the "man" was still on his lunch break.

Couldn't really see many of the monkeys as the glass was all dirty and steamed up, someone should show them how to clean glass so that it doesn't do that.

Spoke to 2-3 staff members whilst there and all of them were rude.

Save your money and visit another attraction.

If you want to support the animals, donate to an animal charity. This place is stuck in the 1970s.

Had a great day today (21/9/21) at monkey world. Great value and you weren’t ripped off inside either like so many other places. Some of the primates are really good at hide n seek 😁 but hey who is looking at who ????Patience is def required to see them.
Would def recommend to anyone.
Have to say staff were helpful and happy to talk.
Jim’s memorial is very moving. A good likeness to him and Charlie. Two good pals together.

Thanks to all for a memorable day.

Came away a bit disappointed from Monkey World. I've no doubt they do a brilliant job for their rescued primates, all of whom are housed in huge enclosures with plenty of things to do, but felt the visitor experience lacked any real Wow. No staff anywhere to answer questions or give directions and woefully inadequate signage – we struggled to find the way out. We also waited with several dozen people for a chimpanzee talk that never happened (no staff member turned up) and found practically everything on the menu unavailable at the woodland cafe. Given the huge size of the park, surely they could add some kind of arena where live talks are held with the keepers and where you can hear some of the rescue stories at first hand, watch videos and hear a few anecdotes about some of the characters who live there, to engage more as a visitor?

I am actually very disappointed with your venue and would like a refund as I did not stay at your venue and I paid a lot of money and came a long way to visit you. I understand that primates can catch covid but how can you force all your visitors to wear masks regardless of their medical issues and the fact that it is outside ? why is there not a one way system around the park ? indoor attractions where you are packed in like sardines and a park full of people I thought that the booking system would limit the amount of people at any one time I feel that me and my family were put at high risk by visiting yesterday and had to leave without seeing your attraction. disposable mask were being sold £1 a time but there are no other covid measures in place >

Face masks outdoors, sanitiser that is soap half the park closed

We visited Monkey World for June 2021 half term & organised the private tour. It was brilliant 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Ali was so knowledgeable & helpful & informative. The sanctuary itself is a haven for rescuing primates from all over the world. The only thing I was disappointed with was the variety & availability of food. It was really really poor. We also went to The Donkey Sanctuary in Sidmouth & the food there was INCREDIBLE 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 so perhaps Alison Cronin could have a look there ??? Other than that I highly recommend monkey world to anyone interested in learning more about primates & helping with their plight.

Really great day out. Brilliant value and friendly staff. Wonderful to see the primates.

Online Store - Not helpful

Visited Monkey World near Wareham, Dorset. Was not able to get her a soft toy. Phoned this afternoon and wanted to make enquiries about two of their chimps. Was told they could not help me as they were too busy and wanted me to ring back later. Why do they have a telephone contact for their online store if they are not willing to help customers?