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Tropical World

Tropical World, Leeds: Hours, Address, Tropical World Reviews: 4/5

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Tropical World

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Tropical World
4
2,374
#40 of 303 things to do in Leeds
Nature & Wildlife Areas • Gardens
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10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Monday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Tuesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Wednesday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Thursday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Friday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Saturday
10:00 AM - 6:00 PM
Sunday
10:00 AM - 4:00 PM
About
Tropical World at Roundhay Park is one of the most well-loved family attractions in Leeds and only three miles from the city centre. At Tropical World you can take a trek through the rainforest; stopping off briefly in the outback of Australia before a quick excursion through the desert, and all in the same morning! It is home to some old friends that include rare birds, crocodiles, butterflies, bats, spiders, snakes and the meerkats - the cutest family in Leeds. It re-opened in March 2015. This follows some stunning renovations that include the aquarium area transformed into a new Amazon themed zone where you can see new residents including piranhas and salamanders.
Suggested duration
1-2 hours
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We rank these restaurants and attractions by balancing reviews from our members with how close they are to this location.
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Popular mentions
4.0
2,376 reviews
Excellent
1,036
Very good
771
Average
303
Poor
137
Terrible
129
David B
3 contributions
Where are the Animals?
May 2022 • Family
This place has massively gone downhill since lockdown. Lots of empty tanks. Seemed like half of the fish were gone. Very few butterflies and no meerkats. The nocturnal area has a lizard and some hedgehogs. I would estimate a third of the Animals have gone. Despite being far less to see the prices have gone up! I thought this was discraceful. We'd gone round it all in half an hour and could have seen most of this for free at a pet shop. Surely if your removing exhibitions then the price should reflect that. A fiver would be more than enough to pay for this. On a positive note we had a great time at Roundhay Park and that is well worth a visit
Written 15 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Dustyreview
Milnsbridge, UK74 contributions
Poor and unkempt
May 2022 • Family
I used to bring my boys here over 30 years ago when it was free and it was great. Yesterday it was £7.60 each and I can only describe it as unkempt, shabby and poor; so much so I had to keep apologising to my relatives for recommending it. The positive was the butterflies were still good and there were quite a few, there were a few huge fabulous ones, and they were free to flutter around. The negatives include tanks with murky water, empty streams, dead plants, no meerkats (they did say no meerkats so we knew before entering) …. but what was upsetting was the single lonely animals that appeared bored and depressed including a monkey and an iguana.

Maybe they couldn’t look after it during covid? …… it needs a good revamp now.

The cafe sells products with palm oil - really!!!
Sorry but I can’t currently recommend it
Written 15 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Neil B
Harrogate, UK29 contributions
Passed an hour
May 2022 • Family
Called last wkend. Pre-booked tickets. It passed an hour but that was it. Kids enjoyed. I think for what u pay it could b better. Also pigeons flying around the cafe/food area ain't ideal
Written 7 May 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Amanda R
1 contribution
Great for the kids
Apr 2022 • Family
The butterfly house was bursting with different species of all different colours and sizes. All of the fish tanks and enclosures were immaculately clean and you were able to get up close with all the different creatures within them. All the staff encountered were friendly and the cafe was spotless.

Upon previous visits tropical world was a little tired. However someone, somewhere is doing a marvelous job of turning this place around. A great day out with the kids. I would highly recommend.
Written 23 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Kelly B
1 contribution
Absolute disgrace
Apr 2022 • Family
This was an absolute disaster from start to finish, we pre booked our tickets online thinking that this would be the quickest entry option (otherwise what’s the point in having that as an option) we got there and there was a massive queue, a queue just to get in - all pre booked and none pre booked entries had to queue in the same queue, I know they can’t control the weather but it was raining and cold and there was 1 person behind the counter, I’d estimate we queued for about 30 mins and almost all of that was outside, if we hadn’t of pre booked we wouldn’t of stayed, we would have left and gone elsewhere - I wish we had of now. We got in there and I can’t believe they actually charge people to get in, it was terrible, it’s not we’ll maintained, there’s empty enclosures, there was about 5 butterflies, places where there should have been streams completely empty of water, it was unclean and unkempt, everywhere looked shabby and dirty, we saw quite a few signs saying animals were ill, we felt that the entry fee wasn’t going towards animal welfare, we are avid animal lovers and it made me sad walking round there, the animals didn’t look like a priority, in my opinion it should 100% be about the animals, it was basic, we’ve been to the tropical butterfly house (Sheffield) before and although it’s twice as expensive for adults and almost 3 times as much for kids it’s about 100 times better than the pathetic show of animals and things to do. If we’d have known it was so poor we wouldn’t have wasted our time, it’s not even about the money because after visiting I hoped our entry fee would go towards the animals as it needs too. It took us about 45 mins to walk around and then that’s it, there’s absolutely nothing else for the kids to do, unless you want to spend money in their gift shop or cafe, but then that’s only the company that’s benefitting again! I think the gift shop was as big as the rest of tropical world. We left after 45 mins! My children are 11 and 8 and it’s by far, hands down the worst place that we’ve ever taken the kids and we’ve been to hundreds of different places. Also, I’ve never left a bad trip advisor review in my life but I felt so strongly about this place that I felt that I had too! If anyone is thinking of going - DON’T - it’s an absolute disgrace!
Written 12 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Today
7 contributions
Palm oil as a sandwich ingredient
Apr 2022 • Family
This review is just of the cafe. Customer service needs to improve. I asked for 3 kids lunch boxes. I was told I could swop the contents if I wanted so I asked to have all with same type of biscuits. The assistant then said ‘well I don’t know what kind of biscuits are in them’? This is just one example the service at the counter was just not great. One other concern is the sandwich ingredients list palm oil which seems a bit off message for a cafe connected to rainforest conservation?
Written 11 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
reviewlover
United Kingdom904 contributions
Bit overpriced for what it was
Apr 2022 • Family
I had heard good things about tropical world so took my little nephew who was up visiting from down south. The price seemed reasonable to start with, until we got round the whole place in about 35 minutes. I think the place itself is a nice visit but more could be done to engage kids, otherwise it’s better to spend more money and travel further to a bigger venue that might charge a bit more but will take more of your time and be a bit more informative.
Written 8 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Dawn T
Drighlington, UK2 contributions
Disappointed
Apr 2022 • Family
Visited today with my grandchildren 6 of us ,very disappointed not worth the money, needs a update hardly any animals to see .
Written 8 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Daniel E
1 contribution
Waste of money
Apr 2022 • Family
Tropical World has gone severely downhill since coronavirus. A lot of the previous exhibits that we would visit to see are either too few, too shabby conditions or long gone. The fruit bats, slow lorises, leaf cutter ants have since been removed plus several others. The waterfall was broken and the large tank below it was swimming with leaves but no fish.
The price has gone up yet again- why?
We always come first thing in the morning and as such was no queue at all at 10am and were first through the door. I recommend anyone else wanting to avoid the queues to do the same.
Our boys enjoyed the piranhas and a new exhibit, the squirrels, which were great and fun to watch as they scampered around yet this was the highest point of an otherwise dull, dull 30 minutes. They were bored and finding the animals in their tanks etc was a chore as so many that were empty or dishevelled. We saw 3 butterflies in total and this set the tone for the rest of the visit.
The gift shop looked much improved since our last visit but after leaving we decided that we would not come back until reviews pick up again as, for the price and the experience, it’s just not worth it. Another visitor summed it up in saying that rats and cockroaches don’t inspire or excite…even the rats enclosure was empty with a warning that staff know that one of the rats has a lump and for customers not to worry.
Today’s visit was a waste of money and a bit of a joke.
Written 7 April 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
Jkb
1 contribution
Awful!
Mar 2022 • Family
I was annoyed from the offset, going to buy a ticket felt awkward interrupting 4 staff having a chat and eating which I'm far from against but customer service was appauling. The lady that served me didn't even look at me when I paid and she handed me the receipt.
Literally nothing to see. Empty tanks and enclosures galore, fish tanks dark, dull and dirty waterfall feature not working. We paid at 11:16am and left at 11:35am, my daughter was genuinely more interested in the fountain in the gardens. So disappointing
Written 29 March 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC.
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Frequently Asked Questions about Tropical World
Tropical World is open:
  • Sun - Fri 10:00 - 16:00
  • Sat - Sat 10:00 - 18:00