Accessibility
Yorkshire Wildlife Park has made every effort to make the park accessible to all guests.
Pre-Arrival
For full details of directions to the park, public transport to the park and an interactive map showing our location, please visit our “How to Get Here” page.
Manual Wheelchairs
A limited number of manual wheelchairs are available to pre-book. Guests are welcome to bring along their own wheelchair or mobility scooter.
Mobility Scooter Hire
A limited number of electric powered mobility scooters are available to hire from our Guest Services office.
Child Stroller Hire
A limited number of single or double Child strollers are available to hire from our Guest Services office.
Cafés
YWP has 5 main eateries throughout the park, with additional snack bars open subject to seasonality.
- Safari Café serves bistro food and is accessible via a double-width door. The upper level of Safari Café can be accessed by stairs within the café, or via the entrance to the toilets in the courtyard through two single width doors.
- Monkey Playhouse Café is located adjacent to the Safari Courtyard, opposite the Tsavo Lodge. Monkey Playhouse serves fast food and is wheelchair-friendly with two sets of double doors and a lowered counter. Staff are on hand to assist if needed. Access from the courtyard to Monkey Playhouse Café is level and paved.
- ¡Caramba! is located in the centre of the park, to the left of the crossroads. ¡Caramba! café is an outside café serving South American food. Access to outdoor seating areas in ¡Caramba! is via flat pathways. A central roofed area contains picnic benches with end space to accommodate wheelchair users.
- Masai Café is situated at the far side of the Park near the Giraffe House, Land of the Tiger and Camels. It is a single storey café with two entrances, both with double doors. Staff are on hand to assist if required.
- Tsavo Lodge Bakehouse is a café in a large tent situated alongside Monkey Playhouse, serving in the style of a food court. It can be accessed via 5 sets of double doors and is slabbed throughout. The escape route is identified by timber barriers to direct users away from the tents supporting frame.
If you have any special dietary requirements, don’t hesitate to let a member of staff in the relevant cafés know and they will do their best to accommodate your needs.
Public toilets
Toilet facilities are located throughout the park. Please see below:
Hive toilets with accessible button door:
1 accessible toilet with baby change facility, 8 female toilets one with baby change, 2 male toilets, one with baby change and 4 urinals. Lowered sink counter in male and female toilets.
Changing Places facility: Located within the Yorkshire Hive courtyard toilet facilities there is one Changing Places toilet with height adjustable changing bench, ceiling track hoist (SWL;205kg), height-adjustable wash basin, toilet with alarm pull cord, privacy screen and shower unit. Radar key and sling required.
If you require any assistance, please visit the Guest Services building or call us on 01302 535057.
Yorkshire Wildlife Park entrance toilets: 1 accessible toilet, 6 women's toilets, one with baby change facility, 3 mens cubicles and 3 male urinals.
Safari Café: 1 accessible toilet with baby changing facility, hoist (SWL: 130kg) and 4.5ft changing bed (SWL: 200kg) (room dimensions=2.3m x 2.0m, door width=890mm), 2 male toilets with 4 urinals and 4 female toilets plus one with baby changing.
Adjacent to Meerkats: 1 accessible toilet (dimensions=2m x 2.11m, door width=1m door opening =0.85m), 1 baby changing room with toilet cubicle, 2 male toilets with 3 urinals and 4 female toilets.
Monkey Playhouse Café: 1 accessible toilet with baby changing (dimensions=1.9m x 1.5m, door width=0.8m), 3 male toilets with urinal trough and baby changing and 7 female toilets plus one with baby changing. There are 2 child-friendly toilets in the ladies toilets in Monkey Playhouse.
Caramba: 2 accessible toilets with baby changing (dimensions=2.1m x 2.1m, door width=0.91m, 2 male toilets with urinal trough and 7 female toilets.
Masai Café: 1 accessible toilet with baby changing (dimensions= 2.1m x 1.5m, door width- 0.9m), 1 male toilet with baby changing, 1 female toilet with baby changing.
Tsavo Bakehouse: Available only for function bookings; 1 accessible toilet (dimensions 2.1m x 1.7m, door with 1.1m accessed through hall door width of 1m), 1 male toilet with urinal trough, 3 female toilets.
Giraffe toilets: 1 accessible toilet with baby changing and hoist (dimensions=2.2m x 2.19m, door width= 1m), 1 male toilet baby changing with 3 urinals and 4 female toilets, 1 with baby changing.
Paths
The majority of the pathways throughout the main park are level, with shallow gradients in areas. All pathways are accessible to wheelchair users. As it is an outside attraction, we do advise visitors to dress appropriately, i.e. sturdy shoes etc.
There are some natural pathways around the Lemur Woods area and the Jungle Lookout Play Area. Signs are in position to give information about this.
Seating and rest areas are located throughout the park as well as wheelchair wash stations.
Located around the park are motion-sensored speakers which remind guests to practice social distancing.
Viewing
We have worked where possible to design animal enclosures so that our animals can be seen without looking through fences. For safety purposes our stand-off barriers are a minimum 1,100mm in height, with mesh panel infills to allow for visibility.
We have 3 walkthrough enclosures (Wallaby Walkabout, Lemur Woods and Amazonas where animals and visitors are not separated. Paths in these areas are all level.
We have ground-level, glass viewing panes for the following enclosures/animal houses; Leopard Heights, Giant Otters, Meerkat and Mongoose Manor, Visayan Warty Pigs, Lemur Woods, Okapi house, Giant Anteaters, and Common Marmoset.
ASSISTANCE DOGS
Assistance dogs are welcome throughout the park, except in animal walkthrough areas. On arrival we ask that you make a member of staff in the ticket kiosks aware that there will be an assistance dog onsite so they can explain any restrictions to you and inform the animal teams.
ACCESSIBLE MEMBERSHIPS
Both Standard and Gold Accessible Memberships are now available to purchase online, as gift vouchers, and at the Guest Services building situated at the entrance to the Park.
Each membership includes a non-named carer admission as part of the membership - this does not need to be the same carer each time.