If you are looking for the best thing to do in Singapore and you love animals, this may be it. You may know about the Singapore Zoo, but do you know that the Mandai Wildlife Reserve consists of 4 parks? They all pack a big punch with animal diversity. However, with a short visit, are these parks worth your time? Lets dive in.
We were hesitant at first too. We only had 5 days to explore Singapore. Would a visit be worth our time? A single park entrance is cheaper than most activities to do in this small yet expensive country. Nevertheless, we were not sure if that was enough. Were these parks suitable for 2 adults in their mid-thirties? Or maybe it was just for those who had young families? We had to dive in headfirst to see for ourselves.
The Mandai Wildlife Reserve consists of 4 parks. The Singapore Zoo, River Wonders, Night Safari and the newest addition, Bird Paradise. We are from Toronto, a city whose zoo also makes the list of best in the world, so we often skip zoos while traveling. But this one had such a good reputation, we added it to our 5-day itinerary when in Singapore. But we still were not sure if the other parks were worth the visit.
There are many ticket options available for your trip. Don’t let this overwhelm you. The Mandi Wildlife Reserve website makes it easy to choose a single or multi park ticket. Multi park tickets are only available for 2 or 4 parks. No 3 park ticket options are available. 2 park tickets provide a savings of up to 9% while the 4-park ticket provides a savings of up to 40%. All multi park tickets can be used over a 7-day period from the tickets first use.
A 4 PARK, multi-park ticket is available for $118 SGD (currency is about on par with Canada and Australia). This lowers the entry fee to $30 per person, per park. Which is quite reasonable. This comes with tram tickets (shuttle bus) and boat tickets within the corresponding parks. Keep in mind that the size of the parks are small and there isn’t a necessity to use the tram at all. Yet, it is a welcomed break to get off your feet for a bit. So, if your ticket requires you to pay in addition, there isn’t a need.
We decided to buy the 4 park multi day ticket here for 3 reasons.
1. The Singapore zoo is one of the highest rated zoos and its reputation drew us in. Reviews mentioning the overhanging orangutans sounded cool.
2. We had such a positive experience at our first bird park in Kuala Lumpur, we thought we should try it again.
3. The Night Safari and River Wonders were experiences we had never seen before, and we wanted to give them a try. The Night Safari is the highest rated park in the complex. While River Wonders is the park that always shows up the most in my Instagram feed.
This experience did not disappoint. Now what will you choose?
Are you strapped for time and want to see all 4 parks in one day?
We don’t think it’s possible to hit all 4 parks in one day without rushing the experience. This option should not be considered. Your best option is to dedicate one park per day. Yet, most of us don’t have this much time when visiting Singapore. Most visitors will have 2 days to explore the Mandai Wildlife Reserve parks.
Each park has something to offer and to best utilize your time, some things will need to be considered. Let’s go through the parks one by one before determining what you will choose. If you want a more in-depth look into how to spend your day, look at our itinerary recommendations for visiting the parks once its ready here.
Singapore Zoo
If you’re looking to visit one of the top zoos in the world, the Singapore zoo is a name that will always shows up. They are often in the top 5 or 10 of top lists, every year. It is the only Asian Zoo to consistently make it into the top ten. This puts it on the map and gets people like me thinking, does this mean it must be good? probably? Right?
Well, it is what lead to our decision to give it a try.
The Singapore Zoo is a world renown Zoo that has a large commitment to animal conservation. Every ticket sold includes a contribution to animal conservation. They are active in both national and regional conservation projects.
The parks claim to fame is it’s free-ranging Orangutan exhibit. The Orangutangs are not caged in this exhibit. They swing overhead through a course amongst ropes and other obstacles. Yet, none seem to approach visitors at all, which surprised us. Despite the openness of the exhibit, I never felt unsafe. Poop from overhead was my main concern. So, watch above.
The parks small size means it is walkable. Many areas provide shade cover, and the water filling stations make it easy to keep hydrated. If you are looking for food, there are many options both inside and outside of the park. Breakfast with the animals is possible from 9am-10:30 at Ah Meng Restaurant (Terrace). Tickets are hard to come by and will need to be booked in advance.
Animal viewing’s all over the zoo were quite easy when compared to other zoos that we have visited. The enclosures for the animals don’t allow them to hide which made viewing easier. But this also meant that the enclosures are small for the animal. Which didn’t feel right either.
The trolley stations were poorly located in the middle of each section. Which meant you were back tracking trying to see all the animals. We found ourselves circling areas to try and see everything. Which was wasteful of our time. We would have liked to see a suggested route or little trail markers depending on your start time at the zoo. The zoo does have a recommended route online, but this recommended itinerary is for a 9 am start. It is quite bare and isn’t flexible.
Despite its great reputation, I never found the zoo to be distinctive enough from other zoos. I would have loved to see some more unique features. We did enjoy seeing some new animals. These included a wide variety of primates, Pygmy hippos, and Kangaroos. The experience however was a let down because of the high expectations we had. Which may be its curse. I definitely had high expectations.
Favorite Animal: White Tiger, Wallaby and Pygmy hippos. The Wallaby’s are in an open area that allows you to walk right up to them. Don’t miss this.
Night Safari
What is a Night Safari? I wasn’t sure what to expect either. I imagined jeep rides all-around an open jungle style park with a dedicated tour guide. Think more nighttime zoo. The trials are dark pathways, that could use a bit more lighting with animal enclosures along the way. Some are open air and others enclosed. There is a trolly ride, a show depending on your day of visit and feeding times like in a zoo. The animals are a bit harder to spot and will take a bit of time to locate if they are not active.
The Night Safari is the largest of the 4 parks, yet, it has the shortest total daily operating hours. The park is open for less than 5 hours each day. Even if you arrive at its 7:15pm opening time and stay until close, its difficult to see the entire park. With timed entry tickets to try and control the crowd’s entry to the park, a bit of pep in your step is needed to see it all.
After a visit to all 4 parks, this one was our favorite, because it was our first time experiencing anything like it. We enjoyed the 4 trails which we hit immediately to get away from the crowds. We were able to spot many animals we haven’t seen before. Most zoo or zoo like attractions around the world don’t have a focus on nocturnal animals. Typically because they are sleeping when visitors are around to see them in action. That’s what made this place even more special.
There are areas of the trail that are hilly, but nothing was too demanding physically. I would love to see an elevation map of the park trails. I felt as if we were going down hill way more than we were going up, which had me confused. I always tell myself if we are going this far down, there is going to be a heck of a hill up. Yet it never came. This still confuses me and has me wondering what type of Cat in the Hat place I visited.
The trails are pretty much one way asphalt paths. There is one part of the leopard trail that splits. Here we decided to take the longer route. Which meant we were able to spot way more animals. According to the map, the clouded leopard is the only animal missed by taking this route. All the trails are accessible with very few viewing areas that have stairs.
When the trials are all complete, you end up back at the front of the park. Once here we hopped on the trolley at about 9pm to see some of the animals that were exclusive to the trolley ride. There were no lines then, and everyone was walking on. I loved that this isn’t a silent ride, there is an PA system that keeps you informed about the animals along the way. This is unfortunately only available in English. There aren’t translations with headphones available like when ridding a hop on hop off city bus.
So here is our impression of the park. We found that the Night Safari doesn’t do a good job at informing people of what’s happening or when. There is only one information sign at the front entrance of the park. There are large crowds around the sign making it difficult to see without a 10-minute wait. We waited 8 minutes before hitting the trail. I was able to snap a crooked picture of the map over the head of another guest. I saw that there was a show scheduled to start in 10 minutes, so we headed out. Only to arrive and find the area empty. It turns out the show is only on Friday, Saturday, and public holidays. Which is quite a shame because the shows in all the other parks were good. I would love to see 2 shows at this park that run a few times a night, every night.
There was a small light show when you exited the park, but this was not good. It looked as if some kids learnt a new trick and wanted to show the family in the back yard, it’s not worth your time. An old fashion paper map at the front of the park could have helped in dispersing crowds quicker. Even a QR code that allowed for a quick reference on your phone could work.
Feeding times were also listed on the sign, but lining these times with the one-way trail is difficult. We decided to keep things moving. We saw the Hippo feeding time, which meant the zookeepers were around to answer questions. We were lucky to also catch the end of the rhino feeding time. This allowed for a little zookeeper chat there as well. They love eating pumpkins and its great to watch if you can catch it.
Despite seeing nocturnal animals at night, some animals remained hidden or very inactive. We were able to see the owls’ hunting rodents once we realized they were the food and not the animal in the enclosure.
I would love to see some park improvements. Extend hours and another show with increased performance times. As well as availability of paper maps, and a drone animal inspired show could be a nice addition. The small light show in place now is a glorified street performance and should be eliminated.
With all that said, its still our favorite park and a fun addition to any Singapore visit.
Favorite Animal: Rhinos and Hippos, make sure to catch the feeding time when they are most active.
River Wonders
This park’s focus is on Rivers, so most animal displays are aquariums. The park highlights that so many animals use rivers for survival. This is why the cheetahs, capybaras and other land animals are included in this park. This is alongside the expected otters, manatees, and fish. This park has had a rebrand in recent years which included a name change from its original River Safari. This was don’t to name the park more appropriately. But, with the panda display here, it still feels like a bit of a missed matched animal park. Since so many animals depend on rivers for survival, almost any animal could be places in the park with the current guidelines.
If you get hit with a rain day on your trip to Singapore, this park is still good to visit when its wet outside. Most of the park is covered which makes it still enjoyable in the rain. You will need a break in the rain to ride the boat which doesn’t operate in the rain. Which we were able to get during our visit.
Yes, we were surprised to find the pandas in this park. Yet we spent 1 hour in the panda enclosure to see the Giant Pandas and the Red Pandas. This in an inside exhibit. We went back for a second visit while waiting for the rain to stop. 1 red panda and 1 giant panda were no longer on display. The best time to see them is during their scheduled feeding times. So, check those times out too.
The boat ride is what separates this park from all others. This 10-minute boat ride takes you amongst some animal enclosures you can only see here. I haven’t seen this anywhere else before. The Cheetahs, Capybaras, Flamingos and Giant Ant Eaters have exclusive boat viewed enclosures. During our visit, 2 or 3 of the exhibits were missing animals. For us, the Ant eaters. So, keep in mind some displays may be missing animals.
To see the One Upon a River show, you must arrange for tickets to see the show in advance, keep in mind they are free of charge. You can only secure a spot 2 hours before each show. Yet, there are no spots left shortly after they become available. Meaning you are fighting everyone else in the park for a spot. The show area is not large enough to accommodate the crowds and we were there on a rainy day, in low season. Which means I can only imagine how bad that can get with good weather in Singapore’s high season.
There is a large river that runs through the park. It is unfortunate that no underwater viewing area exists for this river. It would be great if visitors could see the local animals in action. If there are any animals at all. An underwater path or submarine ride would be amazing. Maybe in the future.
Favorite Animals: The Manatees, Red Panda and Giant Panda shouldn’t be missed. They are most active during feeding times.
Bird Paradise
Bird Paradise is a giant aviary that allows you to see a variety of bird species from around the globe. The park is divided into large, netted areas which provide the birds with enough area to fly free. Bird Paradise is the newest addition to the Mandai Wildlife Reserve. We visited during its soft opening which meant some areas were still closed off.
This is the most colourful park. Much of the park is on raised platforms that make you feel like you’re amongst the jungle, bird watching. It does give you better angels for bird spotting by having you in the middle of most aviary areas and not on the ground. However, some birds do use the underside of the platforms to sometimes hide. Additional netting to prevent this would have been appreciated.
We recommend taking the time at the start of each section to read about the birds you are about to encounter. This allows you to play a little game, where you can name the birds you’ve spotted while visiting each new section. I was only able to remember 3-4 at a time. For us, it felt like a little bird spotting safari.
Our favorite part of this park was the Bird Show. The venue has enough seats to accommodate large crowds and the show was great. They had little cheesy skits between the two hosts, but the birds were well trained. They used the entire theater and didn’t keep the show focused on the stage. Birds were flying all over the theater from front to back and side to side. This meant that even those at the back of the theater saw a great show, not only those located close to the stage. Make sure not to miss this on your visit.
It was a bit of a disappointment that the park was not fully open yet with some areas not finished. Yet, the areas that were open looked nice, and the park was operational. We knew going in that it was a soft opening.
This is our second visit to a bird park. Our fist being in Kuala Lumpur. Despite Bird Paradise being a larger park, it appeared that there were less birds that we were able to view. This may be because Bird Paradise has a larger concentration of smaller birds. We found the netted areas quite large and dense with trees making some of the birds difficult to spot. We have visited other bird parks with less birds and they were much easier to spot.
A little area that I felt was lacking was the map. The map does not tell you where to find specific bird types, you come to know more only upon entering each area. This makes the experience hard if you are on the hunt for something specific. More knowledge of specific birds in the form of a handout or online list/app would be appreciated.
Favorite Animal Areas: In the Amazonian Jewel area, look for Andean Cock of the Rock. In the Crimson Wetlands area, look for the Scarlet Ibis and Roseate Spoonbill. They are in the same enclosure. Then there are the blue macaws.
Why Would You Skip a Park Visit?
Even though we loved our visit to every park they were not all as exciting. Yes, it will depend on what you are looking for in your visit and that will be different for everyone. The only thing we both fully agreed on was that the Night Safari was the best and should not be missed. But how will you decide which one to cut? Well, take the following into account:
Reasons you might skip a Mandai Wildlife Reserve park:
Singapore Zoo – It doesn’t have many unique features and if you have visited another zoo, its not exciting.
River Wonders – The Pandas and the boat ride are the best part about this park. If that is not of interest, then you may want to skip this. The process for landing a seat in the show is quite competitive. It is often booked up 15 minutes after reservations are released which is 2 hours before show time.
Bird Paradise – Signage for the birds is poor. Information is only at the entrance of each area. So, you don’t always know what bird you are looking at as a result. I am only able to remember about 3-4 birds that I look out for when exploring a new area. I wish they had some sort of game where I could check them off as I found them. As this park is on a soft opening, all areas are not open, which is a shame.
Night Safari – This park is an evening activity. If you or your family can stay awake, you should really go and experience this. The parks focus on nocturnal animals means you see them when they are mostly active. But if you cant stay awake, you will have to skip it.
Is It Worth Your Time and Money?
For $30 per park, per person when seeing all 4 parks, its worth it. But it is best to give yourself 2 full days to explore all 4 parks with no need to rush things. 3 parks are possible and 4 in a day are not recommended.
Use your own time restrictions to determine what you can reasonably enjoy. There is no wrong choice. What will you choose? Don’t miss our must sees at the end of the park sections above once you decide which park will win your time. If you need help with how to spend your time, read our Itinerary guide for the parks here.
For the best possible park enjoyment, make sure to be prepared. Don’t forget a hat, sunscreen, sunglasses, a refillable water bottle and snacks. Have fun, We did!!!
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