From January 1st to January 31st, entry tickets into Jurong Bird Park are selling for $2.50 apiece (for local residents), as part of their 50 year anniversary celebration!
While this might seem too good to be true, there are a few conditions that you should be aware of before purchasing the ticket. As written on their website, several other locations and features have been cordoned off behind secondary paywalls, each at $2.50 per entry as well. This includes all their shows that run on weekends, or at regular times during the day.
So to get the optimal experience, you’ll want to pick and choose what’s interesting or most entertaining to your personal taste, and plan your budget for those as well!
That’s what this article is for — we’ll give you the rundown on what $2.50 can get you, and what else you’ll need be seeing if you want to pay a little extra for their other attractions.
Bookings and payments
Visit the website here to book your tickets!
Booking is straightforward and mainly involves choosing your time slot, paying online, and turning up on time on the day itself!
Don’t worry too much about pre-booking everything either — it's a very easy process cashless payments to enter the paywalled locations. Just make sure you have some form of card or phone-based payment system and you’ll be golden.
The Basic Experience
Long story short, there’s still a ton of things to see on just $2.50 alone! For the unique birdlife you’ll be able to see and with and the amount of ground to cover, it’s definitely worth the stipend you pay.
While the exhibits won’t be up close or interactive, you’ll be able to see and take photos of flamingos, pelicans, massive vultures and haughty birds of prey, just to name a few. From personal experience, a casual stroll through all the unpaid exhibits (including stopping to observe and take pictures of the birds) took just about two hours.
There isn’t any recommended route. The park forms a loop through all its attractions, so pick a direction and walk through it all.
Alternatively, you can purchase tram tickets to ease your way around. Either way you choose, it feels like $2.50 is a small price to pay for the sights and opportunity to see some of these rare birds!
The Paid Locations
The very clear way attractions have been separated from the basic experience is thus: if the experience lets you get up close and personal with the wildlife, you’ll have to pay more for it.
There are five locations that are thus listed, and we’ll go over them in the order you’re likely to encounter their entrances, based on if you were following the park trail in a clockwise direction!
Penguin Coast Interior
Dark, cooling and mildly interesting. This will be the first paid attraction, and to be honest, it should be the last one you visit; if you’re planning on paying for all of them! Mostly because the quiet atmosphere and air conditioning are great finishers after you’ve traversed the entire park.
Other than that, this is the smallest and least interactive experience you’ll be paying an extra $2.50 for. The penguins are situated behind a glass exhibit, and the room is less than twenty metres across, so you won’t be spending that much time in here besides observing the penguins.
Parrot Paradise
If you’re a fan of colourful parrots, then you’ll likely enjoy this exhibition! The unique calls, trills and squawks of the parrots ring out constantly, and their colourful feathers and social behaviour make for very interesting viewing. Here, there are plenty of informative stands about the birds, which can help you learn more about their behaviours, their origins and their current levels of endangerment in the wild.
However, while there are dozens of species to see, they are all behind enclosures. There’s plenty to see and learn about, but the cages are definitely a contrast to the next few exhibits.
Waterfall Aviary
This one of the largest sections in the park, and the most visually impressive by design. The path winds up a green hillside teeming with birds, leading up to several observation huts and a bridge, spanning a cascading waterfall. The area is designed to simulate a rainforest, and hosts many unique birds like the crested guineafowl and the crowned pigeon!
This is where you’ll be able to get up close and personal with the animals! Generally, the fowl don’t mind the visitors. Grounded birds traipse across the path at random while flightful ones swoop down every so often. The area is refreshing in its design, and should hold your attention for quite a bit.
We have to mention that there used to be regularly scheduled feeding for the birds that visitors could participate in. This has been cancelled for the period of the anniversary sale. Still, it might be worth a visit just to check out the landscaping!
Lory Loft
Be warned: the birds here are whimsically colourful and practically fearless! Visitors to this attraction are asked not to touch the birds, and for good reason — they will get within petting distance very often, so try and restrain yourself!
The likely reason the birds in this location are so familiar and friendly is due to the regularly scheduled hand-feeding program. Unfortunately, this does not come with the on-the-ground visitation costs, and requires you to prebook a timing online.
However, the loft is still a fairly exciting visit. After walking around the park and seeing birds from a distance, the opportunity to be right next to one is almost magical. Take it from a writer who had a bird voluntarily land on his shoulder, unannounced!
Take note that to get to this attraction, you need to pass through the Bird Discovery Centre first, which is free of charge.
African Treetops
This large enclosure simulates a walk through the top of a rainforest canopy! Here, starlings flitter among the treetops and frequent the feeding pans, positioned so visitors can get close enough to take photos. The lower decks of the walk allow observation of the flightless birds that wander the forest floor.
To add a little to the spirit of the treetop adventure, there are two mildly shaky bridges that make for great photos!
Once again, there’s a scheduled feeding experience that requires some pre-booking outside of the on-the-ground costs. If that sounds up your alley, then check out the Park website to find out more!
World Class Bird Shows
All of the shows will be running on the grounds, and require a payment of $2.50 per pax before entry. There’s limited seating for each show on a first come first served basis, so make sure you arrive early if you intend to watch! Each show lasts for about 15 to 20 minutes.
Again, be reminded that you can’t pre-book a seat. You’ll need to be present to purchase entry to the show with your preferred cashless method.
Also take note that inclement weather will cause a cancellation of the shows, so keep an eye on the sky!
King of the Skies Show
If you traverse the entire park, you’ll definitely come across the free Birds of Prey exhibit and see their impressive size and proud stature. If seeing them in their enclosures made you want more, the King of the Skies Show will satisfy that urge! Featuring a majestic line up of eagles, vultures, owls and hawks, you’ll be privy to their hunting habits and may even get the opportunity to try your hand at falconry!
Location: Hawk Arena
Time: 10am and 4pm daily
12pm only on weekends and public holidays
High Flyers Show
Featuring the most popular birds of the park, the High Flyers Show condenses the showmanship aspects of Jurong Bird Park and shows off the beauty, grace and intelligence of their many birds! Parrots, Hornbills, Macaws, and a sweeping grand finale await.
The show is quite popular, with tickets selling out fifteen minutes before the show starts, so make sure to join the queue early if you want to catch it.
Location: Pools Amphitheatre
Time: 11am and 3pm daily.
Is it Worth It?
The important question to ask is how worth it is this offer, and should you jump on the chance to purchase the ticket?
If you visit all the attractions and attend all the shows, your total spending will come up to $20 (5 aviaries, 2 shows, 1 base ticket).
If you’re a Singaporean and using the online discounts given, a ticket goes for at least $25.60 (adult prices) for full access to the entire park. Note that this still excludes the feeding events previously mentioned.
Price wise, this means that the $2.50 discount is already worth it! And this doesn’t include if you’ve read through the article and already curated or decided on which attractions are worth or not worth paying for. Considering how expensive tickets usually are, this is probably the most worthwhile offer to jump on this month!
