A day at River Safari Singapore: What is River Safari Singapore?

Overview of River Safari Singapore

Source: Zainturizm

Located between The Singapore Zoo and Night Safari Singapore, River Safari Singapore is also a park managed under the wings of Wildlife Reserves Singapore.

Officially opened on 28 February 2014, the $160-million attraction houses over 6,000 animals including 40 threatened species. Among the animal residents includes Singapore's resident giant pandas, Kai Kai and Jia Jia.

The attraction holds the title of the World's largest Freshwater Aquarium, featuring state-of-the-art exhibit design and houses one of the world's largest collection of freshwater fauna.

Offerings, Promotions and Special Events

Offerings

The river-themed wildlife park is divided into different river zones, River of the World and Wild Amazonia, showcasing animals representing the zones.

In the zones, such as River of the World, exhibits includes animals from the Mississippi River, Congo River, River Nile, Ganges River, Mekong River as well as the Yangtze River which also features the Giant Panda Forest.
Wild Amazonia features three main exhibits, which is the Amazon River Quest, Squirrel Monkey Forest and the Amazon Flooded Forest. Located just a stone's throw from the Amazon River Quest is the River Safari Cruise.

Pictured: Stufftoys for sale at
House of Kai Kai and Jia Jia

The park offers a range of amenities from retail outlets such as The River Shop and House of Kai Kai and Jia Jia and Food & Beverage outlets such as Mama Panda Kitchen and River Safari Tea House.

There are also picnic areas where visitors with special dietary needs could bring their own food, such as Entrance Plaza, Boat Plaza as well as various locations within the Park where there are benches. There are even basic necessities such as strollers and wheelchairs avaialable for rent at the Visitor Services Centre, lockers, ATMs (Automated Teller Machines), prayer room as well as nursing and diaper rooms.

Programmes

At River Safari, there are a range of programmes that one can experience such as the Amazon River Quest, River Safari Cruise, River Trails, Meet the American Beavers and even Panda Rise and Shine.

Amazon River Quest is a boat ride which showcases wildlife species such as the Giant Anteater, Jaguar, Capybara and Brazilian Tapir. The 10 minutes boat ride costs an additional $3 for a child and $5 for an adult.

Video: Time-Lapse taken of my journey on the Amazon River Quest

Source: River Safari Singapore

River Safari Cruise, a complimentary admission ride cruises down the perimeter of the River Safari, gives visitors the opportunity to rest while soaking in the scenery and sounds of nature during the 15 minutes ride. Lucky visitors may also stand a chance to take pictures of wild Storks, Herons or other wildlife.

Unlike the Amazon River Quest which has a height requirement of minimum 1.06m and has a moderately fast speed, the Cruise has no height requirements and travels at a slower pace and is also wheel-chair friendly.

Source: River Safari Singapore

River Trails is an interactive guide trail that offers visitors to see the animals up close and personal. The guided trail will be filled with stories and facts by the presenters on topics such as the behavior and habit of the animal as well as witness their mealtimes.

Examples of some of the river trails includes at the Rivers of the World which takes place at 10.15am and 2pm and at the Manatee Exhibit at 12.15pm and 5.30 pm. There are also animal encounters such as the African Grey Parrot and Hedgehog at the Giant Panda Courtyard at 11.15am and 3.00pm.

Source: River Safari Singapore

Meet the American Beavers spans for 20 minutes and is available daily at 4.30pm and 5.40pm, with a price tag attached to it.

The regular price of $20 per adult or $15 per child entitles the visitors to witness the two beavers during their playtime, step into their home, learn interesting facts from their caretakers and also get to feed the beavers. Bookings has to be done in advance, with limited spaces as each session can only accommodate up to 10 participants and advanced bookings are not allowed.

Source: River Safari Singapore

Panda Rise and Shine, is an exclusive back-of-house tour that costs $350 per participant allows visitors to get up close with the giant pandas Kai Kai and Jia Jia and watch as the keepers feed the pandas their pre-breakfast snack.

They also get to witness the morning check-ups, help prepare breakfast for the two pandas, a souvenir photograph as remembrance and dine at the Mama Panda Kitchen.

The tuesdays and fridays tour lasts from 8.40am to 10.30am and requires a minimum of 2 participants, with the maximum being 6 participants. A one month in advance reservation is advised, and the minimum age to participate is 7 years old. The price also includes a River Safari Admission, excluding Amazon River Quest and River Safari Cruise tickets.

Special Events

Source: River Safari Singapore

Zoo-rassic Park consists of activities, contests and prizes as well as promotions.

Activities includes meeting over 20 different dinosaurs at Singapore Zoo and River Safari , and interacting and learning more of the dinosaurs using an app called Blippar.

Weekend activities includes a meet and greet with the T-rex and Velociraptor , fossil finding fun and two different trails offered at Singapore Zoo and River Safari.
Juniors aged 10- 14 years have a chance to experience being a junior zookeeper or aquarist. There are also craft activities such as making dino clothes pegs and making your own dino finger puppet, dino scratch art or dino clay art keychain to bring home.

There are also dino-themed souvenirs and treats such as dinosaur nuggets offered at selected cafes and restaurants in River Safari such as Ah Meng Restaurant and Inuka Cafe.
Take an online quiz on River Safari's website about Dinosaurs to stand a chance to win a behind the scenes tour for two at River Safari and Singapore Zoo!
Lastly, the Dino-mite admission combo, an offer exclusive to local residents, prices tickets for both Singapore Zoo and River Safari at $39 for adults and $25 for a child.

Source: River Safari Singapore

Safari Run 2017 is an event organised to raise awareness for wildlife conservation. The race is scheduled to be held on 18 February, registering closing on 15 Jan 2017.

The four teams of the race are Ah Meng the Orangutan, Chawang the Asian Elephant, Canola the Manatee and Sunny the Hornbill.
The animal icons represents the species that the race would like to raise awareness for.For example, team Canola represents the freshwater turtles who are facing extinction. Hence, team Canola supports the conservation of turtles and marine ecosytem.

Source: River Safari Singapore

Besides the price shown above, Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS) Members are able to enjoy 10% discount using the promotion code that will be provided for them.

Pricing and Pricing Structures

Pictured: Admission ticket and Brochure given
to me upon purchase

At River Safari Singapore, ticket prices ranges, based on the category the ticket falls under.

The categories includes promotions, Single Park and Multi-Park (also commonly known as ParkHopper Specials), Membership, Birthday Special and VWO Rates.
Online booking of tickets will entitle the visitor to an additional 10% off the ticket prices.

Currently, promotions that River Safari Singapore has includes the Dino-Mite admission which offers a bundled price of admission tickets to the Singapore Zoo and River Safari for a reduced price at $39 for adults and $25 for a child. The promotion will last from 26 November 2016 to 18 December 2016. Other promotions includes a 20% off admission tickets for adults and children for NTUC, Passion and SAFRA card members from 1 May 2016 to 31 March 2017 as well as 30% off senior admission tickets for Passion Silver card members from 1 December 2016 to 30 September 2017.

Single Park prices to River Safari Singapore is priced at $30 per adult and $20 per child and $14 per Senior Citizen. The prices includes a complimentary River Safari Cruise admission.

Multi-Park prices are further categorised into 2-Park Admission, 4-Park Admission and ParkHopper Plus. The 2-Park Admission bundles River Safari admission tickets along with one of the other parks, costing $49 per adult and $29 per child when bundled with either Singapore Zoo or Jurong Bird Park. The bundle with Night Safari costs $59 per adult and $39 per child.

The 4-Park Admission bundles admissions to all 4 parks at a cost of $69 per adult and $49 per child. The ParkHopper Plus works similarly to the 4-Park Admission as the ticket entitles the visitors admission to all 4 parks, with the added complimentary tram rides and boat rides for the additional cost of $10 per ticket. Hence the ParkHopper Plus ticket costs $79 per adult and $59 per child.

Source: River Safari Singapore

Membership, such as Friends of River Safari or Friends of Wildlife entitles the visitors with unlimited visits to the respective parks for a year, with additional benefits such as 10% off selected Food and Beverage outlets within the parks and 10% off house-brand products at selected retail outlets at the parks.

Source: Wildlife Reserves Singapore

Friends of River Safari costs $39 per adult and $29 per child or a family bundle of 2 adults and one child for $99 with an additional $10 per child added , capping at 5 children. The bundle includes unlimited access to River Safari for a year except for some blackout periods such as New Year's Day.

Source: Wildlife Reserves Singapore

Friends of Wildlife allows visitors to have unlimited access to the 4 parks for a year, namely Jurong Bird Park, Night Safari, the Singapore Zoo, River Safari and costs $119 per adult and $79 per child, caretaker or senior. A family rate of 2 adults and a child costs $259, with an additional $10 per child added, capping at 5 children. Similar to Friends of River Safari, the bundle does not include admission during blackout periods such as New Year's Day.
Additional benefits includes complimentary tram rides at Jurong Bird Park and Singapore Zoo on weekdays, except on Public Holidays as well as complimentary English Language commentary tram rides at Night Safari on all nights.

Birthday Special, a newly introduced practice, gives individual visitors free admission to the Park 7 days before and on the day of their birthday itself if they are accompanied by a paying guest. The birthday visitor also gets to enjoy 10% off retail and food & beverage upon showing their admission ticket.

VWO Rates, which is further classified to two groups - Welfare Organisations (VWOs) and Holders of Development Disability Registry (DDR) Identity Card.
The VWO Rates for welfare organisations is valid only for group visits, with complimentary admission on weekdays , excluding boat rides, weekends, public holidays, eve of public holidays and 16-31 December. Caregivers enjoy a 20% discount on admission.
The VWO Rates for Holders of Development Disability Registry Identity Card is valid for individuals only, in which the card has to be presented to enjoy the offer. Similar to Welfare Organisations, boat rides are chargeable. However, the holders of the DDR cards are able to enjoy complimentary admissions everyday including public holidays and 20% off admission tickets for a maximum of 2 caregivers per card presented.

Engagement with visitors/potential visitors during pre-visit stage

Screenshot of River Safari Website

River Safari has an informative website that has information about all the programmes, events and amenities offered and includes pictures as well as videos to support the descriptions of the exhibits.
The website has updated and reliable ticket prices of which the visitors can order the tickets online, and also directions to getting to the park as well as information of shuttle buses available and buses that can be taken to get to the area.
Visitors can also answer their burning questions either by reading the list of FAQs compiled, or contact the park directly with the contacting details provided.

The park also makes effort in making sure that the website is up-to-date and that the information provided is relevant. Brochures on River Safari is also easily accessible at the three other parks in case potential visitors needs the information. The map of the Park is also on the website too.

Sources:

River Safari Singapore, http://www.riversafari.com.sg/special-experiences/amazon-river-quest.html

River Safari Singapore, http://www.riversafari.com.sg/special-experiences/river-safari-cruise.html

River Safari Singapore, http://www.riversafari.com.sg/special-experiences/river-trails.htm

River Safari Singapore, http://www.riversafari.com.sg/special-experiences/american-beavers.html

River Safari Singapore, http://www.riversafari.com.sg/special-experiences/panda-rise-and-shine.html

River Safari Singapore, http://www.riversafari.com.sg/events-promos/events.html

River Safari Singapore, http://www.riversafari.com.sg/events-promos/promotions.html

River Safari Singapore, http://www.riversafari.com.sg/visitor-info/riversafari-tickets.html

River Safari Singapore, http://members.wrs.com.sg/beAMemberFriendsofWildlife.html

River Safari Singapore, http://www.riversafari.com.sg/visitor-info/birthday-special.html

River Safari Singapore, http://www.riversafari.com.sg/visitor-info/vwo-rates.html