1111 Parrot Jungle Trail
Miami, Florida 33132
www.parrotjungle.com
+305 400 7000
Open Hours: 10a-6p; 365 days a year
I am a big fan of old Florida, which is why I cried the day I heard Parrot Jungle, a Miami bastion of old Florida was closing its original park in favor of swankier Miami digs. You can’t blame me for mentally hammering the last nail in the coffin when I heard the admission to the new 18 acre park was $27.95 adult/$22.95 for kids 3+, with an additional $7.00 to park. Foggeddaboutit. So imagine my surprise recently when I dropped by the park and took them up on their offer to get an annual pass for the price of a single admission. What was a bad deal for a single visit turns out to be a very good deal when you’ve got a toddler (free admission), and you want something fun to do throughout the year. Even without the promotion, an annual adult pass is only $38.95. The best part is, if you scrape away the shiny veneer, the old Florida peeks through. They still have the fantastic macaws out for hand feeding, they still have a bird show, and they have a killer playground area and petting zoo. I DO think their admission is too high for single visits especially when compared with the MetroZoo (300+ acres; $14 a/$10 c), or Disney (gazillion acres; $71 a/$60 c). AND, I can’t quite forgive them for turning their back on the old Parrot Jungle. But, like the park’s famous Liger, this new hybrid has some interesting, if slightly schizophrenic charms.
Man, if there’s a single place that embodies everything stupid, wasteful, stupid, hokey, crooked, stupid and stupid in Miami it’s Jungle Island. For the money they’ve squandered trying to help bail out this (for-profit. at least in theory) place, the city might actually have tried to provide some culture – did I say that? – to its residents. But hey, why use taxes for the people when you can spend it on the private sector instead?
Yeah, I can’t help but feel that these guys really messed this whole thing up. They squandered local support, mis-marketed, and generally let their delusions of grandeur get in the way of some meaningful market research. Any good institutional marketer will tell you that tourists aren’t enough to support a venue if you don’t have local support.
Since writing this post, I’ve heard two more items of interest.
The first is that the current owner bought the Parrot Jungle from it’s original family owners not that long ago. This makes sense, as they completely mis-understood the legacy that made the park so great for so many years. Secondly, I’ve heard from a source close to the park that they may be having trouble holding up their end of the municipal bond.
Given the depth of local antipathy, I’m not surprised. I bet they wish they could have a do-over. I’m not sure they every would have left Pinecrest.