As a more miniature zoo competing against all the more prominent zoos in the bigger cities, Twin Valley Zoo didn’t have a current website that stood a chance. It was dated, and overall the user experience was lacking. They came to Smashing Pixels to help fix this problem, and we delivered.

After meeting with the team at Twin Valley Zoo, it was determined that we needed to promote the zoo to multiple customers – school groups, summer camps, guided tours and the general public. They were also doing their part to be socially responsible and wanted to move to a paperless environment. This meant creating forms and e-commerce for people to sign up and pay online. We also created online sign-ups and forms for each of these groups.

As we were getting close to the beginning of their booking season, covid-19 restrictions came upon us and all schools closed down for the remainder of the year. This was a big part of their spring tourism.

To combat the loss in attendance, the client created multiple opportunities for supporters of the zoo. This included an “adopt an animal” program, an Amazon Wish List, and selling season passes online. These opportunities need to be added to the new website.

With the county’s support, the zoo was eventually able to open to the public. Before Toronto Zoo, they were open to the public, and African Lion Safari was. This presented another obstacle. Too many people showed up at the zoo, which created long lineups. To combat this, we created a booking system. Visitors to the zoo would book a time slot for their arrival. Arrivals were set in five-minute intervals. As the time booked up you would take your spot. Whatever time you chose is when you would show up. You no longer will have to show up first thing in the morning and wait for an hour to get in. You would show up at the time you booked. This condensed the lineups significantly, allowing a steady flow into the zoo all day long.

Smashing Pixels worked alongside Jennifer and her team to give them what they asked for. We updated the website’s overall look to allow them a standing chance against their competition. Now customers can see all the cute animals they care for, the zoo’s map as they have gone paperless, and the property’s history.