Just a little question:

[Dr4gon]

Because I am to lazy to test it out in the sandbox and I don't exactly trust the outcome anyway.

Can a safari ride be used to travel from A to B, and what will it cost me to do a large distance like this. Are there upkeep costs?

Yeah, I know it's not strategical to start like this, but I just wanted to see if the guests would travel this far for a gulpee and two habitats.
But hey, I survive

Now they travel this far to buy an umbrella

 

[Monsarona]

I know you can for the Gondola. I use it more as a way for guests to get from one end of the park to the other. Might be easier/better to try a train instead?

 

[Jaggid Edje]

There are upkeep costs. Most of my rides lose money because I don't get enough in ticket sales for the ride to pay for the running costs. The details for the ride shows the costs, and your zoo financial report has a section in expenses that breaks out the total for all rides for you. I figure I make up for the loss on the rides with the additional sales and donations at the more distant places where stations drop people though, so I still build them.

 

[Dr4gon]

I know you can for the Gondola. I use it more as a way for guests to get from one end of the park to the other. Might be easier/better to try a train instead?

That was my idea too. The safari ride doesn't go very fast.
Now I just need to keep this zoo afloat until I developed the knowledge to build one. Maybe one I keep on remembering my research whenever I move to a new zoo. I noticed that Antarctica is not a good place for business, now they charge for power. Did they mention that somewhere? It used to be 0 power costs.

 

[Jaggid Edje]

Solar and wind are 0 cost regardless of biome, just research that.

Regarding keeping the zoo afloat while researching, what I always do these days when starting a new zoo is start with just exhibits. Super cheap to operate but they bring in visitors and donations, and as an added bonus you make profit selling the offspring if you let them breed. I start all zoos with nothing but exhibits and usually have 10-12 operating and a million in the bank before I ever place my first habitat. By that point I usually also have all research done except the higher tiers of the themes.

 

[Dr4gon]

Solar and wind are 0 cost regardless of biome, just research that.

Regarding keeping the zoo afloat while researching, what I always do these days when starting a new zoo is start with just exhibits. Super cheap to operate but they bring in visitors and donations, and as an added bonus you make profit selling the offspring if you let them breed. I start all zoos with nothing but exhibits and usually have 10-12 operating and a million in the bank before I ever place my first habitat. By that point I usually also have all research done except the higher tiers of the themes.

I completely forgot about that. I think that one keeper can easily work on 4 to 5 exhibit. I'll do that

 

[Jaggid Edje]

Yep, I usually assign one keeper per 5 to 6 exhibits. My current zoo, Cheetah Nation, started with 12 exhibits and 2 cheetah habitats (for the challenge), and I only had 2 keepers for the 12 exhibits. I believe I did need to train them past 1 star once I got to the 11th exhibit to avoid the "hungry/thirsty" messages from them though. The zoo is quite large now but those 12 exhibits right next to the entrance are still going strong.

I build my exhibit houses with a spot for restroom, and 1-2 shops plus 5-6 exhibits all in one building, so it's always worth leaving them operating imo. This current zoo has 2 buildings for the 12 exhibits with 2 drink shops, a food shop, and 2 restrooms between them both. In the image below the two larger buildings with the green roofs facing each other across the path are my exhibit houses that I started the zoo with (obviously without the building around them at that time). The zoo entrance is just off screen to the bottom left.