Taken from my Tripadvisor Reviews
Photos and videos are from our September 2015 visit and not this May 2016 visit (except the photo and video of the Rocking Rhino)
We went at the beginning of
May (after our Center Parcs holiday as always). This was our 4th
visit and it will definitely be our last for a while. The first time
we went we stayed all day but now each time we go we end up leaving
earlier and earlier. This time we left at about 1pm so we were glad
that we used our Tesco clubcard vouchers instead of paying full
price.
We arrived at 10am and was
met by a large queue of cars. There was a member of staff guiding the
cars. There are about 6 or 8 arrival booths (all open and staffed) but the staff member was
only guiding the cars into the first two lanes. Once these lanes were
completely full of cars she then let cars into the next lanes. Really
annoying start to have to sit in a queue of cars for 20 minutes while
watching many other cars arriving and being able to go straight
through. What a stupid system.
It was almost 10.30 when we
finally got through the payment booth and even that early in the day
the entire car park was full so we went straight to the safari. When
we got to the African Village, where you can park up and have a walk
about, that car park was also complete full. Therefore, we didn't
stop to see the giraffes and other animals. Like I said this was our
4th visit and we had seen them before.
While driving around the
safari, it would have been nice to have been told in advance that
because the fences around the enclosures are being replaced all of
the dangerous animals were either in cages or removed. While I
appreciate that Longleat needed to ensure that the builders weren't
eaten by a lion, it would have been nice to have been told in
advance. Considering how busy the place was there would have been a
lot of disappointed people and maybe it wouldn't have been so busy if
people were told at the gate. All the lions were in cages, as were
the tigers and cheetahs and the wolves had been completely removed.
We were still able to see
the lions even though they were in cages. However, the tigers and
cheetahs were a different story. Just as us and two other cars were
driving up to the tigers one of those VIP jeeps came flying past us
all, went off road and parked directly in front of the one and only
tiger. Therefore, completely blocking it from view of anyone else and
that's where he remained for a considerable amount of time after
which the rest of us gave up and moved on. While I appreciate that
the people of the VIP tours have paid extra to get closer to the
tigers surely it shouldn't be at the expense of other visitors?
Surely the driver of the jeep could have let the rest of us have a
look at the tiger rather than completely blocking it from view?
When we got to the cheetah
enclosure there was only one cheetah visible and it was in a cage, so
all the cars queued up to take turns to have a look at it. But as
always you always get one idiot who doesn't want to wait their turn.
A car came rushing down the over taking lane to the front of the
queue and as soon as the first car in the queue moved on this car cut
in front and parked in front of the cheetah with no thought to those
of us who had been waiting our turn in the queue.
Like I said above the wolves
had been removed, we spent ages driving slowly around their enclosure
looking for them like everyone else but didn't see them. We then
realised that there wasn't a staff jeep in the enclosure like usual
just in case there are any problems which lead us to believe that the
wolves weren't there. Later on in the adventure park I over heard
someone talking to a member of staff who confirmed that the wolves
had been removed due to the fence being replaced.
We then went for an early
lunch in the Tropical Storm Cafe which we really enjoyed. Less than
£5 each for a panini each plus a children's lunch box, very
reasonable prices and friendly staff.
My son and partner went on
the rocking rhino, luckily at the time there wasn't a queue because
neither of them particular liked it. About 15 minutes later the queue
was ridiculous so glad they managed to get on it when they did.
All of the enclosures while
walking around the park are extremely small, like the penguins,
meerkats etc and it was extremely busy so really big queue for most
of it. There was a big queue for the train, boat, animal handling,
lorikeets feeding and big crowds around all of the animal enclosures.
Like I said we had been 3 times before this visit, we were all
feeling tired after spending a week at Center Parcs so didn't feel
like queuing for ages, with an autistic 4 year old who doesn't like
waiting around just to see animals that we had seen three times
before. So in the end we ended up leaving at 1pm and we don't feel
any need to return anytime soon. We have always gone to Longleat
Center Parcs mainly because it is across the road from Longleat
Safari Park but like I said we have no desire to return. It is not
set up to handle the amount of visitors that were there on this
particular visit.
Leaving was a bit of a
hassle. Usually the exit is the same place as the entrance however,
this time, I think due to the fact we left so early, we were directed
to a different exit. This exit lead us out onto a country lane and it
was quite a few miles before we reached the main road.
However, please read my
other reviews on Longleat because we really enjoyed it the first
time, but after four visits we wont be coming again anytime soon.
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