Visiting Longleat Safari Park. Any tips?

[imacroissantgirl]

Interested in visiting over the half term with 5 year old.
it looks a big and exciting day out. Any tips please re queues/pre booking certain activities? Thanks

I'll be watching with interested, I'm taking my 18yo son!

If you’re driving yourself through the safari, go as early as possible. The queues build up! We went last year and the lady at the entrance told us that the previous afternoon it was taking 3 hours to get through! As we did it as soon as they opened we were under an hour.

And remove anything loose on the car…ariel if it screws off, wing mirrors if they pop off. The monkeys unscrewed my aerial and stole both windscreen washers last summer! 😂

When we went in autumn the weather was miserable and there was only a handful of people there. However as my daughter doesn’t like big crowds it worked out great and ended up having a great day. I’d agree with pp assuming we are still in good weather then expect crowds so get there early, do the safari bit first then park up and do the rest.

Arrive as early as possible.
Talk to the keepers - they always want to share, and my kids came away with so much new info we'd never have got them to read!
Feed the lorikeets - they land on you which is amazing but your LO may need warning!
The bat cave is awesome and the sloths are in the are usually really active.
Boat was definitely worth it - again the queue built quickly
Koalas woke later in the day and were so close - lovely to watch
Take snacks - there's so much to do queuing for overpriced, slightly rubbish food wasted precious time!

Definitely take anything off your car that you can (windscreen wipers, aerials etc) in the monkeys!
Theres so much to see so go early, as soon as it opens and spend the whole day there. (we went over two days for the Christmas lights and Santa with a toddler and still missed bits, though we were a bit slower moving and had the extras of Christmas events).
Lines Weren’t too bad when we went but I’d imagine the school holidays are crazy so id do the safari as soon as it opens.

I am a few years out of date, but we used to have a season ticket so probably visited at least a dozen times.

1. Monkeys are pros (we came away with teethmarks in the bumper of a car we knew we’d be scrapping). There is an alternative route that is well signposted from where you can view the chaos (or take the safari bus).

2. Make sure you have used the loos BEFORE setting out through the safari park.

3. Pack a picnic/snacks/drinks and a blanket. There are plenty of places to sit that way.

4. Pack a towel and swim stuff/spare underclothing. The Adventure Castle play area has a play water-fountains area.

5. If it is likely to be a hot day, tackle the safari park bit early (otherwise the big cats are likely to be asleep).

6. The maze is best left to older children if you are time constrained.

Look at a map before you arrive and prioritise what you want to see/don’t mind missing if there is a big queue.

Marvellous, I think we might opt for safari bus as OH precious about the car!
all great tips thanks :)

You'll see more / be able to go at your own pace in your car rather than the bus so I'd just go in your car and not drive through the monkeys if you're worried about the car. We had season tickets for 4 years and went through plenty times. There was only once when a monkey jumped up and down on the rear wiper that it almost damaged it but other than that fine. We also always skipped the deer section as it was a bit boring and very slow unless you wanted to feed the deer through the car windows (only tried that once 🤣). The boat queue gets huge so we often did that first then the on foot bits, and went to the safari right at the end of the afternoon. You don't really see anything from the train so unless your child is a big fan of trains or you manage to get in the queue just at the right time to hop on I wouldn't prioritise that. Yes to feeding the lorikeets! And you can feed the sealions from the boat or just watch others do it - it gets very noisy and they do jump up, so just make sure your 5 year old is prewarned. Have fun!

Definitely beware the monkeys, they enjoy nothing more than stripping a car down

Insect repellent, it is wasp central

Update;
we ended up having a fantastic day out, so, thanks for the tips! Here is a breakdown of the day;
We came in through the main gate, so recommend getting there early, stopped at the Lime carpark (which is near the house) for a wee and a drink. Back to the car and headed for the drive through safari. If we’d have realised, we could’ve stopped at the African village for a break (where you can see giraffes etc) but to get to this point you join another queue with a different entry point so there is another wait whilst that queue gets tickets and then more hold ups while they use the loo!
however, once in its really lovely! Fun part was the monkeys jumping on the cars and as ours was boring no damage. They seem to love a roof rack to pull out the rubbers! There was deer feeding too. Most of the other animals were flopped in a group asleep.
when we finished the drive through we parked in front of the house and walked to get a photo with the huge lion statue. There’s a cafe and loos right on the corner of the house which weren’t busy, then we had a picnic on the lawn. Suggest heading to queue for the river cruise, took about 45 mins. Within this is an ‘opportunity’ for a photo which we declined. Once aboard, all very fun and interesting commentary from the keepers regarding the sea lions - so noisy waiting for their fish (£1.50 a pot) but limited so you have to get in line quick! On the cruise we also saw more monkeys and gorillas. Hippo enclosure currently under construction but coming soon.
back behind the house there’s beautiful, well kept gardens, lots more animals/reptiles and birds. A train, which we didn’t get round to, a marvellous adventure play area with wet play too.
plentiful food/snack/ice cream options, a bit more pricey but not shockingly so.
all in all a fabulous day out!
the place is immaculately kept and impressive. Ticket price includes everything but you’ll be hard pressed to fit it all in….
thanks again for the tips:)