To want a refund... Longleat safari.

[Mrsweasley123]

Visited longleat for the festival of lights yesterday, have been before for the christmas event and loved it. It was an absolute disaster. Sat stuck in the safari for 4 hours, staff had to put all the animals away so the gates could be kept open to ease traffic so nothing to look at. We were standstill in an enclosure for an hour, nose to nose traffic of idling cars, my 6 year old niece wet herself because we were stuck for so long with no access to get out. Made it out eventually, another 30 minute queue to access filthy toilets. 45 min- 1hr queues for food. On foot attractions closed. The lights themselves were impressive but it was so overcrowded people were getting crushed, children crying. It was honestly horrendous. We complained to guest services who acknowledged they were over capacity. I expect christmas events to be busy and expect to queue but aibu to think this is ridiculous and expect a refund?

Bloody hell that sounds awful. Yes I would definitely be demanding a refund in that case. It’s not the experience that you paid for, simple as that.

YANBU. That can't have been great for the welfare of the animals. Were you all just snaking through the safari park in the dark? Must have been very stressful for the poor animals who are used to quiet at night.

That sounds awful and yes, I would ask for a refund. I don't know that they will give it, but clearly they have booked more visitors than they can cope with.

I emailed complaining about our visit weekend of 25th and heard nothing back, although your safari experience sounds worse that ours. Such a shame as the lights themselves are incredible but it's been massively oversold this year. Be interested to hear if you hear back from them, you have reminded me I am going to chase them tomorrow. Tempted to copy in Wiltshire Council as our experience I am shocked with compliant for an event with the size and numbers of people.

I worked there a few Christmases ago as a seasonal temp and overcrowding especially at the Land of Light was a major problem. Can't speak for the safari but there were many H&S issues.

Sounds like nothing has changed.

Please complain.

That sounds awful, definitely complain. I can’t believe that they are allowed to operate with that number of visitors.
I have had the lights at longeat on my list to do for a couple of years now but Covid got in the way and this year have been away, I won’t be booking next year now, it’s so expensive as well.

That does sound bad we went a few weeks ago , mainly to see the sloth , and it was lovely

Calling the Daily Mail...

I don’t understand how you could be stuck in the safari for 4 hours? Had everyone just parked up in both lanes?

Took 4 hours total to get through, but yep, for the periods we were completely stationary (mainly the cat enclosure) both lanes parked up traffic so couldnt move.

We did this about 6 years ago and is was exactly the same. Took hours to get around the safari.

If the acknowledged they were over capacity what was their justification for no refund?

The lady on the desk acknowledged it but said she has no control over refunds etc, has to go through customer services email, although judging from reviews from others from the weekend noone is getting a response.

The Safari is often like that at busy times - we've been a few times for the Festival of Lights & got the Safari bus (mainly to protect our car & get a better view from the top decks) but that still took 3 hours.
I imagine they're overly busy as they had to close for a few days during the bad weather & now all those people are piling in.
We're booked for after Christmas so will see what it's like then but we're not bothering with the safari again this year.

So have you actually complained and requested a refund with the relevant department yet?

That sounds awful. I quite fancied doing this at one point (I mean, a couple of years ago I thought I’d do it one year) but definitely won’t of it’s like this!

Yikes, this isn't what I wanted to read. We're going on Wednesday.

What timeslot did you book for the safari Op? Just wondering if the morning or afternoon is a particular problem or if its all the time?

Ive seen a lot of negative trip advisor reviews this year which is a shame as you'd think theyd be able to manage things better. I live close by so have been in previous years but not since covid.

Id imagine weekdays are a lot less crowded fingers crossed. Yes have complained to the right department. We had the afternoon safari went in at just after 12.

I did hear that they had to put many of the animals inside because it was too cold for them.

Go to the local paper. They’ll love a disastrous Christmas ‘experience’ story.

Despite my username, lived here 5+ years, same stories every year.
2 red panda cubs died just this week, every year the same complaints of over selling.... oh & remember the lions that were culled???? OP is right, 4 hr wait is typical!
They put on great light shows, advertise brilliantly. Actual experience is totally different & you're more likely to get through to santa than a human being at Xmas.
Just before covid the santa train crashed with passengers on board.
Our 'local paper' Wiltshire Times' reports weekly with these stories, nothing changes.

Who even patronises this shit? Prescription lifestyle bollox. It is a bit chavvy isn't it? Animals are not for display.

the universe doesnt owe your progeny anything, frankly.

I can well imagine it being like that - how awful!!! I would definitely chase complaint, shame them on FB, twitter etc. Our kids had a random INSET day during the summer term and we went purely because we knew it would be half empty and DC had been desperate to go for ages. Flew through the safari in under an hour and didn't have to queue for anything. You couldn't pay me to go there at weekends or during the hols. We had a lovely day but won't be returning.