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?

My friend went a few weeks ago and said the same.

They took 3 hours to get through and once out everything was shut except the lights bit.

She said she was going to complain - I'll have to remember to ask if she ever did and if she got a response.

It was the same for us a few weeks ago - safari took twice as long, queue for the boat was an hour and a half and we didn’t get on because they hadn’t figured out the number of people in the queue were more than the capacity for the last boats, and ended up shuffling at a snails pace past all the lights which was so boring and dangerous with everyone packed in we ditched them half way round and went home hungry (I gave up on the queue for a basic looking hot dog after 40 minutes).

Oh and I couldn’t get santa train tickets as fully booked but all the trains we saw were half empty.

I complained to longleat afterwards but not received a response.

I get that these places are trying to recoup their money after covid but this was just greedy and we will no longer be going which is a shame because it used to be excellent.

The roaming lions and tigers generally mean you're not allowed to get out of your car for a wee 😂

That's why I asked if they were not allowed to get out of the car in that part of the park and as I had read the OP in full, she said the animals had been locked away.

For those of you who think that all zoos should be banned, please have a read of this:

In 2009 in Romania, three prides of African Lions were living in filthy tiny concrete pens, fed on a meagre diet of scraps and faced an uncertain future. The new director, Diaina Ghender, realised that the zoo could not care for them and contacted YWP to see if we could help to re-home the lions.

At the time, YWP was a new park and did not have the funds to rehouse and care for the Lions. However, a public campaign was launched that raised £150,000 towards helping bring the Lions to their new home in Yorkshire. A team of big cat experts from zoos around the UK travelled to Romania to help move the 13 lions. They arrived in February 2010 when Jet2.com donated the use of an aeroplane to transport the prides to Doncaster Airport.

Since then, they have opened a ten acre polar bear reserve and are at the forefront of global efforts to save the species. Most of the animals at the park are endangered or threatened in the wild. Amur leopards are on the brink of extinction, with the most recent estimations of around 75 individuals left in the wild, therefore classifying them as Critically Endangered. The Amur Leopards at YWP and wildlife parks worldwide are playing a vital role in assisting with the critical reintroduction efforts of this species.

I have been to YWP several times and all the animals have huge amounts of room. Gone are the days (in this country anyway) where wild animals are kept in tiny cages. And most animal parks/zoos/safari parks are now as concerned about conservation and protecting endangered species as well as running a business.

The Highland Wildlife Park (YWP fans, you'll probably know that's where Hamish is from) is really good as well. All the animals there are appropriate breeds for the climate and they have a breeding programme for Scottish wildcats. I've never seen it that crowded either.

I only heard the other day that two red pandas died at longleat I think due to the cold weather, which is really sad.

Yes, that was very sad. We saw the red pandasclose up in September when we visited. It was a very quiet day so the animals in general were feeling bolder about wandering about nearer the fences.

The enclosures are huge so you don't always see the animals BTW.

I wish I could edit my post. We saw the red pandas at YWP not Longleat.

What a same. I went about ten years ago and it was fabulous but it was late nov I think as kids had under days.

Sounds horrible now!!

Why these places pack to the rafters is beyond me. It's not enjoyable for anyone.

Put a crap review on trip advisor too. Tourist places are obsessed with trip advisor. I work for a tourist attraction and it's all they care about.

We are also going tomorrow but not until 4pm as we are members so have done all the other bits a million times.

That said I took DS in the first week of December and it was brilliant. Almost completely deserted. If anyone is planning on going you're better taking annual leave than going on a December weekend (much like going to Alton Towers or Thorpe Park on a Saturday in August is not a good idea).

Out of curiosity I just looked at TripAdvisor and it's shocking the amount of bad reviews. pretty much the same as what you just said, whether they will review this and do better next year is up for debate but I do feel like a lot of these places are flooding t things to death trying to make up for the loss of money during Covid to the detriment of the enjoyment of the visitor, well more fool them because all that will happen is they will lose more custom over the next few years, such a shame for the animals that need the money from visitors to keep them happy and housed

Shame on longleats managment.

We went for years and loved it - but it’s been going downhill fast! £200 for a family of 4. More of you see Santa.

Never again after last year - never ever again!

everything was tired and the Santa experience was terrible, dirty and they gave my child the exact same present as the previous year. Lots of broken things, couldn’t get a drink and it took months of chasing to even get a response - I was like a dog with a bone though!

We went to the lights a couple of years ago; two years on the trot. The second year I had learned to take our own flask of mulled wine and a box of mince pies. We stood by the singing tree and toasted Christmas as the year before Longleat had run out of both. 🙄

Years ago we did Longleat and absolutely loved it..we did the safari no issues and light show etc.

Clearly there are huge issue's now and these must be addressed.
Definitely complain!

We went today and happily had none of the issues OP had. We arrived just after 10, drove through the safari at our own pace and got a good look at everything. Was through and parked up by 12. We went on the Rhino ride thing and had a look round the animals. We had fish and chips in the café at 2 then played in adventure playground until doing the light trail at 4:30. No issues with excessive queues anywhere. It only got busy at 4 when the lights started.
I think what made the difference was going on a week day, going a bit earlier, mild dry weather.