Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

ANYONE BEEN TO LONGLEAT SAFARI LATELY?

29 replies

mad4mybaby · 01/07/2008 14:23

we are going to longleat centre parcs this w/e and planning on going to longleat aswell, firstly any idea how far the parc is from the zoo?

Also on their website it looks as though the only animals you see is either on safari or pets corner, is this the case? I dont want to take my car into the safari and you can only get their bus if your on public transport (which we wont be doing)

OP posts:
gillybean2 · 01/07/2008 14:49

You'll have more than enough to keep you busy at Center Parcs in my experience. Especially if you'r eonly going for a weekend!

MehgaLegs · 01/07/2008 14:53

We went on their bus and had driven there ourselves. I was quite glad we did too when I saw the damage the monkeys were doing to other cars.

There are other attractions at Longleat, the safari boat trip was good, you see sea lions and the gorilla and hippos.

it's the one safari park I have been too and seen lions up trees and tigers tumbling about with each other rather than just pacing the fence line.

Also has maze, postman pat land thing and steam train

TheChicken · 01/07/2008 14:53

not far at all
do the safari last imo
its great

Original poster
mad4mybaby · 01/07/2008 16:28

thanks. why would you do safari last? It says online you can skip the monkey section.... on the bus are the windows open? As in no glass? Id rather go in my car incase its hot as we have air con and apparantly it takes 1 and half hours to do it?? Not sure ds would be happy to sit for that long

OP posts:
charliecat · 01/07/2008 16:30

I went last year. Thought the safari was awful. It was like the M25 in a jam, animals couldnt get away from the fumes of the traffic, made me really sad

Original poster
mad4mybaby · 01/07/2008 19:43

jam becuase there were alot of cars?

OP posts:
charliecat · 01/07/2008 21:02

yep, and i felt really guilty for being in one of them.

Original poster
mad4mybaby · 01/07/2008 21:09

when you watch that programme on the tele and online there looks like there is loads of space and the road you go on looks big, is this not the case then? Think that'd prob upset me too... do you have to drive at everyone elses speed then? And does it REALLY take an hour and a half??

Thing is i wont go on the boat (have a fear) so that already limits whats left to do. Do you not see animals like at a normal zoo then?

OP posts:
Surfermum · 01/07/2008 21:10

We went last weekend. Center Parcs is really close, I seem to remember the entrance to it on one of the exit roads from Longleat.

We split it over two days. On the first day we did all the attractions - boat trip, the maze, Postman Pat village, butterflies, Pets corner and the Adventure Playground and the other bits.

The second day we did the Safari and then went back to the park for another picnic and the train ride. We got there around 12.30 on Sunday and didn't find it very busy at all.

Last year we went and tried to do the whole lot in a day and it was too much. This year was much better. We went straight to the boat and got straight on (last year queued for about 45 mins) - apparently first thing in the morning is the quietest time.

Dd (5) and dsd (12) loved the Adventure Playground - especially the water bit. DD ended up going back to the campsite naked and in my fleece! It's just a concrete area with various water fountains that the kids can run in and out of. They can jump on buttons to make them go off. When we go again I'll deffo be taking dd a cossie and a towel.

Surfermum · 01/07/2008 21:11

You can open your windows in all but the monkey and lions/tigers bit.

There's one section where you can feed the deer out of the car window. Dd loved that bit - and the monkeys of course.

Original poster
mad4mybaby · 01/07/2008 21:13

ok so if i dont do boat and safari are there any good bits left?? PAying £22 per adult to get in dont want to waste money!

OP posts:
Surfermum · 01/07/2008 21:15

I think you can just pay for certain bits.

Original poster
mad4mybaby · 01/07/2008 21:16

oh i thought it was £22 for entry and that included most of it

OP posts:
Surfermum · 01/07/2008 21:20

If you check out their website it shows how much each attraction is.

somersetmum · 01/07/2008 21:21

We went last year and we were behind some t**t who passed his cigarette to a monkey

Surfermum · 01/07/2008 21:21

The passport is £22 and that's for everything. If you don't want to do everything then you can pay individually.

loolop · 01/07/2008 21:42

Sorry to hijack but am going to Longloeat centreparcs at end of July with DP and DD 17mths (plus various others!) - never been to centreparcs before. Neone been to the Longleat one, is it good? Looks fab from the website!

Original poster
mad4mybaby · 02/07/2008 16:39

i'll let you know after the w/e. does look good, better than the others IMO. There is a little train thing that runs round the outside plus a sort of man made beach by the lake..

OP posts:
Original poster
mad4mybaby · 02/07/2008 21:49

does anyone have an answer to my Q? Are there any other animals there other than safari and on the boat tri[p?

OP posts:
loolop · 02/07/2008 22:12

I've been to Longleat safari and the animals are only on the boat and in the actual safari. U can bypass the monkeys! Tbh honest from looking at centreparcs you'll prob find tons to do there without spending extra to go to longleat!

Original poster
mad4mybaby · 09/07/2008 19:49

loolop, having been back from c/parcs a few days thought id let you know how it was. One main thing i will say is its very hilly so if you end up at the 'bottom' area of the parc it wont be much fun unless your really fit. There is a land train that goes round the parc which i fab but i think it takes about an hour to get round the whole parc and only goes round it clockwise IUSWIM. We paid the extra £35 to choose our villa and was worth every penny. It really is lovely there though. Every thing is quite spaced out. Staff were great too.

OP posts:
TooTicky · 09/07/2008 19:56

Pets corner has tortoises and otters and things [vague]
It does get very crowded.
You may be overwhelmed by the blatant commercialism everywhere.
It is a good day out if you are likely to enjoy/do most things. Exhausting though.

meglet · 11/07/2008 10:50

we are going tomorrow.....

Does anyone know how destructive the monkeys are these days?

Shall I let DS 20 months out his car seat while we drive through the safari? There will be adults in the back of the car with him so can be restrained if needed!

missmuddle · 11/07/2008 10:57

did it last weekend - much cheaper activities than center parcs - great fun and not that busy but you will need two days

StripeyKnickersSpottySocks · 11/07/2008 14:12

I went last year - you can bypass the monkeys. I braved it in my new car and no damage. I had a monkey that escaped the monkey area by riding on my car roof though!