Center Parcs Longleat Forest — Attraction in Corsley

Wait for it… 😍🌟||I will start with the only main bad point we found during our stay at Center Parcs Longleat. We arrived at 4pm and check in was abit manic, ques backed up for 1/2 mile atleast. It took about 30 minutes to get to the arrivals desk to collect our fobs and information packs. ||As staff were trying to get everyone moving promptly there was no real time to stop and plan the route ahead to the lodge - it was all very rushed. A lot of people use the main roads of the park to walk and at night time the lighting is very poor (torches recommended !). So we found check- in quite dangerous, driving in the dark with people walking everywhere and not to mention cars just parked literally all over the place trying to unload and In the way. I genuinely think arrival times should be staggered like in other places. For example 2pm for premium lodges and 4pm for standard. This should surely help the traffic flow?… ||Once everyone has checked in to their lodges and reparked their cars in the main car park - it goes back to being tranquil. But it’s abit ruthless before that and several times we thought someone was going to crash into us as cars are trying to pass eachother in the most awkward of places. People will suddenly just walk/ cycle out in front of you too and if they don’t have sufficient lighting on them - it’s very hard to see them! So we definitely think the check in process could be made safer and more efficient. ||Anyways! Rolling onto the (many) good points! ||We stayed in the pine area in an executive 2-bed lodge, family of 4 plus dog. The lodge was lovely and clean, modern with ample space for us all. We were situated central in the park and so it made for getting around fairly easy once we found our bearings the next day. The park is fairly large as people have suggested so I would recommend looking at the map/ preferences before booking. Choosing “your own location/ lodge” is definitely an advantage if you can afford to do it. ||The main car park was 3.5km away (there and back) on foot from our lodge so potentially there is a lot of walking involved. However the trains are regular and of course you can hire bikes etc. We enjoy walking and galavanting off into areas so for us the distances were not a bad thing (in-fact it suited us!). But it’s worth mentioning to anyone with poor mobility or less interest in walking this much. It is quite a hilly location so just be prepared really although there are facilities to help with this. We were racking up 20,000 steps a day BUT we personally loved the setting and the walking! ||We stayed during the first weekend of winter-wonderland and the effort made for the lights, entertainment - just general Christmassy vibe was truly magical! The kids kept asking to walk through the Santa/ Christmas village and we did this several times each day! For us it was worth paying the premium, it just made walking around so lovely and special. ||We booked quite a few of the Christmas activities- one that I would highlight is the elf’s academy at the activity den! Our kids are 3&5 and they did not stop talking about it after! It’s £44 each to drop them|off for 3 hours and during this time they do lots of activities with the elf’s including cupcake decorating, Christmas cards, singing and crafts. They come out dressed in their own little elf uniforms to take home and even given an “elf certificate” by Santa himself! This was totally worth the money and the staff were just amazing with the kids. ||We did do the subtropical swimming pool one evening and we found it abit too busy for us personally although the place itself was fantastic. We had no issues with the changing facilities- many lockers and changing rooms for all. I’ve read reviews on this being poor but for the mass of people moving in/ out of these areas - it had everything you needed. I’ve certainly seen worst changing rooms than these! Lots of water slides, flumes and activities going on in the pool to suit all ages. It was also nice to step into warm pools!But just abit over populated for us and in places we were shoulder to shoulder with strangers which was abit uncomfortable. ||We ate from two of the delivery services and the food was nice both times. Plenty to go around and a variety of options. From traditional, Chinese, Indian, a pizzeria etc. Ordering from them is very simple and at the touch of a phone! You can also pick and choose different meals from places but have them in the same order which is very useful. ||Staff were all very friendly and welcoming, with a special mention to the ladies in the plaza kids toy shop. One lady there was super friendly and we saw her again after during the Christmas parade selling the glow wands. Our son (5) remembered her face and even made his own comment of how “nice she was”. There was just a really upbeat atmosphere with the Christmas theming and everyone seemed to be in good spirit.||We wish we had booked longer as felt 3 nights/4 days wasn’t enough for us with all the activities on offer. Already looking to book next year! …||On our last day we had squirrels come to play on our cabin patio and they were very friendly! We also got to see deer down by the maple area (on a walk), plenty of rabbits and other wildlife! It’s the sort of holiday where it can be as busy or relaxing as you make it. ||For us the winter wonderland experience was 100% worth the money. There’s so much to do there and you don’t have to go offsite at all, a very special time of year there! ||Thankyou all, we will be returning with our little tribe again...

This was our first visit back for over 20 years to celebrate a couple of birthdays. It is our nearest Centre Parcs and due to having a dog also, it was much less hassle coming here compared to Europe with the additional pet requirements needed. In an ideal world it would be De Vossermeren,Belgium all the way. The EU is significantly cheaper and better value compared to the UK even taking into account the channel crossing.||Longleat is huge compared to say Woburn CP and if you struggle with walking(hilly also) , please take that into account. Bikes are really handy if you say are in the Fir lodges as it can be around a 30 minute walk to say the car park/swimming plaza however there is a land train which runs 3 times an hour with convenient stops. You can also rent mobility scooters if disabled etc.||* please also note that CP is cashless* ||Anyway as follows with my pros and cons at the end|||Arrival||||Very smooth and speedy. Friendly staff. Being a special occasion, we opted for the early check in. It was £50, but significantly worth it giving us earlier by 2 hours, access to our lodge. You can arrive at 10am but will need to park up in the main car park until either 2pm or 4pm but you have access to all the facilities. Traffic flow is far better getting unloaded and then returning your car before literally the carnage of traffic begins at 4pm when all of the cars can access their lodges to unload before returning the car to the main car park. **please consider on your departure day to check out and get your car away from the lodge at least an hour before the 10am deadline. It was gridlock not only with everyone else leaving at the same time but there were dustcarts and also construction vehicles repairing some lodges, let alone bikes, kids and families walking around. Chaos. Everything is geared to using the app for information. Wristbands are now provided for access to your lodge and swimming lockers. Far better than using keys. Very easy to use and safe.||Lodge||We were in Fir which was at the other end of the park compare to the swimming plaza. It was lovely and quiet but as mentioned, you need to choose carefully where you want to be depending on your needs.|We had 3 bed executive which was spacious, spotless and had all that we needed. En-suites in all rooms plus an infa red sauna too. Coffee machine, oven, dishwasher, microwave and bar be que. Very quiet at night but you may want to bring your own pillows as ours were very hard. It was a very comfortable place to stay for our long weekend. Decent TV with freeview and decent WiFi.||It was missing some cloths and washing up liquid. Bath towels are included with the bath having a jacuzzi.||Walks||Lovely park walks, and great trails and bike trails. Very spacious area. Lovely to be under many redwoods in what was a very hot weekend. Great lake with beach area. Peddalos , canoes, etc, zip wire, so much to do for children and teens.||Swimming.||It was a hot weekend but the plaza had no air conditioning, in fact most places had no AC except for the bowling area which became our go to place for a drink and rest as it had working AC! Not sure if it was due to cutbacks but it was unbearable being inside the plaza. Stifling with no air. The swimming area was clean and great for the rapids, slides, wave machine. It is superb but so so busy. I don’t know if CP is more of a money making machine now but it was crazy and now if you rebook within a month, you can invite for free 2 further guests on a day pass. The rapids took some effort to get down so I’m unsure if they have reduced the speed of the flow now?||What was annoying however is that the rides which need a tube/raft shut at 6.45pm as the staff leave. That is poor considering it is open until 9pm. Of course all the bars stay open till later….||The swimming area is huge compared to Woburn for information and far better in all aspects.||Food/Activities||Our birthday meals was at Hucks. It was crazy hot in there being part of the plaza but the food was nice, of decent portions and friendly service. Prices I would say are around or a bit higher than a Beefeater price. Not cheap but what is these days? They do offer a 3 course set menu at £25 but limited choices.|We also ate at the sports bar which was nice and fairly reasonable. Good burgers, fish and chips etc||Activities were very expensive for what they offer. I would avoid unless you are doing a special treat but £17.50 for half an hours pedallos is mad.||There is a well stocked parc market doing Co op food . Reasonable||Starbucks x2 with a 10% blue light discount and cheaper still with a Starbucks self serve machine within the parc market.||Departure ||A bit chaotic with the traffic but once done you can park up, staying onsite until midnight if you wanted to.||Pros||Clean lodge spacious, quiet and comfortable|Lovely forest/tranquil|Friendly staff and good service|Wristband access|Land train||Cons||Cashless|Expensive activities|Auto 7.5% service charge but you can ask to have it removed|Flume rides in swimming pool shut by 7pm|Fairly high drink prices|Towels are charged to rent for swimming|Very hot interior areas, limited AC areas|||We probably won’t visit again mainly due to cost and the sheer number of people...

This was my first trip to Center Parcs and on the whole, I was very impressed. The Lodge we stayed in was very spacious although the cleanliness wasn't as good as it could have been. Nothing horrendous, just plenty of cob webs in the corners of the room which tell you all you need to know about how thorough the place is cleaned. Pillows were uncomfortable but in general, the bed was fine and no real complaint about the accommodation. Good size kitchen area with everything you need for self catering. In fact on that point, I would have to recommend self catering over the ridiculous prices of eating at one of the restaurants on site. Some are ok and you pay what you expect to pay but the worst of the lot is probably the Indian restaurant. Apologies I can't remember it's name but avoid it like the plague. 2 adults and 2 kids eating some poppadoms, a curry with rice and a Naan bread each set us back £150. The food tasted suspiciously like a decent microwave meal you could find in Tesco. It was simply nothing like the quality and taste you might expect from a decent Indian restaurant, especially when you are paying so much for it. The portions were also very small. The food tasted ok and the restaurant looks very pleasant but DO NOT expect a 'proper' curry because it simply isn't on that same level. Conversely the little supermarket on the site sells microwave meals and they are superb. I spent a fiver on a pasta bake thing and it was far tastier than the £30 curry i had from the Indian restaurant. On another occasion I bought a Carbonara and it was also lovely. So if you don't want to take loads of food with you, you could do far worse than buying a ready meal in the supermarket and probably saving a few hundred pound on not eating out whilst you are there. If you do eat out, just make sure you budget for it. Centre Parcs isn't exactly a cheap place to stay at the best of times. The supermarket stocks everything you could need but please bring your own sauces, tea and coffee etc and basic things like that. ||||The swimming pool is brilliant and I doubt it is rivalled by anything other than another Center Parcs somewhere else. They have clearly put a lot of effort into it and it is almost certainly the highlight of many people's stay. My only moan would be the selfish people claiming sunbeds and chairs by the pool. That however has little to do with Center Parcs, I guess it's just something people do on holiday. I just find it annoying that every single sunbed and chair immediately becomes out of use to everyone other than the selfish 35 people who think it's fair to claim it as their own whilst they swim off for an hour, rendering every sunbed out of use to the other 1500 people in the pool. The outdoor rapids are brilliant. ||||The bike hire is a must (if you arent bringing you own). The place is vast and without 2 wheels to get you about, you might be in for a number of very long walks between the various places on site. Not a problem if you dont mind a pleasant walk in the forest and to be fair there is also a road train which moves you around with ease. I just preferred having the freedom of a bike and for the prices they charge, i thought it was good value. The bikes are fairly decent with helmets and locks included in the price. ||||We played crazy golf whilst we were there. 18 holes cost us £50 for 4 people. That is just ridiculous. The course is ok but it's just not worth it for the half hour it took. I dont know about the other activities but I'm sure they will also be at eye watering prices. The mini golf is right next to the Indian restaurant so perhaps that place ought to be known as 'rip off' corner.||||We did play badminton and that wasn't too expensive at all. I'm sure if you do your research you could find some activities which provide reasonable value for your money. ||||All in all i had a great time. Center Parcs is a lovely place to stay and I wouldn't want to put anyone off going. I just think you need to put a lot of thought into how much money you intend to...