We've been to Longleat before so we knew it is very wheelchair friendly which made our planning alot easier!
When you arrive you drive up to the ticket booth so you dont have to get out of your vehicle which is very handy. Disabled tickets were about £15 and carers were also about £15 rather than about £30 each. For the amount of things to do at Longleat, this is well worth the money!
After paying, you get the choice of either driving round the safari bit first or doing the actual adventure park bit. We was recommended to do the safari first as the animals are more lively in the morning. So this is exactly what we did! You get given a cd to listen to as you drive round which tells you about all the animals but we didn't really pay much attention to what it was saying - whoops!
The first part of the safari is the giraffes, wallabies, lemurs and zebras - you can park up and get out at this bit but this is the only part that is a bit of a struggle for wheelchairs as its a bit hilly so we didnt stop at this bit.
But as we drove round we saw animals such as vultures, flamingos and pelicans and then we headed towards the monkeys....oh oh!! You get the choice of driving through or skipping that part as the monkeys can be very cheeky and steal parts of your vehicle!! As we drove in,the monkeys spotted our mini bus and ambushed us!! They were everywhere! We found the whole thing hysterical but they did cause quite a bit of damage to the bus....stripping the rubber of the roof rack bit and biting through the brake light cable!!!
After this experience we headed to the deer park where you can pay £1 for a cup of food so you can feed them from your car window. We was surrounded at one point! When feeding the deer, you have to put the food in your hand for the deer to get rather than just throw it on the floor! We then headed past the rhinos and camels and headed for the big cat zone where we saw Lions, Tigers and Cheetahs and then lastly we saw the wolves.
Then it was time for lunch (for us!!) There are several cafes and food huts located all round but we choose the Tropical Storm Cafe where they have thunder and rain storms inside whilst you eat - very unique and very cool!
As it was quiet on the day we went, we didnt have to queue for the river cruise boat which we decided to do next. The boat can hold 3 wheelchairs and has 2 different ramps you can use - one is steeper than the other but staff are very helpful and give you loads of time to get settled on the boat before moving off. The boat lets you see the gorilla and hippos and for £1 you can feel the sea lions swimming round the boat!
Once off we walked round to the penguins where the lady i support overcame her fear and got up close and personal with the penguins - they were obsessed with her wheelchair which she loved! Thought we was going to end up taking a penguin home with us!! We also saw the rays swimming round in this bit.
We then watched a parrot show which was very funny! Then the man i support did something VERY brave....he held a tarantula! I had to hold his at hand at this point and i was terrified!!!! I felt physically sick with fear! Such a wimp.....! He got given a certificate for being so brave!
We didnt managed to look round Longleat house the day we went as we ran out of time so i cant give a honest review on how wheelchair friendly it is.
We had a brilliant day and had no issues with accessibility and all the staff were very helpful! I highly recommend going! If you wanted to stay for longer, there is a centre parcs next door. http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/longleat
For more information on accessibility, click here or tweet them with any questions at @Longleat.
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