We lack waterparks in the UK. The main reason is probably that our weather renders any outdoor attraction requiring you to strip down to a swimming costume useless four months a year. That doesn’t mean we don’t have any waterparks at all, though. Indoor aqua venues can be fantastic, and we’re about to get treated to a brand new one in Bicester.
The company behind the development is Great Wolf Lodge, and a water park is only part of their plans. Great Wolf is sort of like an American Centre Parcs, with 23 resorts scattered across the US and Canada, and it’s now making the jump across the Atlantic with plans to open up three lodges in the UK. The first is set for Bicester, Oxfordshire, on an old golf course. The site was chosen to be the first Great Wolf property in Europe for its ‘proximity to London and between other major urban centres, as well as links to the motorway network’. It’s expected to cost roughly £200 million to complete, and create 600 jobs for local people.
The Bicester resort will feature ‘an incredible array of attractions, entertainment offerings and dining options all under one roof’, according to Great Wolf, and is already under construction. Based on the plans for the other two proposed UK lodges – in Derbyshire and Hampshire – we can expect a hotel with hundreds of rooms, an adventure playpark, a conference space, and, of course the mega waterpark, which will act as an anchor for the rest of the attractions and eateries.
Planning permission has been granted by the local council, so it is this plan will go ahead, we just don’t know exactly when – there’s no dates set in stone so far, so it could be a few years before you’re zooming down a Great Wolf flume. A recently submitted planning application for the Basingstoke site in Hampshire estimated that work would take roughly two years to complete, but it’s unclear if that timeline can be similarly applied to construction in Bicester. Either way, it could be ready and running before 2030.
You can keep up to date on the latest from Great Wolf’s British expansion on the website here, but we have to warn you: you may end up desperately wanting to get into a wave pool.
Thrills with Time Out
Can’t wait for Great Wolf to open but want some adrenaline-pumping fun? No worries – we know a thing or two about theme parks here at Time Out, from rankings of the country’s greatest thrill parks to revealing exciting new details have been revealed about the upcoming Universal theme park in the UK.
The magnificent replica 17th century ship that has docked in the UK this week – here’s how you can visit it.
One of the most beautiful nature reserves in Britain is just two hours from London
Stay in the loop: sign up to our free Time Out UK newsletter for the latest UK news and the best stuff happening across the country.