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Gwlbicesterukconceptart

A piece of concept art from the proposal phase of the project to illustrate the intended site layout for the Bicester location

Great Wolf Lodge Bicester, England is a Great Wolf Lodge location that is currently under construction in Chesterton, a village on the outskirts of the town of Bicester, Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom. Great Wolf Resorts first announced their intention to build a Lodge in the UK during June 2019, and the project moved into its construction phase in 2021.

As the first Lodge built in the United Kingdom, it marks the brand's expansion to the European market. It is also the first Lodge built in a location outside North America, and the second international location overall after Niagara Falls, Ontario.

The site for the Lodge is situated on a plot of land which was purchased from the adjacent Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa, which will remain open as a separate business. The site was previously part of the hotel's 18 hole golf course; during construction, the course was reduced in size from 18 to 9 holes to allow for the space required for the resort building and hotel complex. Great Wolf Resorts and Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa worked together on redesigning the course, as part of a larger investment into the local area by the former.

Construction of the Lodge is underway as of 2022, and the scheduled completion date for the project is set for 2024. As of 2023, a second UK Great Wolf Lodge is in the proposal stage, and will be built in Basingstoke in Hampshire, should it receive approval.

What it features[]

Attractions[]

While not much is currently known about the full list of attractions at the Bicester location, the proposal submitted in 2019 indicates that the Lodge will have a similar set of features to the other Great Wolf Lodges in North America, with the Northern Lights Arcade, The Northwoods Friends Show and MagiQuest (though which version of the latter would be at the Bicester Lodge wasn't elaborated on) listed as some of the examples. Several news articles released during 2022 mentioned that the site will have its own ropes course, indicating that in addition to the Bear Track Landing Waterpark, the Bicester location will also feature a Howlers Peak Ropes Course. Part of the exterior portion of the land the Lodge will be situated on will feature a nature trail and green area.

Hotel[]

The Bicester Lodge will feature a hotel with at least 500 rooms, thus placing it at a comparable size to the other Lodges in the USA and Canada.

History[]

Pre-Construction[]

Siteplangwlbicester

Site plan for the resort, showing the intended placement of the resort in relation to the neighbouring Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa.

The Bicester Lodge is one end result of Great Wolf Resorts's research into international markets to expand to; the same plans resulted in the proposal for a lodge in Tepeji, Hildago in Mexico, but this latter project has yet to reach the construction stage.

During the proposal phase of the project, the park faced numerous sources of opposition. In particular, concerns were raised by locals that the area around the resort would become too congested with traffic if Great Wolf were to operate a location in Bicester. Some also argued the resort wouldn't benefit the local community and would only benefit Great Wolf themselves. In March 2020, the Cherwell District Council in northern Oxfordshire, England initially rejected the plans.

News of the rejection was equally divisive, however, as many observers noted that the proposed location for the site was in a largely open area, with sufficient rail and road access nearby, with it also being in proximity to other popular tourist locations such as the city of Oxford and the Bicester Village shopping complex, as well as other nearby destinations such as the capital city, London.

An appeal made by Great Wolf Resorts in October 2020 to Cherwell District Council was granted, overturning the previous rejection and allowing the proposal to continue, and subsequent inspection of the submitted plans in 2021 resulted in the project being approved.

After the appeal was approved and the go-ahead for construction to commence was given, it was announced that local residents would be eligible for discounted entry.

Construction[]

Great Wolf Lodge Bicester - Groundwork at Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa

Work on modifying the golf course at the neighbouring Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa, 30 December 2021. Great Wolf Resorts worked together with the hotel to modify the course, which was completed on 27 October 2022.

The first part of the construction phase for the project began on 29 December 2021, when works to remodel the golf course began.[1]

On 16 September 2022, additional information was made available about the companies involved in constructing the Lodge, with the Sisk Group selected as the contractors for the build.[2] In August 2023, the Kane Group, a specialist firm based in Banbridge, Northern Ireland, revealed that it had been given a £30 million contract to install the resort's electrical, mechanical and plumbing systems.[3]

As part of the arrangements prior to the construction of the Lodge, Bicester Hotel Golf and Spa, which supported the construction project, received an investment package valued at 2 million pounds from Great Wolf Resorts. This allowed the hotel to build a new driving range and improve other areas of the course, in addition to other upgrades to the hotel and its grounds. Work on the golf course was completed on October 27, 2022.[4]

Owing to the fact that the site where the Lodge is to be built is set back from the nearest main road, the A4095, the information provided in the original 2019 proposal elaborated that access to the entrance would be achieved via the construction of a new priority junction.

Bicester Lodge Roadworks Map

A map produced by Great Wolf Resorts to show the road remodelling efforts near the Bicester Lodge in Summer 2023.

From 24 April 2023, work on remodelling the area of the A4095 near the lodge commenced, as part of the plans to add a new access road and improve the existing infrastructure around the location of the Lodge. While the full road closure was lifted on 21 July 2023, other construction work on the road continued through September 2023, and included the construction of new footpaths, cycle routes and a variety of other upgrades.

Trivia[]

  • As of August 2023, both the informational site for the Bicester lodge, as well as concept art produced for the resort use the 2008-2022 GWL logo. It is currently unknown if this will be the case when the resort is finished and opened.

Gallery[]

3D Concept Images (taken from Greatwolfuk.co.uk)[]

External Links[]

References[]

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