For many in the UK, Center Parcs is a childhood staple and families spend plenty of trips away enjoying the cabins and having fun outdoors.

There are five different locations to choose from, all surrounded by woodland areas and offering a range of activities. 

America isn’t too different, Great Wolf Lodge promises a similar fun-packed experience for families. 

With 23 locations throughout the United States and Canada, guests stay in a suite and enjoy a vast indoor water park featuring a variety of slides and pools. 

They also have the chance participate in ‘dance parties’ and make use of the arcade as well as other attractions.

It is described as ‘North America’s largest family of indoor water park resorts’.

First opening in 1997 in Wisconsin Dells, there are now sites across the US including Massachusetts and Chicago.

Now, Great Wolf Lodge is expanding and is set to come to the UK – though the planned development has stoked some controversy in the local area.

For many in the UK, Center Parcs is a childhood staple and families spend plenty of trips away enjoying the cabins and having fun outdoors 

America isn’t too different, Great Wolf Lodge promises a similar fun-packed experience for families

According to The Telegraph, three lodges will be built in Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Derbyshire. 

The expansion will be a first for Europe, with Bicester, which is set to be built initially, being the debut Great Wolf Lodge in the continent.

The new hotel, which is budgeted to cost £200million, will feature an adventure play park and a water park.

It will be situated on an old golf course and building has already started on the site. 

However, it is not yet known when the resort will be ready to open. 

Like the UK’s Center Parcs, Great Wolf Lodge prides itself for being suitable for all the family.

In America, it boasts characterful cabin-style decor and totem poles, while mascots including Wiley the Wolf occasionally appear.

Prices are around £150 per night, according to The Telegraph, for a family of four.

With 23 locations throughout the United States and Canada, guests stay in a suite and enjoy a vast indoor water park featuring a variety of slides and pools.

Now, Great Wolf Lodge is expanding and is set to come to the UK

But the plans for a new resort in Bicester have not gone down smoothly in the past.

The Telegraph reported how planning permission for Great Wolf Lodge in Chesterton, near Bicester, was approved in 2021.

However, it wasn’t well-received by some and over 30 local parishes fought against the proposals. 

They argued Great Wolf Lodge would not fit the character of the local area and would cause traffic issues. 

Chair of the Stop the Wolf campaign and local resident Caroline Chipperfield-Twiddy previously told The Telegraph: ‘The scale of this massive hotel complex is entirely unsuited for its surroundings, as if no one from the US has actually visited the British countryside.’ 

‘It is the wrong thing in the wrong place. It will totally dwarf our village and it’s an eyesore too.’ 

Meanwhile, construction at the site in Chesterton has been put on hold, according to the Oxford Mail, and a Great Wolf Lodge spokesperson informed the publication: ‘The current status of the Great Wolf Lodge project near Bicester remains unchanged.

We have completed substantial infrastructure improvements at the Chesterton site, but have temporarily suspended further development as we assess the potential of additional resort locations within the UK to better reach families and strengthen market entry.’

But the plans for a new resort in Bicester have not gone down smoothly in the past

The Daily Mail previously disclosed that a trip to Center Parcs UK costs approximately £1,709 on average for a family of four staying four nights from October 27-31, 2025.

There are alternative options across Europe, too, which generally work out to be cheaper. 

Center Parcs Europe is a separate company to Center Parcs UK and boasts several destinations, including the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Germany and Denmark.

In the analysis, all were cheaper than staying in the UK on average, with some costing less than half the price of the same trip closer to home.