Centre Parcs or Butlins

[emelsie]

Which is better? I have a 9 year old daughter and worried some of the activities at Butlins may be too young for her , the centre parc system confuses me a bit though , how do you book the activities and what are the cost of them roughly ? I am also 23 weeks pregnant so limited on what activities I can do.
Also Butlins has the dining options , does centre Parcs have many restaurants (looking at Woburn) for days we didn't fancy cooking ourselves.

Thanks!

[HabbyHadno]

Center Parcs definitely. Woburn is fab and has loads of restaurants. The price is quite a jump between Butlins and CP though so you might want to compare.

[HabbyHadno]

You can book the activities online, on the app or when you're there at a booking point. They vary but most are about £15 on average. Swimming is free, which takes up a chunk of the day.

[User183737]

Centre parcs costs a fortune. Butlins is seen as chavvy on here but ime its a nice place and the dining which you can pay for is nice and varied.
My kids loved it and the pool is fab

[charley39]

Always had holidays in centre parcs, never been to butlins so can’t comment on that. Absolutely love Center parcs but it is very pricey. You can however make it what you want. As said the swimming is free and lots to do in there. Other activities really vary in price depending on what it is. Nice to get a pedalo on the lake, round of crazy golf. Badminton/tennis courts available quite reasonably priced aswell. Have always found the bowling overpriced and you have more extreme activities such as high ropes and quad biking. You can hire bikes there(also pricey) but alternatively take your own if you have them. I think an adult bike is around £25 to hire. Most of the parcs are great for a long bike ride or walk round etc. Woburn is probably the smaller out of them but means that whatever villa you get your close enough to not need bikes. Longleat has a land train to transport those further out and is very steep to ride a bike around. Have never been to winfell so can’t comment on that one. There is a good choice of restaurants with some known like Bella Italia, cafe rouge etc and some of their own. All the prices are hiked up as you would expect but you can get some nice meals. When you book you can then log onto the website and book all your activities and restaurants online. Alternatively you can book when there at various booking points. I would advice booking early as some activities/restaurants can get fully booked. They all have an aqua sana spa aswell so you could always treat yourself to a package. I went around 30weeks pregnant and it was a much welcomed treat.
Sorry for rambling I just love Center parcs!

[HabbyHadno]

Oh yes the spa - heaven! I'm a massive cheerleader for CP, it's expensive but I've had a great time every time I have been. Well worth the cash.

[emelsie]

Looks like it's centre Parcs then! If you arrive early do you have to leave the food you are taking in the car, and can you use the pool etc , seems a pain to go out again to buy food ?

[charley39]

You are allowed on site from 10am I think but would have to leave car in car park but are free to go back to it. Villas are ready at 3pm so you won’t be allowed to drive on site until then. You can pay for a flying start package which gives you entry at 2pm to your villa and some shopping delivered to your villa for you. But yes free to use the swimming etc!

[greendale17]

Centre Parcs is overrated and way too expensive in my opinion.

[pinkchampagne1]

We have been to CP several times as my teenage boys love it.

If you arrive before 3pm you have to park your car in the car park so you cannot unpack until you have access to your lodge. I believe you can pay extra to get in an hour earlier.

I would recommend pre booking any activities and restaurants in advance as they quickly sell out. Activities can work out quite costly so bare this in mind. Think it cost around £120 for 4 people to take part in the tree top challenge. You can easily pay out as much on activities, food & drink as you did on the holiday itself!

[User183737]

Ive heard going abroad is cheaper than cp.

[pinkchampagne1]

It can be, especially if you go for one of the tree houses. I think a week in one of those over Christmas is around 10k!

[candlefloozy]

Never been to cp but been to Butlins loads. My dd is 4 and always asks to go there! We love it. Loads to do. Right on the beach. Great pool. Everyone says that you can go swimming at cp but that only takes us about an hour so what do you do the rest of the time? Bike ride? At a hefty price, we do that at home.

[duckyfuzzz]

We're CP regulars - currently on our 6th trip in 4 years with two more booked for next year! We love it. I've always been put off by butlins probably because of the stigma attached.

[AJPTaylor]

If you are in the south i recommend looking at dutch holiday parks. Not only are the literally half the price but quicker to get to!

[Hellywelly10]

Butilins is for younger kids. At 9 she should enjoy swimming, funfair and the entertainment. I thought the parents there were quite mixed tbh.

[MagicFajita]

On this forum you're always going to be told that CP is great and that Butlins is for chavs. So without putting my personal opinion forward I'm going to say that it's probably more about budget than anything else.

Can you comfortably afford to holiday at CP? If so then give it a shot. If you don't like it then next time try Butlins. There's a massive price difference between the two and as you've already said, CP doesn't have the half board option.

There's also Haven parks to consider , some of them are huge and have great activities. My kids had a great time at one a few years ago.

[AJPTaylor]

Tbf Butlins in minehead seems fine if you pick your date carefully. Only went in on a day ticket but i was suprised at how many things were not included (rock climbing, circus) so worth checking. You also have some nice days out, eg West Somerset Railway and some decent pubs/restaurants in minehead and villages. Or book into the new premier inn and get a day ticket!

[candlefloozy]

@AJPTaylor how much are Day tickets?

[AJPTaylor]

25 for an adult, 18 for a child but you had to pay for things like rockclimbing.

[Fairylea]

Cps is massively overpriced. If you’re rich and don’t mind spending that much then go for it! There’s no way we could ever afford to go there. Haven offers a very similar experience for a fraction of the price, especially if you stay in their nicer accommodations (newer prestige is comparable to cps lodges, although a large caravan rather than a lodge).

Butlins is nice, really busy and lots to do.

Guess it depends on your budget!

[llangennith]

If can go to CP on a cheap (term time) week it'll be ok. We never book any activities, just use the parks and pool activities.

[Peoplemaynoticeus]

Butlins is what you make of it. We go to bonehead 4 times a year staying 7 nights each time, but always stay in west lakes. There's a free fun fair and inside fair for younger children with teacups, train ride, planes, ladybird etc plus a bouncy castle and bumpy slide. There's also a large soft play. The pool is huge in the summer you can use the outside paddling pool. There are lots of parks dotted all over. A free land train runs every 20mins which is very handy if your accommodation is a distance (but to be honest it's all pretty compact). Shows run all day, including teletubbies and MR potatoe head. They do an amazing panto which is on usually twice a week. Free arts and crafts, circus skills, magic workshop, drum workshop, science zone where you can make a bath bomb etc. Some of the evening shows are really good, the noise next door are there quite a bit and they are so funny (one of the 3 half pints is in it). There's shows on all evening across 3 venue halls so it's a good choice and something for everyone. Lots of places to eat. Yes there's some things that are an extra charge (crazy golf, dino cars, climbing wall, bungee trampolines). But none of them are extortionate. You could go to Butlins and spend very little and not need to leave resort because there's so much to do. I do recommend staying in west lakes chalets though.

[extraketchup]

We do loads of activities from roller skating to archery, zipwire to pedalo, tennis to rock climbing. We figure we can swim anytime at a local pool so let's do more exciting things when we're there. This time my parents came so we had from 4-74 in our group and we all did everything. It's geared up for everyone at CP.

[Glowbug59]

My 5 and 9 yo enjoy both, Butlins better value.

[AJPTaylor]

I think Minehead corrected to bonehead is one of my fav mumsnet auto corrects thus far