Center parks - a bit tacky?

Tacky? Absolutely not. Been going for 24 yrs.

we go every year. Happy to pay silly prices. Keeps the riffraff away.

i detest the idea of all inclusive with grubby kids fingers all over the nuggets and chips and towels on loungers m. That’s grim

I would honestly if I had young kids rather go to Butlins- and pretty sure I would count as middle class- at a third of the price my son actually enjoyed it more

We love CP. Been to a few different ones and Longford (Ireland) is my favourite. We always go for New Year’s with another family and it’s perfect for post Xmas blues. The lights around the park is beautiful. The kids all love the pool, riding their bikes, bowling and pottery painting. We eat out every evening and the food has been consistently good. The service can be slow though.
the supermarket is well stocked and has a fresh bakery section.

I really don't think your 6 year old has outgrown CP. If anything they sound too young as they can't get much enjoyment out of the pool if finding slides scary and presumably aren't great at bowling either (no 6 year old is) which I agree doesn't make it much fun. It just sounds like the wrong fit for your family.

They're not clean...my mum got an awful stomach bug from the pool.

I've not been for twenty years but the cabin we stayed in was quite old and had a bit of a stale smell. The restaurants weren't that great (I think my H went out to the local village for a takeaway) and it's not exactly middle class. It's just a swimming pool and some trees.

Well CP is one of our favourite holidays. Our 8 year old DD is autistic and loves the familiarity and our 5 year old DS loves the playgrounds. Both love the pool and DH and I love how the kids fall asleep almost immediately from tiredness so we can have a delicious meal after they've gone to bed at the lodge table and relax without worrying about laundry or cleaning. It's expensive but it's one of our easiest, most relaxing holiday experiences and we'll keep going back.

We love Center Parcs and have been going for years. We tried Woburn for the first time last year and I agree with everything you’ve said! We still had a great time but it doesn’t come close to the others! It’s a shame you probably won’t now try Elvedon or Longleat, we have the best family memories there with our children and now with our grandchildren.

This. Finally after 13 pages the truth comes out.

Also OP if you do things like centre parks , camping. Etc with friends with similar aged kids, it opens up a whole new world of fun. Maybe keep that in mind for future trips

So your kids don’t like crafts, rides or bowling. The pool at Woburn is small and you can see this from online reviews. The bike you could have taken back to the rental and seen what else there was available. Really it sounds like you were just underprepared for the trip and have very fussy kids who don’t enjoy much.

what do they actually like doing? Maybe base your trips on that. Or just be brave enough to actually travel more than an hour with them. I’ve camped, paddle boarded etc alone with a baby and 3 year old. Just because DH wasn’t available doesn’t mean you have to remain within an hour of the m25

Yes, in the sense that they’ll say, oh that’s nice, have a good time. They’re not like ‘oh get you! You lucky thing. You must be doing well going to centre parcs! I could only dream! Wow, you always go to the coolest places!’

I just see a really wide range and mix of people there. Definitely plenty of families you would also see at Butlins etc

Our family is fairly widespread across the UK, occasionally we might manage a break with a big group. Last time we went to Whinfell, there were three generations. About a dozen adults and half a dozen kids from 11 to 16. a couple of dogs in the mix too. We only saw the teens for food or the odd event that was booked. They were out on bikes or in the pool. They had a great time.

We got together at the biggest lodge in the evenings, did games and quizzes. We sometimes cooked, or had takeaway delivered. We’ve been to Sherwood a few times, and prefer it, but Whinfell made travelling more equal.

Op you are baffled as to why people would go? Yet you actually went there

Ive never been and I will never go because I have done a bit of research and know it’s not for me

Next time be like me and do your research

I'm currently at the one in Sherwood Forest and can say it's certainly not tacky and I've done a lot of Butlins holidays over the last few years! It's an outrageous rip off and so expensive but I wouldn't say tacky

Really? My friends at least pretend to be interested.

Even compared to Butlins, no one is impressed by a CP holiday,

I have never met anyone who would be anything other than indifferent about where I go on my UK holiday.

They are all massively overpriced, luckily my parents pay as the kids absolutely love it.
in terms of holiday villages I haven’t found better - accommodation is always clean, the woodland aspect is lovely as is it being mostly car free. My kids love the pool and we spend most of the day in there as you can buy food and drinks.
I wouldn’t describe any aspect as tacky.
yes the restaurants are chain restaurants but we’ve always had nice experiences, they have a Starbucks and the park market bakes fresh bread and lovely cakes so not sure what you mean by you can’t get bread or coffee.
admittedly I have not been to the Woburn one. We are up north so its Sherwood or Whinfell for us - I do like that at Sherwood the village square is all outside which is nicer than it all being under the dome

Well it is compared to Butlins I guess.

I go in January, mon - fri, it’s about £300/400. I’m hardly going for the kudos of going to centre parcs lol… I don’t know anyone who thinks centre parc is a status symbol

We’ve been 4 times from when DC were small (3and 5) to when they were around 14 & 16.
Once we went with friends and once w PILs. Been in summer hols, pre-Xmas and when dc school had holidays different to rest of country.
It was def better in the 2000-2010s, last time was about 7 years ago so idk what it’s like now We actually went to Woburn then and it hadn’t been open long - def the smallest one for sure. Think we only went to the pool once over the long weekend. I preferred Sherwood but we’ve done elvedon too.
its a good place for a multigenerational holiday and a mixed group holiday.
Dd and I used the spa in Woburn and it was lovely.

There's lots of conspicuous consumption amongst my peers, and many of them spend an awful lot of money just to go on the same holidays, buy the same gadgets, and own the same cars as other doctors in an attempt to fit in.

Doesn't this just sum up the middle classes? 😆

Only Mumsnet would call it tacky, we used to love a holiday there, but have long since been priced out. Although it used to have an interesting reputation for extra curricular activities on MN 🤣