Centre Parcs

[Musicalmistress]

Off to Centre Parcs for the first time this weekend with my in-laws for a big family birthday.
Any helpful hints and tips about what to take? Towels? Dish wash stuff?

Yes to towels for the pool. Yes to washing up liquid/DE tablets

Also wine, and fire logs from Poundland as with theirs you are literally setting fire to fivers

Watching as also going soon

Have you little kids? If so bring portable black our blinds should you have them. The windows are HUUUUUUGE. The portable blinds saved my life over summer with daytime naps.

Shamelessly placemarking- would never have thought about firefighters!

Rucksacks/backpacks for carrying stuff around - shopping, swimming gear etc.
If taking bikes, a padlock and plastic bags to put over saddle when parked in the rain.
If taking a buggy, a padlock.
Bird food to encourage wildlife to your patio.
Reusable drink bottles
If kids are small, a bucket/space for the lakeside beach

Bird seed

I used to go for weekends and take M and S meals as treats, no cooking but not as expensive as going to the restaurants

Salt and pepper and oil I always forget them
Also I take a slow cooker if im going with someone and they are driving
Oh sharp knives and a whisk

Fantastic! @Mummytoonlychild - we did once have to cook a steak in a thin layer of water in an ancient frying pan!

Should’ve said we’re mostly adults in our lodge - me, OH, DS 24, DD 22 and DD nearly 13

I haven't been, but if I were going, I'd definitely bring some firefighters. Sounds like a fun weekend

What!
Is this the place that cost hundreds to stay at in the school holidays?

Staggered you don’t get towels or wood. EveryAirBNB Ai ve done does those.

Check in online before you go.
Don’t feel pressured to book too much before you arrive. You don’t want to spend the whole time looking at an itinerary finding out where you need to be in 10 minutes time! If there are things you absolutely, desperately want to do, then book them but otherwise, wait to get there and see what takes your fancy. I would say that planning to book half your activities is probably a good balance as things can get busy and you don’t want to be disappointed. By doing this though, you leave yourself some time available to do something you see when you’re there that you really want to try but hadn’t thought about it until you saw it…
Book a katakanu. For five people this cost £16.50 which makes it a really low cost activity. We got to watch the ducks in the reeds and it was a nice way to spend half an hour.
You can’t get in to your lodge until 3pm, but you can use the facilities on-site – namely the swimming pool – from 10am onwards. Pack all your swimming stuff separately so that you can park up, load up your buggy with all your bits and spend the morning swimming. Then you can send the other half back to the car to drive it onto the village and up to your lodge with all the rest of your gear in, while you saunter over there all casual.
Don’t hurry off to bring your car up to your lodge at 3pm if you don’t have to. Let the rush die down a bit and then go, and you’ll beat the crowds and get a bit more time in the pool.
Bring the bulk of your booze with you, so that you can empty it into your lodge while the car is parked outside – rather than having to lug it all home from the ParcMarket, which is the on-site supermarket. You can stock up there when you’re running low.
When you drive your car back to the car park write it down where you left it. That way you won’t have any delays when it’s time to check-out at the end of your holiday! You can leave the site at any time to explore the local area or to do a top up shop. Just let the staff know so you can get a badge for the car to let you back in.
If you’re taking dc, pack a bucket and spade as there's a small, sandy beach on the lake.
Take a packet of toilet rolls – you’ll only get one roll provided in each of your toilets.
Don’t worry about taking pound coins for the lockers. In most of the villages, everything is done with high-tech wristbands that let you in to your villa as well as your locker. You can’t forget what locker number your stuff is in, either. Just put your wristband up to the little machines in the changing rooms and they’ll tell you. And you can even link it up to your bank card and make cashless payments for food and drink at the pool if you want to.
Take beach towels for the pool. There are plenty of towels at your lodge, but you’re going to want them for baths and showers. And if you forgot, no problem – you can hire one for £2 at the pool desk.
Don’t worry about packing buoyancy aids. There are racks full of buoyancy jackets in two different sizes, and they’re free.
Bring some bubble bath if you’re staying in an executive or exclusive lodge. They come with an amazing bath with bubble jets in.
Take washing up liquid. There’s a little sachet on the sink to get you started, but that’s it. As with most things, you can pick up a bottle in the ParcMarket. But if you’re trying to save money it’ll be cheaper to bring it from home. Likewise, bring some extra dishwasher tablets.There’ll be a handful in the lodge, but they won’t get you through your break.
The rubbish bin is tiny – they’re pretty hot on recycling – so plastic shopping bags are a better size than bin bags. Save them up in the weeks before your break and bring a decent stash.
Take kitchen roll for the inevitable spillages. On that note, take a couple of extra tea towels, too, as there’s only one supplied.
There are brick-built BBQ stands at all the lodges (bar apartments) and you can buy a disposable tray to go in it from the ParcMarket. There are a couple of basic tools provided in the lodge, too (tongs and a fish slice).
If you want to eat at the pancake house on the last day then get there no later than 11.30. We arrived just before 12 and it was 1hr wait but it was worth it.

You must all be new to MN.

Old timers know that lube is the top item on your packing list for CP.

Id definitely take firefighters.

Imagine the weekend 😍😍😍😍

@DarrellMakepeace

Your own towel for the pool, the villa will have the rest (about 3 each of varying sizes)
Bring loo roll - you only get a few in the villa
Do a big supermarket shop and bring it in. They don’t allow delivery’s into the site. The Park Market has a fair amount but it’s pricey. Fine for top ups of milk for example
The pool will be much quieter in the evening! And pretty under the dome!
Everything except the pool has a charge - some things more value than others.
Bowling is charged by the lane for the hour not by person. So the game will simply time out as apposed to you finishing your game!
We love the pancake house - be warned, they are big!
Take games and stuff for the villa for night times - CP doesn’t have night time entertainment (tho you can have a giggle at the cheesy disco!) the village shuts down by 10 apart from restaurants.
If you take your own bikes and they are decent expensive bikes, bring them in at night - if your at Elveden, they’ve had a history of bike theft apparently (according to trip advisor) - so if you’re taking your £1000 bike lock it inside at night.
They say you can’t use the pool until 2pm on arrivals day. No one checks, we always go in.

You have to leave your car in the car park. Everyone goes to their car at 3 when the gates open to drive to your villa in the village. It’s sometimes worth holding fire till about half 3 / 4 once its calmed down a notch.

I’ve gone near enough every year of my life to the Parcs - have a great time! It doesn’t have to bankrupt you - use the chalkboard as a score board in the villa for the different activities - we do, the looser has to buy us all a Starbucks the next day!

Oh, if you do book some activities make sure you leave time to get to the next- the villages are big!

Definitely beware the Parc shop! I think they add around 50% to what the items sell for in supermarkets, last time I checked. Take what you need from home and your normal shop.

We did the family quiz at Easter at Woburn, that was fun.
We did a click and collect at nearest supermarket and husband dropped us off at lodge and whilst we unpacked he went and picked it up, took about 30 mins and was much cheaper than on site. Although saying that at Woburn it’s now stocking coop stuff so was decent. We tend to eat in and buy nice food but still is cheaper than to eat out. The Parc markets do have lovely cakes and donuts etc so worth looking.
Also take marsh mallows etc for bbq.
We love it there, go annually. It’s expensive but worth it. We like the geo caching and treasure hunt, our kids are 13, 11 and 6.
Take plastic bags for seat covers for bikes in case it rains, also we took several towels as if wet, went swimming numerous times a day as free.
Kids love the play areas and beach, and definitely take bucket and spade as Woburn ran out Easter week.

DarrellMakepeace beat me to it

@DarrellMakepeace not that keen at the best of times but with all 3 kids in the same lodge 😱

Exciting! We love Centre Parcs.

We took loads last time but actually the market on site isn't that expensive so probably best just buying there, especially if you're going as part of a group and can share the costs. They also sell lots of swim stuff and have baby and toddler swim floats free of charge.

Take towels for swimming. And ear plugs if some will be going to bed earlier than others as the walls are paper thin.

The food at the sports cafe was really lovely when we went this summer, much better taste and value than the pancake house (overly expensive and really slow service when we were there. And cold food). The curry house was nice too. Hucks is ok but could be better.

Take your own food, everything from breakfast to snacks.

We pack a huge cooler with iceblocks and take frozen and chilled stuff for the week. Only paying for food when at the pool for a day.

Take water bottles too, so you don’t have to buy water while out and about, a good thermos can save on coffee.

Plough the money saved into the brilliant activities! They are all well run and should not be missed so you can eat an overpriced meal every day.

Take handwashing soap for quick clothes cleaning, washing up liquid and other essentials are actually reasonably priced in the shops but anything other than absolute essential has a huge markup (like dishwasher tabs!).

The staff are super at CP and always happy to help, don’t forget to write down the names of any who are super helpful and leave the name in the review or feedback survey.

Pay the extra to be in walking distance if you don’t own bikes and buy early entry as it can get you an extra afternoon at the pool if you have children who need supervising there. Arriving early means you can settle in a bit before going to get the car too, 10am is the earliest.

Go to the pool on the last day too, stay until as late allowed! I think around 2pm.

Hope that helps!

Slow cooker

Sharp knives and a big pan or wok as the pans they supply are tiny.