Centre parcs

[mamaneedsanap23]

Just booked centre parcs for the first time! I could probably find a lot of this out on the website but I know MN loves centre parcs so I'm asking here first 😂

We are going to the Sherwood Forest one if that's relevant.

Firstly I didn't realise how expensive activities are. We will still do some but probably not as much as I thought. Is there plenty of fun free stuff to do too? Parks, walks etc? I know the swimming is free which is good.

Secondly what sort of activities would you recommend for an 11 year old boy? He's outdoorsy but quite shy so not sure if the sessions are drop and leave as he might not like that.

How far in advance do you need to book activities? And do you need to book evening meals too? That's what it says on the website but ideally I would have liked to see how we felt when we got there!

Is cooking from your lodge/bbq possible? Are there good facilities to do it - pots and pans etc.

Anything else you'd recommend taking or doing? Thanks!!

We’ve just visited and had the best week ever. Absolutely loved it. Even my husband who was really not sure when we booked it.

You’ll need to book swimming as soon as you’re able. We left it a couple of weeks and the less good slots were left.

A mistake we made was booking too many activities. Really the kids just loved doing the pool and then the park in the afternoon (they are 2 and 4 though so younger than yours).

Yes totally possible to cook from your lodge. Would suggest BBQing. And also should be possible to book meals when you get there (we changed a booking while we were there and it was no problem to get in the following day).

Also I don’t think any of the activities for 11 year olds are drop and leave, so I wouldn’t worry about that.

You can leave 11 year olds at most activities or do them with him, up to you. I made the mistake of booking activities for nearly all our time, bit pointless really as the kids love to just ride around, go to the huge playgrounds, do the pool slides, take a boat out etc. You should book restaurants if you don't want to cook, but your lodge will have everything you need. Book the slits/activities you want as soon as it opens up, and I mean as in 8.30 am when your slots open. Our kids love the zipwire, archery.

@mamaneedsanap23 despite the general hatred for CP on Mumsnet, my DCs love it so we’ve been lots (though mainly mainland Europe in recent years). When the DCs were small we used to book lots of activities but now book one or two at most. We spend most of the time in the pool as that’s what the DCs enjoy most. We’ve also either hired or taken our own bikes a few times. If hiring bikes, I’d recommend pre booking.

From memory, parents stay for most activity sessions so that shouldn’t be a problem if he’s shy. I’d get him to look at the list of activities and if there are a couple that he’d really like to do then book those in advance but don’t go overboard. If you do decide to do more activities, there will still be availability on some activities when you’re there. My DCs have enjoyed horse riding, paddle boarding, kayaking, football, treetops climbing but I’ve never been to Sherwood so don’t know what’s available there.

We’ve never booked restaurants in advance and always been able to get a reservation. The lodges are fine to cook in but they generally don’t have an oven, just a hob. The supermarket is fine, more expensive but not excessively so and has a reasonable choice of food.

Yep book swimming as soon as your week opens up, and first thing in the morning don't wait until later in the day.

@Kfjsjdbd i didn’t realise they still had a booking system for swimming. We’re going to CP in France in the summer so I’ll have to check if it’s the same there.

every lodge we’ve been to at CPs has had an oven!

The lodges are very well equipped, oven, microwave, hob, dishwasher etc.. BBQ outside on the patio. We usually precook something like chilli and just warm it through. I'd book for the restaurants early if that's what you want to do. Sherwood is good for cycling round, we always take our own. The website is good and explains all the activities. The pool is great fun and always a hit with our family. Hope you enjoy yourselves.

They are flexible about the bookings - we just turned up and they let us in. The water park was so much fun, and we spent a lot of time there. We hired bikes and enjoyed cycling around the park. We took all food provisions - great cooking facilities in the lodge. Whilst I enjoyed a weekend there, not sure I’d go back again. It felt a bit clinical to me, but my son (11) and the other kids loved it. We did the boating activity, hired a football pitch, hired cycles. We booked a couple of other things but cancelled as we wanted to be on the water rides.

We went to Sherwood in March, first time as a family ( I went not long after it opened years ago🙈). My 4 dc are under 7 so can’t comment on activities for an 11 yr old. We did a swim slot either morning or afternoon and then went in the evening. Took our own bikes and went cycling around the park & out of the park to the forest trails. Playground was well used. We were going to book activities but didn’t as the age limits varied, but we go back in Jan and are going to zip wire with the eldest. I did see the toddler zip wire and thought it resembled our local park with ott health & safety. We felt some of the activities were expensive and far too short to bother with too. We booked restaurants as we couldn’t be bothered to cook, knowing it was pricey and chain restaurants quality. Bella Italia was dreadful, cafe rouge too. We all enjoyed waffles in the pancake house though and forester’s was ok. We didn’t stick to our slot though and turned up without issue. The only evening it would of been an issue was Thursday as it was busier. We took a disposable bbq for the brick built lodge bbq for brunch one morning. Will be cooking more in January as lodge was equipped better than I expected. We took a clothes dryer for our wet gear, was useful. Lots of snacks, wine for the evening, board games and a few films. Duck and squirrel food for our patio guests. We had a hill outside our patio onto a track and the kids had great fun going up & down on their bikes for hours, hills are a novelty for us as we live in the flatlands 😁. Mine were so tired from swimming, playground and cycling that activities weren’t missed, but my kids are younger.

I've missed the boat on the swimming slots, all the morning ones for our week have been taken already!

I'm a little confused regarding activities. Ds is interested in archery and a session for him is £23 - fine. But it's giving me the option to book me and dh on too at £28 each! Not happening. So are we able to go with him and watch but not take part?

I’m intrigued that you have questions like can you cook in the lodge… that’s a pre booking question, surely?! 😳

But yes, you can - and other than just a tiny box freezer and no air fryer, it’s as well equipped as my own kitchen!

All lodges have a brick BBQ outside with grills - and a shop on site with over priced coals!

Whilst expensive compared to a leisure centre, I think the badminton is less expensive than you’d expect from a CP.

All the other activities are properly eye wateringly expensive. Like, more than the equivalent outside. For Sherwood Forest, ignore their high ropes (though it is lovely!) and go to the Go Ape just down the road.

Yes you can watch - you might have to stand a bit of a way back from the group, but you can watch.

I was at Elveden earlier this year and you definitely needed to have booked evening meals in advance. It’s mostly just chain places though. The American diner type food at Sherwood is not worth the money.

We are going Sherwood soon too! Which archery is it? Usually the booking website has all the info re parent places.

We went last year and found the activities pricey and gimmicky but the DC were highly entertained/confused by them so well worth it. It's just part of the cost of the holiday IMO.

If there is space left try booking Hucks for lunch/tea, again pricey like all CP things.. but it has a little indoor play area and the food was the best on park.

That’s interesting @MaximumLeeway because we did Hucks at Sherwood in January and the food was awful. The service was bad - but honestly that was Brexi/Covid staffing so it wouldn’t put me off. But I’d never waste my money in Hucks again, it was Hungry Horse quality (not quantity!) and I expected better for the price. That was mostly from the kids menu though.

I mean I presumed that we could cook in the lodge I just wondered to what extent they were kitted out with equipment.

I must admit I'm finding the whole booking procedure a bit stressful, it's looking like a lot of the good slots for food, swimming and activities have already been snapped up. Planning the days is going to be complicated with timings. I do prefer just doing things at my leisure so maybe this wasn't the holiday for me 😂 we will make it work though (I hope!)

If all else fails there's nice walks and a pub i guess!

We love sherwood and go every year!

The kitchen will have everything you need don’t worry. If there’s anything you really want to do then pre book, same with the restaurant’s. Hucks is our favourite and does get booked in advance, and it can be expensive. The country club is good for breakfasts and is a nice walk around the lake to get to.

We usually eat out once and cook in the lodge the other nights, the takeaway isn’t great so we avoid that. You’ll have a great time and activities aren’t a necessity- the kids will have a ball just swimming and exploring.

Lots of videos on YouTube of Sherwood CP so have a look at a lodge tour and people just walking around plus a tour of the parc market shop which is their supermarket. All lodges have fully equipped kitchens, which definitely includes an oven.

My children just love cycling round, walking in the beautiful setting etc. Swimming is open for all after 6pm which would probably suit older children. Yes you can just stand and watch your child do an activity, there is no need for you to do it with them if you don't want. We have been going to CP since 2004 and have been to Whinfell, Sherwood and Elveden but this year we have booked Woburn for a change.

I use the Sports Cafe a lot (not sure if there’s one in Sherwood) as you don’t have to book, just turn up to eat and the prices aren’t too bad.

What about things like pool or badminton or crazy golf? They’re quite reasonably priced, don’t tend to get booked up so quickly and you can do them as a family.

I tend to book one activity at most each day and mainly swim/walk/take things slow!

I don’t think you need to book evening swimming so with an 11yo I wouldn’t be too stressed about daytime slots .

We are going to Sherwood this year but have been to Elvedon in the past. In all honesty our kids were more than happy with cycling and the pool so we didn't do many activities but we could have not done any and they wouldn't have cared. Food wise we cooked nearly every night as the restaurants are crap but the takeaway is good so we always do that once.

I don’t know why CP is still requiring that swimming slots are booked, the whole reason we go is to spend most of the day in the pool. We also generally used to go to one near relatives who would pay to visit us for the day but visitors are not allowed either which is also annoying for what we use it for.

Been loads.

Cooking facilities are fine (with the exception of any decent sharp knives and a non stick pan if you like scrambled eggs) the issue is the shop is well stocked but expensive and I get annoyed with spending 25% more on something I have at home (like ketchup for example).

I tend to cook a big batch of chilli/bolognaise/pulled pork to take and the following:

• Salt/pepper plus any herbs/spices
• sauces like ketchup
• butter/oil
• bread/tortillas
• fillings for sandwiches
• fruit for snacking
• milk/cheese
• wine
• breakfast stuff (bacon/eggs/sausages/beans)
• BBQ stuff (burgers/kebabs/salad stuff)
• milk cereal tea and coffee (they have coffee machines so worth looking up the brand if you want to by the right pods for your villa for some reason I can't remember - it's not nesspresso though something different tassimo??).

We tend not too bother too much about the restaurants. During the day you can generally get a slot and in the evening we like to hang out at the villa so we eat what I've brought or use the takeaway service which covers the majority of the food you can get in the restaurants (and suits us as we have we some family members who won't eat certain foods but as you can mix and match from the takeaway eg someone has a curry and another has tapas and another a pizza means it's always a hit).

You get a basic cleaning kit with a tea towel, dishcloth, scrub pad, two dishwasher tablets and a small sachet of washing up liquid.

Remember to take your own swimming towels. Bathroom towels are provided.

If you're going for a weekend then there's no need to book loads. The site is massive and it actually takes a while to get to some places even in bikes.

You can definitely watch the target archery with your child at a distance (not sure about the field archery).

The activities do get booked up fast so if there is something you want to do then get in as soon as you can.

I'll answer any other questions if you have them.

So there are other places to eat? Not just the bookable restaurants? That's a relief.