Centre parcs - is it worth it?

[grimmeeper]

Looking for the February half term with a five year old
Would be the Cumbria one
Is it really worth the money ?
Sorry I'm sure this has no doubt been asked before

£500 in term time, yes.
£1500 in school holidays, no.

If you do go just bear in mind that all you get included is swimming, walking and staying in your accommodation.
If you want to do any activities you have to pay, and it's expensive.

Same a pervious poster- it’s not worth more than £600 for 4 nights. We’ve paid it before and spent £2 k before christmas. It was madness- we had cheaper holidays to Disney Paris with flights at the same time before Christmas.

It's coming out at £780 for 4 nights
Do you think it's worth it just for the swimming area? DS can't swim so not sure how much he'd be allowed on in there with his armbands

no it isn't worth it. especially when your child will be more than happy at the local council run pool!

For that price I maybe would try it so you can see what you think

It kind of is in my opinion. We had some great times at CP when DD was young. Although she could swim and did enjoy the pool.
We also cycled a lot and played things like badminton which wasn’t too expensive.
There was nice accommodation, a great atmosphere and plenty to do.
However I’m sure there are lots of alternatives to look into as well.

Actually if you can get it for that I would be tempted to try it. They have really nice playgrounds and the pool is big and often has float vests that you can borrow for small children. The little houses in the woods are really nice.

No it’s going downhill. They are just taking advantage of the fact that we are a huge population with a small number of beauty spots. Remember there used to be fireworks at the weekend. They don’t even have them on New Year’s Eve now. The food is crap and all chains. The activites are expensive and the villas not very clean. They continually add more villas but the pool doesn’t get any bigger. The way they put up prices in the school holidays is shameful.

We love it but it's very very expensive. We can only go in school holidays so we are looking at £2500 approx before any activities or food just for 4 nights.

It's so easy though, everything is on site no need to travel so we find it an easy family holiday

It is definitely overpriced but my children love it!! We keep going back because a week of lovely, happy, family time with our kids is really worth it to us. Now they are older we do budget for lots of extra activities, but when they were younger (and we had less money) we just did swimming and maybe one very cheap activity.
We have done the winter wonderland a few times but avoid that now as it is so expensive.

It's worth it for the experience but be prepared to shell out a fortune on top of the accommodation on activities and snacks from the Parc market.

@teachymummy yes, we also just find it a very 'easy' holiday. No driving around and no major decision making, but plenty to do. It really works for us.

Don't gryphon me wrong I loved it. Then we went with friends to a haven site that also had outdoor rapids but with a far smaller pool....with far less people. The caravan was nicer, obv less "lodge" and more caravan but seemed more modern and lighter. Then we realised that other holidays were cheaper and had free craft mornings and discos for the children eg park dean and other independents. We don't stay for the entertainment so then becomes a like for like admittedly.
Basically, no. Maybe experience it once but then, no. Not worth it.

@GreenPaint1 I love what autocorrect has done to your opening sentence 😃

Out of the school holidays I do think it is worth it. We’ve had our best family holidays here, the whole thing is just low stress and I am always able to really relax. The staff are great and the sites are spotless. Everything just works and the activities are as much or as little as you make of them. I never felt I needed to do much as walking, cycling and swimming takes up enough time. If you hit on the weather then it’s a beautiful holiday.

However it is extortionate in the school holidays, the lodges really aren’t well maintained or very clean unless you are lucky. I always end up hoovering as soon as I arrive to make it feel clean and always find crud down the sofa etc or spiders on the ceiling. The food is what it is but we’ve always found it ok and are generally picky. Also in the holidays we’ve found the pools to be overrun with teenagers making it really unpleasant with smaller non swimmers in arm bands etc.

To be honest my children have enjoyed Butlins more - softplay, fairground and all the shows as well as a swimming pool.

Absolutely not worth it.

Most half terms must be the week before as the price is £1450! For 4 nights as opposed to the £780 in the week I want to go

You do realise that not all children are the same , neither of mine would ever have been happy with the local council pool . It’s a bit like saying Disney is a waste of money because your child would be just as happy down the local park .Maybe your children would , numerous others wouldn’t , including mine .

I haven't done Center Parks since I was a child. When dd was little we discovered just for tots weeks in Butlins and had a ball. Entertainment, sports and crafts all included and a pool. There was loads of play parks and an indoor funfair. There were CBeebies stars on stage as part of the price. We went for a more expensive accommodation option and it was great. You have to have a pre school child to go to these so everyone is in the same boat and gets it when they cry!

If you're near S Wales Bluestone is an amazing option. They have a great pool, lots of natural playgrounds, the Serendome with water to play in and an indoor centre with bouncy castles. Less entertainment than Butlins but beautiful and relaxing. Great food options too.

My children and I love it. It is incredibly wheelchair friendly (which matters to us), an acceptable price (during term time) and with a bit of thought, you don't need all the expensive activities. We take craft activities, most of the food we are going to eat and make the most of the pool and the great outdoors. I don't recognise the descriptions of it being unclean or crowded, but as home educators we always go in term time.

How many of you going for that price?
I have been many times and do enjoy it. My kids love it.

I don't think the price you have there is THAT bad, for a family of 4 for example. For 4 nights.

I always assumed it was cheaper to go in the winter months. But last year it cost the same (about £750) for a 3 bed chalet for a weekend in early July. As there were 6 of us I thought that was a reasonable deal!

Agree with this. We are going in March (DD not at school yet) and it's under £600 for four nights with a lodge close to the centre and the flex stay thing to change the booking if we want to.

It's a nice break for a change of scenery but absolutely not worth loads of money, to me.

My kids adore Centre Parcs - although we go to the French ones these days for better weather (and a bit more of an adventure). We go every year for a week.

They like that they know what to expect, that we can go swimming every day (sometimes multiple times), we book well ahead so normally get a free activity, plus we go bowling, get one of the weirder meal deliveries (fondue, or steak on a stone), I give them 20 quid for the arcades another day, we hire or take bikes (DS1 learned to ride at center parcs), mine love the buffet, and one meal a day at the buffet sees us through with breakfast and a small something for dinner/lunch (which we often pick up on the way from Costco so it's super-easy for me).

We get way more enjoyment and exercise than we would from a drip to disneyland, so it's horses for courses really.

People do speak highly of that theme park in the Netherlands, but mine are a bit old for that now, they way prefer the slides and waves and rapids and outdoor pool at Center Parcs (and when they were little, they loved the splash pad bit)

We are just back from a Monday - Friday. We enjoy it. I went alot as a kid and had fond memories and I'm enjoying making them with my DD. The only thing he won't be able to do as a non swimmer is the rapids. All the slides etc are ok with armbands or are in a raft so you don't need them on. We mostly cook for ourselves with 1 meal out so we don't end up wasting a lot of money on food. I quite like the cosy evenings in the lodge cooking :) I'd say £780 is an alright price and worth it if you want to give it a try without paying hiked up school holiday prices