Centerparcs on a tight budget

[Cheapaskate]

Looking for any tips to do 4 days at whinfell centerparcs. The weather is going to be warm and sunny.
going with my friend and her 14 year old son, me and my 2 DS who are 10 and 13.
we’ve already booked a food hamper.
my friend has a higher budget(if any at all) than me and I’m worrying that this could end up costing a hell of a lot of money!
any advice would be appreciated. My friend has been before but we havent
thanks

I shouldn’t think the food hamper will be cheap! We’re going in a few weeks. It’s near a big Tesco so we’ll stock up on the way in. We’re going to BBQ for dinners. We’ll use the pool daily which is free, and hire bikes. We won’t be doing many other activities. We’re actually not on a budget, but we know our child will love the pool and expect to spend half our time there. And I’m going to sound awful here (I don’t mean to), but we don’t really like chain restaurants so we won’t be eating out, which will help.

Take all your own food and drink. Don’t book activities. If you do I think the racket courts are probably best value for money. In 4 days I imagine bikes bbq and swimming will keep them occupied for free!

enjoy ☺️

Also the fridge is tiny…

Yeah the fridges are small so take that into account. Take your own food and snacks and drinks. BBQ or cook as much as you can. Don’t book paid for activities.

have a lovely time I’ve not been in years but my lot loved Centreparcs.

Are you worried about food or activity cost? x

Cancel the food hamper. Do a click and collect at the nearest supermarket to collect before you check in. Don't eat out. Last time we went we priced up one evening meal and drinks for us 3 at £100. So instead we spent that £100 on m+s ready meals, fruit, nice bread and bacon to last us the week

Take bird seed

Hire bikes, that will be about £100 for 3 of you, and swim every day

If you want to do activities, squash, badminton, pickle ball etc are the best value for money. Or a pedlo on the lake

Both really. I know my friend will want to eat out at least once. She has actually paid for the actual holiday, bless her, so I don’t feel like I can say too much about what we do there.
im a single mum and live hand-to-mouth so im really stressing myself out about it, whilst really looking forward to it, too!

I think you need to be up front with your lovely friend about your concerns about costs. If she books lots of activities for her child, will you feel obliged to do the same? Agreeing in advance what you (both) want to do in terms of food and activities will make it less awkward than trying to do it on the fly when you are there.

She is a good friend.

Send a text and say “I want to thank you so much for this amazing holiday, I wouldn’t be in a position to get a holiday if it wasn’t for your generosity and I am looking forward to it so much. I just want to give you a heads up, financially things are extremely difficult for me right now and I don’t want that to impact on the holiday you want (and should!) have. I’ll bring and sort our food for the week and please please you go out for dinner as much as you fancy and do any activities with your kids that might cost extra. I cannot afford to eat out or do any activities over what is included but I don’t want you to feel like you can’t do them because of me. I have been worrying about saying this because I know how considerate you are. I really want you to have the holiday you want. If you ever want a wee trip to the spa I can look after the kids that night and get them settled so you can relax. Love you and hope your packing is going well :)”

Pool is big and great fun we spend a lot of time there.
Swing park nearer the main centre rather than the sports hall is better for older kids.
Depending on where you are our kids loved playing out the back with a ball/Frisbee etc.
Bring cards and/or board games for evening entertainment.

If booking activities some are very pricy avoid ariel adventure, quad bikes, climbing wall etc. Interactive squash is good and you pay for the court rather than per person think about £15. Mini golf, kayaks and badminton were all lower cost.

Bring cereal, bread, snacks and fruit, drinks etc from home. Just buy milk, butter etc from the shop on arrival.

We take all food with us and I also usually take a big lasagne that I have made at home to put in the oven on the first night, really nice and easy and also feels like a treat. It can cook while you're having showers etc after the first swim or explore. Your friend probably just doesn't want to cook while on holiday, so would possibly love this as an alternative to going out for dinner.

I usually take some home baked stuff too, so perhaps you could do that, take a batch of cookies or cupcakes for the chalet and it's a really nice contribution.