To wonder why on earth anyone goes to Center Parcs?!

[CakePigeon4]

I’ve had several friends who have been to various sites and raved about it, but to me it just looks like a slightly more upmarket Butlins?! It’s extortionately expensive, the chalets look like they’re furnished by Premier Inn, you have to pay for activities, you’re stuck on site eating at their overpriced restaurants... Am I missing something?!

@BlueSkiesLies ok, I did think that sounded a bit much!

I can see why people like it, but it really is a case of each to their own.

We went once for a long weekend with the kids and friends and both DH and I discovered that we feel claustrophobic in a forest for that length of time.

To be honest, it wasn't that great, and I certainly would never pay the holiday time prices. We didn't like the lack of spontaneity at all and the accommodation was a bit grim.

The worst bit for me was after having spent all afternoon in the pool, which was freezing, but the rapids were excellent fun, and then eating in one the restaurants, we came out to discover my bike had been stolen. I ended up jogging back on a full stomach (I stayed with DH2 who was on a little bike and let the others go ahead), and we were as far away from the centre as we could be. The bike had been returned the next day, but that's not the point, I'd spent the night worrying about how I was going to tell my dad that I'd lost his bike.

The highlight was sitting in the outdoor heated pool in the spa whilst it snowed, that was magical.

Wouldn't do it again, but I can see why it appeals to (lots of??) some people.

We're going for 3 nights in a few weeks. We've got the ariel adventure with 200m zip wire booked, the inflatable assault course on the lake, an animal show for DD and I and DS and DH are doing archery. The rest of the time will be cycling and in the pool. I've booked dinner for Saturday evening as I know we'll be shattered from the activities. We get the cheapest lodge as we don't mind cycling to and from. I can't think of anywhere else we'd be able to do all of that in one place so we're happy to pay it. We then stay in an air b and b about 2 hours away for the rest of the week, so in total the weeks holiday is under £2000 with all the activities. Obviously most of that is on the first half.

@Shortstuff99 you do realise you can be working class/not middle class without being common or a chav right? Just as I would assume you can be middle class without being a wanker.

Center parcs has never appealed to me as it isn't at the coast/ expensive / no evening entertainment. We have been to Butlins though which I find more reasonable. Butlins has some really good shows; we saw Aladdin Rocks one year that was as good as anything I'd seen in a theatre. We have also seen Dick and Dom in the past which my kids loved. Activities at Butlins are a lot cheaper than CP. The pool, softplay and fairground are free but then for a reasonable price you can also do archery, high ropes/ wall climbing, hire a bike, pottery painting, air rifle shooting, bowling, mini golf, play pool, cinema etc. When I've looked at CP I've found the prices to be extortionate. Also, I'm not cooking on holiday, that's not an holiday. Prefer to eat out at the restaurants or book the food court dining.

I used to go as a child - when it was called Oasis! - and loved it. We had a little stream by our cabin one year and we spent hours paddling and making little 'dams'. And spend so much time walking and cycling and swimming - the pool was a massive part of the holiday.

I don't think my parents would ever have gone without us kids, but it was great for facilities for us

I do find CP bashing has become a national sport on mumsnet! We love it, other people dont well great i wouldn't want people on a holiday where they dont ! Just dont go. I dont like the idea of all inclusive however i wouldn't spend my time slagging it off very time consuming!
It works for my daugther who is autisic so we know she will cope and we self cater at restaurants r quite stressful, interestingly i had small argument with husband when i mentioned this thread, he said cafe rouge is more expensive at CP im sure it wasnt, found menus online and its about 10/20p more lol

I think the posters who went to the pool once whilst staying at CP have probably missed the point of CP!

No, it was part of the appeal. When we booked I thought great, swimming every day. I love swimming.
What I didn't prepare for was how quickly it would get old, packing all the associated swimming paraphernalia up, carting it on the back of a bike, cycling to the pool usually in light drizzle, negotiating the crowded slightly manky changing rooms then doing it all in reverse but with kids who either moaning as they didn't want to get out or were tired and hungry. It lost its shine after two days.

Its funny notso as everything u describe i love to do! I wouldnt agree they r manky , they r cleanest ive been too and their is family changing areas, which we dont have at our local pool.

So posters say if you book in advance it is much cheaper, you get a bargain blah blah blah.

I have just looked for October 2020 and it is NO cheaper than October this year. I also look at April 2020 and, again, it is not cheap and far from a bargain.

There is no way I would pay around £900 for a week in October in the UK. That price is a joke. If it included activities great but it doesn't so is a major rip off

As I said before I guess the majority of people who stay in Centre Parcs are pretty well off

It was cheaper - for the Mon-Fri October half-term by £200 (specifically for us, for a 2 bed woodland lodge at Longleat). I'm guessing all the people booking/looking is now increasing the price point for that week.

We are kind of "well off" (average wages, average outgoings, average 2 adults, 2 kids), we go every other year or so, it is not our main holiday - it is a long weekend - and such an easy long weekend that it feels longer.

@BeyondMyWits I looked at the whole of October 2020. The half term week was actually over £1,000 and that is for 2 people in a 1 bed lodge. The cheapest lodge at that!

Are that many people really looking for holidays for over a year away? I would never do that as who know what might happen in the meantime

mydogisthebest - yep - we always book up when the week we think we will want is released for booking - 18 months in advance - lots of people do, you get emailed.

I do the same if we go to Florida and Disney release free dining etc.

Who knows what might happen indeed - that is what insurance is for...

Depending on what happens though insurance often does not pay out. No way would I want to book a holiday that far in advance.

The one time we did FIL was taken seriously ill and we lost all our money

@mydogisthebest but that could happen if you book a week before you go?

I like to have something to look forward to so tend to book early. You're right though, CP isn't the cheapest holiday it's possible to go on. We have pre-schoolers so go off peak and I think the cost is reasonable at those times but not cheap. That's fine for us, we enjoy it and for us it's worth it. It doesn't worry me if others go at peak times and pay a lot more though, that's up to them.

I'm guessing no one is asking for you to pay for them to go to CP? So why does it matter to you how much someone else pays for a holiday?

You're not missing anything. I fucking hated every second of my time I spent there. I felt so trapped in a false 'truman shiw' situation being herded round fake, man made bullshit, overpriced activities that I borrowed my friends shit centre parcs bike and rode twenty miles up a dual carriage way to a shit Asda just so I could escape the bullshit fakeness

Bit extreme Dani, couldn’t you just have stayed in and read a book!?

@Sunshinegirl82 it doesn't matter to me how much someone spends on holiday. It was that people were saying it was cheap and then when the actual prices were pointed out they came back and said it's cheap if you book well in advance when that clearly is untrue.

If people want to pay ridiculous prices for not even a week's holiday that is up to them but don't pretend it's cheap

Has anyone actually said it's cheap? It's true that if you book in advance and go off peak it's cheapER but I don't remember lots of posters banging on about how cheap it is although I might have missed it!

Examples of less expensive weeks have been identified because people asked for them. Center Parcs is unlikely to be the cheapest holiday available at any time of year but if you share a 4 bed villa with another family a 4 night stay can cost you £250 (£62.50 a night) which I don't think is extortionate.

In a cruel twist of fate my darling husband, who, in the twenty years I've been with him has never done anything remotely spontaneous, has booked us a midweek break at Centre Parcs.
Grand.

It’s easy. The kids are entertained, it takes little thought. No cars. Easy to relax.

@Sunshinegirl82, some posters have definitely said it's not expensive which surely is the same as saying it is cheap?

Also, as I said before I looked at next year and it is no cheaper than this year and that was for March and October which I think you will agree is certainly off peak (not talking about October half term).

I don't know where a 4 bed lodge only costs £250 for 4 nights when all the 1 bed accommodation I looked at was at least £850 for a week

some posters have definitely said it's not expensive which surely is the same as saying it is cheap?

Of course it isn't, those words are two ends of a spectrum with financially manageable in the middle.

The person who said the 4 bedroom lodge was £250 went with other families didn't they? So yes it would work out as a similar price if you share.

You can go for a weekend at Woburn in January for £449, which for me isn't cheap but with saving is manageable. We don't do many activities, my dd did pottery painting and they both did the aerial walk way/zip liner last time. Most time was spent at the pool and on our own bikes and that enough for us with one lunch in the sports bar and a big BBQ. We mainly ate in.

@mydogisthebest I don't think "not expensive" is the same as cheap no. There are loads of holidays that I would consider to be "average" or "reasonable" in price otherwise everything you ever bought would be either expensive or cheap which I don't think is the case.

You can get a 4 bed lodge for 4 nights starting 27th April 2020 at Longleat for £499, I've just checked. We've stayed in this type of lodge before with some friends and their kids so worked out £250 per family. As I said, I don't think that's the cheapest holiday ever but I don't consider it extortionate.

Can I just say I’m not lying and I don’t have a lazy ass. My mother is disabled and we had a car parking space at our lodge and were not allowed to drive around the park during certain hours. She can’t physically walk to the outer car parks. It cost her a fortune to hire a mobility scooter and I wouldn’t chance just leaving that in the outer car park while we went out for the day. She had to shire the scooter as the disabled access lodge big enough for our family at the time of booking was too far away from anything central. I wasn’t even going to get a bike but keeping up with the scooter and the kids on their bikes meant I spent the first night jogging needing everyone!!

For those that know Sherwood Forest, we ended up in ‘pine’ which is the complete opposite end of the park to the car parks.

Oh and no seed to be so aggressive towards me. I didn’t read the general rules about moving cars, just the ones that applied to us being parked at our accommodation.