Don’t know what to make of centre parcs

[Murphs1]

I’m staying in Woburn forest. The facilities are fantastic, albeit hideously expensive, the accommodation is pleasant, but… is it just me, it all feels a bit stepford wives and slightly prescribed fun! I don’t know I can’t put my finger on it.
I think part of it is I’m in a fenced in ‘forest’ which I know is a security thing, and my car is a half hour walk away if I want to get out, but I understand the no car rule.
I can’t say I’m not enjoying it, but it all feels a bit contrived?

We avoided centre parcs when children younger…a bit too regimental for us TBH .

We love it! We normally leave to do a local parkrun on the Saturday morning, we don't feel trapped! We self cater and normally do one activity per day (geocache/climbing/interactive ball wall sort of thing) plus swimming and cycling. We are going in a few weeks and can't wait!

I'm missing the point of the thread maybe but I keep thinking that its a small park and Tesco is less than ten minutes down the road and the onsite shop sells milk so I don't understand how it takes you 30mins to get to your car and 2.5hrs to get milk. But hey ho. Maybe walking is an issue goven the noctural erm activities that Centerparcs is renowned for 😉

I agree it can be a bit Truman Show but there was something liberating about being able to let four eleven year olds walk to their first disco on their own. Then have time for a g&t alone before going to collect them.

@gulliblestravels the point if the thread was that I didn’t know what to make of centre parcs

We are half hour walk from the car park, it took
half an hour to get the car and return and park and another half an hour to walk back. The on-site shop doesn’t open until 10 on Sundays. 2.5hrs was a typo should have been 1.5 hrs.

Not sure what nocturnal activities Center parcs is renown for!

But I’m glad you enjoyed it all.

You are not fenced in , when we go to centerparcs we use it as a touring base and are out everyday , then swim in the evening etc .

@Floralnomad there is a perimeter fence all around Woburn. A pp said there isn’t at longleat,
so maybe just here.

It being very contrived is what makes it brilliant going there with toddlers. It's easy and safe, which means as a parent you actually get to relax.

But you can still go in and out in your car everyday , nobody takes your keys away .

@Floralnomad yes I understand that as I have written in previous posts.

If the boundary fences at 'Woburn' (which isn't in Woburn) look as intimidating from the inside as they do from outside, I can quite imagine feeling like a captive rather than a holiday maker.
It works for CP to make it feel as though you can't leave. The last thing they want is their customers shopping at Tesco, going to the local pubs or spending their money in the nice little Georgian town a couple of miles away, or in Woburn itself. They want your money.

There ie s a nice bridleway all around the outside they dont tell you about

Looks like a scene from the “Great Escape”.

Are there any people furtively shuffling around shaking soil out of their trouser legs?

I agree it feels like a cult but it's just so handy and we'll set up

Why couldn’t you walk through the woods?

(I’m imagining you trying and it’s 3 trees deep and ends?)

Oh yes famously! And prob why they don't need to bother laying on evening entertainment...

I really liked it the couple of times we went.

What I like is that it’s easy, I think! Get bikes, cycle about without worrying re cars, go swimming, do the odd activity, have a bbq in the evening. Love it.

I like the smell of the woods and the animals wandering about. The smell of the bbqs too.

We had lunch in a couple of places and liked them well enough. I’ve only been to Elveden though.

For some reason Forest Holidays has massively jumped up in price in the last few years. I know, Covid played a part, but it’s very stark.

I used to go for weekends with the kids when they were young and loved it. Never payed for activities (all cheaper to do at home), except occasionally I did the spa which is lovely. We'd self cater and spend all day in the play areas or at the waterpark (which is way better than any pools round us).

But DH won't go again because he's always banging on about how it's cheaper to go to a European one (probably true) but if I'm going to the hassle of flying to another country in going to actually want to see another country not just the inside of a centre parc's!

For me the convenience of it being a short drive away is definitely part off the appeal, and the lodges had everything we need so just turn up with food. Once we're in no driving is nice!

I've looked at other UK holiday parks but none have pools that are comparable, and without that I imagine we'd get bored.

I'm taking gin
All will be fine 😂

Surely the point of the perimeter fence is precisely so that parents like a PP above feel it’s safe for 11 year olds to go off to a disco by themselves? If it were open to the public it would be open to predators as well. However I’ve never been (thought about it but worried I’d dislike the contrived aspects, though the pools sound great), so maybe I’m wrong.

It's very fashionable on MNs to be snotty about CPs

We went to Woburn Forest in November and we loved it. Would go again in a flash. Loved going around everywhere on bikes, had a brilliant time.

It is my idea of hell.

Oh yeah... we pretend it's Hunger Games when we (me and my best friend) go..

I mean.. we're fenced in.. all the valuable necessary stuff comes from the centre, we do archery and shooting... the other contestants probably want to kill you...

We like to find the edges (which is fun in power chairs, sorry to the bloke who had to rescue us last year when someone (her) lead someone (me) off piste and into a sandy patch and got stuck... ) and then wander about and find good spots for bird watching and generally chilling out. But we are weird like that, also, no children to entertain.

@Motherland2624 because evening “entertainment” is not many peoples cup of tea? Anywhere with a list of “stars” and “entertainers” would make me not book. Plus it would be loud. We went on holiday last year to a hotel in Europe that had evening entertainment and I actually felt like leaving when I found out.

It's entirely designed to psychologically keep you in for your whole stay. Therefore you spend £ with them, not the local area.

Cars kept up to 30 minute walk away dependent on the park/ where your cabin is at.

It's made expensive to go so you feel like it's special and people DO aspire to a center parcs holiday. (no matter what some think)

Geared towards the lower middle classes hense all the chain restaurants ect.