Centreparcs

[Bee4634]

Hi
I’m going to centreparcs this summer for the first time. I’m booking some activities in advance.
I have an 11 year old, would the bird house building be too easy and immature for him? Any advice?

If he usually enjoys that kind of activity I think it will be fine. If he’s not normally into crafts/gentler activities then possibly not. But they generally tailor them to the age of the participant.

That’s one I would say you can do yourself. Either behind the lodge or near the bird hides on map depending on where lodge is.

take a glass window bird feeder as well and watch the squirrels empty it.

When I first went to CP I booked my kids loads of activities. In reality they just want to go down the rapids 100 times a day, eat chips and ice creams at the pool then do some biking/scooting around the site before an evening BBQ. The activities were a bit of a waste of money.

Thank you all for your feedback. Will defo take these tips in mind 👍

Obviously it depends on the child but unless he’s particularly arts and crafts oriented, I think it might be a bit young for him.

Activities are great, but I definitely wouldn’t book more than one a day or you’ll all be knackered. We go to Elveden (in term time) and 99% of the time there’ll be some availability for pool or climbing or bowling or boating etc if the pool and rapids aren’t enough to occupy them. But they usually are.

ETA there are FB pages for each site where you can get tips etc and get reviews on your accommodation etc. Not the official CP site (although that’s good too). Just avoid the ‘win a stay’ type of pages.

Another Centre Parcs question.
I just want to be organised before I go.

How long does the Aerial Adventure go on for? It says 1 hour is this about right?

I want to book Archery right after so just working out timing and how long it takes to get to different activities.

Can you ride the hire bikes they supply in between activities to speed up time and just park bike outside your activity?

I’m not going mad booking lots it’s just my sons birthday on one of the days we’re there and he really wants to try both these certain activities.

Yes you can definitely use the hire bikes to get to activities. There are bike parks outside every main area. They become your main method of transport as well as going on bike rides for fun.
Personally I wouldn’t book one activity almost directly after another but that’s partly cost and partly not wanting to rush about. We tended to book one or two activities per day then make the most of the pool and bikes.

Op which park is it. This might determine answers re bikes and activities

Yes, an hour sounds about right if he’s at the front; a fair bit of that time will be getting hooked up and shown how to move from tree to tree. But if he’s last in the queue, he’s going to take longer than that.

How long it will take you to get from activity to activity depends on what park you’re going to. If it’s Elveden, you could be there in 5-15 minutes depending on how busy it is and how quickly the people in front of him are moving. If it’s Longleat, things are a little more spread out, and that’s assuming you don’t get someone in front of you who suddenly decides they’re scared of heights! (I’ve not been to the other sites).

Yes, you can definitely just park your bike outside your activity. There are bike parks all over the place. But you will definitely need a lock. Sadly, CP is not immune from bike thefts. Also, is he finishing with a zip wire over the lake? Because he’ll also need to factor in time to walk back to the starting point get his bike if so. Again, not too far if at Elveden but Longleat is bigger.

I think you’d be mad to allow less than 40-60 minutes between activities, especially if they’re really important to him.

I wouldn’t book back to back activities at Longleat due to the hilly cycling. It’s easy to cycle between places - definitely locking up as previous posters say, but can take a bit of
time. It’s quite a big site.