Center parks - a bit tacky?

[9uygjk]

Just back from our first trip to center parks. Went to the one in Woburn and honestly I just thought it was a bit tacky. Apparently it's middle class Butlins but is it? Maybe am being particularly picky but I still thought it was a bit like Butlins. Is it just me?

Indeed. In fact when I went last year I was expecting it to be a bit shabby but was nicely surprised by the cleanliness of the pool and changing rooms.

You seem very caught up with 'classes' OP.

Other than India, in all my travels, I have never come across another country so obsessed with people knowing their place in society.

I only ever see the obsession on MN tbh. IRL I don’t see it at all.

Exactly why I love caravan parks. Eight pints, Link Up Bingo and no need to interact with my children.

Isn’t it just a safe environment to do vaguely ‘outdoorsy’ activities within (in the UK).

Don’t middle class folks use IKOS?

Oh have a read through the threads about the glee of taxing private schools and the angst of the 'middle classes who can afford it but choose not to', the words 'chavvy' being used to describe people deemed 'lesser than'.
I go between feeling entertained and sad.
People seem so anxious to be seen a certain way. You can't say its just MN because there are just as many threads on MN about people living in poverty.

Oh have a read through the threads about the glee of taxing private schools and the angst of the 'middle classes who can afford it but choose not to',

the threads about private education and VAT on here are looney!

Don’t middle class folks use IKOS?

I'm obviously not mc enough as can't afford it. It was over 11k for a wk in Aug when I looked & that was with budget flights 😆

The majority of 'looney' threads on MN are connected to perceived 'classes' and almost always by people who wish to be perceived as 'middle class'.

MN truly comes into its own when helping women in poor relationships and giving advice for dealing with teens.

Another fantastic Center Parcs thread! It’s a bumper crop of snootiness this year.

I will pop back after the children have come out of Rouen Cathedral and we can make our way home to the darrrrling little gîte we’ve rented. There’ll be a quiz for the children about Normandy cuisine in the car on the way back. They’re so excited!

And wonderful fresh bread and coffee this morning. The local pâtisserie is utterly charming.

We have been on an extended family long weekend to Elveden and loved it . Ages from 4-74 16 of us. We took it in turns to cook or bbq so didn’t eat out. Did loads of activities- something for everyone. The lodges were lovely, 2 4 bedroom new ones with en-suites. I loved the spa and the kids and teenagers all enjoyed various activities.

The majority of 'looney' threads on MN are connected to perceived 'classes' and almost always by people who wish to be perceived as 'middle class'.

Hard disagree, they usually involve neighbours & gardens, dogs & inlaws

My DH got terrible norovirus at one years ago. Our baby was on,y 2 months old so thank god he didn’t spread it to him. He definitely got it at Centreparcs as there was a big sign saying that the pic and mix was shut due to an outbreak of norovirus but we only discovered that after we’d booked in. My child had been in SCBU so I was not too impressed about their lack of openness.

As ever, different strokes for different folks OP. I love CP, and would go every half term if we could. It’s perfect for my family at the stage we are in (kids are 2 and 5). I love that it’s not alcohol orientated (unlike Butlins), and I’ve never seen an adult drunk there I don’t think. It feels safe, clean and is family friendly.

We have our own groove there though. Get up, breakfast and then go play at the parks or do an activity. Swim. Back to the lodge for lunch and a rest. Back out again for pretty much the same again. Back to the lodge for dinner, and kids bath and bed at the usual time. We take it in turns to go for a run before breakfast, and I take one homemade meal for the first night and the rest is easy stuff like pizza and wedges, a pie with microwave mash and veg, and then usually a curry - I get the “finest” or Cook versions of things so it feels like a treat. Breakfasts are the mini cereal boxes for kids, pastries, or egg on toast. Usually one morning we do sausages in hot dog rolls and eat them on our way to the park because my kids love eating in the wagon behind the bike 🤣

I take a couple of craft kits, and bits for a “movie night” like popcorn and sweets. The kids love feeding the animals on the patio. I love being able to put the kids down at the usual time and they’re physically knackered so don’t protest! And I get the evenings chilling with DH without the feeling of “i should be doing something round the house”. We try to treat ourselves to one spa evening each too if we can - so we both get alone time.

The lodges are easy to keep clean and tidy and I don’t shit myself every five mins the kids are going to break something expensive. I have 3 CPs within about 3 hours drive so getting there and back feels easy.

I am ND though, and at least one of my kids is and we suspect DH too. There’s something about the predictability of it all that means it’s a fast track to relaxation for us all. Everyone knows what to expect.

Not RTFT but I'm with you OP - I hate the places. We went twice to Whinfell - didn't love it the first time and the second just cemented it, I would never go back.

Pros: loads of activities easily accessible in one place, nice enough woodland, you might see some animals

Cons: it IS tacky, it isn't anything approaching "middle class" (whatever that is really), it's insanely expensive, the accommodation is basic, the restaurants are terrible and overpriced, people get ill with stomach-related viruses frequently because everyone frequents the same places, especially the pool, and people don't adhere to the 48hr rule when on holiday, some of the activities are rubbish particularly in relation to what you have to pay for them.

I totally understand what you meant when you said it felt tacky - it might not be the best choice of word but I completely understand what you mean in terms of the general demographic and experience.

I think the issue is that other holiday parks have upped their game and Centre Parcs hasn’t. We spent a week in a lodge with a hot tub on a lovely Haven park in rural Wales this summer for a fifth of the price of Centre Parcs. Activities were provided at the hotel next door at much more reasonable rates and food options were better too.

Christmas is tacky! Why does this tired old cant about 'class' have to come into everything? Choose what you enjoy doing or don't - the background of the people those activities attract is completely irrelevant.

If you go to Center Parcs you already know their chief money-spinner is FOMO. If you're not doing expensive activities every minute of the day you're missing nothing, so it's up to you whether you buy into that or not. I couldn't care less about shooting arrows and paint guns in woodland. We enjoy spending time in the nature hide watching birds and red squirrels, use the pool once or twice, and pootle around on bikes. I enjoy the absolute bliss of walking in woods in solitude, feeling relatively safe whilst doing so (a thing I can't do in my own village at home).

As for food, the takeaways are a lot cheaper than the eateries and IME - as a rarity - better quality. You can also russle up a casserole in the slow cooker to take with you, meaning you don't need to cook whilst you're there.

It is what you make it. As for the families I'm sharing the site with at any given time, as long as they're not disturbing me I couldn't give a fig what backgrounds they are from.

I like going there because I hate camping, I don’t like hiking but enjoy pretending to be in nature with easy walking distance to shops and restaurants so I don’t have to cook every night. There’s more stuff to do then just going to a cottage or forest holidays. It’s a nice mix of being somewhere that feels like nature and a caravan holiday. I have only ever had an excutive lodge and I’ve found them nice and we only go when it’s cheap - January, and it’s nice to have a fire, I love the smell when you walk around and everyone has their fire lit.

lots of people like it clearly

Sometimes they involve both. Those are so much fun 😂

If your 8 year old complained about food and the pool you should be more worried about how they’re going to turn out than other peoples opinions of holiday parks.

Exactly this.

We live near one. It's shite. The "cabins in the woods" are like pill box military barracks, with a few pines between them around the circular track that joins it all to the gargantuan car park. You can pay £45 for an hour's crap bowling at their pokey bowling alley with teenagers microwaving the food, when less than ten minutes away is a proper American ten pin bowling alley with excellent diner, for £26 an hour. The spa is shit compared to a proper spa. The restaurants are shit. It is, as you say, rubbish. Trees are everywhere, go to your local woods if you want a bike ride. Pool's good. I'll give them that.

A lot of people go there thinking it's aspirational or more middle class. They like that it's known for being overpriced so you must be doing ok to afford it. And that's exactly who you'll find there. And if you don't know, they'll tell you. People who can easily afford it would rather have their teeth drawn than go.

Yep, Ikos and Center Parcs are not the same 😅

What's middle class about being 'outdoorsy?' I'm from a nature-loving family and was poring over geeky field guides and learning bird calls on the coast with my (working class) grandfather since childhood. Back then, an interest in the natural world was extremely dorky and the last word in uncool, until Greenpeace got all rebellious and later zen, wellbeing and 'mindfulness' made it a fashionable pastime.

To me it's the backdrop to my entire life and I couldn't care less whether it's 'of the moment' or not. Mountain Warehouse and Regatta are also every bit as good as North Face!

I don't think it's tacky- I wouldn't go for a romantic weekend but the kids absolutely love it and you can very easily get by the entire week without going in one of the restaurants (which admittedly are mainly chains and not cheap). You're never going to get a five star standard holiday village in the UK - there just wouldn't be enough people who could afford to go. An unpopular opinion but I actually don't think the cost is too bad given what's on offer - you'd pay c.£100 for a family of four for a day in a water park so to get unlimited access to the pool for the duration of the stay plus full rein of the forest and a bit of your own outdoor space seems reasonable to me. All inclusives at "tacky" hotels abroad with bad food can easily cost upwards of £5-6k during the school hols.

Do we need to label things with one word?