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Holidays

Use our Travel forum for recommendations on everything from day trips to the best family-friendly holiday destinations.

Original poster

We are off to Center Parcs.......any tips?

45 replies

collision · 30/12/2005 15:26

I also swore I would never go but now that we have children....well, you have to really!!

Anyway, it is only costing us £149 for 4 nights for all of us which is such a bargain and I am now really excited.

So, any tips for us? We are taking a box of food and will eat out a couple of times. We are going to the one in Cumbria and it is only 2 hours away from us.

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Blandmum · 30/12/2005 15:28

lots of wet weather gear. take plastic bags to cover tyour bike sadles from the rain!
Take food and wine, the supermarket is good for basics but more expensive than a local shop.

Original poster
collision · 30/12/2005 15:29

Thanks MB. How much does it cost to hire bikes? We have a 3 yr old and a one yr old. Do they have seats for little ones?

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seb1 · 30/12/2005 15:32

When we were there the lakeside inn did a good carvery and the sports cafe (can't remember its name it is behind the tennis courts along from the spa) did a nice meal. Take a couple of torches it is very dark at night

Blandmum · 30/12/2005 15:32

We haven't been for ages. they have smashing tow behind buggies which were great for our two, they were around your kids age . they look like this

dh towed them in this

they thought it was amazing! Keeps them nice and dry if it is raining.

Original poster
collision · 30/12/2005 15:34

They look great! I havent ridden a bike for 15 years so that should be fun too!!

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Blandmum · 30/12/2005 15:35

We went to the Cumbria one twice, before it went over to centreparks and had a good time. We have also been to the Elvedon one and enjoyed that too.

Worth taking some toys and books etc for the evenings

You'll have a great time

Original poster
collision · 30/12/2005 16:03

It will be nice to get away for a bit and for the kids to swim every day. do you know if it is expensive to do extra things?

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Blandmum · 30/12/2005 16:06

non eof them are expensive on their own, but they can mount up. They send you a booklet with the costs, it is worth planning it out before hand, to keep and eye on the cost and also to use your time effectivly. The website might also have the prices?

Redtartanlass · 30/12/2005 16:52

Collision, how did you manage to get such a good price. Thinking of taking in-laws there for a short break, but the prices weren't asgood as that!!!

Original poster
collision · 30/12/2005 18:07

I clicked on center parcs website and at the bottom it said 35% off!!!

I was so happy!

We can only go in Jan so it was perfect.

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Original poster
collision · 02/01/2006 17:29

So I need lots of waterproof clothes and a brolly and a torch. Anything else??

OP posts:
grumpyfrumpy · 03/01/2006 11:10

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

sandrab321 · 03/01/2006 15:30

Hi, ive just come back from elveden after spending NEW YEARS there.
My party of 2 adults, 2 children are rather dissapointed by the whole center parcs thing! It seems to me there are too many cabins (over 800) and just not enough activities to cater for everyone!
my tips:
eating out as as family is rather expensive, a meal for all 6 of us (with no alcohol) cost £96 from their restaurant, the meals were basic hamburgers/steak/fries..
Bikes are advisable to hire, it cost me and my partner £34 from firday night until monday morning.
The supermarket delivers so thats a good bonus as we were 'miles' away from our accomodation, but you must spend over £40.
It is wise to book activities in advance....we couldnt even get a game of ten pin bowling as it was booked solid for 2 days!
If you are not into sports then i doubt if you will enjoy it as there is not much else to do all day!
It seems to me the breaks are cheap enough, but the prices for the activites, saunas, facials are expensive.....a facial can range from £55 an hour...
Above all the cabin is clean and cosy and warm
Hope you enjoy it......

robin3 · 03/01/2006 15:48

Anyone got any tips about how to go cost effectively...looked earlier today and it was £500 for a weekend in February! I can go to the New Forest and stay in a Spa hotel for half of that.

MistyEyed · 03/01/2006 15:51

Matches, washing up liquid, cloths, swim towels....will try & think of others

IlanaK · 03/01/2006 16:23

I disagree with some of the comments on here. We went in November to Longleat and we are going back to Elvedon at the end of Jan.

The heating was not turned down at night. It used to be (and it says it still is in their brochure) but you have a control in your villa and you can leave it on. When we went, it was freezing cold across the UK - coldest all winter, but we were fine.

As for there not being enough facilities for all the cabins - I am suprised by that comment. When we went, it was fully booked, but it did not feel crowded at all. The villas are well spaced. Now, that was Longleat - so I can't comment on the other parks.

I hope you enjoy it - we certainly did.

Eating out is expensive if you are not used to London prices - lucky for us we live in central london so there was no difference!

Yes, book activities ahead. But we overbooked stuff thinking we needed to do loads. I won't make that mistake this time as my kids love the swimming and would have spent all day in there and the adventure playgrounds - and they are all free.

LittleMissSmall · 03/01/2006 16:31

We booked one activity for each day, I found that enough. Book up early for activities though as we were booking 2-3 weeks in advance and most things were booked up already.

Shop before you go to avoid having to buy much from the onsite supermarket.

We planned to eat out once and that was fine with us.

The kids disco is well worth a trip and the swimming pool is much quieter first thing in the morning and late afternoon.

Get a bike with a trailor as I found I could fit my child and my bag with swimming thing in it. Take an old blanket for the children to put over their legs, then just leave it in the trailor when you get to your destination.

Hope you have a lovely time - we did when we went, we will certainly be going back. I found the first day quite stressful but don't be put off.

Original poster
collision · 03/01/2006 17:33

Sorry you didnt enjoy it Sandra! I am very excited about it and hoping that as the kids are all back at school that it will be very quiet!!

We have decided to have a budget for the week so we arent tempted to overspend. we are taking our own food for the evenings and will make sandwiches for lunch and cereal for breakfast. we thought we would just swim and do free things for 2 days and hire bikes and then on the other 2 days we might do bowling or something.

Thanks for all the tips and we will def get some logs.

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Original poster
collision · 03/01/2006 22:41

i was just wondering. My ds's are 3.8 and 13 months. If we hire bikes do you think it is worth taking a pushchair with us or not?

We only have a Fiat Punto and I am not sure if there will be much room in it. I was going to make room for the pushchair but am now wondering if we need to or not.

My plan would be to eat, swim and get the boys ready for bed and then cycle back if that is possible. What do you think?

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SueW · 03/01/2006 23:10

We didn't really do bikes - Cumbria is quite hilly and if you aren't pretty fit you might find it a bit of an ordeal getting up hills with a kid buggy attached to your bike! We mainly walked (a flattish route). The teens and kids (8yo) in our party used their bikes constantly though.

Original poster
collision · 03/01/2006 23:13

never thought of hills!! just thought of cycling to and fro to the pool!!

Think I will take the buggy then.

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SueW · 03/01/2006 23:13

Also I would say don't worry about taking food with you except maybe things you don't want to buy new of e.g. jam, teabags, ketchup. There is a Morrisons in Penrith and once you are in your villa, someone can nip out and shop and get back in the time that the gates are still open for car access to villas (alternativley leave buggy in car and use to ferry shopping back to villa from car park).

Also nice grocery store with good cheese counter and we used the butcher in the arcade just off thesqaure for fresh burgers.

Aloha · 03/01/2006 23:16

I went ages ago and was surprised by how much I liked it. Ds wasn't born so we took my stepdaughter and a friend (both 7) and we just walked, sat around, rowed on the lake, ate, went to the playgrounds, swam (lovely at night, even when it is cold outside as the water is very warm) and read books. It was extremely nice. The girls were absolutely overjoyed by the spa bath! And we burned funny artificial logs on the fire which kept us very warm and happy indeed. Agree with taking food and wine, including something nice to eat for your first night.

SueW · 03/01/2006 23:19

not sure if that was clear re hills - CP's site is set on a hilly piece of ground. The pool and entertainment area are at the 'top'/high point of the hill with the lowest point being prob the road below Badger Wood ( see map )

We stayed in Meadow View 51-89 section and there's a fairly big hill up past Fell View 52-71. We never really went over to the western side so I can't give you info about that.

SueW · 03/01/2006 23:21

Also your DSs will prob love seeing the wildlife - rabbits hopping around outside almost constantly and, as it's a red squirrel conservation area, you might see one or two of those too. After rain (in Aug) we saw zillions of tiny frogs that looked like bark shippings at the sides of the roads.