Centre parcs-what to take

[Boo142]

Hi
First time to centre parcs and first time self catering with a 6 and 2yr old.
Any suggestions on what to take food/home wise! I feel like I want to take my entire household to relive any stress or excess spendings(I'm aware how pricey it is there, we will be swimming- a lot!) but need some realistic advice please! My husband thinks my lists are insane hahaha

I was going to ask the same thing as we are going next month. We're going to take a pasta dish for pasta bakes, kitchen towel, kitchen roll, toilet roll, a sharp knife (as I'm sure theirs will be blunt), hand soap, a couple of pint glasses for beers on the balcony and a dish cloth :)

Washing up liquid, tea, coffee, booze. The shop is pricey. Not eye-wateringly so but think overpriced corner shop.

Good idea for a dish- hadn't thought of that! Feel like we are going to take more for 4 days than we do 2weeks abroad

Some dishwasher tabs are always useful. Marshmallows, sticks and some of those instant logs for the fire.

Dishwasher tabs-they only give you a couple

We got back this morning! It is quite expensive - we ate out once at tea time and once for breakfast / brunch. There is a supermarket that sells most things you would want but again expensive - we bought fresh bread for lunch etc but nothing more. We took most food with us. There was a dishwasher with three tablets provided, a sachet of washing up liquid, a dish cloth, scourer, tea towel and a toilet roll in each bathroom.
We pre booked and paid for a couple of activities and booked a couple once there - some are more reasonable than others.
Hope that helps a bit!

I've always found them to be very well equipped. The supermarkets and restaurants are not ridiculously pricy but more expensive than normal. We decide which meals we are staying in and which we are going out or ordering takeaway. I buy everything I need for all self catered meals and don't plan to get anything in the supermarket but invariably have forgotten something/run out of wine.

We went not long ago and there was no frying pan, may want to consider this.

I'm going with the inlaws - I'm taking my kindle and Gin

So I guess we need washing up sponges and tea towel too?

Haha me too! First trip away with them, my husbands even dreading it haha

There will be washing up sponges and a tea towel

Nursey184 that's super helpful, thank you

They usually give you a little kit with a dishcloth and there will be a tea towel there and some sachets of coffee and a few tea bags, but I'd take your own tea and coffee as there's never enough. They only give you a small sachet of washing up liquid, so take a little bottle of your own. Last time I went, they were much more generous with the dishwasher tabs than on previous occasions, but I'd still chuck a few of those if you have them in just in case. Depending on what meals we have planned, I might take a frying pan, as some of theirs are in good nick. Also, if you're staying in a woodland lodge in longleat, don't plan a big meal in the oven. The ovens are a bugger to use and the time we tried to roast a chicken when a bit wrong! Alright for shorter stints though once you get the hang on them.

We usually cook a meal to take with us for the first night, as it can be a bit hectic getting the car off loaded and back to the car park etc, so we do a bolognese and take it with us in a ziplock bag ready to reheat quickly.

Other than that food wise, we do a click and collect from the nearest supermarket as our car is always too rammed to fit shopping as well and if you want to get there early and park up and use facilities before checking in and it's warm, you don't have to worry about fridge stuff in the car. So we do the check in at 3pm, dump all the stuff at the lodge and then DH drives out and collects the shopping and comes back in with it all before he takes the car back to the car park.

Do they provide bath mats (to stand DCs on after bath) these days? They didn't used to, and I would take an old hand towel for the purpose.
Take some bin liners/old carrier bags, there's never enough bin liners. And washing up liquid - they give you a sachet of cheap useless stuff.
Ground coffee for cafetière if you like it - there will be a cafetière there.

Take towels for the pool, it's £2 a towel to hire them!

We just take breakfast stuff and fruit.

ky jelly....

Took stuff for lunches and had yea out or takeaway on the nights.
Im festidious but our accommodation was spotless. We asked housekeeping for exta toilet roll and washing up liquid which they gave us happily.

The first time i took EVERYTHING this time i just took food for lunched and kitchen roll and surface spray.

Oh and alcohol. I wouldnt bother tsking glasses unless you want your own. I have done in the past but it really was spotless. Xx

Which part are you going to?

lube

We went recently and were surprised at how good the knives now are - they must have had lots of complaints!

We are going to Longleat 6 adults 2kids in a woodland lodge

We're going to longleat too. Only us and the baby :) we're hopeful for good weather

Where are you in the park? If you're right out to the edge, furthest from the plaza, might be worth taking bikes if you're able to transport them. If you're right out to the bottom left of the map it could take a 2 year old an hour to walk to the swimming pool. There's always the land train though, or bike renting.

This is for Longleat - we live nearby and my family go a couple of times a year. Also know people who work there.

Also, apparently it's a great cause for moaning from the cleaners if you don't wash up, or at least have "hidden" dirty plates, before leaving, as the time they're given to clean doesn't account for washing up, and if they find plates in a bedroom and don't have time to put the dishwasher on a cycle before your arrive time they've got to wash it by hand. It doesn't seem like the biggest deal to me but someone I know bangs on about it alllll the time.