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

Also beware of agreeing to do things like the pottery sessions without checking out all the prices beforehand. It costs £10 + a £5 studio fee for one child to paint a plate.

If you make a big batch of bolognese/chilli/curry in advance and freeze it, then on the morning you are leaving take it out of the freezer (this is key ) and it will act as a cool block keeping your milk/cheese/ham cool all day until you check in whilst it defrosts and then at dinner time all you need to do is boil pasta/rice and any sundries you like...

Spare swimmers and goggles - if yours get lost broken tis a pain to replace if you are swimimng a lot. Swim towels x extra.
Cleaning/washing supplies.
Easy food for a small oven / hob with limited pots and pans.
Fire logs. Wine/beer/soft drinks.

If you have to complain - we have twice - once due to rodents and once due to being given a cot with a (stained) mattress with 3" gap all around sides for a 10 week old be aware that their customer service is awful and you can waste hours trying to resolve.

But that was years ago (outwith school hols, cant afford it now!) and I think we were unlucky.

Enjoy - the pool complex is lovely!

I'd take a torch if you're going out after dark.

Have a fab time!

The lodges don't have bath mats provided as standard. You can collect one from customer services though free of charge.

Take salt and pepper, they don't supply them. Also I'm not sure about longleat as we always go to whinfell but we always take bird food to attract the birds up to the cabin. The kids love it.

If you're in a big hut, you'll have daily maid service (they empty the dishwasher and make the beds etc) - you might also have a hot tub. Lovely!

We have just come back, I took things for stir fry, sausages and buns for lunches, things for sandwiches, houmous and bits to dip etc. Made a Thai green curry and rice etc.
Defo buy your own waxy logs and marshmallows/sticks, costs a bomb in the shops!
We ate out one night at Huck's and it was so unbelievably salty that I could barely eat it and for 3 of us eating came to £50!
I'd advise swimming around dinner time (so have an early light dinner or dinner after) because the pool is very empty and you actually get to make use of everything.
Oh and watch out for the wave machine, it took me out!

Yy to salt and pepper and oil!

I always take a sharp knife because the ones supplied are rubbish. I always take the same kitchen basics I do in any self-catered place: salt, pepper, spices, ketchup, oil, kitchen roll etc

Yes to swim towels and spare goggles - DS lost his in the pool and the replacement pair I had to buy him cost £20!

Heavy duty lube. And gin.

This is all great advice, thank you everyone, so much (except all the childish lube comments, thought this was an adults forum)
Sat here with my pen and paper making notes(sad I know) but I want to be prepared

Pound coins for the swimming lockers.

The villas are very well equipped, though we always have the hot tub/sauna/maid service ones. Longleat is very hilly, take decent shoes for going up and down a massive hill several times a day. Take insect repellant and plasters.

thought this was an adults forum

Only joking OP, I hope you all have a lovely time x

Thank you

A big dressing gown for slobbing about on patio watching the bunnies. You won't need pasta dishes etc, it's a self catering villa, not a tent!

And defo lube.

Maybe poppers.

If your planning having a BBQ pick a couple of disposable ones up from a supermarket before you go. The shop is a bit more expensive than a local supermarket but it is the random things like that and the fire logs that they seem to charge significantly more for.

This all sounds like hard work to me- may as well not go if causing this sort of stress.
One of the most expensive places to go without taking the kitchen sink & a frying pan!

Joffmognum leaving washing up for the cleaners is rotten, I'm not surprised they moan about it. They'll be on incredibly tight time limits for cleaning each unit.

Ha, I saw the title of this thread and had a little bet with DH how many posts it would take for someone to suggest lube. For the record I won.

OP, you may not know but there's a very old running joke on mumsnet about having bum sex at centre parks, hence all the rather adult suggestions.

Also Longleat is mega hilly! There is a land train but try to bring any potential bulky items with you but it always seemed packed and trying to drag the kids up he hill after swimming with shopping was not the one!

My sensible suggestion is chlorine removing shampoo. Last time we went my blond DD ended up with slightly greenish straw textured hair from practically living in the pool all weekend.