Centre Parcs in Feb - Woburn or Longleat??

[sausagedog1044]

I'd so appreciate any advice on which Centre Parcs to stay at for a weekend break with kids (7 and 9 yrs) in Feb half term. Woburn or Longleat are closest but Sherwood isn't too far.

We've never been to Centre Parcs so any other titbits of info or recommendations of lodge location would be great. We prefer to have our own space, but don't want to have to walk miles to get to the swimming pool.

Thanks so much in advance!

Longleat have the best rapids of all the British CPs. I've heard the Woburn ones are very disappointing in comparison and I've been on all the others myself. I know they've just reopened the rapids at

Sorry - at Longleat though so I hope they haven't ruined them while they were closed.

Also, if you don't want to walk far you can pay extra to choose a villa wherever you want. Longleat is more split up than others but you can hire bikes with trailers or mini bikes tagged on the back of yours for the kids. Longleat is hilly.

The pool at Woburn is dire, it's a small concrete box. Sherwood is better then either longleat or elveden in our opinion but they have expanded a lot at sherwood and now there are too many villas for the facilities.

Sadly I think that's true of all of them now bizzle - the overstuffing with villas.

We love both! Have a wonderful time at each.

But we prefer the space at Longleat for the summer - and Woburn when it's winter.

Woburn has warmer changing rooms with bigger cubicles, many more lockers and underfloor heating. The showers are hotter. And there are no cold draughty bits in the poolside areas and a lot more chairs.

The rapids at Longleat are rougher - they have longer sliding sections but you have to work harder cos there are bits where you come to a stop or get sucked backwards. The woburn ones keep you going - with younger kids (under 9)we find it more enjoyable.

The pool at W definitely looks smaller as it has high concrete sides and less vegetation. But objectively it's not that different to Longleat. The lazy river is so much better at W. The cafe is so much warmer in winter. All the rides and the rapids at W finish in the same spot - so it's much easier to keep track of each other when you're on different things.

The site at W is much smaller. So less far to walk and the indoor activities are grouped in one building. At Longleat the kids club is one location, the spa another, the sports hall another. This is lots of fun in the summer cycling to and fro but we prefer woburn's compactness if it's raining cold etc.
Have a great time!

Cheers for the tips.

Think we're going to go for Woburn. So now we need to decide what lodge. Is there much difference between Woodland and Executive lodges?

They tamed the longleat Rapids down quite a few years ago, I heard that someone drowned in them, that could be an urban myth though.

Sausagedog - We noticed our woburn woodland lodge had been painted since last xmas (yup - we picked the same one this year!) so they are all in good condition.
Main differences we notice when we've gone exec are a) maid service every day b) coffee machine c) shower in the kids' bedroom d) possibly a wine fridge? e) fancy bath. For us they're not worth it.

Thanks all!