Centre parcs?

[Sleepingallday]

Hi all,

hoping for some views from anyone who’s been to centre parcs recently please. It’s me, DH and DS 20 months looking at going for 3 nights over a weekend from late April to mid May. We are looking at Woburn, Elveden or Longleat.

Budget is £500-£600 total to include accommodation, food, extras. From what I can see the cheapest looks like approx £400 for the accommodation at Woburn or Elveden with Longleat more like £550, all for a self catered one bedroom apartment. Thinking we would bring food with us and maybe go out for a lunch and a dinner while there. Are the restaurants generally worth visiting and if so are they fairly priced or extortionate?

Also hoping that maybe DH and I could visit the spa and pop DS into a crèche for a couple of hours - can anyone let me know if they’ve done this successfully please?

I guess I would also like to know if centre parcs is worth it in general with a toddler, part of me feels we could potentially stretch to an overseas holiday if we inflated our budget just a bit which we could if we had to… but the much shorter travel time with the centre parcs option is very appealing. Our son is young so wouldn’t make the absolute most of all the activities but I’ve seen there’s bikes, the pool, lake etc which would keep us busy for the weekend.

thanks so much for reading and replies.

Personal experience is that centre parcs is wasted on a 20 month old. You would have a nice enough time don't get me wrong but probably other holiday park type places which are cheaper and you'd enjoy as much with a child that age. The activities, you would be doing whilst other parent looks after child, which is fine but if are want to do something the 3 of you together then maybe not so much.

The restaurants are ok at best given the price you pay for them.

You could go on a four day P and 0 cruise for that budget, food included and a night nursery.

@whattodo1975 thank you! I should have said in my post if anyone reading has any suggestions on a similar park style holiday/ place with activities, that would be much appreciated. I haven’t had much experience of them and would like to try something like this rather than what we usually do - book an Airbnb and just hang out…!

@headstone ah I had never thought of a cruise, that is a brilliant idea thank you so much!

Hoeseasons do a a good range of holiday parks, nice lodge with your own hot tub, swimming pool on site etc

Frist time We did Centre parcs when eldest was nearly 3 and we did have a nice time and there is plenty organised for kids that age (probably more so than other places) remember doing some nice crafty things etc.

Agree definitely better than just getting an AirBnB and just hanging out

I love Center Parcs. Wish we could afford it now our older one is at school. We took her when she was around 2 right up until she started school.

Elvenden is the best in my opinion.

she loved going in the bike trailer, swimming and the playgrounds. She went on a pony ride too.

I went to centre parcs when ds 1 was under 1 then with toddler ds1 and baby 2. Loved it and would definitely take a baby there. The pool is included within the price and the playground. You don't have an older child nagging to do activities that bump the price up. Nice for walks and can take the car out to explore surrounding area. We haven't gone since covid and now cannot afford to as going in school holidays is so expensive.

You might be able to get a ferry and eurocamp style holiday park in France for that.

CP would be fun but you'd really be using the pool and playground. The problem with CP is that kids are either too young for most of the activities, or the right age so it's £££!

I love Centre Parcs with my preschool child, however with that budget I think you would struggle to enjoy all it has to offer. It is very expensive. I went last year Monday to Friday just myself and my 4 year old and spent nearly £500 on accommodation and approx another £500 on food and activities including 2 half days at the creche and we only had 1 meal in a restaurant and brought in food from Tesco.

I like Forest Holidays too and you can get a similar vibe with a private hot tub.

I would do it with one child that age as you can go out of school holidays so cheaper and quieter. You will love the pool and go at least once per day. There also lots of parks and it’s nice to just walk in the forest. I have used the crèche, I think mine might’ve been the only one in her age room so had lots of attention and came out with hand print art which is still up at home.
Restaurants are pretty much the same as anywhere, only thing is some of the faster food options seem to have closed since covid. When we went all the food places had microwaves available with free purées for little ones though yours might be too old to need that.
Now ours are teens it is too expensive for us as they just want to do activities which are pricey but we have had lots of fun there over the years.

Thank you all for your replies, I think if we can do the pool and soft play and maybe a couple of other things it will be worth it for us! wow @HappyPumpkin81 cant believe it was double what you paid for accommodation for the extras, we may have to be a bit conservative with the meals out then.

We took our children when toddlers to Woburn CP and they loved it. There is a nice splash pool and if you are going during term time then it is fairly quiet. There's also the safari park close by.

Ours loved the bike trailer, scooting, feeding the ducks on the lake etc. There are a few activities for that age such as balance bikes, but you don't need to book these.

I think you mean Longleat? That’s the one with the safari nearby

There's a safari park at Woburn too

Not sure about your location but we found Bluestone in S Wales was better for preschoolers - mine loved the dome, pool and soft play areas. The spa is nice too (although pool and spa not as big as at a CP).

I stand corrected!

We're off there on Monday with an 8 year old, just 3 year old and 1 year old! Will report back on our stay. We aren't using the creche facilities but are taking the in laws 😁

I'd second a taster cruise - out of Southampton, do pay for the valet parking, so easy. Lots of little ones on board when I did it. Shorter notice usually means much cheaper (friend did a 7 night for £360 a head very last minute recently, but typically your budget will get you 3 nights) oh and both p&o and Cunard let you take a bottle of wine /few beers on board to have in your cabin, drinks aren't included usually except at breakfast but they'll provide water so you can literally spend nothing on board

We've been twice to Sherwood and once to Longleat. We normally do a fairly big shop once we're off the ferry (some different choices in UK supermarkets 😀) and bring in at least 2 dinners and 2 lunches, breakfast things and lots of snacks. And wine/beer.

We get bread/pastries delivered a few mornings. And we used the Parc market as well but that is more expensive but Dd loves wheeling the mini trollies around when younger, and being able to go alone when she was about 8.

Our aim was to eat out once a day and eat in the lodge the other meals. A mix of meals out - usually 1 pancake house breakfast, and some lunches, some dinners. And some coffee/cake stops and the odd drink by the lake. But we also enjoyed relaxing with snacks and a glass of wine while cooking something nice or unwrapping packs for a buffet/salads type meal.

We also normally had a budget for 1 activity per day, we went swimming at least once a day and did a lot of walking and cycling as well. And for us, relaxing with a movie or playing cards as a family was a treat as we were so busy normally. Dd loved drawing on the blackboard. And there were lots of wildlife visitors to watch as well.

We've just returned from Woburn with our 15 month old. She loved the cresch but its max 3 hours a day so whether you can get the full spa experience in there is really up to you. she really enjoyed the sensory class too and there are lots of little soft plays for them - the best being in the sports bar and hucks. I think once they are 18 months they can do mucky pups and ballet etc but i can't comment on how good they are.

We had a great time but we were also there with her cousins and it was amazing being altogether with the kids running around together.

The restaurants are fine but nothing special.

I've been on a cruise with my daughter already and planning another in a couple of months. for that budget i'd go P&O or MSC - i don't think it'll stretch to Royal carribean. Royal carribean does have all day nurseries on all but three of their ships though but you have to pay $6-8 per hour for it, P&O is free but only at night whilst they are sleeping and MSC have during the day but the hours are more restrictive.

But be careful what ship you go on if you want to swim. Babies cannot go in the main adult pools so you won't be able to swim together. The ships below have seperate baby swim pools:

Can Babies Go In The Pool On A Cruise Ship? - Cruising For All (cruisingkids.co.uk)

Hoseasons do a a good range of holiday parks, nice lodge with your own hot tub, swimming pool on site etc

I was going to say exactly this. At that age it worked well for our DC and generally less expensive than Center Parcs (we've done both over the years).

Many of the parks have a restaurant/take away on site so you can have a meal out.

@Sleepingallday would you consider butlins? A lot more for your money and more on for that age group than CP

Would absolutely recommend bluestone instead. Used to love centre parcs but since visiting bluestone we haven't been back. So so much to do, the hive, the serendome, blue lagoon, lovely walks and big lake with ducks! It's wonderful

Have been to longleat centre parcs and bluestone. Is a lot easier to get around bluestone - you can rent a golf buggy. Longleat is a lot bigger. There is a landtrain, but is not big and runs every 20 - 30 mins or so. Elveden or Woburn are much smaller and easier to get around. There were activities for older babies at both. Not sure about crèches as didn't need to use them - grandparents were there too. Bluestone used to be cheaper than centre parcs and is about the same size etc, and the prices outside school holidays are so much cheaper. But is south Wales, so might not be as good for travel.

Jealous. I'd give my right arm for a Black Forest waffle from the pancake house right now!