Centre Parcs

[tigertummy]

We are hoping to book a family trip to Centre Parcs (probably the Woburn one) and have never been before.

Any tips? Tricks? Recommendations?

There will be 6-8 adults and 2 children under 7...

Plan the activities before you get there.
If you do eat out, book before you go if you can - especially the pancake house. There were definitely more popular restaurants and not-so-popular ones at Woburn. Strada got busy so if you’re with children you might want to book your table.
You have to prebook the swimming but you get a 3 hour session and I think you can go again after 6pm without booking.
Do a big shop before you go. Parc market is fabulous but expensive. The fridge is reasonable size.
Arrive early. Get your bearings – suss out the restaurants, enjoy a lunch. You can arrive into the park from 10am but you can’t check in until 3pm but there’s plenty of things to do in the meantime.

Thanks!! Any particular activities to do? Or avoid?

We went to Woburn in December, you didn't have to book swimming then.

Highly recommend booking restaurants and activities. The owl experience is really good!

Definitely do a food shop before you go and there's lots of wildlife so you can take duck/bird food. We had deer on the porch which enjoyed some fruit and veg.

Unless you have an exec lodge or anything above you won't have your own parking space so best to get there early and get a space. You will be allowed to park outside your lodge from check in time to unpack and then again on the day you leave, the rest of the time you will leave the car in the car park.

Woburn is smaller than the others so I don’t think it’s as good. Elveden is great - a good size and flat.
Its a great holiday for kids.

I would recommend looking up nearby supermarkets and doing a click and collect en route to the site. Take some cool bags to keep milk etc cool during that first day when you can be on site but not in the accommodation. You'll save a lot of time and money if you can avoid doing your big shop at the parc market.

We just got back from Longleat and didn't have to book swimming. You can take a picnic to eat poolside (or at at the pool cafe) if you want to spend a long time swimming.

Definitely book activities and spa etc in advance.

Have fun!

Dependent on what time of year you're going and if you're using the log burner, take logs from home bargains which are considerably cheaper than the ones they sell there!

@tigertummy the best activities depend on what time of year you’re going.

Do you still have to prebook swimming?? I am going to Elvedon in a few weeks and thought you could turn up?

https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/center-parcs-confirms-major-swimming-5866056 looks like you don't

Tips I was given, and would endorse are -

Order a Gusto/ Hello Fresh or similar box to take with you - then you’ve got the right about of herbs, spices etc for cooking whilst you’re there without bringing your entire kitchen contents.

AND/ OR (probably OR) bring a slow cooker so that you’re meals are ready for you at the end of a busy day.

Other than that, we’ve always loved hiring cycles whilst there - works out well as an activity over all and also gets you from a to b.

Bring nuts and seeds or similar to feed the wildlife from your patio.

Bring logs for the log burner - must be smokeless - from supermarket before you come as that’s cheaper.

No you don’t have to pre book swimming any more, I don’t think. That was a pandemic thing. I quite liked it!

I'm going to Centre Parc Woburn in a couple of weeks. I know they have travel cots in the lodges and not the wooden cots like other Centre Parcs do. Does anyone have any experience of using the Woburn travel cots? Are they comfy? Do they have a decent mattress? I know my travel cot only has a thin padded base, which is ok for one night's sleep, I'm just worried about my little one being comfy for a week in a travel cot, or do I bring my own mattress???