Is Centre Parcs worth it?

[summerlovingvibes]

I've been invited (along with DH & 2 children) to CP. The other family are going regardless so please no suggestions of other locations - I'm aware of lots of different similar places.

I've never been to one. They've been a few times.

My question is - is it worth it or should we skip? It's 3 nights. Looking at it you can't check in until 4pm?! Therefore really that's actually 1 evening and 2 days as assuming 10am check out means you have to exit site?

My DC are 3&5 and the other family have a 3&10 year old.

Are activities once in expensive? I've tried to look online and it says you need to have an active booking to book activities but I can't see any prices.

Really can't decide! Feels like a lot of money for 3 nights accommodation.... so is the "site" worth it?

You can arrive and use the park from 10am just cant get into the lodge until 4pm.

There are expensive activities like quad bikes, climbing or tree top walks which are £30-£40 per person. Our kids are older so we allow them to choose one pricey activty each then do cheaper ones like kayaks, badminton etc. pedalos are about £15. Swing parks and swimming are free. Family ball wall is £15 for 45 mins and you could all do that.

If going during school hols you do need to be organised with booking activities which is annoying.

We like it because we have been going many years and the kids are now teens and can have some freedom.

At 3 and 5 it will be nice but a lot of work. If they were 8 and 10 definitely a good holiday.

Do your dc love swimming? Could they spend a few hours at the swimming complex? One of the free activities which really makes CP worth it is the tropical swimming complex.
Does your family enjoy walking and/or cycling? For us, one of the biggest draws of CP is the ability to get active and outside on woodland walks and cycle rides.
Our dc also enjoy trying new activities like high ropes, segways, den building etc… Your dc would be a bit young for those kinds of things but the opportunity for that is what makes CP so good. But yes they’re eye-wateringly expensive.
Do you know if the other family intends to self cater or eat out? The quality of food in the restaurants is pretty low yet very overpriced. That’s worth considering when making your decision.

We think centre parcs is worth it. Go once a year with my parents.

You can arrive onsite the first day from 10am and stay until i think midnight the day you leave. We usually arrive 10am, go for a swim, have lunch, do the park then its time to get into the lodge. On check out the same thing but leave the lodge, go for a swim, have lunch, do parks then leave.

If you go during holidays you need to prebook everything as it gets booked up.

If you are sharing accommodation you can get the person you are going with to add your email to their booking. It then sends you can email so you can book activities and see prices.

Activities are expensive but we limit to one per child per weekend. Then go swimming twice a day (am and pm) but parks and lots of bike riding. We do fully self catered bar the lunch on arrival and leaving. We visit every park which is usually next to a cafe or bar over the weekend.

The spa is good if you get on with the other mum well. Ive done it with family members where the mums get an afternoon in the spa.

As long as you and DH don’t end up babysitting the other family’s 3 year old so that they can go off doing exciting activities with the 10 year old.

Yes it is overpriced in Uk. I’m not a fan of Center Parcs but preferred the one we went to in Belgium.

If you’re going in school holidays it’s very overpriced, especially compared to the European CPs. We do enjoy it though and the children have a lovely time, mainly they love the pool. The Christmas activities and lights are good.

No - you wouldn’t get me there again if you paid me. They’re tired, dilapidated and filthy. Everything apart from the swimming is extortionate. I used to love it years ago but after my last stay - when there was a used tampax in the unflushed toilet, mould in the shower and a damp bedroom carpet, I demanded a refund and we left. Awful places.

We love it. It’s quite hard your first time as it does take a while to get used to everything. Activities vary in cost but don’t book too many or you’ll just be charging from place to place. Take or hire bikes.

We love CP. Some activities are reasonable but others can be pricey. Also it depends on the site you are going to as that can make a difference. Woburn is a smaller site and more geared up for families with babies and toddlers but their swimming pool is a little underwhelming compared to other sites. I would say it's absolutely worth it as there is so much to do and if you are splitting the cost of accommodation with friends it does help.

Eating out is expensive though so you might want to plan some dinners in the lodge. I would also take essentials like tea, coffee etc with you as the on site supermarket is expensive

Used to love CP but only when kids were little so we could go during term time. I don’t think it’s worth the huge prices during school holidays.

I think it’s a lot more enjoyable if you don’t have to watch the pennies as there are so many good activities to do and it’s nice to eat out too.

I loved CP when DC were between about 7 and 14 - there’s a greater choice of activities for older kids that are also fun for adults. Note you can book things for the first day so you could get there in the morning, do an activity, then check in to your lodge later, so the day isn’t a dead day as you thought.

Personally I think your DC are slightly too young. For example, we’d spend ages going down the rapids at the pool but you couldn’t do that with a 3 and 5YO. Like a PP, we’d mix up expensive activities (like laser shooting) with cheap ones (like badminton). You could spend a lot on activities, or very little if your DC are happy with pool, playground, and forest walks.

We go once a year with extended family, it works well for us as children vary from a 1 year old up to 17, so there is something for everyone.

Personally, it’s not my favourite, but go with it as it’s a long weekend a year and we have a nice time. We’re the older family though (as in, our youngest is the 17 year old), so it feels like we’ve done CP a lot. It does work particularly well for little ones, feels safe with no traffic etc

It's my 13 year old son's favourite holiday. We go every January with another family. He absolutely loves it, and my 2 older sons who are in their 20s now are still happy to come.

We get there around lunchtime on the first day, have a swim, get the lodge. Bring bikes. They do one activity such as lazer tag while my friend and I do a morning in the spa.

Lots of swimming, walking and cycling. Love it.

No

You can do 4 days of stuff because you can access the site, swimming pool, and booked activities on the day of arrival and departure.

The activities for younger children are cheaper. We used to go before DDs were school age so cheaper accommodation, and then cheaper small children activities. Teenagers in school holidays would be very expensive because those activities (go karting, laser tag, quad bikes, clay shooting etc) are much more expensive.

“Worth it” is obviously subjective but for us in term time with small children it was a nice holiday. Good for DDs to cycle without cars, good pool for toddlers, self catering which we prefer.

https://www.centerparcs.co.uk/discover-center-parcs/activities/example-activity-prices.html

Prices are here OP just select your location. Never been but I would like to try depending on the price!

I loved it as a kid and love it now I have my own!

It can be pricey, especially with certain activities, accomodation choices etc.

However if your kids love swimming, cycling or nature then you can spend a whole day without spending any money at all! The swimming pools really are amazing, always a highlight for us!

We love it. It’s everyone’s favourite holiday.
The activities don’t have to be done. The pool and the forest are free.

I love it and had a great trip there with three kids two mums and two adult friends recently. If another family are willing to split the accom with you then that’s great. If you left it last minute the activities may be booked up anyway. You don’t have to do constant activities you can do bike rides and swimming. You can be on site all day on arrival and departure day. Do you like the other couple? You can enjoy Prosecco in the hot tub if you have one in the evenings

It is overpriced. We have been in the past but not for a few years, it's unlikely we'd go again due to cost. It is good fun though if you do go! You don't have to pay for activities, you could stick to the free activities like the pool, parks, walks.

Hmmm. It's very overpriced for what it is, but can be fun if you want an "outdoorsy" type of holiday without being in the actual outdoors.

We're quite active as a family and are into walking/biking/climbing etc so CP really doesn't suit us. When we're going away on our own as a family we tend to go to the Lakes or Snowdonia and get into the "real" outdoors in the national parks. I know that sounds snobby but I really don't mean it that way - more that we would rather spend a day hiking in the mountains than tootling round a flat woodland. We get bored of being trapped in CP very quickly - to the point where when we last went to Sherwood we escaped to the bike centre nearby.

However, people like different things. Friends of ours aren't really into outdoorsy stuff, yet like the idea of kids being able to ride their bikes safely around the site and go swimming, so we'll go with them to CP for a group holiday we can all enjoy. It's easy and stress free (apart from worrying about your bank balance!). We never book additional activities as the price is extortionate, and we also never eat on site as it's expensive and crap... but the lodges make for a nice enough base for get-togethers.

It is expensive but if you can share a lodge with another family it is much more reasonable. I go every new year with 4 adults and 4dc and comes in at £750-800 per family for 4 nights (sometimes 3 nights). I would struggle to get a big family room in a 4 star hotel for that price and then centre parcs has the pool (which dc spend 4 hrs a day in) plus we’re there for the beautiful lights.

Not worth it in my opinion, accommodation expensive and quite run down now in a number if the parks, food expensive as are a number of the activities. Also don’t like the booking activities so far in advance, as does get booked up quickly in school holidays.

However, do know a lot of people that love it so it’s a bit marmite and you might have to try it and see which camp you fit into.