Center Parcs at Christmas

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We had a tricky Christmas with our son being a handful out of his preschool routine and being at home ALL the time and some toxic family members joining us for Christmas day. I can't do it again, so thinking of shaking it up, ditching the obligations to see family and going to center parcs. Has anyone been at Christmas? Are things open over Christmas and boxing day? Is there enough to do if it rains the whole time?
By next year we will be a family of 4 with a 4 year old and 1 year old.

Things will be open, but you have to prebook everything, restaurants, activities etc. tbh given the cost, I would visit the canaries islands instead and have sunshine.

If I'm honest I think a 4 yo and and 1 yo are going to be a handful at Christmas wherever you are.

There’s a Facebook group called Center Parcs hints and tips which you might find useful, lots of posts, reviews, questions and answers etc. Especially just now related to Christmas trips.

Like a PP I'd jump on a flight to the canaries/Egypt etc. CP is over priced and what little joy there was there has been zapped with the continued requirement to pre book everything.

Oh I would love to be in the sun, but my son has autism and there is no way we could fly with him right now. Longleat is an hr from us and part of the appeal is stress free travelling. Or at least limiting the stress to one hr!

I usually go 27th to 30th December for DS's birthday and love it. Some activities are seasonal but it's very well laid out on the website.

I’ve been for new year and that was ace!

We’re off next week (Monday.) I don’t fancy abroad for a good few years if I’m honest (DS is 2.)

We are doing the exact same thing by going away next Christmas !

Toxic family members and being stuck at home yuck.

Next year we will have a 17 month old and an 12 yr old and did consider centre parcs but think we will do a log cabin instead. Much cheaper and although Centre parcs is good ( been before ) fancy something different
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Not cp but have done butlins with DTs when they were small. It was great. Wore them out in the pool / fairground, always something to do.

If he's got ASD it might be worth admin in the SEN section about keeping him happy at Christmas. Usually the advice is to keep the routine the same

We’ve been early December before and it was lovely for small children

We went to CP for Christmas this year.
DS has autism and ADHD and it was brilliant, spent most of our time swimming and exploring.

Also there were lots of Christmas things to do, winter wonderland walks etc.
We only did one bookable activity.

We’ve been at Longleat Center Parcs twice over Christmas Day and absolutely love it. The whole place is decorated beautifully and makes you feel so Christmassy as soon as you arrive. We usually book to see Santa Christmas Eve in the village square, there’s singing reindeer, mulled wine and mince pies and it’s lit beautifully. If you are lucky with the weather there’s play parks dotted around which are great.

We loved being able to go swimming Christmas Day afternoon. Last time we went (2019) we booked Christmas Day lunch in the venue which was really good, entertainment for the children going round tables, a jazz band and the whole room doing 12 Days of Christmas - not for everyone but we loved it!

Boxing Day we went to the panto in the venue - very cheesy but perfect for your age children! We also pre-booked roller skating and Christmas crafts but nothing else. First year we went (2016 I think) there was also a kids christmas party on Christmas Eve. The land train is done up like santas train and lots of people bring outside lights for their lodges so when ours were little they loved going round on the ‘Santa’ train to see all the lodges lit up. You can also pre-order and real Christmas tree to be in your lodge with a decoration pack. Yes it’s expensive and it’s not everyone’s cup of tea but we absolutely loved it, our DDs are now 15 and 10 and we’re looking at booking for next Christmas. Happy to help with any other questions!

Love CP at Christmas, it was great for me as a single mum as a nearby stress-free holiday while my son was about age 2-6. Covid interrupted our routine but we still like going back now he’s over 8 as he’s old enough for different activities now.

If you go on Christmas Day there’s less places open - you’ll have to either book a restaurant for an expensive meal £££ per person. Or do what we did - pizza and chips from the poolside cafe and laze in the pool all day!

The Christmassy activities are nice with little ones - walk round Santa’s village (free), sometimes lights in the woods and light show/fireworks (free - though I think they’ve stopped doing fireworks now), pony ride/visit Santa (both of those cost). Make use of the free soft plays in the sports cafe and play park outside so you can have a cuppa in peace.

I find 3/4 nights is enough to feel like you’ve been away but anything longer is costly/gets boring.

Last year, we went to Center Parcs for the Winter Wonderland just before the actual Christmas. (Start of school holidays but before the actual day). There are a lot of activitites on site and it's very different from an AI. The kids were very excited about Santa driving past our lodge in his car. We also got a letter from Santa delievered to our lodge door. There's Santa breakfast at the Pancake house.

However, I'm not sure your kids are old enough to get the most out of the activities. Longleat is very hilly and is very difficult to cycle from the swimming pool to the sports hall. The activities are split and you'll need to get between the two.

Did this a few years ago when I only had two children, with a 3 and a 4 year old, so pre booking everything, but I have been back to CP since (not Xmas time) with my youngest (third child) who is autistic, so here are my thoughts:

You won’t need to book much at that age. Wandering around the woods and going to the play areas etc takes up a lot of time.

We went to see Santa, which was low key actually. You can just walk around the area though.

There’s shops, cafes, restaurants etc so no need to worry about food. You can get a take away delivered.

The pool changing area was very difficult for my autistic child, being hot and loud.

Look into the European Center Parcs, you can take the ferry. It's less than half the price in some cases and I've always found them to be very nice.

Did it with a 8 and 5 year old, and it was good - we didn't really do activities, just swimming/scooters/walks.

They had fake snow and stuff in the village, Santa on patrol, the train to take you home was always busy though, and Longleat is hilly, so you'd want a cabin close to the centre I think.

@orbitalcrisis love the idea of the European ones - make more of a holiday with it so think that's what we will be doing.

Can you recommend which one? There's so many Its a bit overwhelming! The Netherlands one is standing out at the mo and only 3.5 hr drive from Calais which is doable - love a good road trip!

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In the Netherlands I've done Kempervennan, Port Zelande and Het Meerdal. Het Meerdal is more focused on little ones so would be good for you but I preferred the other two. I've also been to Erperheide in Belgium.

I usually search for my dates then go through the list cheapest first seeing what the facilities look like. They all do quite similar activities so I usually look up what they have at the aqua mundo and whether it would keep us amused for the whole trip.

With those ages, I’d recommend bluestone in wales. It’s much cheaper and is more suited to younger children. Depending on which way you are from longleat it might not be much further to travel.

I've not been to centerparcs. Looked at it a few times but been out off by the price. I don't think I'd ever book with them now after their ridiculous behaviour when the queen died.