Centerparcs, Whinfell Forest. Any top Tips before we go?

[hairycaterpillar]

About to go for first time with ds and dd, 3 and 18mths...any top tips/advice before we go?

YEEES!!!
ask them where their 25% discount is to mumsnetters (advertised on home/offers page)
no one has used it... no one can find it and when you do "sort" of find a discount its never the 25% advertised!(see earlier thread!!)
other than that!! its fab we love centre parcs,(just not their marketing team!)
dont bother food shopping first, they have a great shop there,maybe a bag of essentials like loo paper!coffee an tea!kitchen roll,squash,
AND DEFO BIKES!!my kids took their trikes when they were only 2,made them feel all grown up!!

Yeah. I only got 15% discount through Mumsnet, but I think you only get the full 25 on certain dates but it is a mystery when!

lilliput,
so mysterious,this 25%, that the marketing team said theyd get back to me months ago and havnt
so i put out a mumsnet thread to see if anyone had taken up this offer and got no replies(could be down to the fact ive probebly pi**ed everyone else off tho!!)
i just cant stand it when companies(and people!) quote a hard fact but cant support it,even their own team could only find one week in the whole year that had a 20%discount and there is still 4 months to run on this!!

still love the place tho ,have been to all of them at one time or another,thats why im so peeved not to find bargain!!

Er, take lots of money.

well thats just happened!!
and it also means its not just an offer for mumsnet,as they are offering it to all,but ther still getting the advert on this site for nothing!!

aaahhh i just looked... 25%discount is for a 1 bedroom maximum 2 people villa,thats not very user friendly...
anyone reading this from mumsnet??

I got 20% off...but wasnt through mn...that offer according to who I spoke to is not exclusive to mn but same discount they offer through the website. I agree it's annoying that they make it sound exclusive to mn users

We went in January and ahd a great time, but I found a lot of the baby facilities - changing/high chairs etc were all dirty so went through a load of anti-bac wipes!

Take a packed lunch to the pool - there are loads of tables higher up a few flights of stairs rather than round the pool itself. The poolside snakc bar is extortionate.

THe kids activities are good - ds (just three at the time ) went to the evening owl chat and loved it - wouldn't stop going on about owls for days. The other activities are well organised, but nothing amazing - worth doing one just for something different. Ds did handprints and clay prints too and one session at the creche thingy which meant me and dh had a long coffee and danish pastry sesssion

DO a search on Center parcs - a few others have been to Whinfell FOrest and have loads of tips.

Book things in advance. Do go to the Aqua Sana and book the kids into the creche, its heaven.

Don't order the pre shopping delivery - if you do your shop when you get there if you spend more than £40.00 you can get it delivered free to the lodge. We thought the shop was pretty good for its location and not that expensive (apart from the bbqs)

Bring your own disposable barbecues, they cost £7.99 in the shop but we got ours for £1.99 from Morrisons.

Neither the chinese nor the indian are particularly good, I have heard that the italian is better, but apparently not from malorytowers post.

Theres not a lot to do if you get one but we had a babysitter and she was fab.

Enjoy it we have already booked to go back next year.

We have been to Whinfell Forest seven times - we go in Jan when villas are 99 pounds for five days! Take soap and toilet roll, soap definately not provided. You only get a small sachet of washing up liquid also so take everything you can see in your kitchen that we need on a daily basis....tea towels, pan scrubber etc.

When you go to hire a bike and a trailer, tell them that "you've brought your own bike and can they fix the trailer to that?". the answer is always No (for Health and Safety reasons) but they normally then knock off the price of the bike hire so that saves you forty pounds.

oooh, what else? Baby facilities are often dirty, especially the high chairs which have huge screws in them and the groove of them is filled with stale food. I normally spend the first ten mins scrubbing them! Accommodation is normally lovely.

If you enjoy swimming, go back to the pool on an evening as it is so quiet. I normally get Hubby to babysit and then spend a mad hour doing all the slides that you cant do in the day when baby awake. We live in Melbourne no, but are going to go to CP when we come home for a holiday in Jan. Can't wait, we love it. Oh, yes, free Organix food....so stock up for friends who are having babies

just got back. Loved it youll have a great time!
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Restaurants are pretty crap.
SOOO agree with malorytowers. DO NOT eat at Italian as the pizzas are foul!
The Indian is fun, great staff.(check out wierd coloured pilau rice)

Try to do things at opposite times to everyone else espec pool. Theres an early babies swim when its quiet in the pool.

We love it - def bring kids bikes / trikes - they'll have so much fun (and they'll sleep at night after all the fresh air & exercise!). Eat in - restaurants too expensive. Don't bring a lot of frozen goods - only small freezers now. Depending where your accommodation is (we stayed in Meadow View) watch out for the badgers at night. We've been twice & stayed in same lodge - last time (Easter) we had 2 badgers visit us every night on the patio! Not something you get at home! Enjoy your trip

dont go

oh this thread is very interesting. WE are going on the 15th september and cant wait...although some of the thread has made me a little nervous..lol

Not read all the thread but we had a great weekend there a few years ago (with DPs entire family - erk!)....
Book any massages etc. in advance.
Dump kids and go to to the hydrotherapy part - we were in the outdoor pool in March.
The riding place nearby is fab (you can book at Centreparcs) and we did loads of galloping - couldn't walk after tho.
Restaurants were really booked up and not much cop.
Watch out for pine martens....
Enjoy.....

We went 18 months ago. The boys (5 and 7 at the time) loved it. We .... err.... didn't.
It was OK, but we thought it was certainly overpriced for what it was, especially in school holidays.

So can someone please explain to me why we've booked to go back again in January? My memory must be going.

You're right Roisin it is bloody expensive - DPs parents paid for us tho! Then they bought a caravan so we have to go there for freebies now.

We are going in October, been before 2 years ago when dd was 21 months, this time she will be 3.5 and ds will be 20 months. My dh is really looking forward to mucking about with the kids in the pool and going out on bikes. I on the other hand am really looking forward to my pre booking pack coming so I can get the spa booked.
I intend to be way more organised this time round. I plan to make some meals to take with us, chilli, lasagne, stuff like that so that we save a bit of money and have less stress taking the kids out to eat only to have them not eat it.
I had forgotten about the lack of washing up liquid, I'm glad someone mentioned that, it's small but irritating things like that need to be ironed out.