Ive booked centre parcs near christmas but considering cancelling

[bitterandtwisted349]

The OH and SIL pushed me into booking this in Jan. But the more I think about it I have no idea why I want to go back. So blinkin expensive, have booked £300 worth of activities and know once we are there will not be able to even book a table tennis game. The thought of going to the pool everyday doesnt exactly thrill me and the jam packed the changing room.

SIL will be devastated but 5 days in our expensive self catering cabin (and I will be cooking cant justify spending on average expensive food) just seems a complete waste of money. I've got this feeling the OH is going to be bored and fed up after 3 days.

Think I'd rather a trip to London with the boys. Yes, we've done Centre Parcs once - it was nice but why do we need to repeat it but longer?

Is it really worth going back for 5 days? Only paid deposit so should I run now?

how much are you talking about for your family and how many of you. cant judge if its worth it without knowing the costs. is this in or outside school hols. have you had to factor in term time holiday fines as well.

Seems strange. You can afford £300 worth of activities and can afford to just write off 30% of the cost of a holiday, but can't afford to eat out and are worried about it being a waste of money.

It doesn't sound like it's entirely your decision, and it sounds as though if you put it to the vote you may lose. I'd just make the best of it if I were you.

I think you're right, it's very expensive for what it is, but I don't know anyone who's been and not enjoyed themselves.

Now the money's spent I think you may as well go and make the most of it. I would mostly self-cater anyway, as the restaurants aren't great.

you don't actually have to stay on site the whole time. Once the activity money's spent you can always go and explore the local area

I have only been to one once and I thought it was OK but I agree it is a lot of money for what they are and all the extra costs for activities are a bit irritating.

However, if you have already shelled out a reasonable sum of money that you would lose then I wonder if maybe you should look for ways of making the best of it. For instance, why should you be doing all the cooking - have your DH and SIL lost the use of their arms?

YY to finding out what else there is in the area so you can escape for a bit when swimming stops being entertaining. The one we stayed at was in France and we had one day when we just buggered off on the bikes and had lunch in a nice restaurant in the nearby town.

Think I decided at bed last night its not worth the bother. I'm not saying we cant afford it, I'm saying its not value for money and once there limited to a timetable and you cant suddenly decide to do something different.

I certainly cant justify evening meals around £60 when I can hustle a quality meal for £10.

I've only paid the deposit and unsure about the activities - will sort out later.

Its been niggling me for a couple of weeks now and dont to ride my bike (we do a lot of cycling) endless around the site.

Thanks

Can you simply change the number of nights? 2 rather than 5. That way the deposit is not wasted, and you'll hopefully have time/ money to think about London another time.

Try centre parcs in Europe. Lots cheaper

5 nights is a bit long for CP. Shorter is perfect !

If you don't fancy it then it sounds a good idea to cancel.
I have been twice for the actual Christmas week as it's near to where my inlaws live and had an amazing time. We did book lots of activities such as horse and carriage ride, santas grotto, pizza making, spa visit, champagne boxing day brunch(with the inlaw) and Christmas eve brunch and meet Santa and sporty type things and also did lots of swimming and walks in the snow. We ate out a lot but instead of thinking of how much each meal was I looked on it as part of the holiday budget. We had a Christmas tree, decorations, hamper, turkey and logs for the fire delivered to the lodge and that worked well.
I don't think centre parks is the best break to go on if you are on a budget as there are lots of extras that are nice to do.

Im intreagued as to what you've spent £300 on!

Ive been to CP 12 times and never spent that amount on activities. why do you feel you have to do them? Walking is free, take a board game! Quality family time.

I mean your inlaws not "you" as in you personally!

We're just back from a long weekend and I thought it was brilliant. Changing rooms have been done up at Whinfell forest and didn't seem crowded at all. New Pancake restaurant offers huge pancakes/omelettes for around £8.

5 nights does seem a bit of a long time there though.

What activities have you booked that you spent £300 on - can you cancel change some of those? What age are your boys - this year DS was 8 and went down the flumes with his pal aged 10 so DH and I got to relax in the jacuzzi.

Anyway your choice. We went to London once when Ds was younger and wouldn't be in a rush to repeat that. All the walking and travelling on tubes and the huge queues for the museums, no thank you.

Is it your choice? or is it a family choice?

Also, we've just come back from CP - no problems booking activities on the day, also discovered a mini beach on the side of the lake - that with the right clothing could still be fun at any time of year.

January won't be heaving in the changing rooms. I've just come back from longleat, and because its out of school holidays the changing rooms were half empty.

We spent christmas week there 2012/13 and bew year there 2013/14. We are spending Halloween weekend there this year.
CP is not cheap, especially in school holidays. However, you can control what you spend on extra activities. Each time we've been, we've had a couple of meals out and then done our own cooking the rest of the time. We usually swim each morning and then do something different in the afternoons / evenings - bowling, quiz nights, family bikes, table tennis etc... we also take our own bikes and go cycling which is free. I don't think we've ever spent £300 on activities.

CP is great for family time. There is something for everyone. My children really look forward to it and DH and I enjoy it too. I would go and make the most of it.

Hope this isn't a thread hijack but I'm just considering doing a Center Parc this Christmas as it's near family. So we'd be expecting to stay at Longleat for 5 days, swim each day, maybe do the odd activity, but spend half of each day off site with family.

We've stayed at a different parc (Whinfell) a few years ago and enjoyed it but not at Christmas, and we didn't really go offsite. So does this seem like a reasonable idea or would we spend the whole day walking backwards and forwards to the car park? Is it heaving with people, and do we have to book everything n advance or miss out? And, um, how did this Christmas tree delivery idea work?