Centre parcs - whinfell forest

[maggiethecat]

Going in 2 weeks. Never been to CP so not really sure what to expect other than a break away, chance to cycle and use pool which should be fine for the 3 nights. Am told that activities can be expensive so will probably only book a couple of things ( 2 girls, 11 and 8).
Anyone with children similar age., what did you all enjoy?
Was eating ok? Think we may take breakfast stuff and things like chorizo, cheese for packed lunch and have dinner at restaurant. If breakfast is nice and good value we might ditch taking breakfast stuff.
Any tips on getting good use out of facilities and reducing faffing?

Also considering going down from day before and staying at local hotel - any recommendations for a day out?

bump

Hi we've been to Whinfell a few times. Younger DC so can't help with activities but can give you our tips.

Check in - its at 3.30 and BUSY!! Staying the night before is a great idea if you are off school. You can access the park from 10am on your arrival day and we always do this to gain an extra day. The pool is usually quieter on change-over day so we usually head there first. We just park up and leave all stuff in main car park and walk over with pre packed swimming bag. Gates open to allow you to drive to the lodge at 3.30 and that's when it's busy. If you're in no great hurry then waiting and moving car a bit later can be easier. Facilities usually quiet at that time too as everyone is faffing about in the car park!! If you're renting bikes check when it opens (lunch time?) and go then. That's another place that gets busy at 3.30-5 when everyone is arriving in droves.

Fire Logs - crazy expensive in site shop, head to home bargains or B&M where smokeless logs are usually 99p each.

Food - shop is well stocked, not the cheapest. We usually eat at Bella Italia, Hucks or Cafe Rouge. Not had breakfast 'out' so can't help there.

We usually stay in the park on the last day too. Check out at 10 then park up and head back in. Having to collect the car to fetch stuff is usually a bit more staggered so less of an issue.

We always have a great time, kids love the pools and we all enjoy spending time hanging out. Don't forget torches!!
Have fun!

Breakfast there is quite expensive, you can buy breakfast passes before you go and it works out cheaper but it's still (from my blurry memory) about £80 for a family of four for 4 days.
Activities are quite expensive but you can find so e that are cheaper than others. The cheaper activities tend to be things like crazy golf, roller blading, forest activities with the forest guide. Expensive activities are things like horse riding, quad biking, high ropes...
The restaurants get very booked up so it might be an idea to book a couple foe greening meals before you go - you can do that online through your booking and pay a £5 deposit per person for each restaurant booking.

Foe greening = for evening. Stupid typos and auto correct!

All good advice from Hillfog.

I always arrive as early as possible. So when packing, you need a 'day bag' with swimming stuff and whatever you'll need until you get the car.

My top recommendation for an activity would be Geocache. Takes about 1.5 hours and is great fun for that age group.

Archery is another good activity for that age. I love pottery painting too - you can stay in there for hours and it's great for a rainy day.

The last time I went with DS we only ate in a restaurant once, and that was lunch at Bella Italia. Otherwise I take stuff for sandwiches at lunch, easy stuff like pizza, chicken kiev or ready-made curries for dinner. I usually cook one dish to take with me. The cost of eating out is about the same as an activity, and I'd rather do an activity every day (but one a day is enough).

Never had breakfast out, so can't advise there.

Have a great time.

To add: the bikes are very expensive to hire and there isn't really that far to cycle. Make sure you really want them before you hire them.
Other cheaper activities: tennis, table tennis, lawn boules.

Eating out at Center Parcs is expensive for what you get, although the pub at Whinfell isn't too bad. The take away is also v expensive. I usually just do a Markies or Waitrose shop for nice ready meals and take it in a cool box (not exactly roasting at the moment!) but you wouldn't be able to do that if you stayed over. Not sure what shops are in Penrith but southwaite services have an M&S if you're going in that direction. The shop has nice pastries if you can send the kids to buy them each morning!!

I've never tried to get in before 12, but often arrive at 12 so we can have lunch and then swimming before getting into the villa.

Looking at booking a trip here next spring. Have been to other CPs before but never this one. Can anyone give me a steer on what's the best accommodation to choose? I know from other sites there tends to be a mixture of some that have been newly refurbed and others that are still in need of this. We'll be 4 adults and 2 kids. TIA

There is a Morrisons in Penrith just as you leave the Motorway

Lots of good insight - thanks.
Will def do the day bag and avoid parking at rush hour.
Hillfog, wouldn't have thought of fire log - will put on list. Why torches?

Was thinking of disposable plates etc (feeling reluctant to even load/unload dishwasher)

Would the Bella Italia prices there be more than the outside versions.

Do you know if you can hire bikes for a day or does it have to be for entire stay?

Hi,
From memory I don't think Bella Italia is any more expensive in CP, although usually you can't use vouchers at the restaurant branches of national chains that are in CP.
Bella Italia have a really good value lunchtime set menu. We ate there on arrival and departure days when we were there between Xmas and New Year last year. We're going again the first weekend of New Year, our school has the Monday as an inset day. I take it you're in Scotland if your school holidays are mid October. At least you don't have to pay English half term prices! My sister is in Glasgow and had a bargain holiday in Northumberland at the end of June this year during my nephews summer school holiday.

Torches because there are no street lights, walking back after dinner or an evening swim can be really dark in some outer areas. Probably not such an issue as going before clocks change. We usually go in Dec when it s dark at 4 pm!

Alice, still expensive for what it is. But will have a look to see if good deals in summer when we go off super early.
Hill fog I thought pathways would be well lit - thanks for that tip too!

Bicycles - checked their website for cost of renting but could not find. Will try to call them before we go but if anyone has rented would be good to hear rates and whether you can rent for a day or if it must be for duration of stay.

Kids have their bikes but dh and I would need to rent. Dh is not keen on taking kids bikes bcos of space they'd take up and is wondering if it's worth hassle. My view is better to have them than not.

Ive just come back last weekend although a different site.

Definitely make full use of the pool as early as you can on the first day and the last day after you have checked out. Its easy enough to spend all day in there :-D

Food is expensive to buy at the market. A bottle of Blossom Hill wine that you may get in Tesco's for around £5.99 will set you back in excess of £15.00 at the CP market. A packet of pasta (which I forgot to pack) set me back £2.99 at CP but my local store would have only been £1.50

Crazy golf was still expensive for a family of 4 (£29) and you lose the ball on the last hole (either don't pot it down the last hole or buy some in sports direct and take with you to get a longer game). It took my 7 and 10 year old just 15 minutes to complete the course.

Bike hire (adult) was £19 for 24 hours. It worked out less per day if you had it all weekend. Everyone uses bikes (including staff). They are really handy to take with you and all villa's have bike racks outside to chain your bikes to. There are bike parks throughout. Don't underestimate how far away you may be in your villa from the main plaza/sports centre. We were a good 40 minutes walk this time (Longleat) but our last visit was around 30 minutes walk which easily extended to an hour with a tired child being carried.

Climbing set me back £45 for 2 children, it did last an hour but that hour included completing the forms and getting their gear on.

A torch will be very handy. The pathways are lit but its low level lighting and depending where your villa is situated it can be fairly dark walking through the forests in the evenings.

I didn't book any eateries in advance and we found if we went for dinner around 5pm there was plenty of space available. If you want to eat from 6pm onwards it was more difficult to find a space so definitely book a table if you prefer to eat late.

Bowling was very popular but I found using the onsite booking points often said an activity was full but if you just popped down they often had spaces that just weren't on the system. That was around £40 for 45 minutes.

Enjoy your trip

Thanks Roses. Bikes sound really expensive! That could be a business idea - setting up bike hire shop near CP for lower rates - stop and rent your bikes before going in!

Can see where costs add up. Will definitely take board games!

here is a comparison for bicycle hire - if you get bikes for the whole week or weekend at CP it isnt that bad actually.... I cant see the hire price is that much different at cp
www.rutlandcycling.com/pages/cycle-and-climbing-hire.aspx all day adult 17.99
all day child 9.99

two hours rental - 14.99 and 6.99

center parcs - was £19 for whole weekend Friday to Monday morning for child if I remember rightly and £25 for adult cycle Friday to Monday or Monday to Friday

compare with cost of buying bicycle rack for your car and taking your own bikes.

here is another bicycle hire place for comparison
www.peakdistrict.gov.uk/visiting/cycle/cycle-hire-centres/cycle-prices

bowling also price varies acc to time of day - I think I paid 24£ for a lane for up to 8 people

When we went (Friday to Monday) there was no activities on those 2 days and all the little gift shops related to the activities were shut. DD2 really wanted a cute red squirrel but had to make do with a cheapie glove puppet one instead.

The nights entertainment is really expensive and I have heard they are pretty rubbish so we didn't bother with that.

My eldest DD was 14 and she enjoyed the birds of prey hour which was about £25. She really wanted to try horse riding but that is extortionate. As we had 2 under 3 with us we did swimming every day and lots of walks to tire them out. Ate out 2 nights, BBQ the next. The restaurants are really good and one is an American all you can eat type for the kids so that was good. Food onsite is expensive as per usual but there is a morrisons nearby we used.

We will definitely go back one day as it was worth the money for such a peaceful break

Think girls will take their bikes - means that we will simply take less food!!

We may or may not rent adult ones - is it so big that getting around is so much easier by bike or is that cycling there is so pleasant (or perhaps both)?

Depends where your lodge is in relation to pool etc . Check on map.

we'e central so not a long walk but I was thinking about the general grounds - exploring etc.

Right, getting closer to the time and starting to feel a bit excited!

Have only booked aerial adventure and tree climbing (not cheap). Thinking of adding bowling and aqua jetting.

Both girls fancy pottery, which I think is just pottery painting - and I'm thinking surely you can do that at home?

Any other activity that you really enjoyed?

Take board games.
Just spend hours in pool and riding on bikes.