Center Parcs

[cleowasmycat]

Hi
Off to Woburn next weekend. Any tips? I know everything is extortionate but would appreciate any advice on entertaining a 10 year old that isn't swimming?
Thanks

Check in online before you go.
Download the app. From it you can pre-book any activities you want to do and it stores them in your personalized itinerary. There is also a handy village map on it too.
Don’t feel pressured to book too much before you arrive. You don’t want to spend the whole time looking at an itinerary finding out where you need to be in 10 minutes time! If there are things you absolutely, desperately want to do, then book them but otherwise, wait to get there and see what takes your fancy.
Book a katakanu. For five people this cost £16.50 which makes it a really low cost activity. We got to watch the ducks in the reeds and it was a nice way to spend half an hour.
Bring the bulk of your booze with you, so that you can empty it into your lodge while the car is parked outside – rather than having to lug it all home from the ParcMarket, which is the on-site supermarket. You can stock up there when you’re running low.
When you drive your car back to the car park write it down where you left it. That way you won’t have any delays when it’s time to check-out at the end of your holiday!
Pack a bucket and spade as there's a small, sandy beach on the lake.
Take a packet of toilet rolls – you’ll only get one roll provided in each of your toilets.
Don’t worry about taking pound coins for the lockers. Everything at Woburn Forest (and the Whinfell village) is done with high-tech wristbands that let you in to your villa as well as your locker. You can’t forget what locker number your stuff is in, either. Just put your wristband up to the little machines in the changing rooms and they’ll tell you. And you can even link it up to your bank card and make cashless payments for food and drink at the pool if you want to.
Take beach towels for the pool. There are plenty of towels at your lodge, but you’re going to want them for baths and showers. And if you forgot, no problem – you can hire one for £2 at the pool desk.
Don’t worry about packing buoyancy aids. There are racks full of buoyancy jackets in two different sizes, and they’re free.
Bring some bubble bath if you’re staying in an executive or exclusive lodge. They come with an amazing bath with bubble jets in, and I can honestly say it’s the most fun my son had the whole time during our stay.
Take washing up liquid. There’s a little sachet on the sink to get you started, but that’s it. As with most things, you can pick up a bottle in the ParcMarket. But if you’re trying to save money it’ll be cheaper to bring it from home. Likewise, bring some extra dishwasher tablets.There’ll be a handful in the lodge, but they won’t get you through your break.
The rubbish bin is tiny – they’repretty hot on recycling – so plastic shopping bags are a better size than bin bags. Save them up in the weeks before your break and bring a decent stash.
Take kitchen roll for the inevitable spillages. On that note, take a couple of extra tea towels, too, as there’s only one supplied.
There are brick-built BBQ stands at all the lodges (bar apartments) and you can buy a disposable tray to go in it from the ParcMarket. There are a couple of basic tools provided in the lodge, too (tongs and a fish slice).
If you want to eat at the pancake house on the last day then get there no later than 11.30. We arrived just before 12 and it was 1hr wait but it was worth it.

Great tips thanks - we're off to Elvedon in 9 days time.

Does anyone know how much it is to hire bike locks there? Trying to work out if it is better to buy them beforehand or not.

I'm pretty sure our hire bikes came with locks, they weren't extra. But that wasn't Elevedon and it was a few years ago as we now take our own bikes.

I’ve never been when someone isn’t swimming. But there are lots of activities to book and you can hire bikes. There are also boats to hire etc.
Swimming is the only free thing. Could you look at things outside of the park? Like the Safari park?
I’m sure you’ll have a great time. There are playgrounds and mine all love riding bikes.

There are loads of activities suitable for a 10yo but it can be costly!
As a pp said, family activities like hiring a katakana is good value and fun, plus family bowling, mini golf and the treasure hunt/nature walks.

Bike locks come with the bikes

Get travel insurance. If you have to cancel for any reason whatever then you will lose all your money.

The indoor climbing session is very good for kids. The outdoor treetops activity is a bit more hardcore and good to do with a parent.
Book a badminton / short tennis court when you get there, if you like that sort of thing.
DD3 a bit younger but she absolutely loved it there. Just loved cycling everywhere and going on all the water slides (for hours).

The outdoor treetop adventure is great fun. We spent most of our time in the swimming pool. Boat hire definitely fun. Take a big bag of animal feed and scatter it on your patio, there are so many animals there. Crazy golf is always good as is bowling

If you want to eat in a restaurant then book a table, we struggled to get anywhere to eat in Elveden a few weeks ago as there was a bbq ban as it had been so dry.

Things to take:
Loo roll
Kitchen roll
Alcohol
Cereal
Squash
Tea & coffee
Sandwich bags
Dishwasher tablets (you only get 1)
We took marmite, peanut butter, jam etc.

Sorry to hijack but we're going to woburn in a couple of weeks. Can anyone tell me how the wrist bands work if you arrive at the parc before 3pm?

We're planning to get there for 12pm to wander and get some lunch, but can't get into the lodge till 3pm. Do we have to get the bands activated somewhere?

If it works the same way as it does at Whinfell then you get your wrist bands when you drive through the entrance bit. Then you can park the car, go explore, have lunch, go to pool etc until 3pm. The band's work automatically.

Excellent, thank you! So if we go straight to our lodge at 3 it should just work? (Could we even be a bit cheeky and go in early if it's cleaned?)

You could try! We always aim to arrive at Whinfell by 11, collect bikes, have lunch, go to pool and then by the time we're changed it's nearly 3 anyway.
Hope you have a great time - all my family love going to Center Parcs.

Thanks @bertdynamite we love center parcs too! We've been to Sherwood several times but not Woburn before. I'm really looking forward to trying somewhere new!

The knives can be a bit blunt! Take a sharp one! Take bird food, lovely to be a able to be able to watch the birds from your lodge. Take fire logs too, very cheap from places like B&M. I find that for most things the shop on site is like coop/ spar prices rather than Aldi- it's dearer but not extortionate. Have a great time!

Would your 10 year old like pottery painting? This can take a while if so and isn't too expensive