Have just booked up for 4 days at Centre Parcs, Longleat....any tips for our stay?

[pepsi]

We are going to go for 4 days during October half term. Dont know much about it there, Im guessing it will be very busy. theres 4 off us going, dh, ds7, dd5. do I need to book up activities before we go, whats the best activity you did there.

My best advice would be to re-mortage your house.. but I suppose that's not very constructive, sorry!

Hi Pepsi - we're off there next week. The activities are expensive. We will spending loads of time in the pool area (free!) and just cycling/walking about to the various play areas (also free!). My DS's are 6 and 2 so quite happy with that!

You will be sent details of all the activities you can prebook a couple off weeks before.

Take rescue remedy and valium!

I put my 2 in the kids clubs each for a couple of hours each afternoon to give them something to do other than swim as at 17 months and 5 yr there wasn't a great deal else left to do every day.

Hire bikes.
Take a BBQ so you can cook your own food ratehr than have dictated to you where you'll eat every night.
Take seeds and nuts and stale bread for the wildlife that shows up on your patio.

I'd never go again! Sorry!!!! I mean have a lovely time!

Consider leaving the .....'resort'... for a day, or two!, and going to Longleat Safari Park

Teddy bear's picnic for dd, kid's club for things like cooking and art (book in advance). Pay extra to choose a cabin close to the swimming centre, it is very hilly and we were at the other side of the resort. Or use the land train to get around. Food is mediocre and pricey so take your own plus disposable bbqs.

My family (not me, cost for us would be astronomical- sister gets it reduced through a friend) go often. From what I can see the best tip is to make a proper effort to find out what they have on offer- Mum is always saying {ooh when we were driving out we realised they had X and we didnt even know' !

oh and dont pack like my lot do- last time (they go en masse, 3 famillies together) they took 3 steamers between them.

Apaprently they were required for Sunday lunch.

Am taking the same parents camping thisb year- gawd only knows what they'll try and bring with them!

oh now I dont want to go now. Im prepared to be fleeced, but im hoping it will be good if the weathers bad? My children are 7 and 5 so Im hoping they will find loads to do.

Pepsi - don't be put off - you will have great fun!!!! I've been once before a few years ago and from memory the supermarket wasn't overly pricy and the food not that bad - but we will probably only eat out a couple of times - just that it is easier to cook 'at home' with my 2 fussy eaters!!

pepsi, you will have a great time and won't need to spend lots of money.

We hire the bikes, go to the pool, play crazy golf, play in the park (s), go on long bike rides, hire a pedalo. We did bowling last time.

I tend to take our own food in, get a few bits from the shop, eat out perhaps once, but otherwise eat in.

Some people book every activity going and you will need to book those in advance as it does get pre-booked very quickly.

It's a big place, very well spread out. It will be busy at the pool, we always get to the pool as soon as it opens and get some good time in there before it fills up.

Pepsi, I've been 8 times now with my two boys and we always have a fab time. When mine were the same age as yours they had a fab time swimming (free and takes an entire morning or afternoon), Playing crazy-golf (two nine hole courses which I let mine play each shot at least eleventy billion times if we were alone - couple of quid), playing 'bowls' which generally meant aimlessly hurling the bowls off the edge of the green - £4 - did that in the snow and it remains a magical memory of mayhem and hysteria!), playing in the adventure playground for hours whilst we sat with drinks on a tree stump near the bar (free).

We also just rode for the fun of it, did a lot of lego and went exploring at night.

Now mine are older they love archery and canoeing so I watch them do that instead. I miss them being small enough to sit on the back of my bike.

I have never used the creche so can't say if it's worth the money, we never had the time or inclination.

You will have the fabbest of fab times.

I've been twice with dh and ds (when he was 16 weeks, and 3 1/2), and we've loved it - and haven't been seriously out of pocket! We all went to the pool everyday - ds was content to play around in there most of the time - he loved the water slides.

DS went to the kids' club twice the last time we went so that dh and I could have some down time - he loved it.

Take bikes, food for yourselves - you don't have to eat out every night.

We also got tickets to Longleat safari park with our clubcard, and went there on the way home on the last day!

Can't wait to go there again!

Whatever happened to holidays where you paid.. and then once you get there is was all "free"??

Sounds like you can still have a good time without spending a king's ransom Pepsi so sorry for being negative. I do think this (and places) take the mick though seeing as it costs so much to go in the first place.

Hi. Can I hijack as was about to starta CP thread?

We are first timers and have booked a week in early July at Sherwood. DC are 7, 5, 2 and nearly 3 months (we live in Spain so school holidays start early so don't shout at me for taking kids out of school ). Anyway.... our brochure arrived today and there is a ratio for adults to children for the pool. Is this enforced? If so it means we can't take all the kids in the pool at once. It does say it's OK in non swimming areas, by which I assume it means the toddler pool?? 7yo is a competent swimmer, 5yo still using arm bands.

Also, our 7yo still uses stabilisers on her bike as we don't cycle with her v often . Was thinking it might be a good opportunity to teach her to cycle properly. Is that a mad idea? I'm assuming the child bikes don't have the option of stabilisers. Would this mean that otherwise she'd need to be on a tagalong? Also, what age do they need to be to go in a trailer? Could my nearly 3 month go in one, and can you fit two DC in one (3 month and 2 yo)? Actually as I am typing that, I am envisaging all sorts of potential problems even if they do both fit in .

Sorry for hijack, pepsi. Hope you have a fab time!!

Anyone?

Claricebean, you can fit two older kids in a trailer, but you probably can't fit the 2yo and the baby cos the recommendation with babies is normally that you strap the carseat into the trailer and use that for safety. If you take a look here you can see my lovely girl strapped into a CenterParcs bike trailer - it's not enormously spacious. She's in the centre harness - you can also use the two outer ones for two children, but I doubt you could fit the 2yo in one and the baby's carseat in the other. It's neither very reclined or very padded, so I can't imagine it would be an option for a non-sitting baby without a carseat.

The littlest bikes definitely have stabilisers (we were stuck for ages in the queue next to a whole phalanx of little pink bikes, which drove DD to distraction as she wanted one but couldn't cycle at the time) but I don't know about ones that would fit a 7yo. If you can get stabilisers though I think it would be a great place to learn to cycle - we went to Longleat, which is the hilliest CP site, but even there there was lots of flat space near the villas, and as there are very few vehicles around most of the time, it would be pretty safe.

Pepsi - definitely book anything you want to do. We booked activities well in advance, but still couldn't get onto one rather random toddler class. Do all your bookings in one go, cos they charge something like £2 per block of bookings. What else ... Huckleberrys in the main complex at Longleat has a great play area, though it may be thronging at half term - up the unassuming steps to the right of the teeny weeny soft play area. It has another way out though, so make sure the kids reappear in the right place! If you get any child-free evenings, or if your kids are adventurous, the Indian restaurant is really good, not just 'good for CenterParcs' but actually GOOD.

DCMB - thanks so much for your info. Really helpful.