Butlin's vs Center Parcs

[LillyBugg]

We have a Halloween weekend break to Butlin's booked for half term. I'm thinking about cancelling and going for a short break CP trip at Christmas instead. The Butlin's Facebook page is full of people having real trouble booking shows and having to queue up and hope for the best when it comes to it. My boys are 6 and 3 and I'm dreading this to be honest. What if we don't get in? I'm thinking CP is more geared up for outside activities so it's going to be less stressful all round. Any thoughts on this?!

Obviously I know there's a risk to anything booked right now and if covid means we don't go then so be it. I wouldn't tell the kids anyway. We had CP cancelled in June and they were none the wiser. They also don't know about Butlin's.

Which one is it? We're just back from Skegness and it was fine. There's an online booking system you can access a few days before you go so you can book your shows and the pool. I thought it was well organised as you couldn't book the same show twice or more than 2 trips to the pool (we were there mom-fri) so that everyone gets a chance.

Yes you have to queue for the shows if you want seats at the front otherwise it's fine and most seats had a decent view of the stage. The staff there told us they hadn't had to turn anyone away from a show even if they hadn't booked (you just waited til the end until all the booked people went in). We even asked for another swimming slot and got in by waiting. They are really strict about tracing so it's more about knowing who is in each area so if you've not booked you need to give details.

The only thing that was a pain was the fairground. It took ages for them to clean the rides after each go especially the hobby horses as there were so many but I was glad they were taking the sanitising seriously. Even then max we queued was 10 mins for a ride.

For me with kids of that age Butlins beats CP as there is more geared for them and it's a lot cheaper but both are good.

It's Bognor. And I'm thinking about Elveden if that's relevant to 😊

We've done both before, and I agree Butlin's is way better than CP at this age, I'm just wondering as a direct result of Covid maybe CP would be less stressful?

I do keep reading about Butlin's that 'if you wait you get in' but I'm just so worried about the prospect of two crying boys if by chance we don't get in 😩

I haven’t been to Butlins, but we did go to Centre Parcs once and the lodge (can’t remember the name type, but all rooms were en-suite and it had a hot tub) was very dirty, the kitchen (including cutlery etc) and not been cleaned and the oven was full of burned on food. The bottom of the curtains on the patio doors were torn and the curtains were visibly dirty. The changing village at the swimming pool was also very dirty and clearly hadn’t been cleaned properly in a very long time.

I'd personally always choose center Parcs. Even if every single activity is closed with young kids it's far easier to entertain them with out door walks, etc.

Thanks @SimonJT ... definitely just a covid related query here though, I'd say Butlin's is way more high risk for filth than CP is!

@mommabear20 this is what I'm thinking...Butlin's is heavily reliant on booked activities which are inside whereas at CP as it's winter wonderland I'm hoping it could be easier to manage, Christmas lights and the like. I'm also thinking since winter wonderland will have to planned with covid in mind then it should be easier all round. Rather than at Butlin's where they've had to just carry on with what they've got to the best of their ability.

lillybug
If you go to the website butlins/plan my day page you'll see a message saying you can only use this for trips starting on x
I checked this multiple times a day around the time I knew my date was coming up.
I didn't wait for an email to come through saying it was now live.

By doing that I got every show we wanted but I did cancel one as it was on day 1 and we got stuck on the
Motorway due to an accident. I could see on the site that my space had become
Available so it was possible to book spaces on resort if other people cancelled theirs.

We've booked a Christmas break at a hotel in Scotland. Are there any near you doing something similar as that could be another option?

www.macdonaldhotels.co.uk/offers/santa-weekends-in-aviemore

Friends went to centreparcs and said it was a nightmare, pool really restricted, most activities cancelled etc. I would avoid these sorts of places until next summer personally. Choose a location for a short break where you can stop in a hotel and visit indoor attractions. The premier inn we stayed at this week was £34 for a family room per night, add 8.99 per adult for breakfast (kids free)

We've just returned from cp and honestly, it was spotless. We felt very safe with their covid policies and plans in place. Everything was really well thought out and there was plenty of space for social distancing to be observed. I would definitely go to cp over butlins

You get some thing stupid like two two hour session in the pool at CP per reservation at the moment. I'd stick with Butlins. Although I'd fully expect to but be going in October the way things are going.

Such mixed views here I'm not sure I'm any better off 😂

I'm well aware that neither trip might happen. But I'm reluctant to write the entire year off just yet, I'm sure we are going to be facing restrictions for a long time to come yet. And if it gets cancelled then that's fine.