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UK travel

Welcome to our UK travel forum where you can get advice on everything from holidays to exotic destinations, to tips on London travel.

Centre parks with restrictions. Is it worth it?

15 replies

Time2change2 · 26/09/2020 14:34

Thinking of going to Centre parks next year - Easter or May half term with 3 DC aged between 8-11.
We have not been before, however the restriction is you only get 2 swimming pool sessions per 4 night stay and each session is max 2 hours.
Centre parks will cost around £1200 - £1400 for 4 nights. Its an expensive place and always has been, I get that and would love to take the DC before the oldest gets too old and grumpy teen.
However most friends who have really enjoyed it have said the pool / slides etc is the best part.
Would you book with the current restrictions? Booking now, I obviously have no idea if these restrictions will stay in place for next Easter but I have to book assuming they will still be in place.

OP posts:
WishUponAStar88 · 26/09/2020 14:39

Their no quibble guarantee is (I think) £25 so you can cancel at any point and get all your money back. I’ve never paid for it before but have this time. We booked for Easter 2021 right at the beginning of the pandemic although paid a but less in the first place. We were hoping it would all be in the past by then but looking less likely! Haven’t decided yet if it’s worth going if restrictions don’t change (we usually spend half of every day in the pool) but at least we can get all the money back if we don’t feel it’s worth it.

FrankieStein402 · 26/09/2020 14:51

We wouldn't go with only 2 short pool sessions - in the past we've gone to the pool every day of the visit - occasionally twice in a day. If you all cycle then I guess you'd get a couple of days pleasant cycling (arrival/leaving days cycling is restricted because of the cars chugging round)

So all you're getting for the fee is 3 or 4 quiet nights, some woodland to mess about in and the opportunity to pay extra for activities - also if it's wet the lack of pool is crap - swimming in and out of the outside pool/rapids in the rain is fun.

ramblingsonthego · 26/09/2020 14:53

We were booked for November this year and have just changed it to July next year hoping it will be a bit more normal. The pool is the favourite thing for us so 2 x 2 hour sessions when you are paying that much does not cut it for us.

SummerHouse · 26/09/2020 14:58

I would think twice about those prices but the swimming thing would be fine by us. We end up going everyday swimming normally and we all get a bit sick of it. Plus it's always heaving which it won't be (I imagine) with the restrictions.

Dilbertian · 26/09/2020 14:58

Absolutely not. We used to go to the pool every day, sometimes twice a day, sometimes for a whole morning or afternoon. 2 x 2hr per four days would be pointless. Of course there's also cycling around the woodlands, but we used to do that as well as going to the pool, not instead of it. What about the children's clubs and scheduled activities? Are they restricted as well? We used to love having the opportunity to do something without dc, or to lavish attention on one dc at a time, while the others were in an activity.

Wonderrwall · 26/09/2020 15:30

We went last weekend with the kids. It was great, felt really safe. We used our 2x2hr swimming pool slots but spent the rest of the time cycling, going on forest walks, log fires, reading books and having some relaxing family time. It does depend what your family likes doing but we usually spend a lot of time in the pool and found it quite a pleasant change to try other things instead this time. Lots of other activities still open.

MinnieMountain · 27/09/2020 08:18

We're due to go in November. We're going to cancel as the main reason we go is the pool.

Kez0777 · 27/09/2020 16:48

I just came on to look for centre parcs advice!
We go for the weekend 27th November and I'm really undecided what to do.
We changed from June this year and it's the winter wonderland which is meant to be really good. But.... with 2 hours swimming (to be fair thats probably all I can handle!) twice and having to book into somewhere even to have a drink I'm not sure it's going to be with the cost.
If it was the summer I wouldn't think twice, we could just enjoy being outside on the beach, in the parks and outside our lodge but November is going to be dark by 3pm and probably too cold to be outside too much.
Can't decide if to go or just cancel and get our money back. It's an expensive break if you can't have the full centre parcs experience 🤔

Sheknowsaboutme · 29/09/2020 12:09

I have a break booked for January and were still going -moved from June.

2 hour session in the pool is fine by us. Kids are 18/16/12 so were happy to laze about, walk, go on the lake, drink at lunchtime, play snooker and pool,

We paid £400 less for January and we have a sauna too.

WellTidy · 29/09/2020 12:20

We’ve cancelled. We were going Monday to Friday in October half term, but 2 x 2 hours in the pool over a five day stay isn’t enough for us. Ds2 8yo has ASD and can’t participate in many of the other activities, so the pool is a massive draw for us as a family. It’s a huge part of the reason why we go, and we go at least once a year. We will go back when the pool restrictions are lifted, or are fewer.

We asked CP if they’d be able to give us one more a lot, due to Ds2’s disabilities, but they weren’t able to. So that was decision made.

Funf · 02/10/2020 14:04

Without the pools its just a shed in the woods

fishywaters · 02/10/2020 14:16

Good business sense would be to offer people an alternative choice of free activities if they can’t use the pool as normal. Plus a functioning takeaway system. Especially with young children it is quite easy to come up with some fun stuff in the woods.

WellTidy · 02/10/2020 14:24

Considering the pool is included in the price of the stay, and all other activities are added to the price, I think they should be offering something as an alternative. It just isn’t financially worthwhile for for us to go and we’ve been at least ten times in ten years.

DorsetCamping · 02/10/2020 14:35

We were due to go in July but had it rescheduled to December. As much as a pre Xmas break at CP would be lovely I just don't think it will be the same without unlimited use of the pools (especially with teens) and so will probably cancel.

RedskyAtnight · 02/10/2020 14:39

I don't understand why people pay the money they do for CP at the best of times, but if you're not even getting (much) pool access, you're essentially paying a lot of money for somewhere to stay.

If you just want somewhere relaxing with some activities nearby, don't know why you wouldn't just book a (nicer and cheaper) holiday cottage.

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