Center Parcs - Whinfell. First timers!

[Inyourwildestdreams]

Hello!

Have booked Center Parcs at Whinfell for a Mon-Fri in spring. We’re first timers. 2 adults and a 3 year old. Hoping anyone that has been can share their experience/give advice 😊

• any specific activities you’d recommend for 3 year old? I’ve booked the mini off-roading, mini aerial adventure, family ball wall and pottery painting. I’m thinking an activity a day should be plenty with having the swimming/walks/ cycling/play parks etc?
• any restaurants you would recommend/avoid? 3yo is a great eater. Would rather have a smaller portion of whatever we’re eating than the usual nuggets/pizza/sausage/chips offerings on some kids menus.
• We’re staying in Penrith the night before so we can arrive early and make the most of the first day. Any recommendations on somewhere nice to eat dinner? Maybe a nice pub that does a Sunday roast?
• Anything you would advise taking that we may not have thought of? 😊

Any advice welcomed 😊

The only things I have to add are:

• there are no clothes washing facilities at all (none in the lodge and no launderette on site) so make sure you plan for that!

• it's pretty hilly, so bear that in mind if you bring/hire bikes.

Have a fab time!

I agree with a PP saying take a pushchair. If you’re not in a very central lodge or you’re trying to get across to the sports centre from the pool etc with a tired 3 year old who’s been in the pool for hours you won’t want to carry them.
Definately take dishwasher tablets, tea towels, kitchen roll, clothes. Check the bath etc are all clean as soon as you arrive then you can ask guest services to send house keeping if they’re not. instead of realising when you need to bath DC at bedtime.
you can hire towels for the pool at the info desk by the cabanas instead of bringing towels from home.
don’t book any more activities, you’ll end up running out of time. Book any other restaurants now or they’ll be booked up.

@millymae this is all really helpful, thank you 😊

We’ve booked a hotel nearby for the night before (Premier Inn) so our plan was to do a food shop in the morning at the big Sainsbury’s that is next door (I think!) then head over to Whinfell for 11 to park up at the lodge. We’ll have had hotel breakfast so everyone will be happy to grab a snacky lunch/coffee and use the pool for a couple of hours. Then head to lodge at 2, fling everything into the lodge and DH can run the car back to the car park while I get DC set up and start unpacking 🤞🏼

I have seen a few posts on FB about the prices in the shop - the Cook meals in particular. You’re always going to pay a premium at these places 🤷🏻‍♀️ we tend to budget for that and just enjoy our holiday.

Ive booked Lakeside and Bella Italia for dinners. Will cook one night and get a takeaway one night too I think.

We have 4 activities booked across the 5 days (pottery painting, family ball wall, mini off-roaders and mini aerial tree trek) - do you think that sounds ok? I think we have 2 Tuesday (one early and one late with time for swimming between) then one wed and one thurs both in the morning so the rest of the day is free and we’re not having to rush out of the pool etc.

It’s also worth checking the plates etc in the cupboard are clean as one time we found the previous occupants had just put dirty plates back away. I guess the cleaner wouldn’t open to check as the rest of the lodge was clean. Like pp say though, any issue will be sorted quickly if you call guest services.

@Pancakewaffle Thank you! I had seen the laundry thing raised on the Facebook group. Going to take a bit of detergent just incase I need to do an emergency hand wash of some of DC stuff 😊

Lots of good ideas on here.

Take chalk to write your itinerary on the chalk board.

Nuts and birdseed for the squirrels and birds. They’ll happily come up on the deck to get them.

Take DVDs to watch, some for you to watch in evening, some for DD to watch during day.

@SendMeHomeNow Thank you! I’ve booked what activities and restaurants we want now I think!

@GildedAge Thank you! I’ll be sure to have a quick check everywhere 😊

@SayNoToDoorToDoor Thank you! I’ve got the bird food and chalk on the list 😊 will look at maybe some dvds too.

I love centre parcs. Don't book too many activities as you can get fed up trekking about and there plenty to book while you're there. Pancake house is a must. You can see the menus on their website.

A micro fibre to have with you in the pool area and then a towel to dry off with after swimming, I think that the swimming area is just really humid so the towels get really wet around the pool. Onesies for the kids after swimming as they’re quick.

we love CP but we do self cater. We tried the pancake house the first time we went and it was just toaster pancakes, not like eating out at all! go to M&S and buy stuff that doesn’t actually need cooking and you’ll eat better.

I bought pods for the tassimo, extra dishwasher tabs and fairy, kitchen roll, hand wash, foil, loo roll and smokeless logs for the fire as they’re extortionate on site.

one activity a day is perfect imo.

if you’re little one wakes you up early, it can be worth fetching your car a bit early on departure day so you can park outside your lodge.

enjoy!

I bring a fire stick for the tv. You sometimes have to get tech support to log you in but it only takes a couple of minutes.

No DVD players in the lodges anymore.

Think it must depend on the lodge as we were there last week and it had one.

Agree with what everyone has said OP! One activity a day is definitely enough, definitely take a pushchair and torches. The Parc Market really isn’t extortionate unless you plan to do your whole shop there, which you’re not. They have little kids trolleys that your DS will love pushing round. There is an arcade by the bowling alley which can be fun even at his age, for a rainy day. Pay by card and you get tokens.

One thing some people don’t realise is you can cancel activities right up to just before they begin and get a full refund - really helpful if you find DS is too tired to make it to one!

We went to Whinfell for 3 nights for New year, also 2 other weekends last year - we love it and it's only 1.5 hours away so dead easy!

Kids (7&3) love the Lakeside soft play, and you can pop for just a drink while they play, great if it is raining.
Best outdoor play area is the one behind the sports bar, loads of picnic tables.

We plan our meals - usually take a lasagne and garlic bread for night 1. Eat out night 2 and brunch out at pancake house then pizzas in the lodge for night 3.

We didn't take a pushchair this time but little did have his scooter which he can stand on and be pushed and he definitely wanted this more often than we initially had thought.

Take drinks into the pool area, and a couple of sandwiches as it's amazing just how starving they/you get and you really lose track of the time in there.

Take blankets for the sofas for snuggling, and SLIPPERS!

@Inyourwildestdreams

yes Sainsbury's / premier inn are next door to each other . Penrith has a Morrisons & an Aldi as well .

Penrith has a Booths near the train station. I'd be doing a shop before heading home as well as one before going 😂😂

Ours are all grown up now so years since we have been. That sounds like enough activities. My son enjoyed football there when he was around 3 or 4 and they both enjoyed a soft play centre near the French restaurant but that may not be there now. You could have a good walk or cycle around the place and spend the best part of a day in the water part downstairs and then a quieter pool upstairs and a heated outdoor pool area upstairs.

Thank you all for the latest advice 😊 super busy couple of days and don’t have time to reply to you all individually but I’m making notes of all your advice 😊

Love Whinfell. We've been 3 times now. There's a little wooden park which all the kids love. The lakeside pub is lovely and would recommend ordering the supermarket shop for when you arrive. You get loads including, cereals, bread, milk, juice, sausages and other meat, toilet roll etc. It was a god send as was already there before we arrived 😊

@Soccermumamir Thank you 😊 we have Lakeside booked for the Tuesday night as we’d heard good things about the roast 🤞🏼😊

I did she that you could pre-order a shopping pack but it’s only me, DH and our 3 year old going and there’s a load of stuff on the list that we wouldn’t use (we don’t drink tea/coffee/squash/fizzy juice and won’t use the cereals/ketchups and other sauces) so for our family it’s a bit of a waste of money I think 😊 We’ll grab a big food shop before we go though 😊

100% agree with this. Either on way there or on last day when you leave…we usually spend the full day there and the kids love it. There’s a cracking play park right at the back where the kids can spend a whole day exploring and some lovely walks around the grounds.

@JennyLake We’re arriving on the Sunday and staying in a hotel that night so I might try and plan this for the Sunday daytime 😊

Might want to take a picnic! There is a very nice cafe but it’s very expensive! There are picnic seats up near the adventure playground at the back.

Not that I want to mention the wonders of Booth's again... But they usually have a lovely deli counter with fresh made quiche and pies etc. Would make a lovely picnic.

And again, I don't work for them 😁