Centreparcs - First timers

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Hi Mumsnetters,

We are off to Centreparcs as a family of 4. Children under 10. We're going to Elveden Forest in Summer. We're going with another family (of first timers) so hoping the kids will play and we will all enjoy the pool etc. But have booked activities for the mornings as individual families . We have booked Cabanas for the afternoons by the pool and lodges in the central area. We've booked early check in and Hucks restaurant for lunch on the first day but figured we would just take food for lunches and evenings. If you also cooked were the facilities up to scratch? Any tips re what to make sure we take and what we really shouldn't bother with would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance

Not sure what your question was other than the cooking facilities. Depending on the accommodation, it will tell you what is available in the lodge. As far a I remember, there was a four point hob and electric oven. They usually have BBQ too.

The shop on the resort is very expensive so try to bring all the shopping you need with you. If you have a long drive, I'd recommend ordering a pick up collection from Tesco etc to collect closer by.

The oven we had at Woburn was useless as were the restaurants(!)

Take a frying pan

Do a food shop on the way.

Thanks @Littleleopardlady these are the sort of "any tips" I was looking for.

Also, if it's hot take an electric fan. You can get them from guest services but I requested one on day one, had to keep calling and it eventually turned up on day 3.

@Littleleopardlady - thanks. Let's hope for a hot summer! Or quite warm but not too hot in a typically British way!

Take more changes of outfit for DC than you think you will need.

We took some seedy bread to put on the patio for the wildlife (probably frowned upon but the pheasants, squirrels and deer seemed very pleased with the offering )

Take extra dishwashing tablets. Use towel rails to dry swimming kits and towels.

Take ALL THE SNACKS - my DC ate non-stop as they were so active.

No Netlflix or Sky unless you're in a posh lodge so take iPad or laptop if that's your thing in the evening.

Don't bother with Restaurant Runner takeaways. Complete rip off. I took a couple of Charlie Bigham 'posh' meals instead.

Pool was quieter in the afternoon.

Hope that is useful!

Prepare to be ripped off big style

Honestly I’d get your money back on the cabanas there’s so much seating and table areas for chilling it not worth it, spend the money eating out instead! I like the restaurants and the takeaway, I hate cooking whilst on holiday but the kitchens are fairly well equipped I can manage easy meals like fajitas easily enough!

@whoopsa - thanks for the tip re snacks. I did wonder whether they would be super ravenous with all the activities and fresh air (not going to lie, also hoping for super tired too!!).

Charlie Bigham is a great idea - definitely will consider nice convenience food now! I was planning on pre cooking and freezing evening meals so this could save a task.

Definitely not in some super posh lodge! Hopefully it's a smart TV and we can log into the TV apps but if not then it's CBBC's and tablets!

Thank you again

When you say booked cabanas, you definitely only need 1 between you (& don’t need them at all really though they are nice to have). Take teatowels, hand towels, washing up stuff, soap, extra dishwasher tablets. Can be worth taking a couple of sharp knives too. Kitchen roll & loo roll. You need towels for the pool even if they provide towels for the lodge.

Ovens are gas ovens so a bit of a faff tbh. Just be prepared for things to take longer than usual to cook

This was going to be my advice.

Ds and I go to Elvedon a lot. You won't want to sit on a cabana at the pool and won't need it. They are tiny for a start so not like the kids can run and play in them!

We self cater. We take all dry goods with us (pasta, snacks, cereal etc) and buy fresh meat, milk etc in shops. They are a co op and also have the reduced brands on shirt date and we've just stocked on them and frozen them.

I'd also take bread for a few days and cool bags to make a picnic to take out with you.

Ds and I tend to have a good breakfast, picnic type lunch at 2ish and then dinner late at about 8/9 as we late night swim.

Definitely recommend staying until pool closes one night as the rapids in the dark are a great experience.

I'd also recommend walking around the lake - the birds and ducks are so tame and last year I had a deer eating out of my hand by the end of the week!

Kitchen is serviceable but we found the ovens very slow to cook and we needed bigger and multiple frying pans for cooking for everybody so took our own.

Pretty sure the TV isn't smart.

We liked the cabana last time for privacy and for dniece and ds who are both autistic and enjoyed the peace of it.

Take or hire bikes. Elveden is v flat and the DC will probably enjoy pootling round. DH did last year until he had a nasty accident and ended up in surgery... Don't forget helmets!

Thanks for all the amazing tips.

Note to self......take helmets!

We go to Elveden twice a year. I'd cancel the cabanas and the early check in. We tend to arrive around 10 am, there is usually a bit of a queue but it moves fast, park in the main car park (some times we've been asked to drive straight to the lodge, but you still can access it until 4pm).

We then head to the park and grab a coffee. Grab a meal deal for lunch from the shop, then we head to the pool. Swim for a while then come out and eat out on the first night. We get the cars by about 6pm when it's quietened down to unload. They also have restaurant runner which is like an in house food delivery service if you don't fancy cooking, it's not the cheapest but found the food to be good.

Or just order from a takeaway in Thetford and pop out or they will deliver to the security lodge.

Cabanas - there is plenty of seating in the pool and it's not like you get time to sit down anyway! There's too much to do!

We pick up a click and collect order from Tesco on the way and take a couple of pre-made dinners (pasta sauce etc) from home. The ovens are gas and a pain in the arse. Pizzas can burn on the bottom before cooking through 😂 the freezers are also small, just a freezer box within the fridge.

Get yourselves some microfibre or camping towels from somewhere like decathlon. They dry much quicker.

Take seed/monkey nuts for the bits and squirrels. Apples and carrots for the deer, you'll have a tonne of wildlife.

The whole park is cashless so if the kids are going to have pocket money to spend, think about ordering gift cards before you go.

There is a sweet shop there which is obviously expensive. I let the kids pick out sweets at Tesco before we go to take with us.

And don't book too many activities. Mine like hunting for pine cones, squirrel spotting, the park is fantastic and the beach (take buckets and spades). We tend to do mini golf and bowling, that's it. Night times if you aren't too tired mine love going night swimming, the pool is open till 9pm I think and it's usually quiet. Oh and the kids disco is good. It's in the leisure bowl on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, 6-8.

We love Elveden.

So cooking tips…

Ovens are often terrible. Do not rely on them working or try to do anything complex. Stoce top/microwave best.

We always take extra t towels, extra cloths, a few assorted cooking knives as knives are often rubbish. My dp needs his coffee and they often don’t have a big cafetiere. What’s provided is basic.

We also take a few swim wear changes if we have them, in case of a rainy British summer the stuff doesn’t always dry overnight.

We always take extra loo roll etc as there’s often not enough.

Bedding, it depends how fussy you are! What they provide is perfectly ok but if hot there are no top sheets, just a duvet you can take out of its cover, to use the cover as a top sheet. We’ve sometimes brought extra sheets to be more comfortable if v hot

We like a cabana for first and last day as you don’t have the lodge, but we don’t bother the other days

Take Fairy liquid, washing up sponge, dishwasher tablets, bin bags and plenty of toilet roll.

We've always found that there is one toilet roll in the toilet - and that doesn't last a family for several days. There is usually a sachet of washing up liquid and a packet of 3 dishwasher tabs. Again, not enough.

There are never any rubbish bags. On the other hand, I've never had a problem with the oven, but there are very limited cooking dishes - one small casserole dish I think.

When we went in Feb I took the slow cooker from home with me, and that was fabulous. Very easy to come home to a waiting meal, but I don't know whether you want this in summer?

Reading this I really can’t understand how it is so expensive! You pay thousands and have to bring your own loo roll?!

I’ve been considering it as my kids are approaching the age where they’d really enjoy it I think (nearly 6 and nearly 4), but the cost seems insane.

@Compsearch it's just basic self catering. They provide loo rolls in each toilet and usually leave another one or some extras in the storage cupboard. If you are in one of the 'nicer' or exclusive lodges they do drop off extras and change towels mid week.

Oh I forgot to mention that if your lodge still has log burner, you can only burn the smokeless logs in them. You can buy them there or get them much cheaper at B&M bargains. They are in a black packet, you put the whole thing in the burner and set light to the paper packaging.

I like an early check in.
It makes the first day feel like a proper part of the break.
Settled then swimming- before everyone else is!
Yes to taking lots of snacks.
Just going for walks is great- loads of lovely tracks and wildlife to see.
Have a wonderful time!!

Just marking as in a similar position as OP

The ovens are okay, just hard to figure out how they work! The fridges are small. I'm sure there is a Sainsbury's down the road from Elveden, though I haven't been there fore a few years, so you can top up. The parc market is ridiculously expensive. We always sneak onto badminton and table tennis at Elveden as there are loads of empty couts/tables out of the way in the evening! We rake our own rackets etc. The pottery painting is fun. We had a nice meal in Hucks last time, and the pancake house, but we tend to bring things like lasagne etc otherwise it gets very expensive.

There is lovely bird watching near the hotel in Elveden as well.

Yes they never leave enough dishwasher, tablets or any washing up liquid so take those. Also hand wash for the kitchen.

If it's hot, make sure you check that the towel rail in the ensuite is switched off. I remember once we didn't realise it was on and when we came back after eating in the evening the bedroom was unbearably hot.