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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.

Original poster

CENTER PARCS ELVEDEN COME AND TELL ME ALL ABOUT IT PLS

23 replies

YouNeverKnow · 06/05/2008 22:29

booked a new style woodland lodge for a weekend end of oct with dh 2dd's and mil and fil

weekend of the half term. its my only holiday this year

i have heard good and bad so what say you? lol

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MingMingtheWonderPet · 06/05/2008 22:40

We've been a couple of times and have really enjoyed it.

Not had a woodland style lodge though, just the most basic accommodation.

Swimming good, some of activities good (make sure you book, esp for half term). Go to supermarket before you go and get essentials to take with you, on site shop is expensive.
Eating out is q expensive I guess, but I am used to London prices so it does not seem too bad to me.

Cycling good, and pretty flat at Elvedon.

UnquietDad · 06/05/2008 22:44

Have you ever done CP before at all? I'm a mine of general CP info, but mine only comes from Sherwood. So if it's specifically Elveden info you're looking for I'm no good!

Gobbledigook · 06/05/2008 22:47

Well if I was only going to have one holiday I wouldn't fork out for blardy CP! They are a rip off.

geezabreak · 06/05/2008 22:49

treat yourself to an evening in the spa- they ahve special offers on- I went our first night and zoomed into chill out zone. Okay to go by yourself- you won't want to talk- too busy relaxing. Feel very smug cycling to and fro, all full of nature. If you can, a treatment is nice too.

Dd did scuba diving and the tree top thing, ds did the football coaching. Don't plan too many activities as you want to be able to enjoy the place.

We ate out only a couple of times, in places that didn't require booking, and prices okay.

Original poster
YouNeverKnow · 06/05/2008 22:52

lol its costing £400 for us which yes is expensive but we have lots of tijme to save. having a holiday abroad with more than one child under two is ridiculous. i am holdingout for my dad to pay for our flights to go see him on spain lol

we have booked elveden UQD but thanks though lol!

i went years ago when i was a youth so cant rememeber

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pinkteddy · 06/05/2008 22:52

We really like Elvedon. How old are your kids? The pool is absolutely fab, great waves and flumes and its quite flat so easy for the little ones to cycle. All the restaurants have soft play so you can eat in relative peace while they play. It is really expensive to eat out though and you may want to cook yourselves once or twice to keep cost down.

Time out club is really good and you can book in the spa at the same time - they have a deal. But as ming ming says, as soon as you get the pre booking information, phone and book up straightaway. You can rearrange or cancel later without charge if you change your mind but don't wait until you get there otherwise everything will be gone. That goes for the Aqua Sauna too. HTH happy to answer any specific questions.

Original poster
YouNeverKnow · 06/05/2008 22:53

mil is doing the food thing and making up some meals to take ie shepards pie etc so food is down to her i just have to worry abutthe kiddies

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Original poster
YouNeverKnow · 06/05/2008 22:54

yes would love to get a treatment in another advantage of the in laws

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UnquietDad · 06/05/2008 23:55

YNK - I realise you've booked - what I meant was, there are some things which are site-specific a lot of CP stuff is the same across the various sites so if you want general CP info I can probably be of some use.

heronsfly · 07/05/2008 06:33

We have been there, yougest were 3,7 and 9 we loved it, the best bit was the huge swan that tapped on the door for his breakfast every morning,although had to stop the kids trying to stroke him the wildlife was amazing and very bold when food was around.

unconvinced · 07/05/2008 07:08

We went there when my dd was 3 and she absolutely loved it, it wasn't for me though as I find it a bit confining, ie its very small and villagy.

I think is good if you don't want to have to think of things to do with the kids, as its pretty much laid on for the kids, clubs etc. It is however expensive so bring bits with you.

But most of all enjoy.

AbbeyA · 07/05/2008 07:19

I haven't been to Elvedon but my experience of CP was good. Could spend hours in swimming pool, it was very healthy cycling everywhere. Lots of wildlife-foxes etc on webcam and red squirrels all around. DSs did SCUBA diving and other activities, I went sailing. It was great but the extras add up and we didn't eat out much.

Original poster
YouNeverKnow · 07/05/2008 08:56

UQD ohhhh the penny dropped! lol

was wondering about a few things...

bike hire and the little bit for the kiddies to sit in how much do you expect to pay for these?

treatments likewise how much are they varied at?

is it buggy friendly? ie when you take a buggy is there a reasonable place to leave it? im worried that i will leave it outside and it wont be there when i get back? lol (sorry if that sounds harsh its just it wasnt cheap at 570)

do you have to book at the resturants?

whats the eve entertainment like?

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EyeballsintheSky · 07/05/2008 09:09

We go every year with brother and his kids. It's very buggy friendly and there are buggy parks outside swimming pool etc. Just bring a bike lock. You can always lock it up with the bikes if you want. We can't go this year so I'm dead jealous!

MummyDoIt · 07/05/2008 09:12

We've been twice and love it. The only real problem we had was trying to have a late lunch one Sunday (about 3.00pm). Some restaurants were closed, one was only doing roasts and was taking limited numbers and the Sports Bar was full of people watching sport so no room for us to eat. Do check opening times of the restaurants if you plan to eat outside 'normal' lunch times. Also, if you want to hire bikes, do it asap as they can run out. Not so much bikes but certainly those trailers for small children.

Original poster
YouNeverKnow · 07/05/2008 09:13

bike lock on the list then! im soooo excited that we have something booked and we WILL go somewhere!

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Original poster
YouNeverKnow · 07/05/2008 09:13

ahh thanks. how about bike seats do they do them?

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UnquietDad · 07/05/2008 09:31

YouNeverKnow - glad you got what I meant despite my odd lack of punctuation in my last post!

I think they do all sorts of bike paraphernalia - they are very geared-up to families with small children - it's their main market. I've never known bikes run out - we've booked as soon as we got there - but what they do have limited numbers of are the kids' bike trailers (which they can ride in up to about age 4). Can't remember the exact cost but there is a big deposit - £50 or thereabouts? - on trailers which you get back on return.

However, you can now book everything online in advance which makes it so much easier - no reason not to.

Judging by Sherwood there are limited "buggy-park" places and what I've seen people do is use the bike-locks to leave them.

Restaurant booking - advisable, when you get there. They do get busy.

Evening entertainment - they don't seem to have "entertainment" as such laid on outside the weekends. At Sherwood there's a kids' disco in the Leisure Bowl, followed by an "adult disco" till about midnight (?) if you feel brave enough. Bowling stays open late too. Otherwise it's a case of restaurants and drinking...

Original poster
YouNeverKnow · 07/05/2008 09:37

ahhh the good old disco lol
kiddies disco is what i was after let her run off that last bit of energy before bed! thats all great thanks!

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AbbeyA · 07/05/2008 12:53

If you can book online for bikes now, I would advise it,there were plenty but we had to queue for ages.

Original poster
YouNeverKnow · 07/05/2008 20:25

oooh thanks i will hae a look into it

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UnquietDad · 08/05/2008 00:29

Another vote here for the booking online - they do you an itinerary for your whole week.

Original poster
YouNeverKnow · 08/05/2008 19:49

ooooh i will have a look now

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