how can I actually enjoy center parcs next time?

[VietnameseCobbler]

i get the feeling I was doing it all wrong.

i have never had to buy loo roll! [upmarket self catering emoticon]

Pool should only be attempted first thing in the morning, else HELL!!!
Not too bad if you only go for first hours. Just don't try and do too much as King said. Its a bizarre holiday and not for everyone. Liked it myself but it was because I spent the whole time slightly sozzled with friends and chilling with dd.

for teh same money you could go to eurocamp and have a nice pool

erm - I am not sure, I have not done the booking this time. It is not cheap - but then bowling is not cheap anywhere IMO!

When you go on the site you can select the age of child you are looking for and it will bring up a list of the things open to them. There is a bit of a hole in activities between the ages of 6 and 8 IMO ds is 7 and we had some rouble this year selecting two activities he would relly enjoy - he is too old for pirates and princess parties and too young for lazer tag and so on...

Yes I might lie this time and up him to 8

Lol goat, fair enough, I must go for the lower end of self catering
WRT Eurocamp, we go with family and dogs so eurocamp won't work for us - may be a great option for others though!

Renegade, exactly - relaxing time is key to making it work IMO!

As long as he is big enough (and won't drop you in it ) it is an option, dd will be one month off her 12th birthday and we have put her in as 12 otherwise she is unable to do activities with the rest of the girls in the (extended) family. It has happened for the last few years and I think this time she is plenty big enough and sensible snough to join them.

I am not sure where we stand with insurance but I do see it a our risk, as long as they hav no idea thay cannot be held responsible.

10 days Canute? You last 10 days at Center Parcs?

Yup, every year

It is a holiday with extended family so time for the dc to all meet up with cousins they don't usually see and the adults to catch up once a year etc. I don't think i would enjoy it at all if it was just me and the dc, I just could not cope wih that kind of holiday without all the extras that having family and lots of people there brings.

It's a love or hate it place. Personally I like it here. I do things at a slow pace, go on nature walks, only hire a bike if I'm here for a week - don't bother for weekend visits, book as many Spa sessions as I can afford.
This time I'm attempting to venture off site, to walk around more of Longleat Estate (though rain is forecast for tomorrow so I may get very wet). It's quite different when you are on your own, no children with you.

I am here in August with children. Then it can be a bit manic at times, though having some sort of day to day plan helps. The children tend to like making dams in the stream, going swimming and going to the playground. I go with a family who also bring other people as well including grandparents (we usually have two villa's next to each other). Eating can be a bit complex, though we self cater for most of it (DiningIn, the takeaway service is for one night).

CP sounds utterly utterly hideous.
I would rather have bum sex with Keny Ball than endure days of archery and tricycle riding in a walled camp.

It's not walled... there's a chain link fence

At the one in the Lake District, if you want to go for a walk, um, in the countryside, you come up against an electrified fence if I remember correctly

Is that to keep people in or out?

I have mixed feelings: kids loved it and spa good at the Longleat one (only been twice ever btw) but food appalling and the cycling while burning fivers thing very apt.

I prefer Bedruthan Steps to throw my money at. Though is full of Telegraph readers and surly S African waiters.

where IS this stream
we never saw a stream

BadgersArse - may depend on which CenterParcs you visited. At Longleat several of the ponds interlink with small streams. Found out today that all the ponds are interlinked and that the baby fish get in the pumps and thus end up in the small ponds instead of staying in the lake. Thus the small ponds are Electro Fished once a year, as the fish affect the amount of small pond life.

yes the cycling is such a novelty to everyone it seems apart from us. WE live on a large housing estate so cycling is normal for us.

MOondogs preferences are always lewd..there was one recenlty about rather fisting someone than doing something...

eeek, am now feeling a bit about impending holiday to center parcs type place in wales www.bluestonewales.com/ Anyone been there? FWIW though, I kinda like the fact that there are spas and things to try and BABYSITTING!!!!

Try a CP outside of the UK? We've been to two in France and enjoyed them a lot more than we expected to.