Centre Parcs in December - lots of questions!

[thehouseofmirth]

Have always kind of thought CP a bit too contrived and not something I'd enjoy but am finding myself seduced by the Xmassy ads on here and am wondering whether that is the kind of occassion/time of year when it actually comes into its own?

We live in Sw London so I was thinking about Longleat. I have many questions...

Heard food is terrible & expensive. In the outside world we quite like Cafe Rouge. Does this mean we like terrible food or is the quality worse/prices higher in CP?

What will it be like in winter? Was thinking of going Friday 11th to Monday 14th December. How crowded will it be?

Christmassy stuff will it be well done and fun or naff?

Is there much for a 4.5 yo old to do? (he's quite tall so I could lie & say he's 5!)

How much do activities cost?

Which should we book, which do we not need to?

Which accommodation?

Which location?

What's the procedure for arriving - car., luggage, check in etc? Any tips?

Thank you!

Hi! I may be able to help with some of your questions. Our DDs are now 14 and 11 and we have been regular visitors to Longleat CP for the past 10 years!

We have often gone in the winter but not for the Chrismassy bit, so I can't help there, I'm afraid.

I don't think food prices are any higher than outside and we have found the food fine. As you say, if you like Cafe Rouge, you will like CP Cafe Rouge. Although do be aware that any offers or promotions tend not to apply to CP restaurants.

I would say there is lots for a 4.5 yr old to do, including Time Out Club, which is unaccompanied and so allows you to have a couple of hours in the spa!

Activities aren't cheap and you need to consider them as part of the holiday to see the true cost. When you add it all up, it certainly isn't a cheap holiday. If you are able to go Mon-Fri, in term time, you get much better value for money, in terms of cost of accommodation. Activity costs are the same all year.

You probably won't have much choice of accommodation at this stage - it tends to book up very early. We have found the most basic villa is fine but I would try to get something cenrally located for your first trip - and for December when you might not want to be cycling a long way to go for a swim. Be aware Longleat is very hilly and so can be a bit of a challenge for small legs on bikes. There is a land train which is free and runs fairly regularly, if you find yourselves a long way out. The swimming, by the way, is more or less the only free activity but you can easily spend half a day every day in the pool.

You can arrive from 10am and park up and use the facilities, although your accommodation won't be available until 3pm. I think you're not supposed to use the pool until 2pm on the day of arrival but there are no checks in place, so we always arrive as early as possible and make full use of the first day. EVERYONE drives to their villa to unload at 3pm, so wait a couple of hours and the little roads won't be so clogged. On the last day you have to leave by 10am but again you can park and use the facilities for as long as you like.

We have always enjoyed CP. Whatever age the girls have been there has been lots for them to do. We are thinking of 14 - 18 Dec this year!

Hope this helps.

morning yes we've to CP at Longleat 3 times now. Last time was in January I think. There are shops and resturants there but we have always been to supermarket and loaded up the car first. The restaurants are as far as I remember- a TGI Friday type, a French style cafe, a Sports Bar and a Pancake place. We only either had snacks or lunch it was all fine. The accomodation was good, clean well equipped. Excellent sleep as dark and quiet!
Bunnies outside the door in the morning!
We went with a variety of children aged from baby to about 7 I think. There was enough to do for everyone. The pool is the only free part and of course cycling around. My sister put her kids in the kids club a few times which they really liked. If you can go to the spa it is lovely and was about 20 quid I think. The activities can make the price mount up but it's up to you how mad you go! We spent one of the days doing the pool then hiring badminton court which was a cheaper day. If you have the choice get accomodation either near to the pool or near to the sports bit as one time my sister went she was at the top of the hill near neither. IKt is very big with lots of trekking about. Make sure you go to the pool after dark and do the jacuzzi and the rapids. Lovely way to spend winter evening. HTH

We went for christmas one year to the nottingham one and were there on christmas day, was magical as I was a child. I remember my sister getting a furby for christmas and it chatting away in her back pack as we cycled round.

It is an expencive holiday but you can save money by taking your own food and cooking in your villa. I am going in feb 09 with some friends and their children and we plan on doing this. The supurmarket is pretty pricey. Im not sure how crowded it will be, Im guessing quite busy but I never remember it being overcrowded any times we have been there.
Im not sure if the christmas stuff will be tackey either..... it didnt seem that way when we went at xmas but that was about 10 years ago so it might be different now.

Activities are pretty expencive but I think you can see the price online or alternatively get them to send you out one of the brochures that has whats on offer and the prices. Kids clubs are great, but if you cant afford much we have been and only used the pool and gone on walks.

The lowcost villas are perfectly comfortable and well equipt so if you can only get one of those then I wouldnt panic.

would definatley reccomend cp though. Longleat is great. Oh they also have bowling which can be fun and not too expencive

haven't been to Longleat but we went to CP elvedon a few months back for the first time and loved it. We didn't book any activities because the pool area is such fun and the bike riding as well. My dds are 4 and 7 and they had a ball, we went for 3 nights . We had the benefit of warm weather so you would have to factor in the likelihook of it being cold, but even so that wouldnt affect the indoor pool areas which are really excellent and as another poster said you can easily spend a half day in there. TBH I wouldn't bother booking loads of expensive activities. The food was fine- cafe rouge and a pancake place etc, plus they have soft play areas in the restaurants so the kids can let of steam while you have a drink.

Thanks for your advice so far.

We are taking MIL so need quite nice accommodation. We were thinking of the Executive level but I can't work out why new style seems to be the same as some old-style. Any ideas?

can anyone give me an idea of prices for the activities? esp.the sports?
I think its way out my league, but I'm curious to know anyway!

oh and OP, have a great time!

think it was around a fiver for exercise classes and around 20 ish for half day at spa. Can't remember any others! not astronomical but the cost mounts up if there are lots of you and you do lots of things.
re accomodation the only difference seemed to be in executive there was a jacuzzi bath, dishwasher and dvd. The 'normal' ones were fine still clean and modern.

we went a few weeks before xmas (not Longleat.) It was lovely - really xmassy.

Most of our activities were cancelled as it rained all the time - we spent loads of time in the pool.

In the winter, everyone seems to head for the pool in the morning, so prepare for it to be absolutely rammed. There are outdoor activities, but they might not neccessarily be open.

Everyone warned us against the Pancake House, but DS likes them so we foolishly went - ugh ugh ugh. Not nice at all. Also at the restaurants you have to put up with other people's DC running riot. I found my littlies were getting trampled all the time by unsupervised bigger kids.

It's just not worth the money for the standard of accommodation you get. I would prefer to book a SC cottage and maybe go into CP for the day to use the facilities. Or not go at all and head for Disneyland Paris which is about the same price and is at least clean.

I'm still quite wary of the artificialness and the quality but I really don't get the expensive angle. Sure, the accommodation is relatively expensive but if you do hire a cottage you'd be unlikely to have activities and entertainment so close by. As a Londoner I don't think the cost of activities or the restaurants is, as far as I can tell, any more expensive than we are already used to.

IKWYA I had a look at Disneyland Paris and unless I'm missing something, it would costs lots more for us to go there.

Even a day at Lapland UK would cost more...

I go to Longleat quite often. Have not been at Xmas time for a few years now, so am going just before Xmas this year.

At Xmas time, wreaths are put on the villa doors. There is an Advent Calendar thing in the plaza - if you get up early enough, you can get the chance to win that day's prize. Christmas decorations, lights for example around the outside pool area. In village square there was a Santa's Grotto, which I think had singing reindeer.

I can't work out the difference between new style exec and old style. If it is of help: Video: New Style Exec 1 Bed - Video: Old Style Exec 1 Bed Apartment - Video: 3 Bed Woodland Villa

I tend to avoid the food in the restaurants generally. The Indian is very nice. Cafe Rouge service is so slow that I've not managed to ever eat there... I tend to leave after 5 mins of not having anyone even give me a menu.
Sports Bar I find is quite good for what they offer. It isn't great food or great service, but you do get hot food in a reasonable time.
The Center Parcs website has menus for each restaurant showing prices.
I tend to self-cater and buy some bits from Morrisons (2 miles from CP) on the way there and then get other things from the Parc Marc.

Parc Marc prices (from March 2009)
Stir Fry mix - 2 for £5
Semi Skimmed Milk £1.59 (think that is 4 pints)
3 large onions £1.59
Breakfast Juice 1litre £1.49
Small bag of sugar £0.70
Anchor Butter £1.29
Chicken oxo cubes £0.69
Pullet of Seedless Grapes £2.75
6 Large Free Range Eggs £1.45
Hope that gives some idea of costs at Parc Marc.

Center Parcs seems the same level of busyness whatever time of year I go. Have been August, October, January, March, June over the past year.

Activity prices vary. At 4.5yrs I would say that a lot of the young children activities are probably best avoided. He may far prefer splashing around in a stream, making dams, pretend fishing in the pond behind your villa. Swimming of course will be something you will do during the day and early evening - nothing like being in an outdoor pool when it's dark.
Activities he may like I feel are: Mini Golf (£3.50 child, £4.50 adult 9 Hole), Indoor Climbing Wall (£5 for 15 mins - Min height: 1.1m), Rollerskating (£3.50 child, £4.50 adult - 45 mins), Ten Pin Bowling - about £20 for 45 minutes, up to 4 players.
Prices are subject to change. Prices taken from Longleat Village Guide published 03-Apr-09 (valid to 04-Sept-09).
Many activities can be booked online a few weeks prior to your visit and whilst on your stay.

Which accommodation?
On my own I book Executive. With others recently we've had Woodland. Have had Comfort in the past as well. All are fine. Exec come with WiFi, so I can mumsnet whilst on holiday!

Which location?
If not hiring a bike, then aim for Pine/Ash/Maple. Fir is the furthest away from the Plaza/Swimming so it is a bit of a trek, though there is a Land Train service on Sat/Sun.

we went in snow in Feb it was darned cold.

For yourself, the evening spa session (6pm-9pm) is the cheapest. In June it was £26 and I booked on the day (you can book in advance as well online). The spa at Longleat is great... well it is if you love sauna's.

ssd - any particular sport? I'll list some to give you an idea:
Tree Trekking £23
Team Challenge £15 per person (this was good value as lasted 2 hours and I got to know some other people staying at CP).
Archery £18 for 55 minutes
Tennis - court hire from £10 per hour
Horse riding £22 for a 1 hour trek
Canoe hire from £5, 30 mins
Sailing (Pico) from £9 an hour
Sailing tuition, £25 an hour
Squash court hire £5, 45 mins
Prices are subject to change. Prices taken from Longleat Village Guide published 03-Apr-09 (valid to 04-Sept-09).

nannynick thank you for so much detailed info!

Hadn't considered the idea of staying nearby and going in for the day. Didn't know you could - there's no mention of this on the website. How do /i find out about it?

Hi. We went to Longleat for Christmas lasat year and it was fantastic! Our dc's (4 & 1) had a great time even though one of them was not very well. We had a lovely Christmas dinner. The food and service was amazing - however we booked it so late that only the very expensive restaurant option was available. It was so good though I am glad it happened that way.

We are regulars at CP but usually go to Elveden Forest. The only thing I would say about Longleat is that it is very spread out so we spent a lot of time cycling in the cold pulling a chariot behind the bikes. Elveden Forest is more compact. However Longleat is very beautiful.

Hope this helps.

We go to CP every year - Whinfel Forest which may be too far for you but is stunning.

The first year we went with kids we made 2 mistakes

1. We overbooked the kids onto activities we thought they would enjoy, but they would have far rather spent the whole day in the pool or outside on the play area. The next time we booked next to nothing and it went far better.

1. We didn't self cater that much and spent a fortune on drinks and food - nearly a quid for a glass of squash! 2nd time we had picnics every lunch time which worked far better in terms of cost and also time - we could eat on the go (even in the pool area) rather than having to wait a very long time for poor quality expensive food.

Haven't been to Longleat since we had kids, but would stress how hilly and spaced out it is - Elvedon, whilst not quite so pretty, would seem a far more pracical option.

Unfortunately, it is only possible to visit CP for the day if you go as a guest of someone staying there. They pay for guest passes and book you in. In the rest of Europe anyone can book and go along for the day (we did this in Holland and it was a great day and much cheaper than here.) If you know anyone going, then visiting as guests is a great way to check it out and decide whether you'd like to holiday there.

It is very hilly. we didnt book bikes adn were glad

Longleat is certainly hilly. I booked a bike when I went for a week but for a weekend I don't bother.

hillbilly - the expensive restaurant (the French one) at Longleat has now closed. Not enough demand I think.

thank you nannysnick were of to elevdon cp in november first week of christmas decor now got some idear of prices for things for dcs to do as thre will be 4 of them,15,12,6,4

I have just got back from doing the Rangers Ramble - was supposed to be Tree Walk, but the tree expert was off work sick, so another ranger took the walk group instead - we learnt about trees and wildlife. It was actually very good, adult £7.50 child £5 is quite a lot but if you and your child like nature, it may be something interesting to do.
At Longleat they have Bats. They do special bat walks in the evenings... could be something good to do in the winter evening, if the walk is run that time of year.
Low cost option is to do the bat walk yourself - once dusk arrives, go to the Left hand side of Redwood Apartments (which is where the bats roost). If you have a bat detector all the better as you can listen to their various noises.

Woodland Lodge accomodation is lovely.
DD was 5 last time we went and did yogabugs, mini-cricket, mini-sportsday, soft-tennis, bowling as well as swimming & timeout club.
We stay a week at xmas &make it our main holiday of the year. Timeout club had a xmas party, there was some weird giant remote control polar bear which DD was scared of (we thought was great), singing reindeer & a very expensive santa visit (the gift was very good quality though),
Highly recommended! Lights out of this world

It's funny how people seem to love it or hate it. I've had people warning me it will be the worst weekend of my life and others raving about it. I guess we'll have to just go and find out for ourselves!

DS loves bats so that sounds fab.

Good to hear Woodland lodges are OK. We'd planned to book executive but the only new-style ones are right over the other side of the site to the pool which I think we'd find problematic. Nannynick I'm planning to book a new style Woodland Lodge and pay the extra to be in the Pine area. Do you have any suggestions or advice for if we should pick a particular area there (it ooks like we can specify a lodge number but obviously it means nothing to me!)

All of Pine area I find fine for walking to Plaza. In the past I've been over in PINE 193 (link to video of the Woodland Villa) and that is about the furthest away. I would say that avoiding 106-208. 209 to 371 is central location. 372-440 is a bit further out. I never pay extra to choose, I just let them allocate it. Typically they allocate the top slot in the pick your villa choice, but I book last minute so there are few choices. [[http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v636/nannynick/LongleatMapTopRight.jpg Longleat Map PINE area