Center Parcs WTAF!

[Dan_1981]

bakerstreet said:

Dan_1981 said:

We;e just booked one of the hot tub lodges - 3 bed - updated spec, with hot tub and sauna.

4 adults, 2 kids, 2 infants...... £1400

Middle of August?

Nope..... Last week in January. Ouch.

To be fair we could have had a basic lodge for £579 - and that's when it makes sense, out of season, lower end lodges it works out as quite a bargain.

I don't class what we've just booked as a bargain.

My guess that was for a weekend.

We still haven't booked anywhere for our summer Holiday and I am still thinking about Centre Parcs for our main holiday. Ticks a lot of boxes.

Yup just the three nights Fri - Mon. Mid week gives you an extra night and knocks a couple of hundred quid off the price.

[gazza5]

Just looking at next year, already, thinking maybe germany (tie it in with legoland and tropical world near berlin) https://www.tropical-islands.de/en/tropical-world/

ANyway, centre parcs at the moment for Summer holidays - one week - Sat 22nd Aug to Fri 28th Aug 2020.

Cheapest, comfort cottage (2 bedrooms) 688 euros, most expensive VIP Eden cottage (3 Bedrooms) 1376 euros. This is staying at Bispinger heide (rated 5 star)

Same week in UK

Ok its Friday 21st Aug to Friday 28th Aug (one extra night), cheapest 2 bedroom woodland lodge @ longleat £1798, most expensive £9598 for a four bedroom treehouse @ woburn forest! If we do like for like, its £2348 for a 2 bedroom executive lodge @ longleat. Saving roughly £1k, that pays for legoland and tropical world stay, plus food at Centre parcs in germany and a few activities.

Ok pretty much £ is similar to Euro, and probably will be till current mess gets resolved, but its a huge difference in price, and who can say no to a few autobahn runs!

[croyde]

£10 grand for a week at CP. Wow!

Surely that would easily cover a family at a Mark Warner in Greece or Sardinia with water sports all included

[miniman]

croyde said:

£10 grand for a week at CP. Wow!

Surely that would easily cover a family at a Mark Warner in Greece or Sardinia with water sports all included

I would count myself a Center Parcs fan, but those treehouses really are spectacularly expensive. Assume each has space for a Kahn Range Rover or similar outside.

[bakerstreet]

gazza5 said:

Just looking at next year, already, thinking maybe germany (tie it in with legoland and tropical world near berlin) https://www.tropical-islands.de/en/tropical-world/

ANyway, centre parcs at the moment for Summer holidays - one week - Sat 22nd Aug to Fri 28th Aug 2020.

Cheapest, comfort cottage (2 bedrooms) 688 euros, most expensive VIP Eden cottage (3 Bedrooms) 1376 euros. This is staying at Bispinger heide (rated 5 star)

Same week in UK

Ok its Friday 21st Aug to Friday 28th Aug (one extra night), cheapest 2 bedroom woodland lodge @ longleat £1798, most expensive £9598 for a four bedroom treehouse @ woburn forest! If we do like for like, its £2348 for a 2 bedroom executive lodge @ longleat. Saving roughly £1k, that pays for legoland and tropical world stay, plus food at Centre parcs in germany and a few activities.

Ok pretty much £ is similar to Euro, and probably will be till current mess gets resolved, but its a huge difference in price, and who can say no to a few autobahn runs!

Travel? Surely that will be nearly £800, so what are you saving? Not that much in reality. Travel time to a centre parcs in the UK. lets call that 3 hours. Germany is going to be a day which every way you cut it.

I am still doing the sums on our summer holiday plans. I'm keen to book something now, but Wife wants to hold out and just put money away. I don't really buy into that strategy as at least if we book something we have our accommodation secured if we go down the CP/Brittany Camp site route

[GreatGranny]

gazza5 - it will take at east a full day to ravel there with fuel costs, additional food etc... ferry/chunnel, Euro breakdown I can't see there being much difference in costs.
Depending where you live it's at least 500 miles each way.

No problem if it all part of the holiday adventure.

That part looks nice BTW.

[Kizmiaz]

PostHeads123 said:

theplayingmantis said:

CP isnt that expensive.

problem is its full of 'scum'.

used to be a bastion of the middle classes when my family used to go in the late 80's early 90s when i was a little kid after it had just opened. we were the working class oiks amongst them, but managed fine.

having been regularly with mates and then as couples since the early 2000's onwards the sort of people who go now makes it basically like an episode of benidorm. admittedly cheating the system as 16 and 17 yr olds and going as single sex parties at those times we didnt help in our behavior after a night out at the 'forum', but still.

yes its still fun if your sporty, but the restaurants have reached the level of the lowest common denominator in quality, yet not price. bike thefts, bell ends leaving their cars outside villas all weekend, driving on non driving days, inconsiderate cycling, generally scummy behavior, babies with clear diarrhea problems stting in the wave pool with leaky nappies and parents not giving a toss when pointed out to them and getting arsey (they were tattooed so what do you expect )

the place has gone downhill big time. maybe its just mirroring trends in society and it hasnt.

If you think CP is full of scum you should trying Butlins, went to both last year thought CP was good not scummy may be time of year I went I went outside of school holidays. When I went to Butlins there was some guy Stellared up telling all the other parents about his stretch in prison and how he would do time for his kids or the lovely aroma of blocked drains all the around the Butlins site. I read a lot of people saying to do the CP in Europe as a lot better values.

I win. If you want the worst, stinking filled dangerous holiday go to Pontins. It was a couple of days with my young son straight after a divorce so booked on a budget in a hurry. Jesus H Corbett. I will never forget that experience.

[havoc]

bakerstreet said:

Travel? Surely that will be nearly £800, so what are you saving? Not that much in reality. Travel time to a centre parcs in the UK. lets call that 3 hours. Germany is going to be a day which every way you cut it.

I was thinking the same, but (depending on your perspective) being abroad is potentially part of the appeal - different country/people/food/etc...

I think I may be a snob, but I really try hard to avoid holidaying in much of the UK now, certainly anywhere that caters for kids.

[gazza5]

£800 travel - absolutely no way.

Live at Junction 3 of the M3, so fuel wise, even in my R at roughly £65 for a full tank (that gets me approx 450 miles motorway driving with family).

I did Home to Centre Parcs in belgium (peer) and I used half a tank with air con on. Call it 1.5 tank each way, £65 x 3 = £195.

Eurotunnel - I use clubcard vouchers, aleeady got £20 worth (so goes up to £60). By the time we book the tunnel (after Christmas) should have around £60 worth, so £180. Current price is not available, but this year we left it late, but when I started looking it was £160, we paid £215, so to do the tunnel cost me £35 based on this year.

So fuel, £195, tunnel £35.

Obvious food etc stopping and so on, lets say £60 for food for the day, so 2 days travelling (to and from) £120.

Lets say we stop both ways for 1 night - around £60, so £120 on hotel (we won't on way back, but just in case).

If people want to stay in the UK, I am absolutely fine with that, we have a great country, but for me driving up to centre parcs in the UK, eating at a Cafe Rouge isn't a holiday, driving to germany may seem like madness to some, but for me I like to get out of this country, we only ever stay in a premium room.

Just checked premium room is 904 euros. SO say £900. Keep it simple. Oh and booking in advance you get 3 activity tickets (be used as a pony ride / glitter tatoo / face paint etc, I believe you get no freebies when booking uk one.

[theplayingmantis]

miniman said:

croyde said:

£10 grand for a week at CP. Wow!

Surely that would easily cover a family at a Mark Warner in Greece or Sardinia with water sports all included

I would count myself a Center Parcs fan, but those treehouses really are spectacularly expensive. Assume each has space for a Kahn Range Rover or similar outside.

do the treehouses allow you to leave cars outside on non changover day?

that would piss me off. its bad enough dick heads doing it cos their lazy bstards (not disabled) but for cp to actually to cater for it now is jumpimg the shark. if true.

[miniman]

theplayingmantis said:

miniman said:

croyde said:

£10 grand for a week at CP. Wow!

Surely that would easily cover a family at a Mark Warner in Greece or Sardinia with water sports all included

I would count myself a Center Parcs fan, but those treehouses really are spectacularly expensive. Assume each has space for a Kahn Range Rover or similar outside.

do the treehouses allow you to leave cars outside on non changover day?

that would piss me off. its bad enough dick heads doing it cos their lazy bstards (not disabled) but for cp to actually to cater for it now is jumpimg the shark. if true.

Yeah they do. We found at Woburn last year the whole concept of car-free was long gone.

[Welshbeef]

Coin Slot. said:

It's a whole new thread topic, but my wife and I used to frequently go out/take holidays either as a couple or with the boys/girls before the kids came along.

This all stopped once we had kids, my eldest is eight, my youngest five and we can count on one hand the number of times we've had a night away without them.

If we have a rare night out then the only person to ever babysit them is either my mum or one of two very close friends, if any of these aren't available then we don't go out.

We include them in virtually everything, there are times when you don't like your own kids, how can you expect someone else to like them if they are being little sts?

Wandering even further off topic,

We were in Dubai at Christmas, there's a nice little kids water park in our hotel, we took our kids there for an hour every morning before hitting the beach with them. The same little boy was there on his own every morning, he was always there in the evening if we went back after the beach, so something like eight hours on his own, wandering from child to child looking for a friend. One afternoon we saw the mum and dad come and collect the boy, they had designer shopping bags hanging off them. The kid raced over to the them to give them a hug and they'd back off because they didn't want their designer branded clothes to get wet. They actually made one of the pool staff dry him off and get him changed, it made me so sad that this poor little sod was left all day while his parents went shopping, every single day we were there the boy was there, alone.

I try to stop my kids hugging me when I’ve just got home with my work suit on as I’ve learned from experience it = snot or something smeared on the trouser legs or jacket. Countless times my spare has been in the dry cleaners so it’s off to work the next day with an attempted wet dabbing of it to get it off - total fail.
Now I take jacket off before getting in the house and let them jump up for a hug sod the clothes.

Anyway I’m staggered at this it’s Maddie McCanns parents amplified.

You have kids they come with you it’s a FAMILY holiday not a jolly for Mum or dad with kids left lonely or dumped in kids club.
We’ve not yet put the kids into any kids club but it’ does look good - however if we did I’d join in and stay or take turns with the wife /swapping over not once leaving them alone.
Imagine one of them somehow accidentally wondered off from the group - totally strange place thousands of people there not knowing where to go the roads the strange people the sea the falling down steps or anything or god forbid meet someone sinister.

[anonymous-user]

Two years ago we went on holiday to a great hotel with a kids club. We didn't use it until the last couple of days, as we felt guilty about our 4 year old going to that whilst we're on a family holiday. He seemed keen, so we thought 'ok'.

He loved it and wanted to go back. Two years later, we went back to the same hotel and our now 6 year old was asking whether the kids (by name, he remembered them) he'd met at kids club would be there again.

Suppose the point is, it's arrogant to assume our kids want the same from a holiday as us. My wife and I want to wander around museums and Corfu old town. Our kids want to play with new mates and mess about in the hotel kids pool. There's no harm whatsoever in each getting to do some of what they want.

After all, it's the kids' holiday too.

[ClaphamGT3]

I’ve never understood the ‘kids club’ thing - what’s the point of having children if you don’t spend your free time with them?

Also, £10k for what is basically a holiday camp - that’s mad; you could charter a yacht in the Caribbean for a week for that

[Bill]

ClaphamGT3 said:

I’ve never understood the ‘kids club’ thing - what’s the point of having children if you don’t spend your free time with them?

We very rarely go places that have them, but the kids love it.

There's a balance between parking them in a club so you can get pissed and never leaving their side.

[croyde]

My lot went to kids clubs at Mark Warner's. There was a morning, afternoon and evening session.

They could go if they wanted to and most of the time they did. They learned to sail and windsurf. Met and made new friends.

If they didn't want to they would either hang around with their mum at the pool or come with me and go sailing.

Kids do have their own minds too.

[theplayingmantis]

miniman said:

Yeah they do. We found at Woburn last year the whole concept of car-free was long gone.

This really boils my piss for some reason.

I haven’t been to go for 2 years. Woburn wasn’t to my taste it’s too small as is the pool. But this is even more annoying. Is it just the treehouses or ‘normal’ villas now too??

They used to clampdown hard on it unless disabled (we once had relatives visit for a day one had a blue badge so proof of disability meant cp allowed them to drive up to villa on non changover day, but as they didn’t display it we got a knock on villa in the day time saying to remove by a passing ranger) this was 10 years plus back at eleveden

For me it spoil the whole concept and theme that originally was behind it. I guess it ties in with the scum element be it scum with money or not who can’t be arsed, too important to move their debadged, blacked out cooking cls or such like.

[ClaphamGT3]

croyde said:

My lot went to kids clubs at Mark Warner's. There was a morning, afternoon and evening session.

They could go if they wanted to and most of the time they did. They learned to sail and windsurf. Met and made new friends.

If they didn't want to they would either hang around with their mum at the pool or come with me and go sailing.

Kids do have their own minds too.

Each to their own but that to me just sounds really sad. The joy that I - and they - had from teaching them to sail was immeasurable - I’d have hated to have left it to some disinterested gap-year adolescent to teach them

If you want adult time whilst on holiday, either leave the children at home or take the nanny/au pair to look after them

[bakerstreet]

gazza5 said:

£800 travel - absolutely no way.

Live at Junction 3 of the M3, so fuel wise, even in my R at roughly £65 for a full tank (that gets me approx 450 miles motorway driving with family).

I did Home to Centre Parcs in belgium (peer) and I used half a tank with air con on. Call it 1.5 tank each way, £65 x 3 = £195.

Eurotunnel - I use clubcard vouchers, aleeady got £20 worth (so goes up to £60). By the time we book the tunnel (after Christmas) should have around £60 worth, so £180. Current price is not available, but this year we left it late, but when I started looking it was £160, we paid £215, so to do the tunnel cost me £35 based on this year.

So fuel, £195, tunnel £35.

Obvious food etc stopping and so on, lets say £60 for food for the day, so 2 days travelling (to and from) £120.

Lets say we stop both ways for 1 night - around £60, so £120 on hotel (we won't on way back, but just in case).

If people want to stay in the UK, I am absolutely fine with that, we have a great country, but for me driving up to centre parcs in the UK, eating at a Cafe Rouge isn't a holiday, driving to germany may seem like madness to some, but for me I like to get out of this country, we only ever stay in a premium room.

Just checked premium room is 904 euros. SO say £900. Keep it simple. Oh and booking in advance you get 3 activity tickets (be used as a pony ride / glitter tatoo / face paint etc, I believe you get no freebies when booking uk one.

Anyone with young children will not tell you its as simple as three tanks of fuel. Time is also a factor. However I do agree there is some value in going abroad for a holiday Vs staying here.

[miniman]

bakerstreet said:

Anyone with young children will not tell you its as simple as three tanks of fuel. Time is also a factor. However I do agree there is some value in going abroad for a holiday Vs staying here.

If you plan to stay on site the entire time, then I would agree that going abroad is little better than staying in the UK. However, if you use it as a base, you can do loads of other things, see some nice places, eat some nice food. In Belgium, we did a fair bit of cycling outside the site because of the great cycle path setup over there. Then after a few hours you can head back and the kids can crack on with the pool and whatnot.