Centreparcs Cumbria - Anyone been?

Draeger

Draeger

Draeger

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Not usually a fan of this type of holiday but we were looking to book a week somewhere which was geared up for families/kids so our three year old lad was kept amused. At the same time looking for somewhere nice to chill and relax. Centreparcs seemed to tick all the boxes and my sister was there last year and said it was excellent. We are booked into Whinfell for a week in a 3 bed new style woodland lodge at the end of this month. Im a keen mountain biker so I'll be visiting the Altura trails at Whinlatter while I'm there.

So - Mixed reviews on TripAdvisor, has anyone here been to Centreparcs Whinfell, how did you get on?
 
Yes - 3 times there and loads of other times to Sherwood and Elvedon. Centre-parcs is great for those with children and hell on earth if you don't have them :) Centre-parcs is like marmite, you either love it or hate it.

General tips:
- Book anything you want to do in advance if you can. Popular things book up fast.
- Pool-side is slippy as hell at Whinfell. Take rubber soled flip-flops or something - especially if you need to carry the little one.
- If you want to get a decent seat at the pool, either beat the doors down when it opens at 10, or go early afternoon. Chairs and tables go fast - especially when the weather is bad.
- Assuming you're self-catering at least some of the time, the supermarket on-site is very well stocked and not too bad price-wise. We didn't feel gouged. If your little one is fussy on certain foods, its wise to take them just in case they're not stocked.
- Kitchens are pretty well equipped, but I found the prep-knives blunt. I take my globals instead (this is me being anal though).
- All the restaurants are child-friendly. High-chairs, microwave for warming bottles, children's menus etc. Most have a soft play area, but you might need to supervise a little one - occasionally you need to chuck bigger kids out of them if they're being stupid.

If anything else springs to mind, I'll add to the thread.
 
Just 25 mins from my house, it's well tucked away between the A66 and M6, you won't even notice where you are as it's built in a forest, right on the door step to the Lakes if you need to venture out.
 
Cheers folks.

@peterwalkley - are things like soft play free and included in the booking price? Does Whinfell have a large soft play facility? I see some of the restaurants have them but is there a 'main' one? What restaurant would you recommend?
 
Went years ago, plenty to do for kids and even the older generation with a driving range, tennis courts, swimming pool etc etc.
 
Soft play areas are all free and there's outdoor playgrounds free as well, as is the pool. You should get a welcome pack in the post before you go with all the extra activities that can be booked.

There is no main restaurant, just pick based on whatever food you like. They are all pretty standard chain type places. Cafe rouge, Bella pasta exactly the same as on the high street. Sports bar is popular with the dads for big screen matches, usually sky sports channels.
 
I think that's the one I went to,
nice setting and the lodge was bigger than expected (sharing with a couple of other people)
I didn't like having to unload and leave the car some place else, but I guess that's to keep it looking 'woody'

The faculties (maybe 6 years ago?) were a bit third rate holiday camp, but OK for kids.
 
Yeah, my eldest was conceived there!

Marmite is a very good analogy. Even with 2 kids now, I still despise Center Parcs, mainly because they spell Center and Parcs incorrectly! Just kidding, I do find it extremely boring and too overpriced though. The RAF seem to use it as a navigation point. Being in the RAF at the time, it was like a busman's holiday for me.

It is on the doorstep of the lakes so I enjoyed getting out and about and going to Windermere for the first time.

Then there's the locals. God, they're special!
 
I've been 4 or 5 times now as I live fairly near, although we've stopped going as the prices have gone a bit silly for anything other than Jan or Feb.

There's no large soft play area. If I remember there's a small one if the sports plaza and one in the pub next to the lake.
They do have a large area in the sports plaza with loads of toys, trundels, balls, hoops etc that you can go in for as long as you want for a few quid, that's ideal for your little one's age.
There's a seperate pool area in the main swimming pool for little ones that's very shallow and really warm.

Personally I'd find a week there too much, but then I don't want to venture out of the park and visit the area.
 
Been to one centre parcs in my life and would never step foot in the place again given the choice. Over priced, over hyped and over busy.
 
It's good fun - the kids love it. We've been 4 times over last 5 years.

Whinfell is clean, tidy, nice and relaxing place. Take your own bikes if you have them, keeps the cost of hiring them down. It's a bit hilly if your not in and around the centre area.

It's expensive for what it is (basically 4 days, self catering) especially if you go in the summer school holidays etc.

The activities are good for the kids - tons to do and reasonably priced. some of them are a bit mental price wise mind you (climbing/tunneling etc)

Loads of outdoor playgrounds and areas, lake has loads of stuff to do, windsurfing, canoes, pedalo's etc.

However the pool and slides etc are superb and good fun, all included. Plenty to do, as above, the onsite supermarket is fine as well.

Take it for what it is - a great place for the kids, they will love it, as an adult, you tend to look at the overall price of the 4 days/weekend etc and think - that's quite pricey but the kids had a ball.
 
I've been a couple of times, once at christmas time (not through choice I might add) and once off-peak season, which frankly was vastly better.

I took my 3 year old along, must admit she loved it and was knackered every day thanks to the pool - meant a nice early night and plenty of time for us to relax! I'd recommend it, just remember that you're only 20mins drive from towns with supermarkets, so feel free to pop out and get stuff, but you can't bring the car back to the accommodation so you'll have to carry anything you buy.

Top tips:

1. Book early, try to get somewhere near the center or one of the pubs. Sometimes costs a little more but it is worth it at Cumbria.
2. Arrive early, ideally you want to get to the house, dump everything and get the car back to the car park before the rush. Just chuck wife/kids into the house and get it done or it'll take hours. Military operation style, this is where a house near the car park or central area helps a bit.
3. Buy the bricks for the fire from aldi, far cheaper than on site :P

Spa day - if you can get away with wife is worth it, expensive but trust me as a bloke who's never been to this sort of thing the whole world of spa was fantastic, never felt so chilled out! Was an anniversary treat for the wife ;)

I've only ever been for 4 days max (Monday - Friday morning) I'd have managed a week no problem though if the weather was holding up.

Horses - if your wee one wants to go on the horses as mine did it's a LONG walk to the place to leave early and it's all up hill. There is a toilet at the top but take something to drink.
 
Cheers folks. We are sharing accommodation for the first two days as my folks are coming with us for the Monday and Tuesday (We've booked it online for a party of 4 adults and 1 child despite the fact that my parents are only staying the first two days). One thing I'm a bit confused about is the check in and car park. Folk are saying you can check in and then go and have a walk or something - but where does your car sit while you are doing that? I assume you then need to go back and bring the car through the check in gates, then drive to your accommodation to unload and then park it in the car park where it stays?. Our folks will be travelling down with us on the Monday so I assume they are permitted to drive to the accommodation in their car and offload too? (I know - sounds like a daft question).

Also, around the Weds/Thursday time I intend leaving the missus and the little fella to go swimming while I head to the MTB trail centre at Whinlatter a few miles away. Can you just go to where your car is parked up and drive from there out of the park then return and park back up again?

Lastly, what sort of fire bricks are you allowed to burn so I know what to grab at the likes of Aldi etc prior to heading down?

Ta. :)
 
The firelogs they sell are these.http://www.bmstores.co.uk/products/quickfire-firelog-244158.

you can only have access to your lodge from 4pm. You can arrive anytime that day and check in and use the facilities. You just park in the main carpark(where you'll leave your car all week).

This could be up to a 20 min walk from your lodge.
Come 4pm and you can get to your lodge and unload and then you have to take your car back to the car park.
 
Was thinking about taking the kids to Whinfell but looking at the activities, what's to stop you from staying at home and doing the activities yourself like swimming, golf, football, biking etc and saving yourself £500?
 
peterwalkley said:
Kitchens are pretty well equipped, but I found the prep-knives blunt. I take my globals instead (this is me being anal though).
Click to expand...

It's like cutting with a metal ruler isn't it!

Centre Parcs is great with kids - we've been every winter since our boy was born. Heading over to Longleat in March.
 
To answer the car bit. When you arrive you check in at a large hut where you will get your keys. Cars aren't allowed on-site until 3pm as they are still cleaning the lodges up to then.

If you arrive before 3pm, there's a massive car park you just park in and you can get out and walk around etc. Even though you'll have lodge keys, it might still be being cleaned.

After 3pm cars are allowed on. You need to drive to your lodge, unload then put the car back in the car park. Only pre-arranged blue badge holders can keep their cars by their lodge (and some of the executive lodges out at the edge of the village). The point of this is that no cars means its safe to let the kids out on bikes.

On check-out day, cars can go to lodges from about 7am (maybe 6am). You need to have your lodge cleared by 10am - but you can stay at the place longer if you want. Some people load up, park back in the big car park and then go for a swim etc.
 
peterwalkley said:
To answer the car bit.
Click to expand...

Cool, cheers. So what about midweek when you want to go and get the car and heat out of the complex, can you just toddle down to the car, jump in it and drive out or is there a check out/check back in procedure that you need to go through?
 
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