Centre Parks V's Haven

Rachie_B

simes wrote: »

As your kids are so young, Centre parcs is ok. To be honest its a bit boring for older kids.
Entertainment is seriously lacking. If you are the type of person that likes to stay in during the evenings then you will be fine.

They would be better entertained at Haven though, and it would also be much much cheaper. The money you save would pay for some rides etc for the kids.

They are chalk and cheese , both enjoyable in their own rights.
Centre parcs - quiet, very pricey , quite boring
Haven - noisy , tacky , but fun

Totally agree!

we do center parcs and butlins / haven type holidays

our boys 12 and 6 like both
the outdoorsy part of CPs (cycling,walks,swimming,football etc)and the whole entertainment (fair,night time activities etc) of butlins.theres always something to do,and they love the redcoats lol

i wouldnt do a butlins type hol if we didnt have kids,but we do it to keep them happy,and we end up enjoying it too even the tacky / chavvy parts :rotfl: :rotfl:

johnpaulpops

As an adult, Center Parcs wins every time and the newly refurbished accommodation is fantastic. They always have cheap deals a few weeks before a date so I'd suggest you leave it to the last minute to book unless you're set on a certain date. Worth signing up on theirwebsite for newsletters.

Haven sites vary and I personally find them tacky but the kids do love them and there's a lot of entertainment on tap. If you can grit your teeth for a few days they're a good bet.

Another option - not quite as entertainment focussed but more of a natural playground - have you looked at Featherdown Farms? Apparently a brain child of the bloke that started Center Parcs and they look fab, I saw them featured in the Guardian a while back and will definitely head in that direction next year - their brochure is fantastic.

JP

mum26

Another vote for Centreparcs from us too, we went to Elveden in november (2 adults, 6 kids aged 3 - 13) and had a brilliant time, we went the week after half term (slapped wrists) and it was about £330 ish for a 4 bed woodland villa! Which is the same as we paid for our may holiday at a caravan park in devon (which we also enjoyed very much but we really appreciated the extra space and facilities at centre parcs, the devon place was Ruda holiday park btw, and was fab, right on the beach). Yes the activities add on to the cost but for small children there is more than enough free stuff to do,in fact we didn't book anything for our 3 youngest except rollerskating disco (because I wanted to do it, lol) and they had a wonderful time on the bikes, the parks are excellent, they loved watching the squirrels outside the windows and the villas are comfy enough to watch a dvd in the evening after their bath, mind you my lot were so tired they ASKED to go to bed, lol! The pool was great too.

upferret

centre parcs! Im going tomorrow. been to Haven and it just doesnt compare.

mspig

Another center parcs here came back from whinfell 2 weeks ago with my three kids (12,5 and 3) they all love it, perhaps its just me but i don't find the place that expensive and there are some great activities to do(i did tree trekking with my sisters kids who sent aswell), we love just getting on our bikes and cycling around the place doing the rangers challenge of finding the letters around the village, the pool opened until 9pm so we went swimming in the evening then on to the lakeside in afterwards where the kids can play in the playarea and we could sit and have a drink. We also go out in our weelies and go walking throught the forest, in the water etc. We don't eat out though as between us and my sisters family there are 10 of us so we all eat at one lodge and share the cooking.

accomodation i could never fault - we have been going to CP whinfell for the last 5 years about twice a year and never had a problem with it.

Remember though if you do go to CP to take some water proofs with you as you do tend to be outside alot and it usually rains, but its great to see all the wildlife especially the red squirrels that you can get right up to.