Trip to celebrate my Mam's 60th

Becles

My Mam is 60 on the 19th December 2010. It falls on a Sunday. My Dad wants to do something special with close family over that weekend. In attendance there will be him and my Mam, husband me and three children (who will be 13,11, and 3) and my brother, SIL and their three year old. So, 6 adults and 4 children altogether.

Parents and my family live in the North East and brother's family live in Kent. Dad doesn't want Mam to know everyone else is invited, so she would just think she was going away with him and would just happen to bump into the rest of us at some point!

At the moment, his fave idea is all going over to Amsterdam on the boat for the weekend. However I'm worried in case the sea will be rough in December and it would spoil the trip if people are seasick. My middle child is prone to car sickness, and even the non-drowsy tablets knock him out!

I suggested Centre Parks at Sherwood Forest which is half way between us and brother, and my Mam has mentioned wanting to visit before. Someone at work keeps telling her about it. My brother is looking down his nose at it as he thinks it's cheap and nasty :rolleyes:

The pre-bookable stuff like accomodation needs to be kept around £1K as Mam controls their savings so would notice if Dad dipped in and took a chunk, and he thinks he can manage to sneak around £1K from day to day spending without her noticing!

It doesn't have to be UK only based and we would consider somewhere with cheap flights.

mobby-2554

Becles wrote: »

My Mam is 60 on the 19th December 2010. It falls on a Sunday. My Dad wants to do something special with close family over that weekend. In attendance there will be him and my Mam, husband me and three children (who will be 13,11, and 3) and my brother, SIL and their three year old. So, 6 adults and 4 children altogether.

Parents and my family live in the North East and brother's family live in Kent. Dad doesn't want Mam to know everyone else is invited, so she would just think she was going away with him and would just happen to bump into the rest of us at some point!

At the moment, his fave idea is all going over to Amsterdam on the boat for the weekend. However I'm worried in case the sea will be rough in December and it would spoil the trip if people are seasick. My middle child is prone to car sickness, and even the non-drowsy tablets knock him out!

I suggested Centre Parks at Sherwood Forest which is half way between us and brother, and my Mam has mentioned wanting to visit before. Someone at work keeps telling her about it. My brother is looking down his nose at it as he thinks it's cheap and nasty :rolleyes:

I wouldn't say Centerparcs are cheap & nasty.
I've not been but the lodges look amazing.
If you go for the New Style Executive Lodge I'm sure she'll love it.
It's also ideal for the children.
If your mum has mentioned wanting to go there, that is where I'd be taking her.

My son & his family love it there.

http://www.centerparcs.co.uk/accommodation/index.jsp

I wouldn't fancy going to Amsterdam on a boat that time of year myself never mind taking children. I wouldn't say Amsterdam is for children either.

susancs

I don't know if this would be your mums cup of tea but Salzburg in Austria is lovely. We went via cheap Ryanair flights from Stansted (don't know flight situation from NE). My sister has gone this weekend and it was £40 for return flights for 2 including taxes. There is a bus from airport to train station and then a bus to Salzburg (total journey time about 20 mins in total including transfer time). There is a Cathedral, outdoor ice skating rink (cost about £3 each), Christmas Market, Castle/Fortress on the hill you get to via a hill train. Mozarts Birth place to visit. They do carriage rides for about £25 for a family of 4. Sledge rides at night in the forests. Fr Christmas (or they have orginal St Nicholas) wanders around handing out sweets in the market and there are carol singers, music. My children loved it there. You could use the holiday inn 2nights for 1 hotel link for cheaper hotel rooms. My sister was planning to use the Salzburg card this time as she reckoned it maight be cost effective (google it).

elfen

Er, if your mum wants to go to Centre Parks, then take her there. regardless of what your brother thinks....is it his birthday? No. Should he be allowed to rule where she goes? No! I'd definitely take her the place she wants to go, as you can all meet up there before your mum gets there (and let the staff know, they may help with the deception if you're running behind) and set her up a big party.

Ms_Chocaholic

Not sure whether you have ever been to Centerparcs Becles, but I think that would be ideal - you could each have your own villa or your parents could have one villa and then the rest of the family (if you get on reasonably well) could share another. There is a honeymoon villa available, right on the edge of the lake with a round whirlpool bath in the bathroom - it's nice but your dad would need to book this early if he wanted it as there's only one.

There's also lots for the children to do during the day too so they won't get bored - everyone will love it (even your brother)

HTH

Becles

I've never been to Centre Parks before but I thought it looked good on the website. My children would love the swimming area, and I know my Mam is keen on the jacuzzi's and hot tubs. There seems plenty of other stuff there to keep everyone amused, and I know she likes Cafe Rouge as we've been there before. As our personal present to her, I thought I could take her to the spa for a massage and a facial or something nice like that as she never treats herself.

Saltzberg sounds gorgeous too. She's been to Prague Christmas markets years ago and liked those, and I told her a couple of days ago that I'm going to the preview evening of the temporary ice rink in Newcastle next week, and she said she was jealous and would love to go skating but they're away next week.

lawley1010

Hi Becles - I would highly recommend Center Parcs, we are actually taking my mum there next April for her 60th, going to Whinfell with all the family, 5 adults and 2 kids. My mum has been before and she loved it and loved spending time with the kids and watching them enjoy the swimming and activities. In December Centre Parcs do a winter wonderland and everything is very festive and you can take the kids to meet Santa, see link http://winterwonderland.centerparcs.co.uk/ Like other people have said, if she wants to go there I would take her.

I have had a quick look at the prices at Sherwood and for a weekend starting 17 Dec 2010 a 1 bed new style executive apartment/lodge is £339 and 4 bedroom lodges are between £699 and £1,599 depending on which lodge you opt for, so its around your £1000 budget but if you have two 3 bed lodges then the price is between £419 and £1,599 per lodge, the new style woodland lodges are lovely and that is what I always stay in, 2 of these cost £479 per lodge so well within your budget.

Hope this helps

Becles

That Winter Wonderland sounds lovely. My Mam would really enjoy that I think.

She's quite active and a young nearly 60 year old, so she'll be in the swimming pool etc., joining in rather than watching the children having fun

I also had another thought that with the lodges, we can all pile in one lodge on a night and put the little ones to bed, then the rest of us can watch a film or play board games or just chat and stuff. On something like the ferry, once the little ones are sleepy, we're going to have to have people sitting alone in cabins while the others are enjoying themselves.

Unity

I would definitely recommend Centre Parcs - we've been about five times to the various sites in the UK. Although, if you search this site you will find that it's actually cheaper to go to the ones in Europe - even taking into account the costs of getting there.

The only site we haven't been to in the UK is the one at Longleat so I can't say what it's like - but our family would definitely go for the Elveden Forest location, as it has the best 'Tropical Paradise' . The Sherwood site was looking a little rundown last time we were there and Whinfell, originally 'Oasis' - is okay but the lodges have very high ceilings and when we visited in December last year we found it cold despite the heating being on full - especially at floor level.

You could also look at: http://www.english-country-cottages.co.uk/sites/english-country-cottages/pages/home.aspx we have had some lovely holidays and the odd weekend staying in accommodation like this. In fact we have booked a house in Cumbria for a family reunion in December and it even has it's own indoor pool.

We're also in the North East, with family travelling up from London and down from Scotland.

Good luck with whatever you decide and I hope your mum has a wonderful birthday.