Center Parcs break - whinfell

vikingaero

gadjah543 wrote: »

We have just been to Whinfell.If you are eating out with children I would recommend Hucks diner.They have an eat all you like buffet for kids for around £7 that included a drink and ice cream.Also wouldn't recommend the zipwire . Although it is shown as an hour it is mostly spent waiting around for your one turn which lasts approx 30 secs. Tree trekking was great but make sure children don't have a fear of heights as once they are on the course there is no option but to continue. A boy in another party screamed and sobbed his way round which wasn't pleasant for anyone .

Sounds like my sex life.

pinkmami

skintnutta wrote: »

Hi, We are going to Whinfell on Friday 1st April for 3 nights for the first time with hubby and 2 boys age 2 and 7 years. From friends that have been they said don't eat out, very expensive, easy enough to cook yourself and save lots of money. I'm booking the Teddy bears picnic for my 2 year old, thats all. My 7 year old is probably going to have 2 activities but paying for 1 himself (doing chores for £), maybe zipwire or treetreking and canoe capers. Have you received your stuff in the post yet? I've heard the outdoor children's play area is very good. I'm at three oaks and appartantly only about 10 minute walk to centre, past play area. I'll email you when we get back to let you know how it was and any tips.

There is a small zipwire in the wooded playarea on the way from Three Oaks to the village centre....free so let him have a go on that before paying for the real thing. See of he enjoyes it!! I do!

shullen

Sorry if this is too late. We've booked to go to Whinfell this coming Friday. I didn't book the flying start package but is really considering it now after reading all the advice here. We have three bikes which we will take there anyway. The fly start is £65. Does it worth the money just to be able to check in early?

shullen

moneypooh wrote: »

Checking in time is 10.30am @ Whinfell and getting there around that time maximises your day. They allow you to your villa/lodge at 3.30pm. I never get the car at that time, the queues can be silly to get onsite. We tend to go to the lodge and checkout things then get the car later at about 5-6pm when it's easy to get onsite and drive direct without queues. The pool gets quieter between 2.30pm and 5pm as people are unpacking at their lodges.
We always stay until about 7pm on the day of coming home too. It really does mean a better break.

Are you allowed to use the swimming pool before you are checked in? Normal check in doesn't start until 3:30pm.

superflygal

Hi Shullen,

We booked flying start. My sister phoned up and they did it over the phone, 3 weeks before we were due to go.

I thought it was really good value to be honest. The bikes are worth £48 (If you left your 2 at home, you would save on petrol costs), and I totted up cost of groceries, which was around £27. It was lovely to be able to go to accomodation early, and avoid all the queues. I would defo do that again!

We arrived at 12noon. Went directly to pool. No one asked anything. I don't see how they possibly could! There is no way! We left the pool at 1.30pm on last day, and had lovely picnic on way home (car picnic!)

HTH!

SFG x

SFG x

shullen

superflygal wrote: »

Hi Shullen,

We booked flying start. My sister phoned up and they did it over the phone, 3 weeks before we were due to go.

I thought it was really good value to be honest. The bikes are worth £48 (If you left your 2 at home, you would save on petrol costs), and I totted up cost of groceries, which was around £27. It was lovely to be able to go to accomodation early, and avoid all the queues. I would defo do that again!

Thanks for the advice. We have two pretty decent mountain bikes, one has fitted toddler seat. So it is unlikely they can rent us the equivalent at the parc. Does anyone know whether they have flying start without the bike package?

Desperado99

Hi Shullen,

We've never bothered with the flying start ourselves, we tend to arrive at 10.30, take our swimming gear with us, and only get back to our villa at tea-time after the big rush.

However, the flying start bike hire comes in the form of vouchers. Which if you don't use, you can always flog on Ebay (have a look, there are quite a few on there)

P.S. It might be worth a mention - I know Sherwood and Elveden (not sure about whindfell) have huge problems with bike theft, so if your bikes are really nice, you might want to think twice about taking them. If you do take them, make sure you have decent locks, and keep them inside your villa at night.

moneypooh

shullen wrote: »

Are you allowed to use the swimming pool before you are checked in? Normal check in doesn't start until 3:30pm.

In theory no, but in practice yes.
The literature says you can use the pools from 2pm, but everyone goes in earlier. It does make it very busy as the numbers are doubled. It can be very busy at around 11-2pm.
Even though we arrive early we never go swimming on changeover day before 3pm @ Whinfell or 2pm on the other sites. We book other activities that aren't so busy like badminton or bowling.
On the day you leave it can be quiet up until about 11am so we go in early and then do other activities before we leave.

The rapids in the other sites become quite hazardous between 11-2 on changeover day as no one ever stops the large numbers going down and you can get seriously squashed! That's why they try to state 2pm entrance only, but as said before no one checks.

superflygal

Hiya,

We just came back from Whinfell. We weren't given vouchers for the bikes from the Flying start package, we just presented ourselves at the bike shop, and it was on the computer system.

SFG x

superflygal

PS they do rent bikes with toddler seats. Maybe if you phone and ask, they will let you upgrade the bike package?

SFG x