Hi, guys. Welcome back to my channel. In today's video I thought I would film a little extra
video because we're currently away at Center Parcs. I wanted to do this for my own benefit
in the future. We come here every year as a family. We love coming here. But I always
forget what I need to pack and what I don't. So, in today's video I'm going to give you
some tips on what to pack, what you actually need, and then I'm also going to give you
some general tips about Center Parcs as well. If you're new to my channel, I would love
for you to subscribe and stick around for more videos like this. We are a family of
five. I post three videos a week. I have two little ones in the background here watching
Peppa Pig, but I just thought I would quickly run you through a list of what to pack.
The first thing that you should definitely bring is toilet roll. They do actually give
you two toilet rolls in your lodge when you arrive, but as a family of five we go through
a lot. So, definitely pack toilet roll. The second thing that's worth bringing is dishwasher
tablets. They do leave you three when you arrive, so depending on how long you're staying
and how much you're going to use the dishwasher, you might want to bring some of your own from
home as well. We also bring Fairy Liquid to wash up dishes by hand. We also will love
this thing. This is the Dishmatic. I think you can get them in Poundland. I bought mine
in Sainsbury's. You basically fill up the handle with Fairy Liquid and you can do your
dishes really easily. This was really handy to bring.
You may also want to bring a hand soap. They do actually leave you a bar of soap in your
lodge to wash your hands with, but for our kids they find the easier to use liquid soap.
So, if yours are the same, definitely bring a hand wash. The lodges have fireplaces as
well, so it is definitely worth booking at the instant fire sticks before you get here.
You can add it onto your booking and they will leave it in your room for when you arrive.
You get three for 10 pounds I think, but if you're going to use the fireplace, we actually
haven't because we have a toddler, but if you're going to use the fireplace it's definitely
worth ordering them. You can buy them in the supermarket here when you arrive, but they're
really heavy. So if you can remember to prebook them, it's definitely worth doing.
The next thing that we like to bring his Posh ready meals. We particularly like the cook
meals because they're really nice and it saves us cooking every night. We like to relax while
we're here. It's also worth noting that the fridge is only a half fridge. It is quite
small. The freezer as well. We like to bring those, and you can actually buy them here
in the supermarket. We brought two with us and then we ended up buying one as well. Or,
you could cook a lasagna or a fish pie or something before you come here, have it ready
so you don't have to worry about it while you're here. The days are quite exhausting,
especially with young children. We're going swimming. We go rock climbing. So much biking
and stuff. So it's nice to just, in the evening, have a meal ready. If you do like to cook
and you don't have young children to worry about, one thing that is a really good idea
is you can get something like a HelloFresh box. Everything is pre-proportioned out and
they're really yummy recipes. So, that might be a good idea. There are also barbecues in
most of the lodges-
Mommy.
... but some of the lower lodges-
I love you.
... the barbecues aren't great, I would say. Some people I know have bought disposable
barbecues to put onto the barbecue. That might be something worth doing. If you get the better
ones, you get like a proper gas barbecue. Another foodie hack is to order your grocery
shop to arrive at the day that you're going to Center Parc. As it arrives, you just stick
it in the car and then you drive off to Center Parcs. Or, you can also get a starter grocery
pack to be here in your lodge when you arrive. We've done that a couple of times and it's
quite good, but sometimes we end up with things we don't really need, like different types
of jams that we would never really eat. Something to consider.
The next one, I can't believe I didn't make it first because it is so important. You need
to bring swimwear. The swimming here is amazing. The spa is incredible as well. So, whoever
you are, a couple or a family, you're going to want your swimwear. And definitely bring
towels for the pool. You can hire them here, but I think they're like two pound a go. So
it's definitely worth bringing your own. It's also worth bringing bin bags and recycling
bags as well. Also DVDs. I know this seems really old school now that everyone can just
download films, but if you have any DVDs, there are DVD players in the lodge. It's been
great for our kids because we've brought DVDs like Peppa Pig, Coco, Captain Underpants.
Things that they can just watch and chill out in the evening to. Even if you're a couple,
it might be worth watching a film that you like watching. Obviously, there's normal TV
as well. There is actually HDMI connection in the DVD player as well, so you can maybe
bring your Amazon TV. We didn't. Or, you could also bring in games consoles as well. Some
lodges come with them, but if you wanted to bring your own you can. We actually don't
because it's quite nice to have a break from that kind of technology for us and the kids.
But if you want to, you can. Another thing that we like to bring is board
games. It's really nice in the evening to play a game as a family. You bond together.
We brought Fortnite Monopoly, which the boys have loved but I haven't got a clue what I'm
doing. And things like Guess Who? and stuff like that. Cards or board games is a good
one. We also brought tinfoil and Tupperware as well so that we can use tinfoil for cooking
or wrapping things up. Tupperware as well, because sometimes we'll make sandwiches and
take them out with us. Or if you have leftovers, it's quite nice to have a place to put them.
Now for a few general Center Parcs tips. When it comes to activities, don't feel like you
have to book loads. When we first came, I think we booked one to two activities a day
and our kids were very young and didn't really appreciate them. They just love the swimming.
The swimming is probably enough if your children are very young. Now that they're a bit older,
our Oldest two are eight and five, they have really loved rock climbing. The tree trekking.
They like bowling and things like that. We've done a few other things, like an owl
encounter, which they just really didn't enjoy. And I have seen loads of little girls doing
pottery painting and seeming to love it. So, think about what your kids would really like.
Also, it's worth noting that they do get really tired when they're here. There's so much going
on that they may not want to have an action full packed day. One activity a day on top
of swimming is probably enough. If you do want to do that, like our kids love rock climbing,
so that kind of thing is worth pre-booking before you arrive because the activities do
get really busy, especially in the school holidays. I mentioned it earlier, but the
spa here is really amazing. It's called the Aqua Sana Spa. I would say I'm not a spa person.
I don't love going to Smile's and relaxing. But this one is really, really good. There
are loads of different rooms. They all have different smells and themes to them. We really,
really love it. Around the pool, You can book cabanas. It's
basically a space that has a TV, and you can order drinks and food I think and just have
a space to chill out by the pool. We booked this once. I think it was 50 pounds. We did
it because it was someone's birthday. But, because we hae very young children, it was
a total waste of money. It wasn't worth having. Because your kids just want to be on the water
slides and rapids and in the pool itself. So, you don't really use the cabana that much.
Maybe if you had teenage children or you were just a couple or you had a special occasion
it might be worth doing, but we thought it was a bit of a waste of money for us.
Our routine when we're at Center Parcs tends to be to wake up quite early and get straight
to swimming. It opens at 10:00 AM and it's probably its quietest from 10:00 to 11:00
AM. From 11:00 onwards, it does get very busy. We like to swim from like 10:00 to 11:00,
11:30, and then go for lunch quite early because lunch can also get busy in the restaurants.
The restaurants are really good here. The Pancake House is amazing. Our kids love it.
There's also Bella Italia. Huck's diner. There's loads of good restaurants. We tend to eat
lunch out at a restaurant and then have dinner in at the lodge because our kids are younger.
It's definitely worth bringing some money to have some meals out. There is a really
good night that our kids have loved. It is the magic show at the Pancake House. You definitely
have to pre-book this, because I think it gets quite busy. They basically get like a
carvery buffet of pudding and a magician walks around and does tricks, and then at the end
he does a really big show. Our children really like it. If you have a child that's like four
or five and over, they might like it as well. I think that's all the tips I want to share
with you. I hope you found this useful. Thank you so much for watching, and I will see you
soon. Bye, guys.