Yes, we went to Centre Parcs for our family holiday this summer. We went with our Aunt and Uncle as well as our Grandparents of our mothers side. Despite the many downsides of the holiday, it was a fun trip which was worth it. However I will point out the parts I did not like about it as well as the parts I did because I like to rant about these things.
+ Good Point
- Bad Point
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+ The rapids. At the pool, there were rapids. Rapids that left you with bumps, bruises and broken hips. You’d have to swim (or walk in my case) to the start through some lovely hot water, then climb over a wall in the pool to get into the cold water rapids. They were very fun, everyone seemed to enjoy them. You’d get stuck on the big slide and get whistled at by the lifeguards, but you’d also get pushed so hard that you can’t actually balance yourself in the calm parts and fall face first into the chlorinated pool. We even had a sort of catchphrase that we’d say on the rapids… “Where’s Dan?”, as we had to look after the littlest member of the group as he can’t quite reach the bottom of the pools. However Dan would usually be right in front of our noses and in actual fact we lost our granddad on the slides instead. We’d then later notice that he’s missing and eventually he’ll come out from the rapids a few minutes after we got out.
- Duvets wake you up in the night if you move too much in your sleep. I don’t think there is a way to stop yourself from moving in your sleep unless you tape yourself down to the bed and be left struggling in your sleep. However you’d think they’d provide some comforting duvets to that don’t make a loud crumpling noise if you move your leg or roll over while laying in your bed.
+ Wi-fi Hot Spots are Everywhere! This was especially good for me because I use an iPod Touch which needs access to the internet if I want to read my emails! I also had my A Level results come out on the Thursday and instead of driving home really early to get to college to receive them, I got up late and read them online to share with the family. I mean I didn’t even have to get out of bed to access the internet. This is the life!
- Cleaning Vans constantly driving by. As you would think, cleaning is essential on a holiday park and with Centre Parcs being so big and widespread, it would be handy to keep them clean. However on Monday and Friday they have an army of cleaners who clean everyone’s rooms while the occupants are coming to or going away from the park. Although annoyingly, they also have green vans that drive around all day everyday, never looking like they stop. Now this can get quite annoying especially if your one of the many people who hired a bike to cycle around on, because the last thing you want to cycle into, on your holiday, is a van full of cleaners. Although they would make your collision a little less messier… (I can imagine my nan saying ‘Oh dear…’ here followed by my aunt with an ‘Ooooohhh’ noise and everyone repeating her sound with my granddad, and uncle laughing in the background)
+ There are lots of things to do. Of course there are quite a lot of activities to participate in at Centre Parcs, which probably makes it so popular. I know that I am not one that would enjoy most of these activities being physically-disabled (not disabled as in CAN’T do it, disabled as in CAN’T BE BOTHERED to do it) but it does give other people the opportunity to excel in the activities they enjoy. I did quite like the swimming however… and the food.
- The hills. You can’t really avoid hills unless you build the park on a flat surface. I don’t mind the odd hill here and there but when you have to cycle up hill to get to the plaza and your not allowed to cycle down hill because it’s too steep, to get back home, then whats the point of cycling? Longleat certainly doesn’t provide you with a good flat surface to cycle on.
+ The restaurants had nice food. There was only one night where we ate in, but our aunt cooked Lasagna which I’m not going to comment on (not because I didn’t like it, because that wasn’t the point of this topic). Apart from that we ate at restaurants for our dinners, which were nice. I had a Veggie Lasagna on Tuesday (following the meat lasagna on Monday, cooked by our aunt, which I’m not choosing which was better because they are different meals), Veggie Nacho’s on Wednesday, and a Veggie Stack on rice on Thursday. I’d like to point out I’m not a Veggie, I just happen to like veggie meals more than meatie meals. Thursday, I had a starter, main course and pudding, which was really nice apart from the middle of the main course where I ate some seed that tasted of flowers. But I wasn’t supposed to eat that so technically I was to blame.
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I probably have other opinions although I’m pretty bored of writing right now, this is quite a long post. I’ll just finish with some highlights of the trip…
Loudest Scream: 10.30pm approx. by Sue, Mum and Dan after being scared of myself jumping at them from behind a tree in the dark.
Main Topic for Discussion: Discussion of Pensions and Will’s.
Most Used Question: Where’s Dan?
Amount of Dragonflies that can be found at Longleat: 10
Amount of Dragonfly Vans that can be found a Longleat: Too Many
Longest Wait for Train Service: 15 mins
Length of Time for Myself to Find House: 1.5 hours approx.
Amount of Pages Read on Holiday: 5
Times Woken Up by Duvet or Moving Mattress: 14
Hills Climbed: 15
Card Games Won: 8
Funniest Moment: Uncle Geoff calling out number on dice using Coins
Hours Spent on iPod Touch: 7.5 approx.
