Long Weekend at Center Parcs - Feb 2025
28 February 2025
Spent a lovely long weekend at Sherwood Forest Center Parcs to finish off the Feb Half Term. I always seem to book a few too many activities in though!
This time we did:
Friday:
? Swimming - The Swimming pool was very busy when we went on the Friday, less so on the Sunday - but the girls didn't care and still loved it and always managed to get a changing room/locker.
? Hair Braiding - My 7yr old was very keen on this or face painting, I figured this would be better value for money......Not sure on that, it took about 5 mins and they basically plaited 3 strings of wool around her hair! Could've done this myself!
? Pickleball - This was a new activity for us, the bats (not rackets as no strings!) are a bit like Padel bats, but the ball is plastic with holes in it. A Fun activity that the 7yr and 3yr old could join in with, but the ball didn't bounce enough for me!
Saturday:
? Beacon's Owl Crafts - Another new activity, based on the theme of the Winter Forest Lights (more on that later). We were the only ones on this activity, so it lacked atmosphere, but the pixie, Bluebell was great, and the girls did 3 craft activities, the first (and best) was decorating a light up owl with crafty bits (including glitter ?? IYKYK!), then decorating a wooden owl decoration, followed by making an owl dreamcatcher. My youngest didn't have time to finish hers so Bluebell gave us the rest of the pack which included 2 new dreamcatchers to make at home, which was great!
? Frosty Cupcake Decorating - Last year we did cupcake decorating but with an easter theme, this year I booked both girls onto it, and again we were the only ones at this activity! (I think the price of these extra activities is becoming very prohibitive for people). Our helper was great and patient with our 3yr old, and its a lovely activity, but a bit overpriced for what it is.
? Squash Family Ball Wall - We always enjoyed this activity each time we come to Center Parcs, and this year was no exception. Easy games projected on the 'wall' of the squash court that interacts when you throw/kick balls at it - everyone can get involved, and there are sound effects/music too, as well as the colourful projections, so its great fun (and great for tiring out the kids!!). The projector was slightly broken on our visit so we got half of our cost back which was a nice touch, as again, its quite pricey at £20 for 45mins.
Sunday:
? Mini Ballerinas - My 3yr old has recently started dance lessons at her big sisters dance school, so she was VERY excited to do this class 'by herself'. Miss Amy was fantastic, engaging with the kids, nice mixture of ballet and letting them just dance around, as well as learning a few steps to music. It was in one of the dance studios so room for additional parents to watch and space for buggies for siblings etc too.
? More Swimming! - Our eldest loved the wave pool and wanted to do the rapids as she’s previously been on the lazy river at a different water park and thought they were the same, but I had been on the rapids before and don’t think she was a strong enough swimmer for it – plus it was SO busy on the rapids it was bordering on being unsafe in my opinion. Our youngest loved the slides in the baby pool, and literally went round in circles down the slide, what felt like, 100 times!!
? Archery (Little Outlaws) – This activity was for age 3 upwards, but I only booked our eldest on it, she’d enjoyed it a couple of years ago, and did again today. Its quite a quick activity as only 30mins, but really good fun with a little story at the beginning to give some context, there were 4 other children taking part, so more of an atmosphere and a great leader again too.
? Short Tennis – Played on the same courts as pickleball, but with short handled tennis rackets and sponge balls. Our 7yr old loved playing this and (luckily) our 3 yr old loved being the ball girl!! The only problem is that all of the courts are open next to each other with a mixture of short tennis, pickleball and badminton being played, so balls were constantly going on other courts! Luckily we had a family next to us, so no one was concerned, but I can imagine if there were people playing without kids they would get annoyed pretty quickly!
? SPA – Saving the best activity until last, I booked in for an hours deep tissue massage at the Aqua Sana spa, which was really, really good. Next time, I would love to spend time in the actual spa – which seemed really busy for a Sunday night!!!
Like I said, a lot of activities, we also hired/took the kids’ bikes, which we didn’t use that much as our lodge was super close to the ‘village’ centre. We also ate out at Hucks American Bar and Grill, Bella Italia and (my favourite), Las Iguanas. All tasty, not busy and have a small soft play in each restaurant which amuses the kids whilst we wait for the food. All expensive, but we would make our own food in the self-catering lodge in the evenings/mornings.
Overall, a great trip, and loads of activities we haven’t tried! Though I’ve been researching more about the Center Parcs across Europe and how much better value these are, especially in the School Holidays!
