Taking a toddler to Center Parcs Woburn
This weekend we are at Center Parcs Woburn. This is our 6th visit to Center Parcs, and my daughters 3rd visit. So you could call us Center Parcs veterans. Although this is our first visit to Woburn, as all of our previous trips have been to Sherwood. We decided to visit Woburn as it’s closest to London, and also we wanted to visit a different park. A couple of people have asked me to share my experiences of taking a toddler to Center Parcs, so here goes.
- Swim-a-song. We really enjoyed taking our daughter to this activity. This is quite simply a bit like Waterbabies, where you splash about in the pool with your child, sing songs, and encourage them to swim for a toy. The session is held over two days, so that your child can learn from the experience.
- The pool. There is something here for everyone. There’s the slides, wave machine and river rapids. We enjoyed taking our little one to the toddler pool where she could play with water toys and giant foam teddy bears. The lazy river is also really nice and our daughter really enjoyed floating along with us, but just watch out for the older children in the rubber rings.
- Bike hire. We hired two bikes, one with a toddler seat and a normal mountain bike. I didn’t realise that our daughter would love sitting on the back of the bike so much. Throughout our stay she has constantly asked for a bike ride, loves the helmet and points at the bike a lot.
- Baby owls. This is something that we did at Sherwood, but I wanted to include it in this post as it is available at Woburn too. It’s a great experience for toddlers to hold or touch an owl, plus it’s an experience for the parents to hold an owl too!
- Wildlife. There is so much wildlife right outside your front door or patio door. We have seen pheasants, ducks, moorhens, and squirrels. This provides constant entertainment for our daughter, who waves and squarks at the wildlife until it disappears from her view.
- Hire a boat. We hired an electric boat and cruised around the lake for 30 minutes. It’s such a relaxing activity to do, and we spent the time watching the ducks and people coming down the zip wire.
- The beach. Our daughter loved the beach and the lakeside. She really liked paddling in the water in her wellies, and feeding the ducks her biscuits. You can also take a bucket and spade along and build a sandcastle or two.
- Toddler friendly restaurants. We’ve enjoyed lunch out twice so far and all the restaurants are really child friendly. They all have children’s menus usually with a meal deal which is great for slightly older children. But, if your toddler doesn’t eat all the food, this leaves more food for you. Also all the restaurants have a baby station with complimentary Ellas Kitchen pouches and Heinz baby food jars.
- Soft play and play parks. Attached to all restaurants is soft play or a play park. This was perfect when our daughter was getting slightly restless, or they allowed us to have a drink in peace for a couple of minutes.
- No cars. Once all the cars are back in the car park after the mass arrival on Friday, there are no cars in the park at all. Making it really safe for little ones, and also provides the confidence that you can cycle on the roads car free.
That’s my experiences so far of Center Parcs with a toddler. We are halfway through our stay, and have a really busy day today with more swimming, a horse and cart ride, and football. Watch this space for a more detailed write up of our experience at Center Parcs Woburn. So far we are loving it! Thanks Center Parcs Woburn.
Claire x
2 Comments
Mess and merlot
Ooh I am just down the road from you! Have a lovely time x
Jo (Mother of Teenagers)
So glad you had a lovely time. The last time I was at Centre Parcs my teens were toddlers and now I am going back this year to Woburn with my youngest teen and my god-daughters aged 8-11 – it will be interesting to experience it with older kids in tow! Look forward to hearing what you thought of it in comparison to the other parcs.