This is an epic and inspirational guest post from the fabulous Bella who blogs at at Free falling into 40? She absolutely gets how to hoave fun as a family on a budget and comes up with a pretend holiday that quite frankly sounds fabulous!
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Centerparcs at Home otherwise known as The Pretend Holiday
I do love a holiday, it?s just a shame they cost so much!
In September Pickle was due to start school.? As she was in Reception she started a couple of weeks later than everyone else, so we thought it would be nice to take a family holiday and one of my favourite places has always been Centerparcs.
We hadn?t been to Centerparcs since I found out I was pregnant with The Monster (23 months old now).? However I discovered that the cheapest price I could get for the accommodation we wanted and a 4 day stay was ?549. For me this was far too expensive for 4 days, bearing in mind that this only somewhere to sleep and make food, access to the roads, the forest and the swimming pools.? We would still have to buy food, eat out, pay for activities, hire bikes etc..? Incidentally, I looked up the date of half term and it would cost ?1149. A week later it?s ?419.? I know you parents with school age kids have been moaning about this for a while, but I now get you.? Daylight robbery.? Any way I digress.
So we sat, sadly, thinking about what we could do. My husband was working on the Tuesday so we couldn?t consider going overseas.? After some thought I then hit on a brain wave.? I wrote down all the things about Centerparcs that I like so much and then put together a list of activities on every day of the week that we could do that we would have done, had we been there.? We also chucked in some other activities that we would not have been able to do if we had been there. Here?s the list:
What do I like about Centerparcs and do we achieve it next week?
1.???????? We have accommodation nearby TICK
2.???????? We cycle as a family TICK
3.???????? We go swimming TICK
4.???????? The kids can do creative things TICK
5.???????? Mummy can have a treatment. NO TICK
6.???????? Daddy can do something new NO TICK
7.???????? We can eat out a lot TICK
8.???????? We can do soft play TICK
9.???????? We can see some nature TICK
What else can we think about doing that we can?t do at Centerparcs?
1.???????? See a movie on the big screen
2.????? ???Go to a museum with dinosaurs
3.???????? Go to Legoland
What should the rules be when we are at home?
1.???????? No excessive tidying or cleaning in the house.
2.???????? Glass of wine to be poured at every opportunity.
3.???????? No clothes washing unless absolutely necessary
4.???????? Kids can stay up late
5.???????? We should watch some new movies on DVD together
6.???????? Easy meals??..either out or quick to cook.
I did some research, figured it all out and then wrote an email to my hubby with all the information above and an itinerary.
So I booked the time off and this is what we did.
Monday
We took The Monster to his first swimming lesson, but I also went in bedside the training pool with Pickle and after his lesson the four of his swam together.? It was a lot of fun and reminded me of why I need to make more time to do this.
We had about 3 hrs to kill before Pickle?s swimming lesson in the afternoon and the original plan was still up in the air, trip around Kew or to the London Wetland Center in Sheen. In the end, hubby took the bull by the horns and suggested we go into central London to see the Olympic parade. It was only 19 min on the train from where we were. The kids loved the train ride and the sights on the way and the parade was fab and emotional and I took lots of photos. We had to leave with just 3 coaches to go in order to make it back in time.
We got back for Pickles swimming lesson and then took two very exhausted children home.
Swimming together and watching the Olympic parade was a resounding success, but would have been equally enjoyable had we gone to Kew or the Wetland centre.
Tuesday
First on our list was soft play. There is a lot of soft play at Centerparcs and it?s just sort of there in every area of the park. I don?t pay to go to soft play very often because my children never have great experiences normally but Pickle had really enjoyed it on the three occasions we had been to Centerparcs.
I chose a massive soft play at Syon Park that we?ve been to for parties and arrived not long after it opened. It was relatively quiet as schools had gone back and both kids had an absolute ball in several sections of the place, including outside and it was rounded off nicely but a dance and music class happening in the under 5?s section with a teacher.? It was exactly the sort of thing I would have paid for at Centerparcs. At midday we left after we bought a tractor for TM (?2.40) and a doll for P (?1.20). As we couldn?t eat our packed lunch in there we went to the Garden Centre next door, had some yummy drinks with our packed lunch and then finished it off by a trip around the fish section looking at Koi and other exotic fish. The kids thoroughly enjoyed this bit and I remember paying about ?10 to see something similar on The Isle of Wight and it had cost nothing.
In the afternoon we did a craft that I had pre-planned. TM wasn?t very keen and wandered off about 10 min (to do a massive squelchy poo, as it turned out) but P loved it. It was great to do this with her.? The craft was chosen from RedTedArts blog and she was delighted to see the result.
Soft play and crafting day was voted the best day by the kids.
Wednesday
Hubby borrowed a friend?s bike which had a toddler seat on the back and met Pickle and I in Twickenham where I had my Brompton fold up bike and her little bike.? The four of us set off along the Thames path from Twickenham to Richmond and stopped for our lunch at a play area.? Hubby wasn?t very well but hung on and then he rode back with The Monster to take the bike back and drive home and Pickle and I rode into Richmond town and watched ?Brave? which she loved.? We then rode to where we had left a car early in the day (we took both cars out initially) and then headed off home, with Pickle talking nonstop about the movie.
For me, I thoroughly enjoyed the bike ride. It was safe along the Thames path and was lots of fun, spotting wildlife and getting some fresh air.? Pickle would probably say the movie was the best bit.
Thursday
It was Legoland day. We arrived and safely navigated the car parks arriving with two excited children (well, one really. The Monster had no idea what the heck was going on). First stop was the Stars Wars exhibit, which we loved but Pickle had no idea what it was. Then we got the train down (little train) and went to Duplo world where the kids played, watched a theatre show and we ate at a buffet. Then onwards Pickle to get her driver?s licence and The Monster to sleep.
. At this point I was fairly unimpressed with Legoland. The sculptures were weather worn and looked tired, the food options were a bit slap dash and we found the maps difficult to follow and therefore did quite a bit of walking. As well as all that Atlantis was shut so we couldn?t go on the submarine (whatever that was).
Things did pick up though and Pickle ended up going on tonnes of rides with each of us. Swings, Carousel, Knight Train, Spinning Spider and then eventually the Viking ride where she and hubby got drenched. In between there were a few traditional play parks and we had lots of fun playing on it, doing a pirate training course and watching others on rides that were too scary for us. There wasn?t a lot for The Monster to go on and he got quite fed up being left out, well, actually he screamed a lot if he saw Pickle on anything. Especially the helicopters, because I had initially thought he could go on it, but he wasn?t tall enough.
We left the Viking ride at 4.50pm which gave us 10 minutes to dash down to mini world where Countries of the World are on display in full Lego splendour. We took loads of fab photos and then headed back to the car as the park was closing.
We honestly thought the kids would fall asleep en-route to Windsor for a restaurant meal, but they made it and we de-camped to Pizza Express right outside the castle. We were prepared to deal with a meltdown from one or both kids but they were brilliant and we had a lot of laughs and we left to get home about 7.30pm.
Journey home was a result too, because they both stayed awake, Pickle making up THE most ridiculous songs on the way home, keeping us all laughing and most importantly keeping her brother awake long enough for us to sling them into bed when we got back just after 8pm.
This was a fantastic day, more for Pickle than anyone else but I would definitely go again and 1 day was enough.
Friday ? the last day
On this day we had a trip into London (short side trip to buy Pickle new tap shoes) and off to see The Dinosaurs at The Natural History Museum.
Pickle needed convincing as it had been nearly 2 years since she?d last seen the animatronics T Rex. Eventually she agreed and we headed down the dark path to see him gnashing his teeth. She squealed, she hid behind legs, but she eventually looked and took it all in. The Monster just leant forward in the buggy and said ?Rarrrrrrrrrr? at it. Hubby and I quite enjoyed it, I like to suspend disbelief and imagine it chasing me down.? Get?s the heart racing and let?s be honest, I have to get my thrills somehow.
Lunch in the restaurant and an ice-cream and then off to the Science Museum which is right next door. We got in and then immediately had to go the basement for nappy changing (TM) and toilet breaks (the other 3 of us). By the time I emerged we discovered TM?s toy dog had been lost so I had to retrace our footsteps and discovered him propped up on a curb around the corner.
Then straight down to the basement where all the interactive stuff is. Both kids had fun with all the sound stuff then they each donned a plastic bib and headed straight to the water play where they spent the next 20minutes. A quick dabble with the giant Lego and we headed home.
Both kids loved the dinosaurs and the Science museum.? Ending with the Science museum was a good move as most people had left and there was just so much for them to do.
It was a fantastic day and I?ve just asked Pickle (nearly 2 months later) and she said THIS was the best day.? I?m remembering being pretty sad the week was over.
The verdict
Well we did the maths and worked out we had spent about ?200 on our Pretend Holiday.? This includes all of the entry costs, travel, food during the week (even at home) and the costs in Legoland (the biggest outlay).? So we saved ?349 by choosing to have our Pretend holiday and frankly I think I enjoyed it as much, if not more than if I had done it at Centerparcs. The military planning of it helped because both hubby and I knew what the plan was each day and there were no arguments about it.
Would I do it again?? Yes, in a heartbeat.? I think I?d book an away holiday and then do this as my 2nd holiday in a year which would keep costs down but still be as fun.? Holidays at home can be brilliant; it just takes a little planning.
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Links to the days (done it a rush or exhaustion, so not perfectly written)
https://freefallinginto40.wordpress.com/2012/09/10/day-1-of-our-pretend-holiday/
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https://freefallinginto40.wordpress.com/2012/09/11/day-2-of-our-pretend-holiday-soft-play-and-arts-and-crafts/
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https://freefallinginto40.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/day-3-of-our-pretend-holiday-cycling/
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https://freefallinginto40.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/day-4-of-our-pretend-holiday-legoland/
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Love you Bella for sharing this awesome post with us?thank you!
https://freefallinginto40.wordpress.com/2012/09/14/day-5final-day-of-our-pretend-holiday-london-museums/
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Source: http://family-budgeting.co.uk/2013/01/23/centerparcs-at-home-otherwise-known-as-the-pretend-holiday/
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