Going to Center Parcs is a great way to have a holiday as a family but as with all holidays they sadly need to come to an end at some point. So what happens when it comes to checking out and leaving your chosen Center Parcs village?
The day you leave Center Parcs
Your checkout day will be either a Monday or a Friday? This is because breaks will likely fall into one of three categories:
The day you leave Center Parcs
Your checkout day will be either a Monday or a Friday? This is because breaks will likely fall into one of three categories:
- Monday to Friday
- Friday to Monday
- Or a 7 day break (Monday to Monday / Friday to Friday)
So Monday and Fridays are 'change over days' which will have some implications for visitors to the village:
- The car park will open at 5am on the change over day allowing people checking out to grab their car and bring it up to their lodge to unpack
- Some activities will be unavailable as they would be unsafe to do while the park is busy with cars
- You can still cycle and walk around the park but there will be greatly increased traffic
- There will be cars littered about the Village pretty much all day as people pack and unpack
My personal advice
As a veteran of Center Parcs here is my approach the the change over day:
- Prepare the night before. Nobody wants their holiday to end but by spending 30 minutes to an hour the night before to pack up your suitcases, collet the toys together, get the kitchen semi in order. Bonus points for sorting the dreaded laundry for when you get home to hit the ground running.
- Get up early and collect your car. Parking spaces are limited around the village so I typically head down to the Center Parcs car park around 7am to get my car back to the lodge, packed up and back down to the car park no later than 8:30am.
- Be a courteous village guest. Leave the lodge presentable and as close to how you found it as possible. Stick the dishwasher on, sweep up and make sure the toilets are in decent order. The cleaning team will of course be in to turn around the lodge for the next lucky guests but make their job as easy as possible.
- Have a chill morning, my drive home from my nearest Village is around 2 hours so I take some time to relax before heading up the road
You need to 'checkout' your lodge no later than 10am. This doesn't mean you need to leave Center Parcs as soon as you checkout, in fact you can stay on the Village until 10pm so keep a hold of those wrist bands for now. They'll come in handy.
Activities for your last day at Center Parcs
At 10am the village is quite chaotic. My tip would be to find something to keep you busy for a wee while before the drive home. Here are a few departure day activities you can do:
- Swimming. The Subtropical Swimming Paradise at Center Parcs is a great way for kids to burn some energy before the drive home. The pool opens at 10am.
- Pool, no not the swimming pool. Play a few frames of pool for a relaxed way to kill some time at Center Parcs.
- Relax by the lake. Grab a coffee and sit by the lake, take in the fresh air.
- Badminton. Another good way to expend some energy and prep for the drive home.
Activities for your last day at Center Parcs
Leaving Center Parcs is always sad. But what better way to get over the holiday blues than to book another break at a Center Parcs village?
Even better Center Parcs will give you the Come Back Soon Offer which is valid up to 31 days after your stay. The Come Back Soon offer includes:
- A £50 discount off your next break. To be honest not a huge saving but every little helps right?
- The price promise. This is huge. You can book way in advance with confidence that if you see the same break offered at a lower price than you paid, Center Parcs will refund the difference back to you, no quibbles. How do you know if the price being offered is lower than the price you paid? Use our Come Back Soon Tracker service to get an email alert when the price of your booking has decreased.
- No amendment fees. This allows you to make amendments to your Center Parcs booking (for example changing the date, village or lodge type) up to seven days before your arrival date with no additional fee.
Leaving Center Parcs is always tough but hopefully our hints and tips above make it a little less painful (and stressful for you).
Are there any tips you would add for Center Parcs departure day.?
Are there any tips you would add for Center Parcs departure day.?
