When you start a family and your baby eventually grows into a wide eyed toddler, many parents look forward to the magic out there to experience and being able to see it all through their eyes. I imagine most parents have certain book-it list trips in mind that one day they will take with their little ones, and Disney has got to be up there for many.
Pre-kids, I had been with friends and had an entirely different experience full of big thrills and laughter, but you'd more likely find me in a cool new European city or far flung beach somewhere. But fast forward to having two toddlers at home becoming interested in Disney but being in seemingly never ending pandemic induced lockdowns and I vowed to them that one day soon we would take them to see the famous castle and characters they'd seen on TV.
We've clocked up many miles whilst our children have been small but our adventures have not been of the far flung exotic location kind, involving countless stressful hours on airport floors and cramped aeroplanes. Instead, we have been exploring an entirely different way of going places on domestic shores. We found the resulting chaos in the travel industry post-pandemic entirely off-putting at a time when our family was young and we needed travel to be as easy as possible.
Even though as our children have grown we need a lot less stuff, as gone are the nappies, buggies, travel cots and the like, but we still invariably end up taking a fair bit of stuff for the four of us. The kids have their favourite toys and comfort items and, especially if traveling in this country, we need to pack a variety of gear, including warm coats, rain wear, swimwear, many types of shoes and everything in between. I know we could ditch some of this stuff and manage but everyone being too warm/wet/cold is not much fun, so we don't tend to compromise. The time will come again for packing light but that time is not yet my friends.
Hence our planning to go to Disney whilst still embracing travel but with some home comforts, and so we packed the car high and off we went. We looked at various options such as the ferry, which you can take from various points in the UK and with a ferry port in Hull it would been mighty convenient but you pay for it with high prices. We also explored taking the train all the way down to Euston and then Eurostar across, which I had also done before and I'm sure the kids would have loved. Alas the timings etc did not work for us this time and so we looked at crossing further down south, utilising staying with family to help make it more accessible.
With all that in mind, we liked the idea of taking Le Shuttle, a double decker train which you can drive onto and allows you to cross the channel in 30 minutes. Cue the cutest imaginations kicking in about it being like the tunnel at the aquarium where you can see the fishes above you. Ah bless. The reality was much more industrial (and dark) but it is quite an adventure in itself driving onto a train.
We drove down the day before and stayed over nearby, meaning the start wasn't too early but meant we could book an early-ish crossing to Calais and get on with our holiday. I had spent a couple of weeks preparing busy bags for the kids to use in the car, full of older toys they hadn't seen for ages and new colouring books, sticker books, playdoh, activities, fidgets and snacks. Lots of snacks. The kids were so excited to play with them we barely heard a peep out of them on the first day. The second day required the use of some audio books, car bingo and music to get through, but honestly they were so good on the long journeys.
However it didn't go completely to plan with a delayed entry to Le Shuttle due to border delays, despite leaving the required hour they recommend and a bit more for a buffer. Our experience was that you need at least 1.5 to 2 hours really (although no more than 2 hours as they won't let you), as it does get very busy, and we didn't even get chance to stop in the port to get a coffee!
We missed our slot by some margin but as it wasn't our fault they promised to get us on the next available one when we'd gotten through the queues but it did add an extra hour or so on top of what we expected and of course slowed us down.
Luckily we had allowed some wiggle room and we were still on course to get to our destination early afternoon. Once we reached Calais, we drove off the train and hit the road with no further need for border checks, The roads were straight, fast and clear - an absolute dream and in 3 hours we had reached the outskirts of Paris, a few minutes from Disney.
But where were we staying? It was another major decision for us, hand in hand with home comforts and travel, was to ensure we had some facilities on site to make it easier for our young family. We explored Eurocamp and saw some fab options but by the time we were looking many of the lodges and cabins had gone, and we haven't yet gotten set up for camping trips. Moreover we like to ensure it feels like a holiday for us but it being a bit like home for us all too, with beds and walls and showers. :)
So then the best option for us was to stay at Centerparcs in France and as luck would have it, there is one 10 minutes away from Disneyland Paris! Villages Natures Paris has everything the UK Centerparcs has and more, and we were won over by the look of the comfort lodges that offer privacy and quiet, plus the Aqua Mondo, which has the same tropical dome and some really rather fab outdoor pools complete with slides. It had a range of activities for the kids to enjoy no matter the weather, including a huge, amazing soft play and a farm onsite with horseriding and animal petting. A lake with boats, huge play parks and lots of paths for bike rides and walks. Plus the array of restaurants and shops all catering so well to families. We were sold and it was also cheaper than the UK prices for the summer holidays too!
The same as the UK Centerparcs, you can arrive earlier than check in to enjoy the facilities, and the fact the sun was shining once we reached Village Natures was a bonus, We really felt the holiday had begun and the long journey was behind us. We had packed a separate swim bag so we could leave our luggage in the car and dived into Aqua Mondo to enjoy ourselves. We loved the outdoor pools and rapids in the sunshine but could also head inside to cool off and use the great slides too.
As 4pm rolled around, we headed back to the car to drive to our lodge and unpack. We stayed in a 2 bed Comfort Cottage with everything we needed. It was clean, bright and spacious with two bathrooms, a kitchen and a terrace/garden outside. The site felt safe, clean and attractive with many families also staying but it wasn't too busy.
After unpacking we had a little explore, found the onsite shop to get basic groceries for our stay and found it to be very adequately stocked with some nice pre-prepared food options and a salad bar. There was also an on site boulangerie for fresh bread, croissants and lovely treats.
The next couple of days was spent enjoying more swimming, where you can easily spend the full day, as well as enjoying some sun, playing in the parks, bike riding and eating al fresco in the on site restaurants. The Italian and burger joint being our family favourites. We could have easily stayed on site for the whole holiday, as there was so much to do...but we had two rather big adventures to tick off our book-it lists nearby but you'll have to tune in for the next installment to hear about those....
Have you been to a European CenterParcs and how did you find it?
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