Last week our family set off to Center Parcs in Longford Forest. The weekend before that, the launch event took place but the official opening of the park was Monday 29th July. It was a last minute break we booked to be honest. As I have been to Center Parcs myself as a child, I wanted my own kids to experience this adventure,too.
Center Parcs Longford Forest is pretty much located in the dead centre of Ireland. It is just over an hour’s drive for us which is not bad at all. Ballymahon is the closest town to the resort. You can arrive early in the morning but you are only able to vacate your lodge at 3pm. However you can pay extra to check into the lodge at 2pm. We aimed to be there for 2pm so we could unload the car and just enjoy the rest of the day in the Village Square. The car has to be dropped back to the car park by 10pm. It means there won’t be any cars around for the rest of the break.
Before we arrived, we booked a few activities on the Center Parcs Ireland website spread across our four nights break. I also booked a restaurant on the Monday evening as after traveling and all, I don’t think I would have been up to cooking in the lodge. Bella Italia was the restaurant that evening. You will be charged a €5 deposit per person as you book which will then be deducted from your final bill.
Our first activity, pedal boat, was booked for 3.30pm. You get to spend thirty minutes on the lake. It was tough, I am not going to lie but it was a good work out and the legs were sore the next day. When you go on the lake, each person has to wear a vest in case one falls into the water. Safety first. You’ll make your way to the platform where somebody will be able to help you to get into the boat. We got so lucky with the weather last week. It was sunny and roasting most of the time. As far as I can remember, it was raining only once for a few minutes one day.
After the pedal boat, daddy purchased a bucket and spade each for the kids and we spent some time at the beach. The kids enjoyed building sand castles, digging holes and filling them with water. I’d say it is one of the things they loved doing the most. They also put their feet into the water and Matthew ended up with wet shorts. Fun was had for sure. Matthew and I walked back to the lodge to change his clothes, before we headed back into the Village Square to meet hubby and Chloe for dinner. We did pay extra for a lodge closer to the village. Chloe is not the biggest fan of walking with her tiny little legs.
Once our bellies were filled (with yummy mini donuts dunked in chocolate), we picked up a few bits from the Parc Market, such as little jams, crisps etc. The market has its own trolleys available for the kids. In case you are wondering, the prices are the same like in any other super market in Ireland.
As we had a lodge with three bedrooms, the original plan was to give the kids a bedroom each. However Matthew and Chloe wanted to give it a go and sleep in the same room. Apart from the ensuite bedroom, each bedroom has two single beds. So you could easily fit six people into the lodge. Surprisingly they both went to sleep each night no problem. We didn’t have to lay with Chloe and they slept in until 8 or 9am. Mostly because they went to bed very late every night.
Day Two – The next day we started off with a nice breakfast in the lodge. We then got ready and put our swimming costumes on to try out the Subtropical Paradise everyone was raving about. The changing rooms divide into single and family. The lockers close with the wristband you get with your lodge. Even if you don’t remember the number of your locker, there are a few screens attached to the locker sections to tell you which locker you put your clothes into.
The dome is massive. The kids wouldn’t be bored at all. There is a section particularly for babies and toddlers and another one for older kids. They all have their own slides too. As the day went on, Matthew got braver and went down all the kids slides, too. Chloe and I went off to explore the grounds. The main pool area had waves every thirty minutes. I went off on my own as well to try out the bigger slides as well as the Wild Water Rapids. I have to say that was fun. It’s not just for kids. In fact they only allow certain ages on it, mainly who can swim I’d imagine and no swim armbands.
For lunch we tried out the Pancake House on the Waterfront. Matthew had a pancake filled with sausages and beans. I had a stack of pancakes with fruit compot and Chloe enjoyed some plain pasta with butter and cheese. Most of the restaurants do a meal deal for kids which includes a drink, a main meal and dessert. It is reasonable priced too. Dessert was an ice cream of course.
At 2pm we had booked the Mini Captain’s Adventure for the two. We got an introduction how things work when on the lake. Each child got a map with a pen. The mission is to find all six buoys and write down what they can see on each one of them. Matthew was really good at interacting with the instructor. One of my children is definitely not shy. At the end they could keep the captain’s hat and also received a badge to say they completed the adventure.
Tuesday was probably our busiest day of them all. At 4pm we had booked another activity. This time it was located in the Outdoor Activity Centre which is just around the corner from the Waterfront. The activity was called Off-Road Explorer. In a nutshell the kids get to drive a small car around a track collecting animals puzzles and at the end, just like at the Mini Captain’s Adventure, they receive a badge to say they completed the task. Our instructor was very good with the kids. Before heading off, each child needed to drive one lap to prove to him they can manage while out there. This activity is aimed at children from the age of three to seven. Matthew had no bother going around and didn’t crash once. Though I did press the button numerous times to stop so we could collect the puzzle piece.
That evening we took it easy and had dinner in the lodge. Just to save a few bobs really as you can imagine eating out all the time is quite expensive. Before we made our way to Center Parcs, I went to Tesco and picked up a few bits we could have while there. That evening we had a nice cottage pie. We chilled out a little bit on the couch and the kids watched some TV. The last thing on the list that evening was bowling. Chloe was determined to wear bowling shoes. They literally have every size available. She definitely killed it as she won. Beaten by a four year old. Afterwards we checked out the rest of the Sports Plaza which has several different sports to offer before heading off to bed.
Day Three – The next morning I dropped down to the local market to pick up some chocolate croissants, just so we have a treat breakfast for once. After breakfast we walked down to the cycle centre. This is where were meeting one of the staff members for our Creepy Crawlie adventure. Both kids love looking at creatures and bugs and so I knew this would be the perfect activity for them. We were kindly greeted by Adele who was guiding us through the woods. Each child was given a magnifying glass and a glass where we could capture a creature one at a time.
We discovered spiders, ladybirds, centipedes and much more. The area we were in, normally has a lot of tiny little frogs too but because it hasn’t rained that much, the ground was too dry and we didn’t get to spot any. Adele was very good and explained each creature to the children. We got to keep the glass to spot our own creatures at home and collected another badge. Even the grown ups received one.
Back we went to the lodge to have some lunch and a bit of down time. We’ve done so much in the last two days, that we needed a little break and just sit down and do nothing. Chloe wanted go off swimming again. She must have got a taste of it now. We all got dressed and headed down to the pool. Closer to dinner time we left to go the Sports Cafe for something to eat. This is the only place that doesn’t require a booking. The Sports Cafe has a big adventure playground attached. It also has a soft play area in the back. The kids were in it for a very long time and didn’t want to get out.
After dinner we booked a table tennis table for half an hour. Hubby and I tried to have a game but it’s hard when you have two kids running around. In the end we made Chloe the ball girl and Matthew was playing alongside me. He seems to have more talent for tennis as he hits the balls like a tennis racket. I do prefer table tennis myself because it is less running.
Day Four – On our last full day we had booked the Adventure Golf down at the Waterfront. But first some breakfast and a coffee to get the energy levels up. The mini golf has 9 holes and each one has beautiful wooden carved animals such as butterflies and rabbits.
When we all finished up on the last hole, we walked back to the lodge to have some lunch. On the way there, we stopped at another playground which is on the other side of the Village Square. Hubby let them play for a little bit longer while I went back to prepare lunch. We ate outside this time. Matthew settled down to play Nintendo Switch on the couch for a while. Chloe wanted to go into the forest located at the back of our lodge to spot some more creatures. We did find one and released him later on.
Later on Chloe wanted to go swimming one last time. Matthew wasn’t too keen on going and so he spent some one on one time with daddy. Only the girls went off to splash fun. Chloe’s favourite part is definitely the Lazy River. It just goes round and round. She also got brave and started jumping into the waves in the main pool area. As dinner time was approaching, we dropped back the swimming gear and got ready to head out to eat one last time. We should have booked in advanced really. We ended up in the Sports Cafe again as everywhere else was booked. In the American restaurant Huck’s there was a girl making balloon figures. Matthew wanted a sword and Chloe a gun. I am surprised she didn’t want a cat or some other animal.
It was getting late but we did promise the kids we would have marshmallows and melted chocolate over the BBQ. So at 10pm at night I lit the BBQ and we had yummy marshmallow. The BBQ, marshmallows and melted chocolate can be purchased in the Parc Market. It was a good way to end our break in Center Parcs Longford.
Day Five – Departure day. We had to leave the Woodland Lodge by 10am but could roam around the park until the evening time. So we picked all our bits and cleaned up the accommodation a bit. Hubby loaded everything into the car and checked us out at the cycle centre. The car was left there until we leave Center Parcs. The kids and I sat down in the Sports Cafe once again to have, which was brunch, at that stage. Matthew and Chloe had a fry and hubby and I treated ourselves to Belgian waffles. Afterwards they ran off some energy in the soft play area.
Matthew really wanted to go on the lake one last time. Chloe wasn’t a fan of the life jackets and so she stayed behind. We booked an electric boat this time. It might be more expensive than a pedal one but it is so much more relaxing steering left and right with a press of a button.
I brought the buckets and spades with me in a bag so the kids could play on the beach again. Chloe didn’t want to go swimming again. I went off on my own this time and went down the slides and Wild Water Rapids like a big child one last time. It was coming towards lunch time. We decided on either picking something up in the shop and have it in the car or each out one last time. We went for the eating out option. One of the places we didn’t get to try, was Cara’s Kitchen. Matthew had a burger, Chloe had fish fingers, hubby had a salad and I had a pizza.
On the way back to the car park, we stopped off in the Treats shop beside the swimming pool and had a last sneaky ice cream. This brought us to the end of our well deserved and enjoyed break.
