Center Parcs Felt Magical As A Kid. So What Happens When You Go Back Grown-Up?

Returning to Centre Parcs two decades onSome things belong in the past, and, for me, Center Parcs sat firmly in that box. Trips to Longleat Forest in Somerset, a woodland respite for the weary middle classes, were a staple of my childhood. Every year, my parents would cram my two brothers and I into a people carrier and shuttle us to the forest for a long weekend of recuperation, if not rest. We’d swim and cycle our way to exhaustion, returning to our villa for an evening barbecue in the forest. It sounds idyllic, and it was, mostly. But unlike other families, the reason we kept returning wasn’t just the draw of one more afternoon in the pool. My older brother has severe, non-verbal autism, which made going away hard. Routine was paramount, and new environments unwelcome, so foreign holidays were pretty much off the cards. Center Parcs became our haven. But, just like every other family, we grew up. I went to university, my older brother left home, and my younger brother moved abroad, taking the prospect of more family holidays with him. My parents swapped trudging up the hills of Longleat for sipping Aperol in Lanzarote. Until, earlier this year, I got a message from my Mum. “Would you like to go to Center Parcs in June?”Would I like to go to Center Parcs? Not likely. We’d not been for nearly a decade, it’s expensive, and we’d outgrown it – what would there be to do? Yet, I found myself replying “yes” almost instantly, the idea of a blast down memory lane too good to turn down. Apparently, I’m far from alone. Millennials and Gen Z are craving the comfort of nostalgic holidays; Center Parcs says a quarter of the one and a half million adults who visit each year also came as children. However en vogue nostalgic trips are, I still wasn’t sure it would work for us. As I’ve explained, we’re not your average family, and our lives had changed massively since our last visit. Even the journey there was complicated; the people carrier was swapped for a clean sweep of planes, trains and automobiles, with all five of us travelling from different places. For me, that meant a 4.30 AM alarm and a train to London to catch a lift with my Dad. Once we’d arrived, the first place we headed was the pool. From the moment I set foot in The Plaza, home to Longleat’s giant swimming complex, I felt a familiar blast of humidity, smelt a faint waft of chlorine and started to believe this trip was a good idea. Before I knew it, we were bombing down slides and riding the wild water rapids like ten minutes had passed, not ten years. We also made good a previously unfulfilled childhood dream by getting a poolside Cabana, a private hut with a TV and mini fridge, which provided a luxurious space to relax away from the bustle of kids hurling themselves down slides. The place was largely unchanged, but its new no cash policy caused my brother great distress by putting paid to his old hobby of scouring the bottom of the pool for loose change to spend on pick ‘n’ mix. The most frustrating difference was the smartphones. A swimming pool full of rambunctious kids is never going to be a calm place, but it’s much more relaxing when you’re not incessantly dodging everyone else’s family photos. And to the lady on FaceTime on the rapids, I’m sure you had a nice time showing your partner/friend/family member every twist and turn of the course, but us chumps bundling up behind you were less than impressed. I sense Center Parcs is railing against this always-on culture though. The place is completely devoid of phone signal (although the WiFi is pretty good) and everything closes at 10pm. A stark contrast with the outside world.On previous visits, Center Parcs’ American diner Hucks was a Saturday night staple, so returning was a must.For a very adult twist on our past trips, we spent an evening at the on-site spa. We turned up with books and headphones, expecting a pool and some sun loungers, but found a moody labyrinth of saunas and steam rooms: a feast for the senses, a cleanser for the body, and a welcome rest. On a site purpose-built for families, the spa could easily have been an afterthought, but the quality of the experience underlines that Longleat really is a viable place for an adult break. But will I be coming back every year? No. The brutal truth is, just like your birthday, Center Parcs gets less exciting as you get older. As your horizons broaden, your sense of wonder shrinks – a rule which still applies at Longleat, unfortunately. A woodland walk which felt like a marathon for my eight year old legs took ten minutes this time around, and the swimming pool I once saw as a watery Hogwarts no longer had the same magical qualities. That said, most of these changes have nothing to do with Center Parcs and everything to do with my maturity. Longleat has been well maintained, and while remarkably little has been added since our last visit, the place doesn’t feel stuck in the past, making it the perfect location for a live reenactment of previous family holidays. We still had a great time, and spent four quality days together, a rare thing. My older brother’s love affair with Longleat was rekindled straight away, so he had no problems being far from home. He will be back soon. While so much in our lives has changed, Center Parcs has stayed largely the same.In a rapidly evolving world, that’s no bad thing. Related...I Went On A Sexual Wellness Retreat. 5 Words Landed Me Back In Therapy.I Was A Cruise Holiday Sceptic. 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