There's nothing quite like arriving at your holiday park caravan to find that it is practically brand new. We've been digging around to find out which Parkdean Resorts sites have got the newest caravans for a 2023 summer holiday. Many were added in the last year or so as part of a big investment of 850 new caravans and lodges. Others were added in 2020 and 2021. We've listed the newest caravans at each Parkdean Resorts so you will know what you look for when you are booking. These are all caravans apart from the ones which we have labelled as lodges. Parkdean Resorts in Northern England with the newest caravans and lodgesParkdean Resorts has investigated significantly in its holiday parks in the north of England. By my count, there are 11 resorts with new caravans in the last few years. Out of these resorts, the most popular with customers are Church Point Holiday Park in Northumberland and Barmston Beach Holiday Park in Yorkshire. Both of these feature in the top 20 in our ranking of every Parkdean Resorts by customer review scores. Here they are, along with the names that you will see them listed as on the booking form: Barmston Beach Holiday Park, Yorkshire Burton Thornton Cayton Bay Holiday Park, Yorkshire Helmsley Whitby (Lodge) Ryedale Lodge Church Point Holiday Park, Northumberland Thirl Creswell Towers Holiday Park, Northumberland Hylton Cragside Crimdon Dene Holiday Park, County Durham Hamsterly Fallbarrow Holiday Park, Lake District Glenridding Ocean Edge Holiday Park, Lancashire Blackpool Regent Bay Holiday Park, Lancashire West Kirby Windsor Sandy Bay Holiday Park, Northumberland Paxton Skipsea Sands Holiday Park, Yorkshire Skell Aire Whitley Bay Holiday Park, Northumberland Embleton Longhoughton Parkdean Resorts in Scotland with the newest caravans and lodgesIf you want a Scottish Parkdean Resorts with new caravans then I would start with Eyemouth Holiday Park. It came in the top five in our guide to the best Parkdean Resorts according to customers. There are four other Parkdean Resorts in Scotland which have seen recent investment in new caravans or lodges. Here they are, along the with the names of the accommodation you will see on the booking form: Eyemouth Holiday Park, Scotland Berwickshire Southerness Holiday Park, Scotland Irvine Fiddich Tummel Valley Holiday Park, Scotland Sequoia Fir (Lodge) Sundrum Castle Holiday Park, Scotland Carradale Wemyss Bay Holiday Park, Scotland Hume McGregor Parkdean Resorts in the Westcountry with the newest caravans and lodgesLet's move onto the South West of England, which is where you will find an excellent choice of holiday parks from Parkdean Resorts. There are 11 resorts which have seen recent investment in lodges and caravans including 'Action Packed Park' (i.e. the bigger parks) - Lizard Point, Newquay, Sandford and Warmwell. Those with new caravans in the last couple of years include: Challaborough Bay Holiday Park, Devon Murre Pelican Crantock Beach Holiday Park, Cornwall Camelot Holywell Bay Holiday Park, Cornwall Portreath St George's Sennen Kelsey Lizard Point Holiday Park, Cornwall Sticklehaven Trewellard Minack Looe Bay Holiday Park, Cornwall Duchy Newquay Holiday Park, Cornwall Zelah Sennen (Lodge) Sandford Holiday Park, Dorset Woolsgarston Whitechurch Waterloo (Lodge) Durdle Door (Lodge) Sea Acres Holiday Park, Cornwall Cadgwith Trenear St Minver Holiday Park, Cornwall Spindle Torquay Holiday Park, Devon Shorton Torbay Warmwell Holiday Park, Dorset Ringstead (Lodge) Parkdean Resorts in East Anglia and the East Midlands with the newest caravans and lodges for 2023Yes, we've bundled together a pretty large geographical area here! If you live to the north of London then you will probably be looking at East Anglia and the East Midlands for a Parkdean Resorts holiday. I'm never sure whether Essex considers itself to be the South of England or East Anglia but I'm sure you'll forgive me! As you can see, 14 Parkdean Resorts holiday parks in this area have seen shiny new caravans and lodges arrive in recent years. That includes very large resorts with loads of activities such as Naze Marine Holiday Park in Essex. The resort from this list which gets the best reviews is Weeley Bridge Holiday Park in Essex. Look for the Cactus caravans when you book. Breydon Water Holiday Park, Norfolk Beccles Cherry Tree Holiday Park, Norfolk Redgrave Coopers Beach Holiday Park, Essex Kestrel Crossbill Heachem Beach Holiday Park, Norfolk Duck Highfield Grange Holiday Park, Essex Basildon Kessingland Beach Holiday Park, Suffolk Capercaillie Manor Park Holiday Park, Norfolk Corncrake Bluebird Greenshank Naze Marine Holiday Park, Essex Stort Roding Turnford (Lodge) Romney Sands Holiday Park, Kent Dymchurch Valley Farm Holiday Park, Essex Shelley Braintree Vauxhall Holiday Park, Norfolk Owl Swan Chaffinch Puffin (Lodge) Weeley Bridge Holiday Park, Essex Cactus Southview Holiday Park, Lincolnshire Woodhall Ashburnham Sunnydale Holiday Park, Lincolnshire Rose Parkdean Resorts in Wales with the newest caravans and lodges for 2023There are three Parkdean Resorts in Wales which have had new caravans arrive recently. The biggest is Trecco Bay Holiday Park which is a mammoth sized holiday park. It's also the highest rated of the three resorts with customers (3.5/5 on TripAdvisor, 4.3/5 on Google reviews at the time of writing). Here they are, along with the names of the new caravans at each site. Brynowen Holiday Park, Wales Porthor Tywyn Trecco Bay Holiday Park, Wales Margram Ty Mawr Holiday Park, Wales St Asaph Kimmel (Lodge) Parkdean Resorts in Southern England with the newest caravans and lodges for 2023Deep breath! Our final roundup of where to find the newest caravans at Parkdean Resorts brings us to the south of England.
Your choice is either the mammoth Camber Sands Holiday Park or Parkdean's four Isle of Wight resorts (yes, the Isle of Wight is part of Southern England!). If you go for the Isle of Wight, remember that Parkdean Resorts will get you a discount on the Isle of Wight ferry. Customers rate Nodes Point as the best Parkdean on the Isle of Wight but Lower Hyde and Landguard are closer to the popular resort of Shanklin. Camber Sands Holiday Park, Sussex Hartfield Broomhill (Lodge) Landguard Holiday Park, Isle of Wight Yew Lower Hyde Holiday Park, Isle of Wight Longboard Nodes Point Holiday Park, Isle of Wight Yarmouth St Helens (Lodge) Yaverland (Lodge) Thorness Bay Holiday Park, Isle of Wight Squadron
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Yes! Parkdean Resorts has hot tubs at some of its holiday parks. By my count, hot tubs are now available in 15 out of Parkdean's 66 holiday parks around the UK. That puts them one step ahead of Haven, which generally doesn't offer hot tubs (with occasional exceptions). Another big holiday park company - Away Resorts - has lots of hot tub locations. Personally, I think the addition of hot tubs at Parkdean Resorts is excellent news. Parkdean has invested a lot of money in upgrading accommodation at lots of its holiday parks around the UK. We've been doing a little bit of digging into the options for a Parkdean Resorts holiday park with a hot tub. Which is the best Parkdean Resorts holiday park with hot tubs?We decided to rank the Parkdean Resorts with hot tubs by adding together their TripAdvisor and Google Review scores.
There's a notable range between the lowest rated and highest rated Parkdean Resorts holiday park with hot tubs. Curiously, a lot of this is down to the range in TripAdvisor scores rather than the Google review scores. TripAdvisor rates holiday parks in half marks, whilst Google Review scores are more precise. As a result, the range of scores on TripAdvisor is from 3.5/5 to 4.5/5 whilst the range on Google reviews is from 3.9/5 to 4.5/5. Apologies if this is turning into a GCSE maths lesson but the point which I am slowly getting to is that the range in scores may not be as significant as it first seems. With that aside, we can see that the highest rated Parkdean Resorts holiday park with hot tubs is Fallbarrow Holiday Park in the Lake District. It is located in Windermere and has terrific views. I would caution that it's quite a simple holiday park. There isn't a swimming pool or endless entertainment. Guests like the setting and the accommodation but it's a base for a walking holiday rather than entertainment-central. Which Parkdean Resorts holiday park with hot tubs is the cheapest?Next up, we looked at the cost of staying at each of the Parkdean Resorts with hot tubs. This is a bit tricky, as there are several types of accommodation at each resort and they aren't always comparable between locations. For our ranking, we started by looking at the cheapest accommodation available. These ones don't come with hot tubs, but it gives a useful indication of which resorts are cheaper and which are more expensive. We will move on to hot tub prices later but it's worth understanding how much extra you are paying to upgrade to accommodation with a hot tub. The price comparison is for a week's holiday in August 2023 for a family of four people in the cheapest accommodation available:
We then looked at the cost of a holiday with a hot tub, since that's what this guide is all about. This time, we looked for a week's holiday in early August 2024 for a family of four.
You'll notice that there is a big jump up price from the cheapest accommodation available to accommodation with hot tubs at Parkdean Resorts. Several resorts charge more than twice as much including Carmarthen Bay Holiday Park in Wales and Cayton Bay Holiday Park in Yorkshire. However, the hot tub accommodation are all lodges whilst the cheapest properties are generally caravans. Lodges at Parkdean Resorts tend to be 20 foot wide whilst caravans are usually 12 foot wide. The hot tub is part of the extra cost, but the extra space is another big factor in bumping up the price. Thoughts and conclusions about Parkdean Resorts' holiday parks with hot tubsIf you want a hot tub holiday with Parkdean Resorts and you have a generous budget then I would go for:
They are all highly rated resorts with customers but are relatively expensive. Our best value picks for Parkdean Resorts with hot tubs are:
Sandford Holiday Park and Warmwell Holiday Park in Dorset are also worth mentioning as they both have wheelchair accessible lodges with hot tubs. Eurocamp has dozens of holiday parks around Europe - but Eurocamp Duinrell in the Netherlands is one of its biggest and most popular. But is it any good? Here's our summary of what you can expect from a holiday at Eurocamp Duinrell. What's the big deal about Eurocamp Duinrell?Eurocamp Duinrell is popular and unusual as it's a Eurocamp resort within a theme park. Most Eurocamp holiday parks have decent facilities onsite (see our top 10) but Duinrell blows them out the water. It's a great way to see a bit of Europe whilst also spending some time at a decent theme park. It's got 1450 'pitches' which includes various types of accommodation. For comparison, a Center Parcs resort in the UK usually has about 800 lodges. What reviews does Eurocamp Duinrell get from customers?Review scores for Eurocamp Duinrell are a bit confusing. Some reviews you will find are reviews for the theme park, whilst others are reviews for Eurocamp's facilities. Here's what you need to know:
What facilities and attractions are at Eurocamp Duinrell?Let's start with the swimming pools at Eurocamp Duinrell. The main pool is called the Tiki Pool which has 21 different waterslides, as well as indoor and outdoor swimming pools. There's also a wave machine, jacuzzi and toddlers' area. You pay a little bit extra to use the pools, which is currently 10 Euros for the indoor pool and 5 Euros for the outdoor pool. The theme park at Duinrell is where you spend a lot of your time. As mentioned earlier, there are about 40 rides. For younger children there's a kids' rollercoaster, a big wheel, a monorail, a train ride, an eight lane slide, an adventure castle, bumper boats, a fairytale castle, indoor soft play, a carousel and a 'shadow room' Rides for older children include a pendulum style ride called Mad Mill, a toboggan run, bumper cars, a log flume style ride and a 'top spin' ride (similar to Rameses Revenge at Chessington for those with a long memory). Entry to the theme park is included if you are staying at Eurocamp Duinrell. Besides, the theme park and water park there are some other facilities which are available to visitors. There are three main restaurants to choose from as well as a creperie and a takeaway. Other things to do include bingo, evening shows, karaoke and sports tournaments as well as playgrounds and a games room with things like table football. Sports onsite include minigolf, trampolining, football, volleyball and boules. How long does it take to reach Eurocamp Duinrell from the UK?I would say that there are three obvious routes to Eurocamp Duinrell:
We looked at the price to take a standard sized car (a Honda CRV) on the Stena Line ferry and the Eurotunnel/LeShuttle. Our price comparison was done in May 2023 and was for a return journey with four people in the car in early August 2023. We didn't include roof boxes, bike carriers and so on. We looked for the crossing closest to noon on each leg and went for the cheapest fare available. The price with Eurotunnel/LeShuttle was £320 whilst the price on the ferry was £498. Of course, this is only one price comparison but the Eurotunnel was £178 cheaper in this instance. However, you will do about 375 miles more driving in total if you go via the Eurotunnel/Le Shuttle from Folkestone compared to arriving in the Hook of Holland. My car costs about 15p per mile, so the extra fuel would cost me about £55. I will leave you to work out the actual cost of driving that far once you factor in French toll roads, wear and tear and so on! The cost of flights came to £370 when we checked but it's not a very fair comparison. Most of the flights available were in the evening and we didn't include the cost of getting from the airport to Eurocamp Duinrell. It's a 45 minute drive so you would either need a hire car or a taxi. We also didn't include the cost of parking at the airport. How much does a holiday at Eurocamp Duinrell cost?Eurocamp Duinrell is a popular holiday location so there wasn't much left for August 2023 holidays when we searched in May 2023. The best price we found for a family of four for a week in August 2023 was £1697 for an Azure Plus which is a three bedroom static home. It can technically sleep eight people but it's only got three bedrooms, so it does get a little cosy if you fill it up. They also had two bedroom Comfort Vista static homes for £1075 for five nights, which works out a little cheaper per night. What's the weather like at Eurocamp Duinrell?Eurocamp Duinrell is in Wassenaar in South Holland so you can expect a climate which is quite similar to London's.
You can expect highs of 22 Celsius in July and August. June and September are slightly cooler with average high temperatures of 20 and 19 Celsius. For comparison, London's average high temperature in July is 22 Celsius whilst August is 21 Celsius (i.e. almost exactly the same as Wassenaar). The June and September average high temperatures in London are 20 and 19, which is the same as Wasseanaar. Planning on visiting Parkdean Resorts Camber Sands Holidays Park with the family? Before you book, read our essential guide to everything you need to know (Ed: a little modesty wouldn't go amiss). Camber Sands is certainly one of the biggest Parkdean Resorts holiday parks in the UK and offers loads to do. But is it any good? We've split our guide into four categories:
1. Reviews - the good and bad points about Camber Sands Holiday ParkThe overall review scores for Parkdean Resorts Camber Sands Holiday Park are 3.5/5 on Google reviews and 3.8/5 on Google reviews as of May 2023. Please don't confuse it with Pontins Camber Sand Holiday Park which scores 2/5 on TripAdvisor. We ranked all 66 Parkdean Resorts Holiday Parks based on their customer reviews on Google reviews and TripAdvisor to see how it compares. Those scores put Camber Sands Holiday Park in 57th place, which is towards the bottom of our Parkdean Resorts league table. However, don't let that put you off too much. Our experience is that larger holiday parks with more facilities tend to score lower than smaller resorts with fewer facilities. This may seem a bit counterintuitive at first but bear with me! My theory is that there is more to find fault with at a larger site with lots of facilities. There's much less to complain about if you stay at a low key holiday park which is a row of 100 caravans and zero facilities. If you book a holiday park without entertainment then you probably realised that in advance and planned to explore the local area instead. Also keep in mind that TripAdvisor review scores are done in half marks so it could be that Camber Sands is on the brink of scoring 4/5. Digging deeper into Camber Sands reviews. What are customers saying?We can get a little more detail on what customers think of Camber Sands Holiday Park by digging into the reviews:
Review scores for rival resorts near to Camber Sands Holiday ParkThere are some other holiday parks along the Sussex coast which are also worth considering. Let's take a look at their review scores:
To save you the bother, we've also created a ranking of some of Sussex's holiday parks based on customer review scores. We added together TripAdvisor and Google Reviews to give a score out of 10:
2. Facilities, entertainment and what to expect at Camber Sands Holiday ParkParkdean Resorts classifies Camber Sands as one of its 'Action Packed Parks'. That means it has more facilities than most of its other resorts. It isn't the place to avoid people but it's great if you want non-stop entertainment. There are four swimming pools and you don't pay extra to use them (although you do pay for the sauna and spa). There's a waterslide and an outdoor splash area as well. There are also activities in the swimming pool, some of which you pay extra for including:
Some of the sports and activities you can do include:
You pay extra for some activities but my experience is that Parkdean Resorts isn't as expensive as Center Parcs. For example, Adventure Bugz is £9.50, Adventure Golf is £2-6, Bungee Trampolines are £5 and the High Ropes Course is £13. These prices are correct at the time of writing. You can check Parkdean's latest activity prices here. My advice is to plan your activities beforehand or your activities budget may go on the first couple of days! Places to eat out include:
Entertainment at Camber Sands Holiday ParkCamber Sands is one of Parkdean Resorts 'headliner' parks. This means that the range of entertainment is bigger than you get at its smaller resorts. About a third of Parkdean's holiday parks fall into this 'headliner' category. The entertainment schedule varies but you can see the latest information here on this page on the Parkdean website. The sort of entertainment you get at Camber Sands include bingo, talent shows and live shows for grown ups as well as kids' clubs. The kids' clubs are split into different age groups. If your children are under eight then you need to attend the groups with them, as they are 'entertainment' rather than 'childcare'. See the kids' entertainment section of the Parkdean website for the full details. 3. How to save money at Camber Sands Holiday ParkParkdean's Camber Sands is a good value holiday park - but prices can be quite high during peak times. Here are five ways to save money at Camber Sands Holiday Park:
4. Choosing the best accommodation at Camber Sands Holiday ParkThere are a whopping 39 different types of accommodation at Camber Sands Holiday Park - plus camping and touring. However, you can quickly narrow it down. My advice is to do the follow.
The next big decision is what type of accommodation you want. These can roughly be split into two categories.
Why are some caravans at Parkdean Resorts' Camber Sands Holiday Park cheaper than others?Parkdean Resorts doesn't have as clear a grading system as Haven, so it can be a little difficult to work out why one caravan costs more than another. However, there are key things to look for when choosing your caravan or lodge:
Sponsored post What is Marvel Avengers Campus at Disneyland Paris?Marvel Avengers Campus at Disneyland Paris is a pretty big deal for Marvel fans. It's the 'first ever Marvel themed universe in Europe' and offers a mix of 'live-action stunts, heroic encounters with Marvel Super Heroes, two action-packed attractions and extra special themed restaurants and boutique'. It opened in July 2022, about a year after Marvel Avengers Campus opened at Disney California Adventure. For most people visiting Disneyland Paris, 2023 will be the first chance to see Marvel Avengers Campus. What attractions will I find at Marvel Avengers Campus at Disneyland Paris?There are two attractions within Marvel Avengers Campus:
What live action experiences are at Marvel Avengers Campus?There are several opportunities to meet superheroes at Marvel Avengers Campus, including:
There are also chances to meet Super Heroes as they wander around the campus. If you want an 'exclusive meeting' with an Avenger or Spiderman then you'll need to book into the Hero Training Session. Otherwise, you can see the Super Heroes appearing throughout the day. Is there themed food in Marvel Avengers Campus?Restaurants and takeaways to choose from in Marvel Avengers Campus include:
Where can I find Marvel Avengers Campus?If you've not been to Disneyland Paris, you may assume it is just one huge theme park. It's actually split into two, which includes Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park. Most people buy a ticket which includes entry to both parks. The official Q&A for Disneyland Paris suggests that the ideal time to stay is for three days: "Two days for Disneyland Park and its five magical themed lands, one day for Walt Disney Studios Park and its four action-packed zones." Marvel Avengers Campus can be found at Walt Disney Studios Park. If your children are very keen on Marvel then you may want to tweak things a bit so you have more than one day at the park. Where should I stay if I'm visiting Marvel Avengers Campus?For the full Marvel experience, I would start your search with the Disney Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel. It is one of the more expensive official Disneyland Paris hotels, but good deals are available (particularly off peak) and the prices include entry to the parks. Check out our guide to when to visit Disneyland Paris, which includes advice on the cheapest time to visit. In our comparisons, we found that Disney Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel scores very well with reviewers and it is also one of the closest resorts to the Disneyland Park entrance. There are other official Disneyland Paris hotels which are worth considering. If you have toddlers or children who aren’t at school yet, then Parkdean Resorts Tots Breaks are well worth considering. Once they're at school you're likely to pay a lot more for family holidays, so squeeze in a couple of cheap breaks whilst you can! Most Tots Breaks with Parkdean Resorts last for four nights, running from Monday to Friday. During the time you are onsite, you have access to the resorts' usual facilities as well as some special things just for the Tots' Breaks. Here is our guide to the best locations for Tots Breaks as well as review scores, facilities and what you can expect to pay. Where are Parkdean Resorts Tots' breaks?There are currently 18 Parkdean Resorts holiday parks which offer Tots' Breaks. That’s out of a total of 66 Parkdean locations around England, Wales and Scotland (about a quarter of all resorts). They are strategically spread out around the UK with Tots' Breaks in the Westcountry (Cornwall, Devon and Dorset), Northern England (Yorkshire and Northumberland), Southern England (Sussex, Essex and the Isle of Wight), Eastern England (Norfolk, Suffolk and Lincolnshire), Scotland and Wales. You may just like to visit the closest Parkdean Resorts location which offers Tots' Breaks. After all, long car journeys with young children are used as a form of torture by some regimes (Ed: er, not sure that’s true). Another option is to look at review scores. To save you the bother, we've looked up the review scores of all 18 Parkdean Resorts locations which offer Tots' Breaks. We added together the review scores on TripAdvisor and Google Reviews and came up with this ranking:
Review scores correct at the time of typing. What can we conclude from this stream of numbers?
What happens on a Parkdean Resorts Tots holiday?Tots Breaks with Parkdean Resorts are similar to a standard Parkdean Resorts holiday. However, there are activities aimed just at preschoolers. Another positive is that there are fewer teenagers running around the soft play areas (this is personal gripe of mine!). You get to use the onsite facilities as well as taking part in a range of special events. Activities which are just for Tots Breaks at Parkdean Resorts Special events which are just for Tots' Breaks include:
Permanent activities and facilities at Parkdean ResortsThe range of permanent facilities at each resort varies, but to help you out, we've drawn up a table covering swimming pools and proximity to the nearest beach. There are other facilities but the main things we look for at a holiday park are a good beach and an indoor swimming pool for rainy days.
So, there are seven Parkdean Resorts holiday parks which offer Tots Breaks and which have both direct beach access and an indoor swimming pool. These are:
Keep in mind that there is a big difference in size between the Parkdean Resorts which offer Tots' Breaks. This affects the choice of places to eat onsite and other facilities. The largest Parkdean Resorts holiday parks include Cayton Bay Holiday Park in Yorkshire, Trecco Bay Holiday Park in South Wales, Sandford Holiday Park in Dorset and Camber Sands Holiday Park in Sussex. By my count, Trecco Bay Holiday Park is the biggest with more than 2000 caravans (yes, I counted them on a map...it was a slow day). Which Parkdean Resorts Tots' break is closest to London, Birmingham, Manchester and Glasgow?We've picked out travel times from some of the UK's main cities. Apologies if you live in the Outer Hebrides and are currently taking offence that we haven't given you exact travel times. Hopefully it will be a useful starting point at least.
How much does a Parkdean Resorts Tots Break cost?It's quite tricky to do a fair price comparison of Tots Breaks with Parkdean Resorts as they take place on different dates depending on the location. However, we've picked out the cost of a Tots Break in September or October 2023 and ranked them from cheapest to most expensive. The price we chose is for a family of four and is the cheapest accommodation available at the time of searching. You can upgrade to more expensive accommodation on the booking pages. Some of the upgrades are very modestly priced (e.g. an extra £20 over four days) so you may feel they are worth it.
*September or October wasn't available, so we included the price for May 2023. A few observations!
When are Tots' Breaks available at Parkdean Resorts?Tots' Breaks are aimed at pre-schoolers, so they are mostly mid-week breaks during term time. They last for four nights, running from Monday to Friday. The only exception at the moment are the pre-school breaks at Landguard Holiday Park on the Isle of Wight. These take place over weekends during term time. If you go for this option then you need to budget a bit extra for the Isle of Wight ferry. The good news is that Parkdean Resorts get a generous discount on the ferry. Also, the Isle of Wight ferry is less expensive outside of peak times, so you should get a pretty good price. Who are Parkdean Resorts?Parkdean Resorts is the UK’s biggest holiday park company. Well, it’s the biggest based on the number of locations it has around the UK. Other brands like Haven and Butlins can make claims to be the biggest in other ways. Conclusion - which is the best Parkdean Resorts Tots Break location?The answer may well be that the best Parkdean Resorts Tots Break is the one which is closest to you. We all know the perils of long car journeys with children!
Putting that aside, there are a few which stand out because of their review scores, location, facilities or value for money. Kessingland Beach Holiday Park in Suffolk is my best value all-rounder. It was one of the cheapest in our price comparisons yet it was also one of the highest ranked with customers. You get direct beach access and an indoor swimming pool. There is also an outdoor swimming pool but that's less appealing to me! The location is convenient for East Anglia, East London and some of the home counties. Another East Anglia Parkdean Resorts - Cherry Tree Holiday Park - has many of the same positives as Kessingland. The beach is a little further away, but it is popular with customers and it is great value. Landguard Holiday Park on the Isle of Wight is worth an honourable mention. It is the only resort where the Tots Breaks are over a weekend rather than midweek. If that is more convenient for you then you get a good value break at a park with positive customer reviews. The Isle of Wight ferry isn't included in the price but you can get a special discount via Parkdean Resorts. Other strong contenders are Sandy Bay Holiday Park in Northumberland and Ruda Holiday Park in Devon. They both have easy beach access, indoor swimming pools, positive customer reviews and were mid-table performers in our price comparison. Warmwell Holiday Park in Dorset is my number one choice if money is no object. It gets outstanding reviews and the accommodation is lodges which are more spacious than caravans. It has an indoor swimming pool but it's a long way from the beach and it's the most expensive by far. Prices and review scores are correct at the time of writing.
**Did you know? Disneyland Paris' cheapest official hotel is often cheaper than unofficial budget hotels once you include theme park tickets? Read more at the bottom of the page**
Disney Premier Access at Disneyland Paris lets you skip the normal queue and use a fast lane instead. As a result, you can go on a lot more rides and see more in one day.
But how much does it cost to jump the queues at Disneyland Paris? And is it worth it? And what's the difference between the Disney Premier Access Ultimate and the ​​​Disney Premier Access One? Here's my summary for those who just want the brief answer (instead of my waffle):
Read on for the full waffle and price guides! How much does Disney Premier Access cost?
The price of Disney Premier Access varies depending on when you are visiting, how many days you buy and what type of Premier Access ticket you buy.
Roughly speaking, Disney Premier Access costs about £100 - £170 per person, per day for a pass which gives you one ride on 14 different rides. If you choose the 'pay-as-you-go option then the price varies from about £4 per ride, up to about £16 per ride. There are two types of ticket: Option 1: Disney Premier Access Ultimate
The top level of Disney Premier Access is called Disney Premier Access Ultimate. This allows you to queue jump one time on a selection of 14 different rides (at the time of writing). The rides include Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain and Avengers Assemble Flight Force (full list below).
I looked at the price for one day tickets for Disney Premier Access Ultimate during the UK Easter holidays 2023 and found it was £172 per person per day. This was the price for adding it on as an extra when buying tickets via the Disneyland Paris website. We found it cost the same to add it to an official Disneyland Paris hotel booking as booking it with day tickets. Keep in mind that this price is on top of your entrance fee to the park, which on that date was about £91 per person per day (assuming you booked in advance and visited for three days). So your total entry price with Disney Premier Access Ultimate would be around £263 per person, per day at Easter 2023. To put it another way, if a family of four wanted Disney Premier Access Ultimate for the entirety of a three day Disneyland Paris visit it would cost £2071 on top of the standard entry price of £1090. Most people wouldn't buy Disney Premier Access Ultimate for every day though - it's a much more affordable option to just buy it for one or two days and try to cram in several rides on that day. Prices for Disney Premier Access Ultimate are much lower on quieter days at Disneyland Paris. For example, we looked at mid-September 2023 and found that the price was £109 per person, per day (compared to £172 at Easter 2023). Standard entry to the park on those off peak days would be about £63 per person which could work out as about £6 per person, per ride if you visited the 10 rides at Disneyland Park. To put it another way, your total price for entry and a one day Disney Premier Access Ultimate pass would be £172. Of course, the queue times during off peak days are much shorter so the benefits of getting the Disney Premier Access Ultimate pass at Disneyland Paris are less significant. Option 2: ​Disney Premier Access One
The second option is to queue jump for one ride, by buying a Disney Premier Access One pass on the day. I think of this as the 'pay-as-you-go' option.
This can work out as a better value option but you have to pre-book a time slot so it requires more planning and less spontaneity than you might want on a family day out (personally, I prefer to stick to a schedule when I'm out with the children!). You buy Disney Premier Access One passes via the Disneyland Paris app, which shows you prices on the day that you are visiting. Thrill Data provides some useful data on the price ranges during 2022:
We checked prices for a day in mid March 2023 and found that they ranged from about £4 per person per ride to £12 per person per ride. Rides such as Autopia and Orbitron were about £4 whilst Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain was about £12. As an experiment, I looked at the price of buying one ride on each attraction with Disney Premier Access One in mid-March. The total came to £96. Meanwhile, buying Disney Premier Access Ultimate for that date would have cost us £107 which is £11 more.** ​There is another key difference between Disney Premier Access One​ and Disney Premier Access Ultimate. With the 'pay as you go' option (Disney Premier Access One) you have to book a slot to jump the queue. With the bundle (Disney Premier Access Ultimate) you can just turn up and go on the ride. If you want to reduce the time you are spending buying tickets on your mobile phone then you would be better to go for Disney Premier Access Ultimate. *Prices are listed in Euros on the Disneyland Paris app but we have converted and rounded them to pounds on today's exchange rate to make it easier to compare with the Disney Premier Access Ultimate. ​**Big Thunder Mountain wasn't actually open that day, but I calculated the price on the assumption that it was to make a fairer comparison with a typical day. Is it worth getting a Disney Premier Access pass? How much time will I save?
To figure out if it is worth buying a Disney Premier Ultimate Pass we looked at all-time average queue times for the 14 rides included in the Disney Premier Access Ultimate pass.
The rides are split between the two theme parks at Disneyland Paris. As mentioned, you can visit both parks on a joint ticket but they are big enough that you are best to spend at least a day in each park.` Disneyland Park:
(Total average queue time of 4 hours 15 minutes) Walt Disney Studios Paris
(Total average queue time of 3 hours 28 minutes) These wait time figures are from Queue-Times.com. There's also a ride called Orbitron, which you can buy a queue jumping pass for, but it's not included in the Disney Premier Ultimate Pass. It has an all-time average queue time of 23 minutes. It's important to point out that these are average queue times. According to Thrill Data (another excellent reference site) the wait time for Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain ranged from 22 minutes to 58 minutes throughout 2022. Most dates we looked at were around 25-35 minutes which matches with the overall average of 28 minutes mentioned above. ​Wait times also vary a lot throughout the day. For example, Thrill Data says that the daily wait time for Peter Pan's Flight is often under 30 minutes at the start and end of the day but is often 40-60 minutes at around 2pm (based on February 2023 data). What will the cost per ride be with a Disney Premier Access Ultimate pass?
A good question to ask is how many attractions will you manage to squeeze into your day if you get a Disney Premier Access Ultimate pass. You can then work out if it is cheaper to go for the fast lane on a pay-as-you-go basis (​Disney Premier Access One).
In theory, you could attempt to do all 14 rides included in the Disney Premier Access Ultimate pass in one day - but it would take some doing! The rides are split between the two theme parks at Disneyland Paris - Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park. You can buy a joint ticket which covers both parks, but most people just visit one park in a day. Also keep in mind that different rides are aimed at different age groups. Some have height restrictions so you may not actually be allowed to ride on every attraction. Let's split the rides with fast queue lanes into different types, based on their height limit. This usually gives an indication of what age they are suitable for. Rides described as 'big thrills' which have a height limit:
Rides suitable for any height, mostly described as 'family adventure'
So, if you are visiting with very small children (i.e. below 1m tall, about 4 years old on average) then there are seven rides across the two parks which you can access with the Disney Premier Access Ultimate pass. If you are visiting with children who are more than 1.4m tall (10 years old on average) then you could use your pass on every attraction. Of course, some of these rides may be too tame for older children. Peter Pan's Flight and Autopia are both described as 'fun for little ones' so it's less likely that your 17 year old will be interested. Let's look at three examples to see how much you will pay per ride.
From this over-simplified example, my conclusion is the Disney Premier Access Ultimate pass is best value for children who will enjoy a combination of 'big thrills' and the tamer 'family adventure' rides. Based on average heights for UK children, I would suggest that age seven plus is deal as you would be able to go on every ride except Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril. *These ones are at Walt Disney Studios Park rather than Disneyland Park. Conclusion
Here are my conclusions based on the limited set of numbers and dates we looked at:
​
Did you know? It is often cheaper to stay an official Disneyland Paris hotel than a DIY holiday where you find a local apartment and buy your own tickets (seriously!).
​This is because Disneyland Paris gives all guests at its official hotels free theme park tickets and free parking - even if you stay at one of the budget hotels. The cheapest hotel is usually Disney's Hotel Santa Fe. If you want cheap lodge-style accommodation then the cheapest option is usually Disney’s Davy Crockett Ranch. Check out latest offers on official accommodation + tickets bundles.
Please note, I rounded figures up and down to the nearest pound to make it easier to read. You may be quoted slightly different prices. Prices are correct at the time of writing, in March 2023.
Sponsored post Summer breaks for £137* per person/night (3-Night Stay at Disney Davy Crockett Ranch, 2 Adults & 2 Kids) Disneyland Paris are preparing for the Grand Finale of the 30th Anniversary Celebrations, which began in March of last year. The celebrations will be coming to a close on 30th September 2023 and there are plenty of shows to watch before then. Here's our guide to what to expect. When are Disneyland Paris' 30th Anniversary Grand Finale Celebrations taking place?The final show within Disneyland Paris' 30th Anniversary Celebrations is taking place on the 30th September 2023. On the run up to the Grand Finale, there is a vast array of shows, exclusive food and merchandise to enjoy. But hurry! Some shows are running for a limited time only. If you visit between now and 8th May 2023 then you will also be able to experience 'Avengers: Power The Night', an exclusive night time drone show. Visitors who arrive after 12th April 2023 can see 'Disney Dreams' which is a popular show which is returning to Disneyland Paris. We will go into more detail about what that involves later in this guide. Opening hours for Disneyland Paris vary throughout the year, so the actual times of the shows changes. In the colder months, the parks close much earlier than they do at peak times. You can see opening hours here. What are the 30th Anniversary Finale shows like at Disneyland Paris?Regular visitors to Disneyland Paris will know that there are several shows each day, culminating in evening parades and events. For the 30th Anniversary of Disneyland Paris there are a number of special shows: 1. Dream...and Shine Brighter!The Dream...and Shine Brighter! show is 15 minutes long and takes place in Disneyland Park's Central Plaza. You can expect: all the Disney Characters happily making their way to the celebration in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. From Mickey, Minnie and their friends dressed in shiny 30th Anniversary costumes, to familiar faces from iconic Disney movies – there are so many to see! This show is a good one if you are a fan of the 'classic' Disney characters and also features more recent movie characters. 2. Avengers: Power The Night (28th January to 8th May 2023)The Avengers: Power The Night show is an epic drone show. According to the Disneyland Paris News website it combines: video projections, pyrotechnic effects and drones around The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in an epic celebration of the Marvel Super Heroes'. In all, there are about 500 drones involved in the show. Disney's other drone show - D-Light used about 150 drones so this is a big step up. You can expect to see 'iconic superheroes such as Iron Man and the Hulk, as well as newcomers like Scarlet Witch and Shang-Chi.' The creative team behind the show have shared a bit more about the show: Avengers: Power the Night is a celebration of the Marvel Super Heroes’ powers through a succession of demonstrations. Right from the start of the show, with F.R.I.D.A.Y.’s announcement, we feel some emotional tension. Then we move on to something a little more spectacular when Doctor Strange arrives, and from there a string of fast-paced emotions keep coming with various musical breaks, pyrotechnic effects that are used to accompany the story and the powers of the Super Heroes, and drone choreographies. All this comes together to create an emotional journey that develops at each stage of the show. Superhero fans may also like to know that there is a Marvel themed four-star hotel at Disneyland Paris called Disney Hotel New York - The Art of Marvel. 3. Disney D-LightImpressive drone trickery can also be seen at the Disney D-Light show which is taking place for the 30th Anniversary celebrations. It lasts for seven minutes and takes places on Main Street USA in the Disneyland Park. You'll see about 150 drones dancing together around the Sleeping Beauty Castle. In 2022, the show was named as Best Live Entertainment at the Park World Excellence Awards (no doubt referred to as 'the Oscars of the theme park world'). The Disneyland Paris news website describes the show like this: Disney D-Light is a magical show combining video projection, water jets, lighting effects, fog, lasers and Disney music, ending with a moment of pure magic when drones appear in a choreographed sequence over Sleeping Beauty Castle. 4. Disney Dreams (from 12th April 2023)Disney Dreams is a returning show which will follow the Disney D-Light show to give you a double bill of evening entertainment. Here's the official summary of the Disney Dreams show: Peter Pan’s shadow leads you through beloved Disney stories, all spectacularly brought to life with jaw-dropping fireworks and magical effects on Sleeping Beauty Castle. 5. Pixar: We Belong Together (from Summer 2023)Finally, there is a new Pixar show coming to Walt Disney Studio Park (i.e. the second theme park at Disneyland Paris). We don't have all the details yet, but we do know that it will be arriving in 'Summer 2023'. This was confirmed by the Disneyland Paris News website. We do know that the show will include: state-of-the-art stage technology, lighting effects, choreography and iconic songs We also know that guests will 'find out how music and friendship brings us together' and we've seen a promo 'concept' image which features Monsters Inc characters. It will take part at Studio Theater. Where should I stay for Disneyland Paris' 30th Anniversary Finale?There are several official Disneyland Paris hotels, as well as 'partner hotels' which are run by third parties but have the approval of Disneyland Paris. We've written a comparison of the official Disneyland hotels as well as giving our top five. We've also written a more detailed guide to Villages Nature Paris which is a Center Parcs/Disney joint venture. The Disneyland Hotel is the flagship hotel at Disneyland Paris, but it remains closed until 2024 as part of a major refurbishment. Terms and conditions of offer mentioned above:
Enjoy a summer break for £137* , including entry to the 2 Disney Parks for 3 days and accommodation at Disney Davy Crockett Ranch. Arrivals between 22nd July and 1st September 2023 sharing a Pioneer Cabin at the Pioneer Cabin. Prices subject to change depending on time of booking. Average price calculated by dividing the package price of £1,632.28 by 4 people (2 adults + 2 kids aged 3-11 years old) and 3 nights. Price rounded up to the next pound. Arrivals between 22nd July and 1st September 2023 sharing a Pioneer Cabin at Disney Davy Crockett Ranch. Price example subject to change depending on time of booking. Subject to availability. Conditions apply. Haven recently shared a guide with us called 'How to find our lowest price and best value'. We've already written our own guide to 6 ways to save money on Haven holidays but it's interesting to see how the official advice compares. Here are the six tips from Haven, along with our comments: 1. "Go midweek - Those are the cheapest days of the week"This one seems like common sense to me - we all know that prices are higher when children are at school. But does it apply all year round? We tested this out for a term time break at Haven's Perran Sands in early May 2023. We found that we would pay:
So, it does indeed seem to be true for this set of term times dates. Does the same rule apply during the school holidays though? We did a couple of test searches at Haven's Perran Sands for holidays in early August and found that a:
In this instance, it doesn't seem to make much difference when you visit during school holidays. The weekend was actually cheaper than a midweek break, but there isn't much in it. 2. "Go midweek off-peak. Early spring and Autumn are cheaper"This second tip from Haven is another one which we have found to be true in our time doing price comparisons for Holiday Park Guru. Haven resorts are closed in winter, so the 'shoulders' of the summer season are likely to be the cheapest. Haven's website now has an excellent booking system which lets you preview prices without clicking through to every single holiday. This means you can dig out good deals without wasting hours of your time. This time, we looked at Haven's Devon Cliff Holiday Park, which is a large and very popular resort (read our full guide to Devon Cliffs). We took screenshots for every month that the park is open in 2023. The prices are the starting price for the cheapest accommodation, rather than guaranteed deals. Let me summarise those numbers for you! The cheapest midweek breaks all year (according to this data) are to be found in March and October. However, September isn't far behind and neither are April, May and June once you remove the school holidays. If we weren't tied to school holidays then I would rather pay £199 for a holiday in mid-June than £131 for a week in mid-October. That is £68 well spent, in my book! Overall though we agree with Haven's advice to '"Go midweek off-peak. Early spring and Autumn are cheaper" 3. "Avoid school holidays if you can- That’s when our parks are busiest"We certainly agree with this bit of advice from Haven. To be honest, I think we all know this one already! The data above from Haven's Devon Cliffs Holiday Park shows the difference - a midweek break during the Easter holidays starts at £413 whilst the following week is £139. However, this is a good moment to point out that school term dates do vary a bit. Some schools are now talking half term earlier in October, which means that cheaper prices can be exploited. Also check what dates your school starts in September. We have managed to squeeze in breaks right at the end of the holidays when demand and prices are much lower. 4. "Go early in the year. Early spring breaks have the best prices"This bit of advice is quite similar to #2 which suggests midweek breaks in early Spring and late Autumn are cheapest. However, what they are getting at here is that the very first week which the parks are open can be when you'll find the best bargains. Here's a screenshot of starting prices at Haven's Hafan y Môr Holiday Park in Wales. It's a very large site with one of Haven's best swimming pools. Note how you get the absolute lowest price of £345 if you arrive on the very first Friday that the resort is open. The follow Friday jumps up to £470 and it stays around £470-£500 during term time for the next couple of months. This screenshot also illustrates one of our favourite ways to save money on a Haven holiday (this one isn't mentioned by Haven in the money saving guide they sent us). Notice how much cheaper it is to arrive on a Monday or Friday than it is to arrive on a Saturday. On the screenshot above the difference is usually about £70 but it can be significantly more during peak season. For example, arriving on Friday April 7th (during the Easter holidays) is £179 cheaper than arriving on Saturday April 8th. 5. "Take the full family with you. The more you are, the less you pay"We definitely agree with this tip from Haven on how to get the best price. In fact, it features in our own guide to saving money on Haven holidays. Haven charges per caravan, rather than per person so it makes sense to fill up the accommodation. The best bargains are to be had if you fill up a large caravan. Let's look at an example. We searched for a week's holiday at Haven's Thornwick Bay in Yorkshire which is one of its newest holiday parks. In early August 2023, a group of eight people staying for a week would pay:
Part of the reason for the difference on this occasion is that the eight berth caravan is bronze rated whilst the 2 x 4 person caravans are gold rated (see our guide to the Haven accommodation ratings system). However, we picked the cheapest accommodation available so it is still a relatively fair comparison of what you would pay. In this instance, you would need to consider whether you can cope with sharing with seven other people. Here's the layout of a typical eight berth bronze caravan at Haven: You'll notice that there are three bedrooms, which means two people are sleeping on a sofa bed in the lounge. There is also just one shower to share between eight people which might slow you down (personally, I would incorporate a shower into a trip to the swimming pool). There's also a relatively small kitchen for eight people - and you don't get a dishwasher in the bronze grade. However, if it will save you nearly £1700 then you may prefer to dine out for every meal. That saving would give you a budget of about £30 per person, per day to spend on eating out. That would probably pay for lunch and dinner at a Haven restaurant (you can expect to pay about £10-£15 for a main course at Haven's pubs and restaurants). 6. "Check our offer pages for the best deal"Checking the offers page is the final tip from Haven's guide to getting the best value holidays.
It's fair to say that discount codes and promo codes are rare with Haven. If you know of any, please let us know! However, there are some excellent deals on the offers section of the Haven website including:
We've long championed the idea of a holiday at Center Parcs in Europe as a cheap alternative to a UK Center Parcs holidays. See our guides to Center Parcs in France, Germany, Netherlands or Belgium or our European roundup if you are trying to decide which one to visit. As previously mentioned, Center Parcs Europe is run by a separate company to the UK resorts so prices are completely different. You rarely see offers and discounts at the UK Center Parcs, but they are commonplace at the European Center Parcs. Center Parcs Europe has recently added a useful tool to its website. You can now see how many free activities are available at each of the 27 resorts around France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. The Holiday Park Guru Center Parcs Europe Free Activities League Table (or HPGCPEFALT for short)Here's the full ranking, based on the information provided by Center Parcs Europe.
So, the range is pretty significant - from 30 or more free activities at Park Allgäu, Bispinger Heide and Het Meerdal through to half that number at Center Parcs Park Eifel. However, there is a caveat which needs mentioning. The Center Parcs Europe website separates free activities which you might feel could be bundled together. For example, there are several separately listed activities in the swimming pool at Park Allgäu including the lazy river/wild river, five different water slides and a wave pool. How many activities are available at Center Parcs in Europe in total?Whilst we were in the mood, we also ranked the Center Parcs resorts in Europe based on how many activities they offer in total. This includes the free stuff and the paid activities:
Again, the range is quite significant - with a range from 110 activities at Park Allgäu through to less than half of that at Park Nordseeküste. (Figures are correct at the time of writing). |
Holiday Park Guru BlogOccasional thoughts on holidays in England, Wales, Scotland and further afield, including the latest deals, discounts and last minute offers. |
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