A short visit to Woburn Centre Parcs
I last visited Centre Parcs when all 3 of our children were under 10, over thirty years ago. My diagnosis of multiple sclerosis was at least 10 years into the future. Now our two daughters are married, and each has a baby son and I am living with advanced multiple sclerosis. A visit to Centre Parcs at Woburn was booked with a lodge that has a proper wet room. In 2008 I had bought a manual Quickie wheelchair for a visit to St Petersburg, unused since then. I can now see a wheelchair looming on the horizon, I am a frequent faller. The visit to Centre Parcs will be an ideal opportunity to try it out again.
What I took
Wheeling myself around Centre Parcs in the wheel chair was out of the question, too hilly. I needed to be independent so we took the trusty TravelScoot. The Topro rollator came as well to keep me on my feet for short daily walks; I cannot walk more than about 300 metres and even that will take me 30 minutes. I’ve never used all three pieces of mobility equipment in the space of 1 day, this was definitely going to be an experiment. We hired a mobility scooter for MrsB on site
My wheelchair
I am a frequent faller especially in the evenings so taking the wheelchair was a no brainer. Turning left or right and I do topple over especially if I am thinking of two things at once. The ground floor of the lodge was quite big enough for a wheelchair rookie like me. There is a front door to the lodge and a separate door to the bedroom for the disabled person.
The wet-room
A very good wet room, it made difficult tasks so much easier. Shower with a seat and non-slip floor. Wash hand basin designed and fitted so anyone in a wheelchair could easily use it. The room was a bit dark, no light over the mirror.
The lodge
Plenty of space for a person in a wheelchair. The doors to the lodge are unlocked by a wristband that looks like a watch. Its very easy to use, eliminates the need for keys and no need to worry about getting locked out. I liked it. Keys are the bane of my life.
Swimming pool
Possibly the main attraction of Centre Parcs. There are wheel chairs available that you can take into the water but I dodged the swimming area. The temperature is almost 30 degrees, too hot for me. The time it takes me to change removes so much of the pleasure and enjoyment. The balance disability is very inhibiting. Instead I did a good walk with my rollator. Maybe I am a bit of a coward but I felt safer walking.
Visit to Centre Parcs
They had not ignored the specific requirements a wheelchair user. They got the simple things right that make a significant difference; such a pleasant surprise. On the other hand I did find the back ground music in the indoor spaces annoying but I think that’s me. I would certainly visit Centre Parcs again with my family. The wheelchair experiment was a success.
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A lot happens in 30 years, huh? Both the beautiful – your children, your two daughters being married, you having grandkids – and the difficult with your MS.
It sounds like, despite the hilly aspect, the accessibility here was pretty good. I’m a sucker for novel stuff so I love that you use technology on a wristband to unlock the doors to the lodge. Very cool! I really like the sound of a warm pool for my joints. I wouldn’t be able to swim, but I’d love to just sit in the shallow end and see if it took some pressure off, even briefly. I think this may be a stupid question, but am I right in thinking Centre Parcs is totally self-catering? Did you get on okay with the food aspect?
You’re not alone in not being keen on background music in indoor spaces. I like a little of it, but not when it’s so loud you can’t hear yourself think and you’ve got to speak loudly to be heard by someone sat next to you. Other than that, well done to Centre Parcs Woburn! Really useful write-up by the way, this sort of thing is incredibly helpful for others considering a little getaway and wanting to know what the accessibility is like.
Caz x
Hello Caz,
Thanks for the reply.
We placed an order for food for our stay Centre Parcs that we collected from a supermarket just before we arrived. There are a couple of restaurants there, not very exciting. The take away service is very good and its quite easy to cook simple but filling meals.
It is very inclusive plus thee is a huge range of activities for all the family such as crazy golf, squash, pedallos etc but be warned, you need to pre-book them
Thanks Patrick, your Centre Parcs article was very interesting and as usual enjoyable to read!!
Hello Eileen,
I was very pleasantly surprised at how well Centre Parcs catered for the elderly and disabled
Hello Bob,
I’m still taking medical cannabis, at the moment I use a company called Lyphe https://www.lyphe.com. They are OK, I have heard good reports about a company called Sapphire. Google medical cannabis. I only take it in the evening, it does make me feel a bit light headed, a sensation I do not enjoy during the day.
Pleased that the TravelScoot is giving you lots of pleasure. It gives me independence, freedom and I love the opportunity to just get up and go