Behind the scenes

Center Parcs Woburn Forest, is celebrating 10 years of making family memories following its opening on 6 June 2014.

With a 97% occupancy rate, the village has welcomed more than 3.1 million guests in the last decade – welcoming its millionth in 2017, of whom 52,000 celebrated a birthday at Woburn Forest. The village currently employs more than 1,750 colleagues, with the vast majority living locally in Bedfordshire. This year 158 employees celebrated 10 or more years of service and nearly 500 colleagues have reached the five-year milestone.

When the future is uncertain, every moment is a gift. These moments might seem like a small part of Christmas – putting out the treats for Santa and Rudolph, getting woken up by the little ones before 7am, falling asleep together in front of a Christmas film – but for families caring for a seriously ill child, they mean everything.

 

Our elves are always up to something in Santa's Woodland Village! Meet Starlight, Cupcake, Giggles, and Fawn and find out their favourite thing to eat to their best magic tricks. 

The Land Train is exclusive to Longleat Forest and a firm favourite with our guests. Here are some of our top facts about the Land Train.

Eager to go behind the scenes at the Activity Den at Center Parcs? We spoke to Charlotte Potter to get some insider insights into her role and find out all about her favourite activity.

Colleagues at Whinfell Forest reminisce and reflect on how far the village has come as we celebrate the 25th anniversary since it opened back in 1997.

We caught up with Jerry, Red Squirrel Ranger at Whinfell Forest, to discuss his work and how he is looking after a rescued red squirrel called Oscar.

The Hope family share their precious story of how their little boy became the youngest guest to visit Center Parcs. 

It’s not just the pixies working hard to capture all the wishes – there’s been plenty of magic going on behind the scenes too as we prepare for our Winter Forest Lights experience.

A Center Parcs lover’s dream came true when his creation of a Center Parcs inspired card game came to life. See how you and your family can download your own pack and play. 

Our brand-new TV advert is sure to have you tapping your feet and clicking your fingers. Watch a behind the scenes exclusive on how we recorded the soundtrack and discover our new Spotify playlists. 

Spotting wildlife in the dark can prove difficulty however Lucie, Conservation Ranger at Woburn Forest, gives us insights into the best place to spot Pied Wagtails at dusk. 

This year, we had a very special Christmas wish to fulfil for a young boy who lost his Nutmeg teddy bear. Find out how we made it our mission to create a magical festive reunion for Rowan and his family to cherish forever.

Our Rangers share a round-up of their sightings on village during the winter months. Find out what you could spot on each of our villages in this winter nature notebook. 

Go behind the scenes of our Family.Refreshed. campaign, filmed at our Sherwood Forest village. Meet some of our colleagues who helped make the sizzling fajitas, gave tips to the actors and assisted in getting those perfect action shots!

It’s no secret that our guests love Winter Wonderland – but did you know it takes a whole year (and a lot of people) to make the magic happen?

Take a peek at some of the hidden gems on our six villages and see if you can spot them on your next short break!

Our relationship with Longleat Safari Park has grown over the years. Read our latest story on how we have been working together to support the red pandas.

Over the summer months, the wildlife at our villages has been making many appearances. Read what our Conservation Rangers have been spotting and for hints on where to capture them.

The staff at Center Parcs are very passionate about wildlife and are always trying to find new ways of making our forests inviting to all plants and creatures great and small. And they’ve definitely made a friendly environment up on those roofs.

Each of our villages have an array of wildlife, from ducklings and otters in the lake to woodpeckers and buzzards amongst the treetops. Keep reading for a nature update from our Conservation Rangers who help protect our wildlife. Keep your eyes peeled on your next Center Parcs short break!

With spa breaks and spa days back on the agenda, we wanted to give you a sneak peek at what the Aqua Sana team have been up to while they’ve been closed. We chatted to Spa Team Leader Adam Hutchinson to find out what goes into keeping a spa running, the changes we’ve made to keep our guests safe and how we keep the pool so clean.

We caught up with Longleat Forest’s Barry Taylor, Subtropical Swimming Paradise Manager, and Louise Wakeham, Senior Forest Ranger, to find out how we keep it so clean, where all those plants come from and whether ‘slide tester’ is a real job?

Every year, as the weather gets warmer, hundreds of toads start their migration back to their ancestral breeding grounds, embarking on a treacherous journey which, sadly, not everyone survives. So why do they take these risks and how has a global pandemic actually helped increase the number of toads at Center Parcs?

While our lovely guests can’t come to Longford Forest, we thought we’d bring Longford Forest to you

The magnificent Redwoods are a highlight of Longleat Forest. Senior Forest Ranger Richard Heath tells us all about these magnificent trees and how families can see them up close

Center Parcs is home to a variety of bee species, Mike Hill, a Senior Conservation Ranger at Sherwood Forest is on hand to educate us on the difference between them all

It's "Wildlife Wednesday", and we are putting a spotlight on the wonderful wildlife that our staff have spotted at Longleat Forest. Join us as we take a look at some lovely images, and find out how you can get involved in the Big Butterfly Count...

Center Parcs is not the same without our wonderful guests, discover what our wildlife are getting up to.

Even when the temperature drops, there are still plenty of creatures to spot at Center Parcs. Whinfell Forest’s Senior Conservation Ranger, Matthew Jeffery, tells us what to look out for

Friday 4 October marks World Animal Day. Discover how a Center Parcs Red Squirrel Ranger hand-reared Archie, until he was released to take his first steps into the wild

Our Rangers are a vital part of protecting nature amongst the forest. Find out about the person who works behind the scenes to keep our wildlife friends happy and healthy all year round at Longleat Forest.

In tribute to world animal day on 4 October 2018, we are travelling back in time to look at the Longleat Forest wildlife highlights over the years.

We’ve discovered one of our lodges at Woburn Forest has been keeping a secret…