We recently went on holiday to oasis whinfell, which is located in the Lake District about 15 minutes from Penrith. It took us just over 2 hours to travel there from Ayr, Scotland. The Park itself is set in acres of woodland with a small lake in the centre. There are lots of footpaths and cycle routes throughout the woods and the wildlife is amazing, there are squirrels and rabbits that just sit at the edge of the paths and watch you go by.
On arrival at the park at 11 am we checked in through some rather fancy looking drive-through doors. After parking our car in the extremely large and rather disorientating car park we set about finding our way round the immense park itself.
Unfortunately we could not check into our chalet until 3 pm so exploring was about all we were left with. Firstly we went to hire bikes. Given the size of the park we decided we would hire a bike for every-one (except our four year old as we bought her bike with us). To hire 4 adult bikes over the weekend it cost just over £52.
We then went to the butterfly village centre to look around. In the Village Centre there is a shop called the Park Market which is basically a small grocery store but with reasonably priced stock. It was only really a few pence dearer than any other supermarket. Also in the village centre was a small cinema, a bowling alley, some arcade games, various places to eat (ranging from Chinese to European) a few pool tables and of course some pubs.
At 8pm on the Friday evening (day of arrival) we went into the green room to see a show based on rock and roll. This show cost £26.50 for four adults and 1 child (non-paying as she was under 5). The Rock and Roll Family Spectacular started off with some games for the kids, however these games were mainly for slightly older kids. There was then a slight intermission before the song and dance act began. This show in my opinion is the one most worth seeing as it was the cheapest and was also far more enjoyable for the children. On the second night we went to another show which was the hits of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. After the performance on the first night our daughter was really looking forward to going but left upset because there were no games for the children only the song and dance act. This particular show cost £20.50 per person so after paying £41 pounds for two people to get in we weren’t terribly impressed.
Once we got back to our chalet we had more time to look around it. We had a three bedroomed standard Woodland Lodge, (£550 for the weekend 3pm Friday – 10am Monday) which consists of one double and two twin rooms; there is also a living room area with patio doors leading to the barbeque patio. And a kitchenette beside the living room. There was a shower room and separate bathroom and also a smaller toilet room. Although the chalet was quite nice overall we were very disappointed with some aspects of it. Even though the cleaner had left just before we entered we found that the dishes in the kitchen were still quite dirty and therefore we had to wash them all again. Also in the main bathroom, the toilet seat was not correctly attached to the toilet so that as soon as the first person sat on it they nearly ended up on the floor.
On the next day of our holiday (Saturday) we took our daughter on the pedalo boats which were £4.50 per boat for half an hour. After this we decided to take her pony-trekking. It took us half an hour uphill on bikes to reach the stables and cost £15 for a ½ hour walk on the ponies. Although it was quite dear (£5 at our local stables) we didn’t regret taking her as she enjoyed it so much. Unfortunately due to the fact that all activities had to be paid for (apart from the swimming pool) we spent most of our time exploring the park and in the village centre and at the swimming pool.
Although we didn’t take part in many activities we did notice that there was a huge selection of things to do including, children’s clubs, canoeing, water skiing, archery, fencing, quad biking, four wheel driving, sports tournaments, family entertainment in the evenings, cinema, abseiling and rock climbing for the more adventurous, and various other indoor and outdoor activities.
During our explorations we found several good adventure play parks for the children and also a large sports centre. The sports centre had several indoor courts for badminton, squash, and indoor tennis. They also arranged tournaments for these sports that guests could take part in. The sports centre is where you should go if you want to book any outdoor sporting activities like the pony trekking or quad biking (£55 per person). There is a café bar there with an indoor and outdoor seating area (but an excessive amount of wasps in the summer).
The World of Water swimming pool was really good with quiet areas for adults to relax without the children but also plenty to keep children occupied with flumes, slides and a wave machine that the smaller children are allowed to use. There are rougher flumes, a family slide and river rapids for adults and older children who can swim unaided. Little life-jackets and other swimming aids are available to borrow free of charge for children who can’t yet swim unaided. Also don’t forget to bring your own towels with you as towels are not provided.
While on holiday here we ate in our chalet most of the time but we did notice that burger king was only slightly overpriced and that most of the fancier restaurants had a £10 reservation fee per person that you get back at the end of the meal. I dread to think how much the meals there would come to.
You are required to vacate your chalet by 10am on the Monday morning if you are holidaying at Oasis over the weekend although you can stay in the park until late evening if you want to. We decided just to leave straight after check-out and go into Penrith for the day before driving home.
A short word on what people should bring with them when going on holiday to Oasis Whinfell: • Toilet Roll – You are provided with one roll per toilet for the duration of your stay. • Towels – These are not provided in the chalets but can be hired at a cost of £4 for a bath and hand towel. These towels are not allowed to be used at the World of Water • Food – you can eat out but it is expensive so it is a good idea to make use of the self-catering facilities. • Good walking shoes and outdoor clothes – the weather can turn nasty with little warning and when it does it gets flooded. • Torch – depending on where your chalet is depends on how good the lighting is at night. We found the torch very handy for reassuring our daughter.
In conclusion it was an enjoyable family holiday but it was so expensive that two months later we are still trying to get our wallets to recover. Given that we spent at least £800 all in for the weekend we probably could have gone to Spain for a week on the same budget!
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