travelasorousBargain weekend in Butlins for mummy and toddlerasorous birthday, go on then!
I’ve never been to Butlins but quite like Minehead so had a little google and found a cheap deal.
It was quite the experience!
There is a main car park and then you have to walk to your accommodation, I would definitely advise taking wheely suitcases and packing in as few bags as possible, which we did not! There are airport trolleys that can be used to transport your stuff. We went with the Grandparents so it was easier to transport everything but if I had gone alone I probably would have panicked when I arrived!
We stayed in a 2 bed self catering apartment, we didn’t buy a meal plan because of my dietary issues so I can’t comment on what the food plans are like.
We had a twin and double room, small kitchen / diner / living room. The accommodation felt like it hadn’t been upgraded in a very long time but it was ok, it did the job for a few nights!
We got up in the morning and went for a walk, honestly I was really overwhelmed! It was really busy! The main area there is a lot going on, keep a close eye on the small ones! There is a large stage in the middle of the ‘tent’ surrounded by costa, Burger King and other restaurants / bars. There is a arcade area with 2p machines! Outside there is a fair ground, which looks fun for bigger kids, there is a tots fair ground but adults can’t go on the rides which is ridiculous as my tot didn’t want to go alone! The only thing we could go on together was tiny train ride. There is also a soft play which given the capacity of Butlins was tiny, we only spent 5 minutes or so as it was to overwhelming. We watched a puppet show which was cute, but you needed to be there early because it got very busy.
We went swimming on the Saturday afternoon, the app advises about 3pm is the best time. This was a good time to go, there was no que but wow it was busy inside! It is a big pool area with 3 pools and slides, and I think 5 changing areas! I feel a bit complainy here but it had potential, but there was to many people in the pools, the pools were cold, and the changing room we used was dirty and smelt. In one of the small pools there is a little slide for tots which toddlerasorous loved but there was only one so there was a constant que and as an assault I spent a lot of my time stood in water up to my knees, when you have been sat down then stood it was bloody cold! They needed the water to be a bit warmer!
We went to the toddler disco Sat night which was a bit disappointing, I thought there might be a bit more energy and red coats on the stage but there wasn’t. We watched a couple of shows, my parents went to see the Masked Singer which they said was very busy!!
We also went to watch Festivals Rock which was good.
Ohh did I mention the pantomime. That was probably my best bit, love a good pantomime!
Other then the disco I feel the shows were pretty good, there was a few on each evening and we didn’t make it to any of the reds shows.
On the Sunday we took a stroll to the beach, the weather was in our favour and it was dry! Bit windy but we sat by a wall! We made sand castles, had a picnic and generally had fun on the beach. We took a little stroll through Minehead, stopping for Gluten Free Fish and Chips on the way back. They had these cool sculptures dotted around the town.
Toddlerasorous begged me to go paddling so on Mon before going home we went for a beach walk and I agreed to go in. Wow it was cold! And my toddler ran away and refused to join me!
On the way home we went to Tropiquaria Wildlife Park, I’d been meaning to go every time I was in Minehead. Unfortunately it’s quite run down and not that many animals for the money I don’t think it is worth it.
Overall Butlins felt like it tried to have to much going on and not enough capacity for everyone. But if I could find another cheap deal I would go again for a weekend as I do enjoy Monehead!
