Butlin’s, Butlin’s, Butlin’s, Butlin’s by the sea
Butlin’s, Butlin’s, Butlin’s, is the place to be
So when you need a happy holiday
And you have time free
Come to,
Butlin’s, Butlin’s, Butlin’s, Butlin’s by the sea
We had to sing this little ditty during a performance of Snow White at Centre Stage on the first night of our stay at Butlin’s and it sums up our holiday perfectly.
If you are expecting a relaxing holiday, Butlin’s isn’t the place for you. It is jam-packed with fun stuff to keep the whole family entertained and I never once heard the phrase “I’m Bored” when we were there.
Firstly, there are the shows which are brilliant. It is very apparent that a lot of work goes into them and I highly recommend you check out as many as you can.
Secondly, there is so much to see and do that you cannot fit it all in.
If you are travelling with tweens and teenagers then I highly recommend you buy the activity passes. You can pay for the extra activities individually, but that works out a lot more expensive. The choice of passes are:
Adrenalin Pass (£17 pre-booked or £19 if booked at the resort): This enables you to go on Freefall, High Ropes and the Climbing Wall
All Action Activity Pass (£14 if pre-booked or £16 on resort): The passes allow you access to Adventure Golf, Bungee Trampolines, Go Karts, Ten-Pin Bowling and American Pool
The passes were a great investment. The little ones can be easily distracted by all the free entertainment going on but the teens definitely needed that little bit extra.
Then there is the infamous Fairground, filled with traditional rides that you can go on as many times as you like for no extra charge!
It is also worth taking a pot of small change as the arcade was very popular with all of the kids and I was quite impressed with how much they won. We managed to get a Chilly the snowman for Eliza and a Pacman for Isaac in the grabber machines. The eldest were using machines where you won tokens that could be exchanged for prizes.
The prize of choice seemed to be small polystyrene planes and bubbles which they enjoyed playing with outside in the warm sunshine.
The one other place the kids were desperate to visit was Splash Waterworld. With flumes and raft rides for the older kids and a toddler area for the little ones I thought it would be perfect. We picked a supposedly quiet time to visit but it was packed!
Callan and Kian shot off to ride the flumes – sadly the raft ride was out-of-order for our entire stay and Abbey stayed with hubby and I to help with the Isaac, Eliza and Sebastian. All my children are confident in the water, but I found the whole experience very stressful. I wanted to swim with Sebastian like we do at his lessons but it just was not possible – despite being billed as a baby & toddler pool it wasn’t and big kids were bounding through and splashing everyone in sight. Eliza and Isaac loved it, but you need eyes in the back of your head as they can just vanish right before your eyes.
The main pool was packed and as soon as the sirens went off for the wave machine, more people appeared from nowhere to jump in. I ended up leaving the pool early with Sebastian as he hated the crowds and just couldn’t relax. When hubby emerged with the others they found that 7 out of the 15 showers were out-of-order too. Because of these issues we only went to Splash Waterworld once with the little ones. The boys did go again though.
Our visit to Butlins may not have been perfect, but we thoroughly enjoyed it and there was plenty for all ages to see and do. There were puppet workshops and shows, crafting tables and even a softplay area just for Sebastian where he got to relax with toys just for him. You don’t have to go offsite at all, but I do recommend a walk along the beach if the weather is nice.
Why not check out my review of the Wave Hotel here.
Here is a short video of our highlights.
It sounds like great fun but it’s a shame about the issues with the pool and showers.
Wow there is SO much to do! That climbing wall looks really impressive, some are tiny and not very challenging but I can see my kids enjoying that including the oldest one.
Wow, a huge amount to do! Is the climbing wall just suitable for the older ones? My 8 year old would love to have a go but would probably need instruction / help so with these activities are there people there to help or is it really just for the older kids who know what they’re doing? Great post.
I saw lots of smaller children doing the climbing wall – an 8 year old even did freefall (eek). Isaac is small for his age but if he had been a little taller we would have let him try too
It sounds like you had a great time! We spent most of our time in the Fairground. I am glad you had issues at Splash too, I thought it was just us being awkward!
It sounds like you didn’t stop! Pity about the problems with the pool and showers. There really are plenty of activities to keep the kids busy x
Looked like you have an amazing time! It’s a shame the pool wasn’t great. Our nearest Butlins is Skegness and it has a lovely children’s area that’s never been packed when we’ve been.
I’m not sure I could have climbed that wall! My tummy is doing flips just looking at photos!
Sounds like a pretty good break! We had similar issues with the pool when I last went, I had a 20 month old Max with me and found it just too hectic, but like you found that most of it was a fab place to holiday with kids, especially if like us you have a range of ages to entertain!
i was never a fan of butlins when i was little, but i LOVED going to bognor as it was relatively close to us. so when i saw butlins i knew it was almost time to get out of the car!
Sounds awesome and great pics! Our kids love Butlins and have visited Skegness three times over the last few years. The pool can get busy though we usually go for the last hour when it is meant to be quieter (but rarely is!). It is a full on fun holiday though xx
It’s a shame about the pool and shower issues but it sounds and looks like you all had a fantastic time for the most part. I would love to visit Butlins again soon, I went years ago but it was fantastic.
It sounds like an action packed time away, I like things a little more mellow on the whole but might try out a weekend sometime!
Mu boys loved Butlins last year. I also love that it is on the beach
i have heard a lot about Butlins but can imagine it can be quite pricey especially if lots of people coming
Definitely agree about it not been a relaxing holiday! It was the holiday we realised that the children enjoying every minute outweighed any thought of taking it easy!
Sorry to hear about Splashworld, but so glad you managed to get so many fun things done- and amazing memories created.
I am not wanting to go here although it does look fantastic for our family as it costs a fortune for us all to go x
Pity about the raft ride, but looks like an action packed fun holiday x
What a shame about the pool and showers, but nevertheless it looks like you are able to have a ton of fun!
Your posts this week are bringing back memories from our trip last year – we loved it x x
We used to go to butlins when i was younger. I always remember being given a bag of 2p’s by my grandma before going and then being woken up at 3am and put in the car in our pj’s to drive down to the coast 🙂 I would love to take my girls next year x
Despite the issues with Spashworld it sounds like a action packed holiday. It’s great that there is something to keep all ages entertained.
looks like you still managed to have a great time!
Oh that’s a shame about Splash Waterworld. Hopefully they have sorted the showers out. We went to our local splash pool at the weekend and it was heaving too – difficult with little ones x
Sorry you didn’t get to visit the waterworld – I can’t handle packed places and huge queues either. Looks like you still had a fantastic time!! 🙂
What a fab trip you had, though I think I’d be fed up about the pool and showers too! But plenty to keep everyone happy it seems 🙂
It looks like a palce worth visiting 🙂 even without kids (as I don’t have them yet!) it looks like super fan! Would love to climb those walls and go Go Karting 🙂
Butlins how its changed over the years .Looks like lots of fun activities to do for all the family.
The arcades were a favourite of ours and I agree about Splash waterworld. The husband took our kids and I was stressed just watching!
looks like a fantastic time all round and great for the kiddos! x
Great video Kara- the shows are certainly action packed and play to a sell out crowd, don’t they?!
Thanks for submitting to the BritMums Video Round-up for May!
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