Hello all!
Today I have my third and final post of the Butlins Ambassador review for our holiday in December! If you missed my others you can check them out below! I decided to leave the best till last (although it was a toughie between this and the food), but this definitely has the biggest variety in what to do! So here we go...
Accommodation
Dining
Just outside of our hotel was a gorgeous little play area which Abbie absolutely loved! There were 2 baby swings, a giant swing, criss cross tunnels, water pumping area, climbing frame with slide and a fun little maze style seating area too! Everything was really safe and well built, the perfect little play area if you ask me!
Carrying on outside now, we have the Sir Billy's Fairground area, a proper old school fair with carousels, helter skelter, bumper cars, candy floss stands, hook a duck and so much more! It takes me straight back to my childhood! Although Abbie is pretty much too small to go on anything, she was happy just to run around looking at all the lights and seeing everyone else on the rides!
The other side of the pavilion is a little wooden play area, split into 2 sections, one for the littler kids and one for the older ones, Abbie instantly loved it as she could climb, slide and could see everything around her too!
Inside the Pavillion now - where pretty much everything takes place, from the soft play area to arcades, it's like a tardis, you don't realize just how much you can fit into one place! Growing up in Southend I was always around arcades and 2p machines, so I was in my element reliving that with Abbie playing with her tub of coins too! She took interest in the hockey table, the Peppa Pig grabby machine and of course the Teletubby ride!
As we were there just before Christmas, everything was decorated beautifully, with Christmas trees everywhere, lots of colourful lights and of course fake snow and snowmen!
A little hidden gem inside the Pavillion is this sweet soft play for the littler ones, split into 2 sections, soft play and ball park and Arts & Crafts on the other side with tables, paints, pens and lots of fun creative things for them to keep busy with! This was one of Abbie's favorite places, we arrived just as it opened and therefore ended up being the only people there for the first 20 minutes, so little Abbie had roam of the place, the green slide in particular was her favorite and being thrown into the ball pool too!
Around the edges are toys for babies, rockers, bouncers, walkers, books, shapes, rattles and loads more things, they've really thought of every age when it comes to this area, it's all super colourful, a little worn around the edges, but a great place for the kids to really let off some steam!
I'd recommend getting there as early as possible (I think it opens at 8am), as when we walked past at around 2pm, it was absolutely chocker block! Could you imagine the mayhem! Ha ha.
Inside the Pavillion again there's a big soft play area for your little ones, in all honesty I was pretty disappointed with both the organisation and size of the toddler area! Abbie loves soft play and loves the whole climbing, playing in the ball pool part, however all the big fun bits were separated into a height restricted area that is probably suitable for over 5's height wise! The only part Abbie was allowed in had the bigger kids running up and down the slides and causing a bit of havoc! The area was small and really didn't have enough for Abbie to really do without getting a little bored, she seemed to enjoy herself and obviously dragged me up the steps with her which I loved, she ran around with the other kids and kept screaming when they did which was pretty cute!
Understandably the soft play area was pretty packed but I do think there should have been a limit on the amount of children allowed as unless you got there early, it was chocker! Abbie would've loved the ladders, tunnels and ball palls in the bigger kids section but I guess she's gonna need to do some growing before that will happen!
Overall she did have fun though and happily played in there for a good 45 minutes each time, I just didn't feel happy leaving her by herself when the bigger kids were in there, I look forward to going back in a few years so she can experience the whole thing! Still, we didn't hear any complaints from Abbie who ran around like a crazy woman, she even cried when it was time to go so that's always a good sign!
I've saved the best thing till last now, the Skyline Show, throughout the day there are shows on which your little ones can sit and watch, there's even a cafe next to it so they can play on the staging area whilst you can enjoy a nice cuppa or bite to eat! Abbie is at the age where she just doesn't sit still for any longer than about 30 seconds if we're lucky, but one evening when we'd finished our dinner, we popped in and saw everyone having a 'Confetti Party' lots of the grown ups and bigger kids were throwing the after show confetti up in the air and there were loads of kids just dancing in it and having loads of fun! As soon as someone else through a new pile of the stuff, Abbie was there underneath it, watching her little face light up was so magical, she really really loved it and we ended up staying there for a good hour just enjoying watching her having so much fun!
There was so much to do and so little time but below is a complete list of everything you will find at Butlins to prepare yourself before your stay :).
Character Shows
We couldn't quite believe how much there is to do, whether you have a toddler or a teenager, there really is something for everyone and no-one will ever be bored!
Our overall experience of Butlins is easily a 5/5! There were a few things that weren't quite up to scratch but nothing that even came close to ruining our stay, the food was fab, the staff were wonderful, accommodation was great and it was definitely the perfect place for our first family holiday! We now cannot wait for our Summer trip to Butlins Minehead where we will be sharing our experience with you then!
Visit the Butlins website to get started on booking your perfect break :)
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