Butlins

We booked a Monday to Friday break at Butlins on one of their “Just for Tots” weeks featuring Mr Bloom. It promised to be a toddler friendly holiday with child friendly activates and meet & greets. We booked in to the Bognor Regis resort and it was easy t find the resort with clear signage to our accommodation and with plenty of parking.

We had booked in to the Shoreline Hotel in one of their family rooms and we were happy with the room. There was a sleeping area for the girls (plus a cot for Ella) with a big blackout curtain in place of a door. Their room had their own wardrobe, draws, night light and TV on the wall. This was the first time Isla would have slept in a bed but thankfully the hotel also provided bed guards to stop her from falling out. The bathroom had a child seat attached to the toilet and a step was provided so that Isla could step up to the toilet and the sink to wash her hands. There were also lovely bright cartoons on the bathroom wall. Our bedroom section had colourful wall decorations for the girls to play with and large floor to ceiling windows overlooking the sea.  Each day the housekeeping staff left towel animals on the bed which Isla loved.

We were late checking in and so we were advised to go down to dinner in the restaurant by 6pm. When we arrived we found a long queue (something that was to be a recurring theme of the resort) and when we go to the front we were told that you had to book an evening dining slot at breakfast and the only time left was 6.30pm. So we headed out to the play areas to kill time before dinner.

The food was buffet style with a smaller buffet section at toddler height so that the children can choose their own food. Isla loved being able to select her food each day. The food was generally of a good standard and it was possible to eat healthily with lots of vegetables and fruit for Isla.

After dinner we headed up to our room for bath and betimes. Ella went straight to sleep but Isla wanted to sit in bed with her mum and dad as we read her stories – something she was to repeat every night. We all had a good night sleep, the hotel was very quiet and we could hear the waves on the seashore.

In the morning we had more queue for breakfast and eating with the two girls was chaos – I think Isla was overwhelmed by the options and variety of food. The restaurant provided Ella’s Kitchen sachets for free (two per visit) and so we were able to give Ella a nice breakfast too.

We then headed out to explore the resort and went in the main resort tent area.

We stumbled across the soft play first and Isla spent well over an hour running around. Towards the end it dawned on me that she was actually stuck and repeatedly trying to find her way out and so, after some verbal guidance from me, I managed to get her out just in time for the Teletubbies show on the main stage. Isla was absolutely enthralled and stood, open mouthed, swaying to the characters and music. I can’t be absolutely sure when knew the characters, or what was going on, but she seemed to be enjoying herself. She then went on some of the toddler rides at the Tots Fairground behind the main stage.

After all the excitement we decided on milkshakes before we all heeded back to the room for our lunchtime sleep.

A “family nap” was something we were only too happy to add to our daily holiday routine (the blackout curtains in the room worked really well – although a certain someone got the giggles when she realised she could pull the curtains back from her cot to get our attention)

After lunch we headed over to the fairground to try out some of the bigger rides and slides. Admission to the rides is based on height, rather than age, and so Isla (being a tall two year old) was able to go on almost all rides except for the dodgems. I thought she would be scared but she displayed no hesitation and laughed and screamed the faster and higher the ride went. We went on the Helter Skelter, the Rockin’ Tug boat ride that swirled us around in different directions, the trampolines, the Carousel, and her favourite the Paratrooper – she is turning in to quite the little dare devil. Both girls were tired out by bedtime.

Over the next few days we followed the same pattern of fairground, soft play and exploring the resort.  Isla tried out the Tots football, which she seemed to be very enthusiastic about

 

However, after about 10mins and then it descended in to running around followed by her dad. I noticed that a number of the children started to leave early and we were soon amongst their ranks as we decided to cut our losses and take her to the playground again.

We also found the toddler race track area nearby where Isla quickly secured herself one of only two Princess Carriages complete with horse and spent about an hour going around the track – closely followed by Matt who was giddy with excitement and enthusiasm himself.

We also had a trip down to the beach, which Isla loved. The weather was very good and she ran up and down the pebbles screaming and laughing.

We tried out the Splash Waterworld which was great as it allowed all four of us to go down a waterslide together die by side.  However, I realised afterwards that I had forgotten to bring our towels and se we spent £2 on a family drying machine which blew hot air at us for 5mins (and didn’t really work).

Isla also discovered her Mother’s love of the 2p amusements and she spent hours (and £s) playing on the 2p sliding machines to try to win prizes.  We weren’t very successful until a fellow mother showed me how to play a trick on some of the machines by depositing multiple 2ps at once to get the pennies to fall quicker.  That woman had skills.

For Ella there was a great soft play just off the main stage and she had an enjoyable few sessions exploring the toys and other children.  I also tried some Baby Yoga.  This was very good with about 12 Mums per class and babies of various ages. We did stretches, sensory play and music. Ella seemed to love it and fell in to s deep sleep about 20mins after the class. I’m definably looking to keep that up as she grows.

By the end of the week we were tired but the girls seemed to have had a great time, especially Isla.  I am certain that this will not be our last short break to Butlins for the Just for Tots holidays and Isla can’t wait to go back.