I asked each member of the family for a highlight from our recent stay and these are the things they said not to miss if you are going to Butlins this year.
1. Dick V Dom - This 45 minute show is a sure fire hit with kids of all ages. I'll admit I was really looking forward to this as I used to watch Dick and Dom back in the early 2000's. I was already in my twenties by then so who knows why but their toilet humour and slapstick comedy obviously had me hooked. More recently my kids have seen them on CBBC and when JJ heard they were there he was super excited. He headed straight off to buy their book and instructed me I had to take pictures he could share at school. Apparently it would be like the coolest thing to be 10 years old and have met 'the real Dick and Dom'.
They seemed like very nice guys and were happy to chat with the kids. It did make me chuckle when Miss M decided she would swap her mate Jacob's hat over with Dom. He was a good sport and joined in!
2. Eat at the Diner - New to the Bognor Regis site is a fabulous 50's style diner. It looks really plain and nothing out the front and then you get inside and the decor is stunning, the seats and booths comfy, the food excellent, the staff super friendly and the regular entertainment not to be missed. My girls loved dancing with the entertainers and they were taught a few new rock and roll moves! The milkshakes are not cheap at 3.95 each but they are made with 3 scoops of ice cream and come with an American style top-up! If we had one of these local to home I know we would be regular customers, I've not seen my husband smile and sing in such a long time!
3. Watch the Cirque Du Hilarious show - This is quite a long evening show at 2 hours but it is jam packed and has lots of variety. JJ is still reciting some of the jokes even now. There was comedy, magic, dancing, music, stunts and so much more. A real variety show which makes you 'ohh' pretty often but be warned it will get super busy. The show started at 7.15pm and I joined the queue at 6.35pm, it only took me 5 minutes to get into the venue but I literally bagged the last table.
4. Spend time at the funfair - We visited the fair most days as it is not often you can drive the dodgems, slide down the helter skelter and bounce on the trampoline without having to fork out any money! There is also late night rides on Wednesday and Saturday evenings from 7 - 9pm and JJ felt very grown up that he was able to go along on his own for a bit.
5. Go bowling - I know for many people this is probably not that exciting but my younger two have only ever bowled once before and they were really excited to be able to bowl with their mate Jacob, having not seen him for about a year. Bowling costs 5.00 for an adult or 2.50 for a child and is well worth it, we booked the day before and secured 2 lanes on our last evening and it meant we had the best send-off!
And in the interest of a balanced perspective, I will share our top 5 disappointments of this year too -
- At age 10 JJ is too tall to go in the soft play and this made him very sad as he wanted to play with his sisters and he felt he was being penalised for being very tall.
- We missed being in a hotel and having a king size bed and free wi-fi.
- The helter skelter was closed for three days due to it being wet from the rain. Come on, this is the UK, of course it will rain!
- The main skyline toilets being out of toilet paper by 4pm in the afternoon.
- Queueing in the rain on the first night for our meal. I do have to say though we never queued more than one family in front of us after that.
We had a great holiday this year, thanks so much Butlins, you sure know how to host a super fun holiday!
Disclosure: I am a Butlins Ambassador this year and as such we were provided with a 4 night break for 5 people for the purpose of undertaking a review. I have not been told what to write and I remain honest.
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