Butlins Minehead weekend with preschooler and toddler - any tips?

[AnOfficerAtLeastOneRankHigher]

Have booked a weekend with just turned 4 year old and 16 month old. We're staying in gold apartments. Is the premium dining plan worth getting? What time should we aim to arrive? Any tips to get the most out of the weekend?

Anyone?

We went to Skegness when my son was 2. We had their new seaside apartments.

My feedback, but may not apply to your site:

1. Entertainment great for kids. Always something to do.
2. Apartments needed cleaning, definitely not to my standard. Take cleaning wipes.
3. We paid premium and whilst there was a lot of choice, some was a bit random. Quality was decent and there was pouches for babies. Also rubbish going out for breakfast. We had mainly had cereal or toast, but a full English on our last day. My partner ate hot breakfasts most days, even if eggs on toast.
4. Nice not washing up, but the cost of premium balanced with self catering I don’t think is worth it personally.

I said I’d never go again, but now I have a 4 year old who just wants to be on the go constantly I probably would, but self catering.

The pool was amazing!

Have fun.

...off to look at some deals! 😉

We've done almost this exact trip (but in Skeggy). We worked out the meal costs and found it too pricey for us at the time. Also, how much will you enjoy eating yourselves with little ones in restaurant? Personally, i hate it. I like to enjoy my food after they're in bed!
We did an Asda shop and prepared easy meals for us all at night. The kitchen facilities are good. We ate out at the pub some days for lunch too. Enjoy and take buggy/scooter. The gold apartments at Skegness were waaaaay down the posh end and a 20 min walk...

We are going to Skegness in a couple of weeks.

Plan to take a couple of m&s dine in for £10 meals, nicer cereal than usual etc. Willcost a lot less than premium dining, no worrying about toddler behaviour

We took Ds, when he was 3, to Minehead. It was brilliant! Loads of stuff to do, although it's not all included in the price. Beware. The pool was amazing, though they have a wave machine, that took Ds and I off our feet. I wouldn't eat on site, much better food in Minehead. Yummy fish and chips

We've been to Minehead lots of times , kids absolutely love it although your youngest might be a little young to fully enjoy it. We haven't done dining plans for a few years to this might be a bit dated but
If you're going to do a dining plan then definitely do the premium. The standard is like pigs in a trough, everyone pushing and shoving with piled high plates of congealed food which they then leave most of. Premium was nice , very relaxed and good food but nothing amazing. Breakfast was great , lots of choice - cereal,toast,pastries + all the usual hot breakfast items. We would encourage the children to eat a filling breakfast to take them through most of the day so we wouldn't need lunch and we'd sit and plan our day there. We did find the times open quite restrictive as you needed to be there quite earlyish or the choice would be quite limited by the last hour. So if you are looking forward to lie-ins ( maybe not with your children's ages!! ) or lazy mornings then a dining plan might not be best for you. Likewise if you wanted to go off for the day exploring the area you'd need to get back by a certain time to get a good choice of evening meal.
There are several supermarkets a 5 minute drive away from the resort so when not on the dining plans we've stopped there and picked up snacks and breakfasts and eaten out in the evenings.
However on our last couple of stays there we've ended up eating off resort as the onsite restaurants weren't great. The chip shop and the pub are either great or dire so it's a bit of a lucky dip eating at those places. The American diner and Nandos rip off were overpriced yet bizarrely always booked up so you couldn't just randomly walk in when you felt hungry but had to book them at least 8 hours before. The Nandos rip off had tiny portions and got most of our order wrong and the American diner made us all feel ill so we've only eaten at those places once. Theres a Burger King but charges more than the high street ones and there's an Italian restaurant which we haven't tried.
For the children there's an outside fair but your children would be too young for a lot of the rides but there is a Bob the Builder yard with rides for the smaller children. There's an indoor soft play/climbing cage and a large wooden play area in the onsite pub beer garden. There's entertainment in the Skyline for small children with various characters who do walk rounds and photo opportunities. There's also a lovely beach opposite the Butlins entrance.
Hope you enjoy it!

The pool really is fab. Get there and book in and go swimming to get the travelling out of your systems.

The big tent has loads going on, usually something on the stage in the afternoons aimed at their age group.

If you want to escape the prison off Butlins, the Hairy Dog pub is fantastic. The food is great, freshly cooked to order and not over priced. I am local and go there a lot!

Toms Chip shop in Summerland car park is good for a chippy, as is Danas on the sea front.

As for the supermarkets mentioned, you will see them on your way in, there is a Lidl, a Morrisons and a Tesco.

I don't go into Butlins much now, as my DC are older. they sneak in with friends, as a right of passage round here but any questions about the local area and I will be happy to answer.

Meant to say, the Hairy Dog has a massive outdoor play area.

Hairy Dog! That's the pub we always visit! They used to do a good carvery too.

They still do!

Thanks all! The hairy dog sounds great, will definitely pay a visit

Download the app so you can plan around which shows and stuff you want to see. Very handy