to think Butlins is better value than Disneyland for toddlers and its a shame its a social faux pas to go there.

[StripeyBear]

My toddler enjoys fairground rides, splash pools and live shows, and I've been pricing a theme-park-type break for this Spring during term time.

4 nights mid-week at Skegness in Butlins (including 2 bed apartment) shows, fair ground rides and splash pool comes in at around £150 for 2 adults and an under 3. Disneyland Paris, for a 2 bed static van in the Davy Crocket Ranch, ticket to both parks and access to the pool and so forth is £600. OK - I know Disneyland is probably bigger and sparklier - but will a 2 year old really like it 4 times as much? Both journeys are about 4 to 6 hours, and probably cost similar.

However, when I've relayed this to mummy-friends, I keep being told "BUT YOU CAN'T GO TO BUTLINS". Amidst the bluster, they seem to be saying there is something intrinsically wrong (maybe too many poor people (ahem) in going to Butlins that can't quite be voiced. "Skegness of Paris" another mother declared! Yet, I'm thinking it hardly matters where you are if you're in a park - and the choice is more "Barney or Minnie Mouse".

I have to confess I have never been to Butlins before - so please, give it to me straight - AIBU to think Butlins is better value than Disney?

Another factor with Butlins was our wide age range. We had people who were 85, 49, 26, 18, 4 and 2 and there was something for everyone. Me and some if my more hippyish friends fancy a camping barn and will do tht as well, me and my parents wokd do camping, my teenage sister likes beach holidays and cocktails, my nana likes shows, dd1 likes rides and dd2 was starstruck by bob the builder :-)

You do need to enter into the spirit of it though. I love museums etc with the kids - we HE so we do about three a week - but Butlins is still fun :-)

We had n problem with our self catering accomadation, except next time we will upgrade to get closer to the action as the walk was a bit much for nana. Easy for healthy children though.

Well the butlins experience we had was fantastic.I couldn't recommend it highly enough,we went with our 2yr old twins and had the most wonderful family holiday.
We didn't eat a single burger,there was plenty of healthy fresh food available in the hotel restaurants and If we had food outside the hotel we chose food that we would usually eat,there is no need to sit in burger king every night If you don't want to!
The accommodation was fantastic,rooms were spotless and child friendly-little touches like built in small toilet seats on the toilet which was great as we are potty training!we asked for the bunk bed ladder to be removed and a guy was in our room within 10 mins doing it.cannot fault the service or staff it was outstanding.
Restaurants in the hotel were great,my dd loves porridge and although it wasn't out at breakfast they made some and brought it to us again so quickly.
Entertainment for the kids was great,so much to do and most of it free tbh,we didn't spend a lot at all.
We took a cool box full of our own snacks etc to keep costs down as the spar shop on site is stupidly expensive and to be fair sells a load of shite but we learnt that from our first visit so we take things we like now.
I wouldn't be bothered with the hassle of a trip abroad at this age,they won't remember it,there seriously is nothing wrong with butlins!and we certainly werent surrounded by drunk parents,it seemed full of families trying to enjoy their holiday.

no idea about butlins or disneyland but i can tell you about haven

adult sized poo in swimming pool meant pool had to be closed

more gold medallions and tattoos than i've seen over a lifetime, mot that there's anything wrong with tattoos, but gold medallions, really??!?

people who introduce their kids to you as 'shitbag'

getting a mouthful of abuse for waking people up at 10am by putting suitcases in the car. fine for them to have woken us upat 2am with drunken shouting of course

bingo every frigging night - i accept some might see this as a bonus

skanky van where the toilet door handle locked one of the kifs in and we had to dismantle the lock to get them out

maybe your friends are thinking of things like that?

How about Andulucia then Flow ? As I was saying, we were there a couple of years ago, and I was surprised by how cheap it was. You can pick up cheap-ish Ryan-Air flights down there, and the accommodation was much cheaper than Italy or France. I also remember the car hire being jaw-droppingly cheap - but we did go a bit out of season.

Someone asked if it had to be Butlins or Disney? No - it doesn't - but we're in Scotland, and we don't really seem to have local holiday camps. There is a Haven in Northumberland - and it's cheap £130-£160 for 4 nights in May - compared to the £600 for Disney - BUT it looks boring. I just watched their promo video - and besides a live stage, there is nothing suitable for a toddler other than the paddle boats...

OMG Mercibucket that sounds bloody awful - you have put me off of there too. I don't know - it's difficult, isn't it? I suppose sometimes you can just get unlucky! I'm sure lots of people have been to Haven and had a lovely time and met lovely people!

LOL @ the charming person who suggested I was too snobby to go to Butlins and that it wouldn't suit me

We got Centre Parcs vouchers for Christmas - best present EVER.

The worst park was my parents had paid quite a lot of money as a treat for us

But

6 years later, we are going to try a different haven for a cheapie holiday. Fingers crossed.

This time it will be a cheap deal so we won't feel as ripped off. Plus we have carefully read the reviews and are going to one a fair distance from big cities.

Centreparcs is way better, esp if ypu can go out of term time.

Dont go to Haven in Northumberland (is it Haggerton Castle)

Its awful!

My ds's (9y o) favourite places on earth are Italy and Butlins . We've been to the south coast one a number of times now, self-catered and brought fabulous food, and every day spent about 3 hours in the swimming pool, another hoour or so walking along the beach, and another hour or so at the fairground. I've never paid much attention to other people there, tbh; no-one's ever bothered us in any way and we've always just had a lovely time.

And I say this as someone only too aware of the muddle class anxiety syndrome that comes over some people when the word 'Butlins' is mentioned! I tell my snobby friends that Butlins is a British institution with a fine history, and wins on environmental impact.

I've taken ds to Disneyplacewhatsit at Paris too, but we were all a bit disappointed; my dc are very physically active, and all that standing in queues, and sitting down in rides, just felt the absolute opposite of what their young bodies are made for...it was a much more passive experience for them, and required much less in the way of imagination / individual response / physical energy. They just werent that interested, tbh; even the parades were just 'oh look, there's another character.' The swimming pool in the hotel was very meh. If your dc live Disney, I can see how it'd be a good choice, but we were all very underwhelmed.

Hahaha - auto correct says I am muddle class! That's probably quite true :)

LOL - maybe we should stay at home... DD is too young for Disneyland, Haven is horrible, city breaks would be a nightmare....

I do tend to agree that she would get more out of Disney when she is 3 years old - maybe even more when she is 8 or 9... who knows? But it doesn't solve the problem of what to do on holiday this year.

Hvae you thought about Center Parcs or Bluestone?

The charming person is back. Our friends went on the basis of our recommendation that it was great for young kids. They hated it and have only just forgiven us but they did admit the kids loved it....

So I was being serious when I said I didn't think it was for you.
If you don't like macdonalds !!!

I was such a snob about Butlins until i went there when DC were 2,5 and 7, it was totally brilliant, and we all loved it!

Try Duinrell in Holland. Eurocamp/keycamp type place in the middle of a funfair. Beautiful beach nearby. Close to The Hague and Amsterdam. Bike hire with great cycle lanes. Shows not so great though.

forgot to add - also out of this world swimming pool/slide/rides etc

Also great children's playgrounds and wonderful town you can walk into(5 mins) with designer shops/expensive restaurants.

Combines all your needs with some city culture and beach

waves at the "charming person" Sorry shewhowines must be getting touchy in my old age I really don't like MacDonalds because it tastes like shit and is made of low quality crap. For similar reasons, I wouldn't (out of choice) use a Cafe Rouge or a Garfunkels or the like... so I guess I am a bit fussy

I'd ruled out Center parcs. For a start it is pricey - a 4 day break in June is £520 (compared to £150 in Butlins or £600 in Disneyland), and it doesn't seem to include hardly anything, other than the pool. My husband has a disability which means he can't cycle - so that seems a definite minus. Most of the activities seem aimed at adults or older children. The things on offer for little ones are stuff we could do at home anyway. So over all, it seems a definite NO!

Will go google your other suggestion shewhowines Thanks

Has anyone been to either of the Butlins in Northumberland recently? I have my eye on them for later this year so we can holiday close enough to my in-laws but not again renting a place in their village (where the only thing to do is visit them, and bundle up very warm for rock pooling) which what we did for our last holiday a few years back.

There are only 3 Butlins - in Minehead, Bognor and Skegness

Are you thinking of Haven?

How is the view from up there OP?

Yes, I meant Havens in Northumberland. Brain slip .

I've been to the one near Berwick.

DS (9 at the time) and I really enjoyed it for a Monday-Friday break last August Bank Holiday. We booked late and it was only £260 for four nights for the most basic 6 berth caravan. Very convenient location, as it's within easy walking distance to Berwick and the beach, and about a mile to Berwick train station. DS went swimming every day, although it was too cold to have the outdoor pool open; tried his hand at archery and fencing (extra charge); went to a couple of the kids' clubs (free); spent a little time at the playground and in the arcades; and we ate in the café bar most lunch times and dinner times. The food was fine- think pub grub favourites, and even though we are vegetarians, there were plenty of options. We also found the little onsite Spar (I think it was a Spar, anyway!) fine and not too dear for breakfast and the occasional lunchtime basics. You could probably get all your food there for a few days, if you prefer to cook.

The weather was very mixed and we needed the heating on in the caravan every night, but you kind of expect that when it comes to Northumberland! :o That said, we still managed two trips to the beach, in four and a half days.

The caravan was very clean, but you really have to bring everything with you- they didn't even leave any toilet roll! Our heating wasn't working properly one night, but the problem was resolved very quickly.

Hope this helps :).

We've taken our ds (almost 7) to the Bognor Regis Butlins every year since he was 2, and we're looking forward to the next visit in April. We always book dinner, bed and breakfast, and have always found the buffet restaurants to be excellent.

Once you arrive nearly every activity is free, except for bowling, cinema and crazy golf, and we usually buy an activity voucher which allows us to do them at a reduced rate. The swimming pool is excellent, clean and we've never had to queue to get in.

There are shows for all ages throughout the day, then a choice of two/ three in the evenings. When we first took ds he fell asleep in his buggy whilst we were watching them, now he joins in and enjoys them.

Yes it's cheap and cheerful, but we've always found it excellent value for money - 4 nights, breakfast and dinner, a nice room with sofa, tv and fridge, lovely clean bathroom - under £600 for three of us in the Easter holidays.

We went to Disneyland Paris in August last year and paid £1600 for three nights, breakfast and dinner. Lunch cost approx £60 each time, no matter where we ate. We spent almost £300 on food and drink when we were there, mainly because it was so hot.

At DP breakfast was continental and was at 7am so we were starving by lunchtime. At Butlins we had a full English every morning at 8-30/9 and rarely needed more than fruit at lunch, which they encourage you to take from the restaurant at breakfast. In DP we weren't allowed to take any food out of the dining room, even if it was because our ds was too tired to eat it then and we planned to give it to him later (strict timings for meals in the hotels).

We queued for hours in DP, and often the rides shut down and weren't available anyway. At Butlins the queues for the funfair rides etc are minutes long. There's also the beach, which is great for knackering out a small child just before bedtime!!

We did love DP but even my son (on the Eurostar home) said can we go to Butlins next time?

We have said we will go back to DP in a few years when we've saved up again but we will still keep on returning to Butlins each year cos we all enjoy it so much and find it relaxing. We just potter around following our ds and let him choose what we do. DP was exhausting!!!

We usually book a farm cottage somewhere touristy, near an amusement park or waterpark, near beaches and castles etc - usually North Devon or Cornwall - for an out of school hols WHOLE WEEK break this would cost less than £500. The places we stay usually have 6 - 10 cottages, a small swimming pool a playing field/trampolines/treehouses/swings and a pets area (goats/rabbits/chickens) - the kids have a whale of a time...

we went to Butlins once at Minehead - accommodation was a bit scabby and damp, and walls were thin so we got woken by the rowing crowd next door.... and the beds were not comfortable at all. Social side was "not for us", pool was great.

Went to Davy Crocketts at Disney Paris for a 5 day break (£465 during a deal) and enjoyed it a lot (kids were 4 and 5) spent mornings in the Disney parks, afternoons back at "the ranch" - the pool and the social activities were great. Accommodation was ok, 2 bed cabin, beds not very comfy, was noisy in the evenings too with people sitting outside shouting at their overtired kids....