To go to butlins and haven for holidays

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Anyone been to Bognor butlins and Devon cliffs haven. Looking for 3 / 4 days at each one a weekend in sept and then over oct half term.
2 dcs 4 and nearly 2. What activities are included in each. What’s the pools like at each. Given the time of year is there enough to do?

ive heard mixed reviews I’ve heard people rave about them and then I’ve heard people say they are shit holes.

so aibu to consider it for my kids for a cheap hols?

Even the hotel?

What’s the food like in butlins?

We've been to Bognor Butlins, stayed in a hotel with hotel dining - all great.
Pool is good there, kids your age will also enjoy softplay, mini fairground, kids disco, the Skyline gang shows and any character shows (mine enjoyed Peppa, PJ Masks, Thomas etc at that age).
There are free activities like toddler football, ballet, messy play and some you can pay extra for like pottery painting.

Not fancy but fine. Lots that kids will like - fish fingers/pizza/pasta ice cream type stuff.
I'd say the hotel food is mainly 'pub classics' - roasts, pies, pasta dishes and then they have various themed nights so one night will be curry, one will be Mexican.
Lots of nice little cakes and things for desserts.

We've done food court and premium dining before and it's definitely worth going for the premium.

How does one do premium dining?

im trying to watch what I eat, will I be ok?

Went to Butlins Bognor at may half term, luckily weather was glorious. Stayed in new style silver apartments which were great, 2 bedrooms, really comfortable and well equipped. We totally self catered, didn't buy so much as a coffee as food and drink is really overpriced. My dc loved it

Butlins bognor definitely not a shit hole. We stayed in one of the three hotels (ocean) and it was very nice, I would rate it around 4 star. Loads of activities to do and a wide variety of people there not just chavs and screaming kids. We were pleasantly surprised and plan to return.

Yay for a positive post about Butlins! We're off in the morning- me, DD26 and DGDs 16 12 and10. We go every year and they love it!

Butlins is still my DC aged 6 favourite holiday, we go once a year off peak season and there is so much to do for your age kiddos.
It's perfect as at any time there are numerous things going on/things to do so you can fit around nap schedules if needed etc. You can schedule your day or just go with the flow and the little ones will never be bored.
We go for a gold apartment and do self catering as we're not a fan of the dining plans. We get a burger king or fish and chips one evening but apart from that we cook for ourselves.

I went to butlins with my 2 year old not too long back and she absolutely loved it, and I have to say, so did I. We had a silver one bed apartment (but the front room had a double bed too, so little one had her room and I had the double). The apartment was clean, a good standard and perfect really. We'll stocked kitchen so I just took a tesco shop with us and mostly ate there. They've got loads of places to eat on site and when we were there, kids ate for £1 so fish and chips and pizza definitely happened.
The pool has just been redone and was amazing, we went every day. It cost £51 for the monday-friday and honestly I didn't have a single complaint about the holiday.

The only issues I did have were that there are very few plug points, so take an extension lead. And the parking... it was just me and my just under 2 year old. With far too much stuff and all our food, it was an absolute nightmare getting the car unloaded as it was miles away from the apartment. Little one was also just too little to safely walk next to me so I had to do multiple trips back and forward with her in the buggy.

I've also just been to a Haven holiday, though not the same one so can't comment on the entertainment and activities at yours. We loved this probably even more! And having the car parked right outside the caravan seemed like total luxury. I'll absolutely be doing more haven caravan holidays over the years, for as long as we can go out of school holidays.

Haven't been to those specific ones but we always go to a Haven at end of Sept time. Everything is always open, only thing that did close was the outdoor river rapid thing on 1st October but entertainment etc still on, plenty to do for my toddler DD, never had a problem with their caravans or anything at all in fact.

If you're staying in a hotel you'll get hotel dining which is the same as premium.

Depends what kind of things you want to eat, but there'll be fruit, yoghurt, omlettes available for breakfast. Salads, chicken/fish, rice, veg etc at dinner.

Oh fab! I’ll get it booked then! I’m sure the dcs will love it.

its coming in at about £400 for 4 nights so I thino it’s pretty good going!

My kids loved Butlins bognor when we took them some years ago (primary age) - they pestered me every Yr since to take them back. We went Oct half term, was lots of Halloween stuff going on. Good bits were the pool (though gets busy), funfair, hiring the pedal kart things to ride around the park is quite amusing, evening entertainment is OK, Harry Ramsdens, the ice cream shop, the fast food places in the pavillion are good for a quick bite. Bognor beach is pebble but nice for a walk and has some nice cafes. Bad bit was the accommodation - we were SC and the apartment wasn't great but the beds were really comfy to be fair, living room/kitchen/bathroom not so good. The entertainment venues can get a bit rammed and everything is sticky (chairs, tables, carpets). Good for primary kids, I'd not take my teen kids now.

The thing is - kids don't notice the things we do like sticky tables 😄 It's all fun fun fun for them.

Stayed in the hotel at Bognor about 2 hrs ago. Clean and nice child friendly accommodation. Loads to do and the pool is amazing, loads of slides for little and big kids!

also - mr tumble was on as it was a tots weekend and my husband found his agents email online and we got a free meet and greet with him just for being cheeky and asking so worth having a look at the line ups if you book.

I loved the shoreline hotel because they had floor to wall windows so the view and sunset / sunrise was incredible.

All rooms seemed to have a sea view

We always went in October for my DS birthday and had a main bedroom plus a kids room with bunk beds

Book it. You will all have a great time

We’re booking now the wave with the premium dining plan October half term! Hope the dcs love it!

thanks all!