butlins.....yes or no ppl??

[happyatlast]

I am considering taking my children to Butlins this year. We usually go to Turkey as my mum has a house out there but this last holiday in Sept they got a bit bored with either going to the beach or the pool as you would imagine.

I have decided on a holiday in the UK which is good for childrens entertainment, somewhere not too far away from Stoke on Trent which is where we live as I have only recently started driving so I am not brave enough to drive too far just yet!

Anyway with Pontins recently going under I was worrying if Butlins were heading the same way as that was one of the places I was considering?

Anybody had a really great holiday with the kids in this country which was not overly expensive?

My dd is 11, ds is 6 and youngest dd is 9 months.

Been to butlins a number of times but during school hols it is quite crowded and you r constantly queuing for ages to get a good seat for evening entertainment, if you opt for half board you have to get in early to avoid the rush. with two adults, we took it in turns to queue and bag seats. the dc enjoyed the activities and entertainment so generally a good hol, personally its the queues that were off putting. Went to Pontins once and it was quite sub standard compared to butlins so i wouldn't worry about butlins going under just yet, hope this helps.

No don't do it! We went to the minehead one and was our worst ever holiday experience.
Dirty bedding, awful experience with a family in chalet next to us. Food expensive e for a load of junk, the catered option was dire(although we upgraded to gold and food was much better)
The whole park just felt run down the pool was terrible as well.
Never again!

Was just looking at Havens Thorpe Park?

Anyone been there am really close to booking it for a week but finding bad and good reviews so really not sure but you find that with everywhere really dont you,some people genuinely complain about things you couldnt not complain about and others just like to winge about the slightest little thing, so I dont know whether these bad reviews are from moaning people as it seems theres no inbetween with this park, some are saying it was dreadful, others are saying it was fantastic?

No no no, not even with Sun tokens. You can hear people swearing at their kids through the paper thin walls and I saw grandmas so drunk at 7pm by the queue for the panto they literally had to lean against the wall to stay upright.
We accidentally ate in the all-inclusive food court (got confused, didn't realise there were no tills until too late!) and the food was just shit.

I would go to a caravan park and self-cater and just go offsite exploring in the daytimes. At least caravans keep you further away from your neighbours.