Comments (8) This is a video of the mummy blogger trip to Port Aventura. In this video; accommodation, mummy bloggers posing, port aventura rides, hotel burn and the halloween parade featuring beetlejuice and frankenstein.
The Journey
On ‘Daddy’s’ recommendation we took the nine and a half hour ’scenic’ route which took us through Whitby and Scarborough (amongst other places….many….other….places). The six and a half hour route thr AA recommends may be a better option if you’re travelling with children.
Games played en route – 7 (it felt like more)
Roads driven – 47 ? (I lost count at Kingston upon Hull)
“Are we nearly there yet mummy’s” – just 4 (a miracle)
Wee’s at the side of the motorway – 1
Times I considered divorce – several hundred (thousand!)
Day One
Well, what can I say, Butlins is FULL ON. There’s so much to see and do that by two thirty we’d seen two puppet shows, been to the arcade, the soft play and participated in an Angelina (or should I say Man-gelina) Ballerina dance class. Predictably we passed out during the afternoon and vowed to plan our days more wisely for the rest of our stay.
That evening Alex made a valiant attempt at getting back into my good backs and offered to do the bedtime routine. After washing the candy floss out of Erin’s hair it was time to use the archaeic hairdryer that is included in the ‘Gold’ apartments. A minute or so in and said hairdryer begins licking flames threatening a halloween halloween horror story of our very own. Shaken up but unsinged Erin and Alex emerge alive. Butlins were quick to replace the offending item with a replacement that was missing half the plastic shell off the plug (!), nevermind, at least they’re offering hand sanitizer at the restaurant.
Day Two
Erin enjoyed Bob the Builders Yard where there’s a selection of children’s rides. These are free as are a number of the attractions and the remaining activities and food are very reasonably priced, often cheaper than back home. Be in no doubt that Butlins is a childrens holiday, Erin loved the constant activities but Alex and I found that there was little we could enjoy, especially as we don’t drink.
Even though there is lots to do I felt the park was too busy to cope with the half term crowds. The shows and craft activities were particularly over subscribed which led to long queues and a few disappointments.
The swimming complex is large with several flumes, older children could probably enjoy a couple of hours there everyday. There is a small toddlers area which could do with being larger and having a bit more to do.
Day Three
We (Erin) enjoyed the opening ceremony and to give the redcoats credit they are highly motivated and enthusiastic, even in the morning, something I find difficult to comprehend.
Most of the fairground attractions are free, rides include a full size carousel (apparently “too slow” for Erin) and dodgems, although be warned they are the boring British-style ones where bumping is banned, you could probably pedal faster than they travel and a one way system is constantly in place, all the rules render this ride completely pointless and dull, you’ve more chancing having a ‘bump’ on the M6.
The Verdict
Overall Butlins is a good product but it won’t suit everyone. Chances are if you love Center Parcs you’re gonna hate Butlins and vice versa.
I can imagine Butlins being a teenagers dream with bowling, quasar, the fairground and above all the unlimited freedom.
There were a lot of multi-generational families enjoying time together but on the flip side there were some parents completely losing it, perhaps the sugar rush is a bit too much?
Butlins offers families value for money, and that, I would say is their main selling point. Although I won’t be returning to Butlins I think it’s a good holiday for many British families, and an institution that has stayed true to it’s core values of good fun at a price you can afford.
48 hours in Port Aventura with friends old (Laura and Alice) and new (tara and jo).
Day 1
1.30pm Land at Barcelona airport with Laura, drive to Port Aventura – the toll barriers were no contest for our driver who played chicken every time before stepping on the brake just before the barrier raised.
3.30pm Go for a late lunch at The Old Steakhouse. The food was really expensive, equivalent to £15 for a burger, chips and drink. The Addams Family band provided some unique entertainment.
5.30pm Meet other bloggers – Tara, Jo and Alice
6.00pm Head into the park and ride the dodgems, a rapids ride and the flaming baco rollercoaster that caused Laura whiplash and a complete lack of confidence for the rest of the trip, even causing her to recoil at the teacups (she had to ride with Alice, the thrill ride I created was too much) And I thought we’d be coaster buddies forever…. Laura you big wimp! 
7.30pm Dinner at the Gold River Buffet and then to the bar for cocktails
Day two
6.00am In my usual style (while I’m away at least) I wake early and get on the internet for a bit
9.15am Uneventful buffet breakfast in the hotel
10.30am Due to Laura’s little problem we rode the children’s rollercoaster Tomahawk and saw the Aloha! show with real mauri dancing and a particularly fearsome Haka.
2.00pm Lunch with Oriel the press officer and a tour of The Hotel Burn, cabins and Lucy’s mansion
5.30pm Drinks and chat instead of siesta
8.00pm Dinner at tapas bar Venosfera, luckily Laura’s spanish allowed us to order ‘Dos Bread’ which is two bread to you and me, very tasty it was too. It was also during this most pleasant of meals that the previously lovely Tara dropped the bombshell that I look about mid 30’s in my avatar and rather ‘mumsy’ which may have been code for dull, she pulled it back slightly when she said that I’m young and funky in ‘real life’ yay (not that I need validation or anything..)
10.15pm I jostled for position with two babies to see the Halloween Parade featuring none other than the exorcist, nice bedtime viewing for the bairns dontcha think.
11.00pm Back to the hotel for drinks “non mojito” though.
12.15am Hide behind wagon at The Hotel Burn
Day three
8.10am Wake Tara and Laura an hour early *cough* seems to have been me who got the time wrong!
8.30am Breakfast featuring obscene cardigan man, a t-shirt or vest would have been appropriate young man.
9.20am Set off for park, turned away by park staff and realise the *cough* time error
10.00am Return to park and ride the dodgems again
11.00am Decide to ride one more coaster the runaway train, we missed the sign that read something like ‘Devil Mine’, a walk through ‘attraction’ which frightens the living daylights out of you. The rollercoaster is the prize at the end….if you make it.
12.00pm Lunch at Sichuan. Tara decided to buy a huge supply of water with our leftover vouchers, because you never know when the world will run out of water. I actually still have one of said bottles, I’ll keep it for the impending drought Tara
2.00pm Leave for Barcelona Airport
So as you may have gathered I’ve been away, Erin and I took a last minute trip down south to visit my brother with my Mum. We flew down to Bristol on Thursday morning and collected our car, a Skoda Fabia in case you’re interested. Mum took an instant disliking to it, we’re both short so require a decent driving position, a lower dash and low pedals. The Fabia has a high dash, high clutch and brake pedal and a low accelerator, so not great.
Nearly Killed a Man
She attached the sat nav, and off we went. My brother lives in a beautiful village called Lambourn where they train racehorses, very English and picturesque. To get there we needed to get out of Bristol and go on the M4, the route looked easy enough until the sat nav took us through Bristol city centre during the morning rush hour. The place was jammed and full of roundabouts and filters here and there. Well to cut a long story short before we knew it we were in the middle of a junction with a cyclist hurtling right into the side of us, I shouted to Mum and flailed my arms while she tried to pick up speed to clear the way, it was no good he hit the side of us, fortunately he’d seen us last second and slowed down and managed, barely, to remain on his bike. Of course we stopped to see if he was ok, he was breathless and shaking, apparently Mum had ran a red light. Neither of us can remember seeing any red light and we were watching and driving so slowly because of being in a strange area. However it was only us and him that had entered the junction so either we missed the light completely or went over just a tad to late and he was quick off the mark, who knows, the good news was that everyone was ok and Erin managed to sleep through it all.
Poker
Eventually we arrived safely and enjoyed fajitas and a game of poker, which I lost to my brother
Bournemouth
On Friday we headed to Bournemouth where we rode the carousel, collected shells, hooked ducks and ate candy floss. The sun shined.
Saturday
My brother picked up his new puppy ‘Cadie’, a border collie. Erin was smitten of course and chased her round the garden, she’s really good with animals, and it made me wonder how long it would be before we’re being nagged for a pet.
We also managed to squeeze in a visit to see my cousin and her children, another warm day we sat in the garden munching croissants while the kids played.
Sunday
Call me sad but I’ve been wanting to visit Bekonscot Model Village for ages, in fact the brochure has been sitting in the kitchen drawer for a couple of years. Sunday was a scorcher and we were able to wander at leisure, the village is 80 years old this year and still very popular. It’s quite a small place which seems to attract the yummy mummys, and lots of wasps, there is the model village itself which is smaller than I expected (the overall size, cos obviously I expected it to be small) a wooden play area, a carousel and snack shop and a ride on model railway. Erin seemed to be the perfect age for it and thoroughly enjoyed herself.
The character breakfast at Tusker House where we met Mickey Mouse.
Taking a look at the tropical fish.
Erin and Daisy.
Listening to the sounds of the rainforest.
Erin and Rafiki at the conservation station.
Erin and her ‘noculars’
Wednesday
We went to Downtown Disney where Erin went snap happy with her disposable camera, I’m sure they’ll be worth developing, not! Erin also relieved herself of some pocket money with a Little Mermaid jewellery box and a Goofy case jammed with sweets.
We stopped for some brunch at Earl of Sandwich, I revisted memories from six weeks ago and had the exremely large chicken caesar salad, while Alex had the daily special, a bbq beef sandwich toasted with cheese which he said was the best sandwich he’d ever had, but he says that about most foodstuffs here, so I’m not sure how much that can be believed, it did look tasty though.
After we’d seen all we wanted to see we decided to try and navigate our way to the Florida Mall, turns out it’s not far and very easy to find. New trainers for all, some bargain clothing and a few belated birthday presents and we’d managed to relieve ourselves of $400, not bad for a couple hours work. We stopped by TGI’s for sustinence and Dunkin’ Donuts for more sustinence, and then fell asleep
Thursday
Finally time to visit Magic Kingdom! We went on the teacups and then into Mickey’s Philharmagic Show, my favourite attraction in Magic Kingdom. We visited Minnie and Mickey’s house, and Erin tried her hand at sewing.
We braved Tony’s Town Square for lunch, the last time I was there with the Disney 7 we had a few issues with cold food, no cold food this time although it’s still not really my taste but if you like BIG food you should go for it. The pistachio creme brullee was the best desert I’ve had for a very long time
After lunch we did the country bear jamboree and it’s a small world and then it was back to the hotel for a swim.
That night we headed out for chinese, there was a tv in the restaurant with the breaking news that Michael Jackson had died, very odd, I’m no great Micheal Jackson fan but it did feel like a ‘where were you’ moment, and therefore a bit strange to be in a random chinese joint in Florida.
So busy not had a chance to blog, so here’s a bit of catch up from the past couple days.
Monday
For breakfast we headed to International House of Pancakes or IHOP for short, here’s a little picture of Erin with her ‘create a face’ concoction.
Afterwards we went to Typhoon Lagoon, one of Disney’s waterparks, we had fun but Erin was more interested in sunbathing and pottering about in the sand than the water or rides which came as a bit of a surprise.
In the evening we went to TGI’s for dinner which was tasty.
Tuesday
On Tuesday we returned to Hollywood Studios and did the Little Mermaid show which was one of my favourites, followed by Beauty and the Beast. Erin was completely mesmerized by Beauty and the Beast and I have to admit there were a few ‘mummy tears’ behind my sunglasses, moments like that make it all worthwhile It wasn’t long before we experienced more ‘moments’ over lunch. We had hoped to go to the sci-fi dine-in theatre where you sit in cars and watch old movies, however the whole place was booked out, which was a blessing in disguise as we ended up at a character lunch with some of the characters from Playhouse Disney. I really shouldn’t but I have to post all the pics, they’re all sooooo cute (even if I do say so!)
After meeting the characters we then went to see them live in the Playhouse Disney Show.
Finally we utilised the Fast Pass system to ride the uber popular Toy Story Mania, a 3D shoot em up game. Erin loved it, and insisted we’d won (Alex won) we weren’t about to burst her bubble! All in all a fab day and the longest queue was 10 minutes for Toy Story
Awake at 5.30 am, an hour later than yesterday, there’s hope yet.
This morning we headed to the very nutritious Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. I’m fully aware that donuts and coffee for breakfast is a treat and not the ‘healthy option’, unfortunately Dunkin Donuts don’t agree, their tagline is ‘America runs on Dunkin’. I’m not sure anyone runs anywhere after going to ‘Dunkin’ which is why we’ll drive thru when we go back for some Baskin Robbins or one of the uber calorific Snickers shakes.
Epcot was our intro to Disney World for Erin and we headed straight for ‘The Seas’ where we had a ride in a big shell to visit Nemo and then we had a chat with crush which was the highlight for Erin, she’s been saying ‘hey little dudes’ all day, unfortunately she wasn’t chosen to ask a question, which she says was “I like flowers”. Okaaay, crush will have been gutted to have missed that one. We also popped upstairs to see a real live ‘crush’ which amazed me, this turtle was hyowj, we also saw some dolphins.
The Disney transport system whisked us away to Disney Hollywood Studios where we did the Jim Henson 3D Muppet Show before heading to the Hollywood Brown Derby courtesy of Sarah. Our vouchers entitled us to a three course meal with non-alcoholic drink. I had a salad with goats cheese and candied pecans, followed by chicken and israeli cous cous with lemon aioli. Alex chose coconut shrimp followed by steak, which he said was the best he’d ever tasted! Erin had a hot dog and fries which she seemed to enjoy, it was the least sophisticated choice on the menu, one of the other options was tempura fish. We both had creme brulee for desert while Erin had an ice cream/jelly sweet/orio cookie concoction. I even had my first strawberry daquiri The whole lot was lovely, a real treat.
We decided to have a chillin out night, not sure Erin heard though, she’s still tearing around the room at breakneck speed.
This morning we headed for a buffet breakfast, I was absolutely starving having been awake blogging since 4.30am so I had pancakes, bacon and maple syrup followed by scrambled eggs, potatoes and more bacon, plus two cups of coffee. Here’s a picture of Erin eating multi-coloured jelly for breakfast, this was after a bowl of rice crispies, melon and a pancake!
Afterwards we went for a long walk down International Drive, on the way back we stopped at the largest McDonalds for a drink, the upstairs has a soft play and an amusement arcade.
We got back and decided to get changed to go to the hotel pool, the news has been threatening record temperatures for this weekend, before we could leave the phone rang, at first I thought it might be the police to arrest us for toll booth evasion, but no, it was just reception letting us know that our ‘Princess’ and ‘Mary Poppins’ packages had arrived from Disney World. Sarah has been at it again this time we received a beach bag full of edible goodies and Erin ripped open her package of tinkerbell album, flashing tiara and princess pen before I could take a photo. Here’s one with her tiara on instead.
After all the excitement I managed to forget to put suncream on my chest and shoulders and am now slightly singed after our swim and sunbathe.
We couldn’t be bothered going far for lunch after our long walk this morning so we nipped next door to KFC where I had the best fast food meal I think I’ve ever had; Honey BBQ Boneless Wings with coleslaw and a ‘biscuit’ which is like a super soft and warm scone, it was amazing. I can see myself needing two seats on the way back or perhaps just one of those beds you get in upper class.
After all that food we headed back to the room, this afternoon’s temperatures are expected to be sky high, according to this website it’s currently 97.6 degrees.
This evening we’re planning to go and see some baby alligators and then we’re going to head to chili’s for dinner, I can’t wait any longer for a strawberry daquiri!
So the flight was fine, Erin was exceptional and loved both the take off and the landing (phew!). Security was a nightmare as always and we were stung for $70 to hire a car seat – you’ve been warned! The real fun began when we got to our car, which the Alamo representative insisted was way to small, it’s actually bigger than our car at home, Americans eh! This was Alex’ first time driving on the right, it was slightly (very) hairy as we tried to navigate our way to I-Drive whilst watching for maniac drivers cutting in on us and poor Alex just about veering into the next door lane, yeah, it was fun, not, and it got worse when we (he) went into the lane for ‘passes’ completely evading a 75 cent toll booth, we’re half expecting the bizzy’s to chap the door any minute, look I’m even spaking like a ‘crim’ now.
By the time we arrived to say we were frazzled was an understatement, a good meal of ribs, chips, salad and chicken wings and tortilla chips….and a multitude of other foodstuffs lifted our spirits.
Erin’s fast asleep, it’s 8.07pm and Alex and I are struggling to stay awake, looking forward to a day hanging about international drive and swimming in the hotel pool, did I mention it’s 31 degrees?
I'm a 27 year old mum to 4 year old Erin. We live just outside Edinburgh in a small village. I've been blogging for four years and write about anything and everything that takes my fancy.
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