Erin, Alice and The Mad Hatter

So after a lovely day on Friday, we were up early and ready to go on Saturday. Well not quite, you see I thought my iPhone would automatically update the time difference but it didn’t and so we found ourselves being chased by Liz Jarvis to breakfast which ended up being a rather rushed affair.

Erin waiting for the show to start

Onwards and upwards, we made our way to our own Magical Moment experience where Erin got to meet Alice and the Mad Hatter. This was a definite highlight of the trip and we even managed to spot a few celebs; Sophie Ellis Bextor and her mum Janet (she was on Blue Peter dontcha know) and Jenny Powell who was with her children. The Mad Hatter was great and Erin spent a good few minutes with them and got some cracking photos taken. Other Magical Moments include meeting Rapunzel from Tangled and Green Army Men Meet & Play!

Mummy waiting for the show to start

A spin on the Teacups and a trip up to Swiss Family Robinson’s Treehouse rounded off a nice morning.

We stopped on the way back to the hotel for a bit of lunch and then spent an hour at the hotel pool. Erin had a great time with Susanna’s daughter who she now looks upon as some sort of long lost sister, bless.

Surprise guests at Agrabah Cafe

An hour of chillaxing and it was time to get changed for the evening’s activities. We were lucky enough to have VIP areas for Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade and Mickey’s Magical Celebration Show.

After the shows we did Peter Pan’s Flight and Pirates of The Carribean before heading for some dinner at Agrabah Cafe.

More surprise guests!

Afterwards we pretty much had the run of Fantasyland, so we dashed from It’s a Small World to Dumbo. Some of us *cough* ‘dashed’ more than others. One Liz Jarvis dashed so much she fell over wrapping herself round a lamp post and breaking her wand and very nearly her nose in the process, tsk. I ended up riding with Susanna as our girls abandoned us to ride together!

One tired but happy little girl

I’m a bit late in posting this as it was over a week ago but we had such a fab time I didn’t want to let it go unmentioned.

We stayed in a Forest Holidays cabin on the North York moors. The weather was really lovely for the whole five days, which was pretty good considering it was still March. The cabin was a bargain at ?250 for five days and that was to sleep four, with a dog (we took our own lol) and a hot tub. Each cabin had it’s own terrace area and they were really spread out too. Lots of wildlife and space for the kids to run about. The plan was to just retreat to the cabin and do little else but we hadn’t realised what a gorgeous part of the country we were in and so we ended up being tempted out to a new place every day.

Whitby

On the Tuesday we took a lovely drive across the moors to Whitby where we explored all the cobbled alleys before stopping for a bit of lunch at The Hatless Heron. It was a great little find if you discount the thousand and one fish and chip shops (we didn’t fancy fish). We also indulged in ice cream and sweets from one of the many ‘old-fashioned sweet shops’.

One of the most random sites of the day was Lee Ester Allita Lee’s clairvoyancy portakabin.

York

On Wednesday we headed for York, somewhere I’d always wanted to go. The owner of The Hatless Heron gave us the top tip of using the park ‘n’ ride which was perfect. We took Erin to The Castle Museum where we walked down mocked up victorian streets and explored life in thr 60′s as well as taking a look at the old prison. Afterwards on the advice of @dawnie_brown we stopped for lunch at Oscar’s where I had a lovely chicken salad. Great tip off @dawnie_brown, thanks!

Thirsk & Helmsley

Thursday we took a slower place and wandered around two lovely little villages, Thirsk and Helmsley. Both of which were on the road to the cabin. If you love quaint little villages with unique little shops then you’ll love these. Once again the weather was lovely for a wander. We pondered about whether to stop in an outdoor cafe or go to a traditional Yorkshire pub, on this occasion we made the wrong decision I definitely think the cafe would have been nicer. Nevertheless we had a lovely final day.

Overall a really nice trip and I wouldn’t hesitate to book a forest holiday cabin again, especially as Erin is now officially addicted to hot tubbing!

If you fancy a quiet affordable holiday then I’d highly recommend them. They have a range of cabins and the ?250 was for a ‘silver’ rated cabin so there’s plenty to suit all budgets

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.

Just before our trip to Pitlochry I received an email with the title ‘A Bit of a Random Question’, the email was from a PR company… I receive emails like this fairly regularly, I’ve been lucky enough to receive freebies like books and cosmetics and have even been invited to a cartoon launch and a film premier (unfortunately I was unable to attend either) I love getting these sort of emails they are the bloggers perk, and who doesn’t love receiving freebies?

Anyway, I open the email and am astonished to find that the offer this time was for an all expenses paid trip to Disney. I try to absorb the words on the screen, Disney. all expenses paid, review, press…nope it’s just not sinking in. I dash outside barefoot to my husband who was changing a car tyre…

Me: “You’ll never guess what”

Him: (worried look)

Me: “Don’t worry you’ll never guess anyway. I’ve been offered an all expenses paid trip to Disney”

Him: “What, Disneyland Paris?”

Me: “Oh. Eh” (I dash inside)

Me: “No, Disney in Orlando. Ha, can you believe it”

Him: “Eh. Not Really. Are you gonna go?”

A more sensible discussion ensued, and my husband practically insisted I go, not sure whether to be slightly alarmed at this, but to be honest I hardly took much convincing!

Since then there have been a few emails back and forth and seven British parent bloggers have been confirmed for the trip at the end of this month. Our trip will involve reviewing Walt Disneyworld Resort via our blogs, this will include an account of the trip, photos, videos and some useful info on visiting Walt Disneyworld with the kids. We are awaiting the Disney rep getting in touch and our full itinery, we have a rough idea what’s instore for us but I’ll save that for another post

Our little trip has come to an end, we’re sitting at home eating chocolate and drinking coffee. Before I forget though I do have to report back on the musical delights of Reunited (the Saturday night act at the caravan park, see last post for details).

We headed to the club in plenty of time for the bingo, finding a seat was a bit of a challenge and I got off to a bad start with one of the Reunited members when I asked if she required the table that they had their stuff splayed over (they weren’t sitting there) turns out they would be requiring it, and she let me know quite abruptly. I was intent to stay and heckle the act now that I’d made enemies with the singer so we managed to hijack a table with an older couple. The bingo was short lived but the prizes were surprisingly good, ?40 for the first few games and then ?120 for the final game, we came close but no cigar. We drowned our sorrows with a few drinks until the main event took to the stage. No fancy costumes here, crinkled trousers and baseball shoes for my new enemy and a white top and….(sharp inhale) black bra for the other one, they were accompanied by an older guy who played the keyboard and guitar. I was sooo ready to have a good laugh at their expense, but they actually turned out to be ok….well actually they were pretty good…ok, so they were one of the best acts I’ve seen at a holiday park. Happy now. They did a selection of songs including one by Duffy, a couple of Shania Twain’s and Bad Moon Rising which I recognised from my husband’s Credence album. It was unfortunate that the audience were more spectator style than the usual haggle of drunken woman ready to ‘boogy on down’ until the early hours. They were a bit wasted on the dancers which were mostly under twelve.

Family holidays and teenagers rarely mix (I should know, it wasn’t that long ago!). Too young to enjoy the delights of being an adult and too old to even consider the kids clubs, it’s difficult to keep everyone happy especially if you have children of different age groups. Here’s an idea;

Tell your teenager that you are going away for the weekend. Charge them with choosing the destination (within a specific mile radius), the route, tell them they must ensure that the destination/s must suit the whole family and give them a budget. Let them plan the trip in it’s entirety. Where you’ll stay, where you’ll eat, what you will do etc… Help where necessary but try to trust their decisions.

Teenagers feel out of control much of the time, I think this exercise will, not only occupy them for part of the summer but will test their planning, budgeting and organisational skills. It will give them a chance to be seen and treated as an adult without needing to rebel or make wild breaks for freedom. You may even end up visiting somewhere you’d never considered before and loving it!

Photo by flickr user Curtis and Eric

Here are a few holiday pics from Centre Parcs

Erin excited to be on holiday

View from the Villa.

Erin just chilling out.

Ducks in the back garden