I stayed at Butlin’s Minehead resort with my husband and two children aged four and seven. Here’s our review.
Hands up: I used to be a bit of a snob about holiday parks. Sure, I’d never actually been to one, but they just sounded a bit…Hi-de-Hi! It takes a grown up to admit they’re wrong and, guys, I was WRONG. A trip to Butlin’s was an absolute hoot for me and my young kids and I’d like to go back every school holiday, please and thank you.
Butlin’s Minehead resort
We visited Butlin’s Minehead in October half term. It’s the nicest Butlin’s location in my opinion, right on the beach in a sweet little coastal town. It is an absolute pain to get to by public transport though, be warned. But, once you’re there, you’re greeted by super friendly staff – in fact all the staff are incredible – and the fairground which, of course, my kids loved.
Butlin’s Minehead what’s on
Things to do in Butlin’s Minehead: in a word, loads. This holiday is jam-packed with activities, lots of them free and some at an extra cost.
Of the paid ones, my seven-year-old loved the climbing wall and high ropes experience (like a little, and far less expensive, Go Ape). My little one really liked balanceability, in which toddlers get to ride balance bikes, although I did feel a bit short-changed by it at 23 minutes long.
But it’s the free things to do that’s really astonishing at Butlin’s. There are two (two!) fairgrounds: one for smaller kids that’s open from 9am – 5pm and is indoors. And one that’s for larger kids and adults that we saw on our way in. Don’t expect The Big One level of thrills, but there’s a carousel, a tug boat ride that I nearly vomited on despite it being meant for little ones, swing boats and the like. There are also go-karts that come at an extra price: if you fancy the go-karts, I recommend going for the all action pass.
The all action pass costs £22 per person for school holiday breaks, and gets you a go on the go-karts, bungee trampolines, American pool, bowling and one bonus go on whatever you choose. Hot tip: you can actually use any pass on anything, and my kids squandered almost all of theirs on bungee trampoline in the Skyline Pavilion.
All the shows in the Skyline Pavilion are free and they are shows that kids will enjoy. On our trip, PJ Masks and Peppa Pig featured on the roster. But for real wow factor shows, for kids and adults, get yourself to Reds, Centre Stage and Studio 36. We watched the Masked Singer live and it was really good. And the masked celebrity singer was actually jaw-dropping (although we’ve been sworn to secrecy over who they are). We also went to wrestling which was a huge hit, although a looooooong wait from the doors at 6pm until wrestling started at 7:30pm.
We also enjoyed the panto, although the fat jokes should have stayed behind in the Hi-de-Hi! years. During our stay, there was a firework and laser show that was really one of the best I’ve ever seen.
We had an early access pass for the shows, which meant that we could bag the seats we wanted early doors but otherwise all the shows are free.
Butlin’s food and drink
We had all inclusive drinks passes, which seemed very popular. They are £25 a day for an adult, which is good value if you consider that Madri is knocking on the door of £6 per pint of beer. As a sober warrior, I’d like to see more interesting non-alcoholic choices at the bars, there’s only one alcohol free beer, Corona Zero which is…okay. And, while you can use them for coffee at the bars and restaurants, you can’t use the all-inclusive pass at Costa, which was a shame as it has the best coffee on site.
We also had a premium dining plan, which comes in at £32.95 per adult per day at Minehead, less for children. This gets you access to a breakfast buffet that has a wealth of full English suspects including kippers. Kippers! I hadn’t had a kipper in years so had two. They were v good, will kipper again.
My children loved the pancake station and the unlimited juice. I loved the fresh cut melon, tinned mandarins, and prunes because I am in a prune phase of my life.
At night, well 4:30pm – 7pm, there’s an evening buffet that had a roast each night, a wok station, pasta station, and more chips and pizzas than the kids could wave a fork at. The quality and taste were a lot, lot, better than I thought they would be. And I managed to restrain myself from too many mad buffet combinations. But only a little.
Butlin’s Minehead pool
Butlin’s Minehead waterpark is free, but I found it a little tired. The lazy river is fun, and my seven-year-old enjoyed the water slides but my toddler was too small to go on them and there weren’t any slides / water activities that were the right size for her. If you want a truly impressive waterpark, get yourself to Butlin’s Bognor Regis is my advice. I would like it if there was option to add beach towel hire to your booking, like you can in Eurocamp, as we had to use towels from our chalet which wasn’t ideal.
Butlin’s Minehead before you go
Download the app. It’s essential to find out what’s going in, although you can’t link an all-inclusive drinks pass to the B-serve app. And I’d like it if you could create your own timetable within the app, like you can do with, for example, the Glastonbury app.
Butlin’s Minehead train station
Going by car is a strong recommend as it’s a pain to get to via public transport. Taunton is the nearest train station, and then it’s an hour / 90 minutes by bus or a whopping £75 by taxi. There is a regular bus that goes from the station and takes 60 – 90mins but it was too packed for us to get on.
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Half-term breaks at Butlin's start at £82 per person.