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Apologies for radio silence
Apologies for radio silence on both posting and commenting. We were away all weekend at Butlins in Minehead, Somerset, with the children and two families containing middle school friends of Humuhumu's. Minehead is on the coast and so we had access to the beach, which was lovely.
Butlins, on the other hand, contains many things which are nightmarish for me, like the massive arcade and the shows and the lights and the overstimulation. The children had a brilliant time, in between meltdowns from exhaustion, which is the point of the place, but I find it a little draining.
I have now holidayed at both Butlins and Centre Parcs. While in theory they offer the same activities, I think the difference can best be illustrated with an example.
Pottery painting at Butlins: You can book onto an hour of pottery painting at Butlins. You select an item to paint (fancy and large items cost £3 and £5 extra), and you sit down at a table with a rainbow array of paints and different brush sizes and you spend the next 50 minutes adorning your ceramic. You are given regular warnings about the time, and at the end you are instructed to place your item on the shelf to dry, and collect it two hours later. No other processes are performed on the item other than you applying the paint.
Pottery painting at Centre Parcs: You can book onto a pottery painting session at Centre Parcs. (Note the lack of time constraint.) You have a dizzying array of free or pay-extra items to select from. You sit it down at a table with a rainbow array of paints and different brush sizes and you spend the next however long you want - or rather, however long you can get your kids to sit still and pay attention - adorning your ceramic. At the end, you place your item on a shelf to dry. You cannot collect it until the next day, because once you have left it, it will be glazed and fired and, if it is a usable item of crockery like a plate, a bowl, or a cup, you will in fact be able to use it afterward.
Now to be fair, Butlins probably hasn't got this wrong. You are not going to be creating masterpieces with kids who are hopped up on slushies, sweets, and the company of their equally jet-fuelled friends. Your wonky garden gnome with the mismatched pupils can go outside unglazed and still give you great joy, even if won't last quite so long. But here we are, in the UK, where a glazed gnome will double or triple the price of your weekend away. Ah, glorious Albion.
Butlins, on the other hand, contains many things which are nightmarish for me, like the massive arcade and the shows and the lights and the overstimulation. The children had a brilliant time, in between meltdowns from exhaustion, which is the point of the place, but I find it a little draining.
I have now holidayed at both Butlins and Centre Parcs. While in theory they offer the same activities, I think the difference can best be illustrated with an example.
Pottery painting at Butlins: You can book onto an hour of pottery painting at Butlins. You select an item to paint (fancy and large items cost £3 and £5 extra), and you sit down at a table with a rainbow array of paints and different brush sizes and you spend the next 50 minutes adorning your ceramic. You are given regular warnings about the time, and at the end you are instructed to place your item on the shelf to dry, and collect it two hours later. No other processes are performed on the item other than you applying the paint.
Pottery painting at Centre Parcs: You can book onto a pottery painting session at Centre Parcs. (Note the lack of time constraint.) You have a dizzying array of free or pay-extra items to select from. You sit it down at a table with a rainbow array of paints and different brush sizes and you spend the next however long you want - or rather, however long you can get your kids to sit still and pay attention - adorning your ceramic. At the end, you place your item on a shelf to dry. You cannot collect it until the next day, because once you have left it, it will be glazed and fired and, if it is a usable item of crockery like a plate, a bowl, or a cup, you will in fact be able to use it afterward.
Now to be fair, Butlins probably hasn't got this wrong. You are not going to be creating masterpieces with kids who are hopped up on slushies, sweets, and the company of their equally jet-fuelled friends. Your wonky garden gnome with the mismatched pupils can go outside unglazed and still give you great joy, even if won't last quite so long. But here we are, in the UK, where a glazed gnome will double or triple the price of your weekend away. Ah, glorious Albion.
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Did you take the steam train? I seem to remember that the last time we visited Minehead it was a day trip via the West Somerset Railway.
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Mine didn't have a time limit - you picked your item - different items were in different "levels" - some items were included in the standard price, or you could pay extra for bigger/fancier items.
You had all the colours, and could take as long as you wanted to paint - you could do more than one item if you wanted to pay for more. Then you left it there - they fired it for you and called you to come pick it up when done.
Mine ended up being a shallow "dish" in the form of a sunflower - it was fun, but not something I found a need to do again :D
I am glad that you got to take a weekend away though - even if it wasn't relaxing - at least it wasn't *work*!
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"... a glazed gnome will double or triple the price..."
Sounds like a good time was had by all.
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Son used to do Minehead Parkrun. It was impressive how many people on a weekend at Butlins would turn up to run 5K along the seafront at 9 on a Saturday morning. Though it occurs to me now, it was perhaps their only chance of a little peace while at Butlins.
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