I've outlined the majority of a Butlin's holiday in my previous posts so thought in this one I would talk about some of the differences you get on a Just For Tots week.
Schedule
One thing you will notice about the Just For Tots week is the schedule. So long are the late night events and as a replacement there are early morning sessions (things start up at 8:30am) and finish about 9:00pm. A perfect time for a late night treat for your little ones on holiday but enough time to catch up on the sleep ready for a day ahead. This was perfect for us as we felt like we missed out on loads of things last time due to getting Max to bed. Instead we could come back to the apartment and watch some TV with a glass of wine and not feel like we had missed out.
One other thing you will notice is some things are closed. The outdoor activities such as the water walkers and the dune buggies are replaced with a Little Tikes Town and areas for the kids to run about in. This was great as Max wasn't feeling like he was left out by not being able to do it.
The outdoor fairground was only open for short bursts, 10-12 and the 2-4 so that the kids could wind down and have naps. This was great as I get pretty sick on those rides at the best of times! The indoor one and the soft play were open normal times though.
The pool was open as normal but had a wide range of inflatables and floaties to help with learning to swim. Most of the slides were off limits, with the exception of the toddler ones and the tame white one that the kids seemed to love!
Shows
There is a slightly different range of shows on the Just For Tots breaks. It felt like the regular characters were repeated a bit more which helped when the kids were too cranky to watch something else. There was wake up session from 8:30 such as Angelina's Dance Class.
There were events on at Centre Stage each night. We found that depending on the show the queue built up quick quickly. Mister Maker had the longest queue. We were at the front and had been waiting well over an hour but it was worth it for the great seat. You can still buy B-Line passes but we found that regardless you could get a seat quite easily.
For a change to the schedule, there was a great act. Mister Maker. He drew an amazing crowd and put on a great show that all the kids loved and involved the audience loads. We even got to see the shapes!
We also got to see Scooby and the gang again. Keeping Max enthralled the whole way through was a breeze and he was so lucky to meet them side of stage after the show. It really was a highlight to the whole holiday. The cost of photos are pretty pricey but it was worth it in all honesty.
Atmosphere
I was apprehensive that the Just For Tots week was going to be full of screaming and cranky toddlers but to be honest it was rather the opposite. It felt like a more relaxed break as I wasn't scared that Max would get pushed by an older kid or get lost in the crowd. Being able to see the faces on the tots was amazing. The joy of seeing the reactions to the characters was a picture.
In terms of the main differences there aren't that many, the slight adjustments means that it feels more accommodating for the kids without neglecting parts of the holiday. If you can book yourself on a Just For Tots week then I would highly recommend it, if not then get yourself down to Butlin's anyway!
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