That’s because the new £15million activity centre that opened at the Bognor Regis resort last year is amazing. We visited last year and tried it out, so we knew the activities were incredible and had even talked at the time about how it would make a brilliant place to celebrate a birthday.
And so it was that my little boy and 24 of his excited friends arrived on resort after school a couple of weeks ago to celebrate his seventh birthday and put the Butlin’s party experience through its paces.
Party packages are offered on selected Thursday afternoons/evenings throughout the year. The cost is £24.99 per child, which isn’t the cheapest party experience around, but I felt like you got a lot for that amount.
The party child gets a gift – a teddy or a hoodie – and you have a party host to take care of you.
In total, there is 90 minutes of games. First up is 30 minutes of TechPutt – a high-tech version of mini golf, with three different courses to choose from. There’s Vegas, music and neon. We went for the latter, as I knew the kids would love the glow-in-the-dark lighting.
If you’re worried that 25 children playing mini golf sounds chaotic and like a scoring nightmare, fear not! There’s no need for pencils and scorecards at Butlin’s, as each child’s ball is ’printed’ with their name and keeps a tally of their score for them as they go around. Once they put their ball on the starting spot for each hole, the screen brings up their details and keeps count of how many strokes they’ve taken. Holes can be played out-of-order, and the clever system stops them from repeating holes they’ve already played.
It made it so quick, easy and fun for them, and meant the adults could just have fun watching them play. No mental maths required – result!
After a quick squash break, next is 60 minutes of an activity of the child’s choice (picked in advance).
There are plenty of options, including a virtual reality arcade (age restriction applies), shuffleboard, batting cage, glow pong, escape rooms and more. My son opted for laser tag, because it seemed the most fun way to get his large group of friends together.
After a safety briefing from team leader Donna, they were let loose in the playing arena and had the time of their lives. They get to play three games, one individual and two team-based. But, basically, they get to canter (you can’t run!) around and fire laser guns at each other and it’s so much fun.
Then it’s time for food, so they’re walked around the corner to the on-site Papa Johns pizza restaurant, where each child gets to help themselves to a buffet of pizza, pasta and salad. I was so jealous, as it looked delicious. You’re given around 45 minutes for the food, which we found was more than enough time.
I had been concerned it would be too much asking parents to travel from Worthing to Bognor after school, but actually everyone made it there in more than enough time for the party to start at 4.30pm. And then everyone was on their way home by 6.45ish, which didn’t seem too bad.
The only thing I was a bit confused about, was the website says party guests get ice cream included as part of the food package, but when we were on site they said we had to pay £2 extra per child if they wanted it. Perhaps just a teething issue and it didn’t impact the kids’ enjoyment, I don’t think.
The parents who stayed for the party said they thought it was a great experience, and the children who came seemed to have a ball, too. There’s lots of great party venues in Sussex, but I found it was really nice to try a new experience for a change.
Butlin’s requires that there’s at least one adult to every six children, so some parents need to stay for the party. There is a minimum of six and maximum of 30 children per party.
For more information and to book, see https://www.butlins.com/discover-butlins/playxperience-parties#

1. Butlin's
Playxperience Photo: Butlin's

2. Butlin's
Laser Tag at Playxperience Photo: Butlin's

3. Butlin's
TechPutt at Playxperience Photo: Butlin's

4. Butlin's
Butlin's Photo: Katherine HM