Days Out in Great Yarmouth // Merrivale Model Village and Penny Arcade

                                                              Part of a Paid Collaboration with Visit Great Yarmouth.  All opinions are my own

During our recent visit to Great Yarmouth, we spent a morning at the Merrivale Model Village.  Located right on the seafront, we could see a peek of what to expect over the fence, but once we were in, it was so much better.  This typical reflection of the British seaside in miniature was just over an acre in size and was buggy and wheelchair friendly. The price of entry includes being able to come back throughout the day too and the price of a family ticket (2 adults and 3 children) is £30.

The first thing you come across is a small mini golf course that we all had a go on. There was a jubilee exhibit under shelter and then we were outside walking around the beautiful model village. With everything from castles, camping grounds and high streets, we loved looking at the tiny world.  There were lots of buttons to press and the fairground was a big hit as there were different buttons to make each ride work. (Merrivale is only a couple of minutes walk from the pleasure beach so we were excited to visit a full size fair afterwards).

In the centre is a big pond and we had bought fish food at the entrance (card payments only at the entrance but there is a machine that accepts cash by the pond).  The children loved feeding the large, colourful fish who waited with their mouths open hoping to catch some pellets.  We also found a small sensory garden with a water feature and beautiful flowers.

We loved finding the buildings that resembled things we had seen around Great Yarmouth already, like the big wheel and the caravan park and the trains that run on a track around the village were fun to follow.  As you move towards the exit there is a more mythical small world with fairy houses and a dragon. 

As you exit Merrivale, you walk through an old fashioned penny arcade.  We visit our local arcades regularly but it was our first time visiting one like this.  You can change up £1 into 12 old fashioned pennies (you do need cash for this bit) and have a go on the traditional games.   We enjoyed racing our horses on the grand national game and asking questions on the machine that answered almost like a magic 8 ball. It sparked a conversation about the value of money too and how it has changed over time.

If penny arcades aren't your thing, there is a more modern arcade in the building too (again you need cash for this) and a cafe serving food and drinks.

It is well worth a visit on a trip to Great Yarmouth!

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Days Out in Great Yarmouth // Sealife Centre

Part of a Paid Collaboration with Visit Great Yarmouth.  All opinions are my own

You can't miss Great Yarmouth Sealife Centre.  It is right in the middle of the seafront strip, next to the big wheel. The familiar logo was easy to spot and we noticed a collaboration with Peppa Pig was currently on.  The staff inside were really lovely and the children were given mini magnifying glasses, activity trails and the instructions on how to meet Peppa during our visit.

Our favourite animal to see in the Great Yarmouth Sealife Centre was definitely Noah the green sea turtle.  We could walk in the tunnel underneath it and the children were amazed.  We have never seen one before and hadn't realised they were so big!  We loved seeing the shark nursery too and learning about the ongoing breeding program.

Another highlight of the trip was the hands on area where you could stroke a starfish.  The staff member we spoke to was really knowledgeable and the children asked her lots of questions.  They are definitely more open to learning when they can get involved and they discussed all sorts about the marine life with her. 

Cora was really excited to meet Peppa Pig ( who will be at selected Sealife centres until July 3rd) and to do the interactive trail. Peppa was appearing twice a day when we visited and we didn't have to wait long to meet her.

We got to see the penguins during our visit and we loved watching them from both under the water and on land.  These photos were taken by Archie who was really interested in photographing them.  

There is plenty to see at Sealife Great Yarmouth and the children did the VR experience at the end too which looked really fun! When you book tickets for Great Yarmouth Sealife there are options to book as a package with the Ocean Explorer and with the big wheel next door.  

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5 Things to do with Kids in Great Yarmouth

Part of a Paid Collaboration with Visit Great Yarmouth.  All opinions are my own

Great Yarmouth in Norfolk offers a traditional British seaside holiday.  With its mile long beach and vibrant attractions, there is so much to see and enjoy with children and we loved our weekend checking out some (of the very many) things to do with children.  It would be easy enough to spend all day on the soft sandy beach, but if you are looking for some fun activities on your trip, here are five suggestions that our children loved.

1) Ride a Rollercoaster at the Pleasure Beach

Once you have paid to enter Pleasure Beach, you can enjoy all the rides as many times as you like, including the log flume, a fun wooden rollercoaster, the haunted house and dodgems.  There was plenty for all the family from gentle rides for little ones and bigger ones for thrill seekers.  We visited on a hot June weekend and didn't have to queue for anything. This was my children's favourite part of the whole weekend and I don't think a visit to Great Yarmouth would be complete without an afternoon at the Pleasure Beach.  Read our review of the Pleasure Beach here

2) Stroke a Starfish at the Sealife Centre

The key to making things interesting for children, I think, is letting them get involved and mine were much more open to learning about life under the water as they had their hands in touching a starfish.  The Great Yarmouth Sealife Centre also has a huge Sea Turtle which swam over us as we walked through the tunnel, penguins and stingrays.  It was a fascinating centre and well worth a visit. The whole centre is very engaging and we got to meet Peppa Pig on our visit.

3) Get a Hole in One at Crazy Golf

There are numerous mini golf courses along Great Yarmouth seafront, both indoor and outdoor, you could probably make a whole weekend out of trying them all.  It felt like we couldn't leave without trying one and we chose the safari golf which was part of the Pleasure Beach Gardens (located in front of Sara's Tearooms which is the perfect place to stop for a post golf treat). Our course had 12 holes but sadly none of us managed a hole in one.

4) Eat Fish and Chips

If you are on a traditional British seaside holiday, you have to eat the right food.  This means getting a soft serve ice cream in the afternoon and finishing the day with fish and chips.  Just down from the Sealife Centre is Fish, Chips and More where we had a delicious dinner.  There is seating indoors and out and the kids meals are served in beach buckets too which is useful if you want to head to the sand for a post dinner run around!

5) Visit the Model Village and Feed the Fish

Merrivale Model Village is situated right on the seafront and is worth a visit on a trip to Great Yarmouth.   The kids particularly loved the fairground (which comes with lots of buttons to push), the stadiums and feeding the fish in the centre.  You can also get your mini golf fix here as there is a short course at the beginning! On exiting the model village, you come through an old fashioned penny arcade which we all found fascinating and enjoyed trying the games.

What else would you add to this list? We are already planning our next visit!

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Our Week in Selsey with Seal Bay Resort

I was looking for somewhere to take the children away to over the Easter holidays that wasn't too far to drive from us and I came across the recently renamed Seal Bay Resort in Selsey near Chichester. We are fans of a mobile home style holiday because as a larger family they are usually well set up for us to have our own space and all be together and there seemed to be plenty to do, so with only a couple of weeks until the children broke up, I booked our stay.  Ed unfortunately had to work, but my sister had volunteered to come with us and the children were so excited to spend some quality time with her.

I had seen that Seal Bay was big, but I hadn't realised it was quite so huge, with over 3,500 mobile homes across three sites that were all linked by a complimentary bus service.  Our three bed caravan was on the White Horse Site, only metres from the new White Horse Complex which had an outdoor pool and splash zone, a huge arcade, bowling alley, soft play, restaurant, pottery painting shop and a massive theatre which had bingo and shows on every night.  The children would have happily spend all day in the arcades and we attended the silent disco by the outdoor pool mid week which was a big hit.

The busiest park was West Sands, which is right on the seafront and you find yourself on the beautiful pebble beach as you step out the door.  The complex here also had a huge arcade and theatre as well as the indoor pools (which included a pool for lanes, a shallow kids pool, a beach pool and two water slides), a gym, restaurant and café, crazy golf, a wave rider and more.  

During our stay we tried out the Cove club for kids where the children got to take part in crafts as well as go on an immersive adventure (Sophie was the team member running these on our trip and her energy was incredible).  We also watched the 'Fun Factory Live' each evening which is an interactive show and all four of my big kids were at the front each evening hoping to get called up for the games.  Every evening there was a fun filled line up including 'Bonkers Bingo' and musical shows.  The Rock Show was a highlight of the week for all of us and we were so impressed with all the entertainment.  Every caravan park we have stayed at has had entertainment for children (and adults) but I was blown away with the quality at Seal Bay with so much to see and do.

During our stay there was an Easter circus which I had booked and the children found it hilarious.  I didn't think it was as impressive as other circus shows we have been to, but the two clowns were brilliant and the focus on humour definitely engaged the children more.  There was an adult only circus available too but we didn't visit that.

I had made a list of things to do in the area but other than the day we had booked to go to Southampton (around a 45 minute drive) to do the Ninja Warrior course, we didn't want to leave the park!  There is plenty to see locally though including Chichester town, Arundel Castle and the South Downs National Park.

I didn't take nearly as many photos as usual to share, but you can see more of our adventures over on this Instagram Highlight.  It was Rex's first holiday and I think he loved it!

A few bits of practical information

• There is a shop on site but there is also an Asda (and Costa) three minutes drive from the park if you want to fill up the fridge.
• The swimming pool requires one adult per child for under 1s and one adult per two children for under 10s (we may have added a few months on to Archie's age as I was confident he is a capable swimmer).
• They don't sell food in the theatres but you can bring in your own food. We ordered from the fish and chip shop and the Papa John's situated just outside the main complex doors and could take our dinner in to the table with us.
• There was a big screen outside the restaurant/bar when the football was on if you don't want to miss your game (West Sands)
• We found three playgrounds in total, one on our site near the circus, one on the West Sand's site that was at a bus stop and the largest one was down by the playing fields. They weren't all obvious on the map.
• There are so many activities you can pay to do as extras.  Some sounded brilliant but on a budget trip (or if you have lots of children and don't want to pay out) you can find so much to do without spending too much extra. Everything is bookable through an easy to use app.
• This advice does not include the arcades.  We spent all our money there as you have to walk through them to get to everything else!

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Cloud Nine Glamping

Press Trip

We were invited along to try out Cloud Nine's luxury glamping this summer, but it wasn't until the end of our summer travels that we made it up to the Cotswolds and experienced it for ourselves.  With a festival vibe and plenty of activities for all the family, Cloud Nine was a real highlight of our summer and these photos hopefully show you why!

When we arrived, check in was an easy process and there were golf buggies to take all our belongings and us to the tent, which meant no lugging things around with the children in tow thankfully!  We were in a Luxury Bell Tent which came with a double bed and four floor beds for the children.  All bedding was provided, as were towels and blankets.  Our tent had some goodies left for us and crockery for any cooking we might want to do. We had our own clean portaloo, table and benches and firepit too with a bag of wood so there were so many options and it felt very Covid Secure.  The tent was comfortable and spacious for the six of us and felt very luxurious compared to our usual camping style!

There were three fields of accommodation (different types of tent were available) and then two main areas for activities.  Not far from us was the main area which had a bar, four food trucks, trampolines, table tennis, a playground, a creche, plenty of seating both covered and uncovered and access to the forest which is where many activities were held.  Next to this area was the reception, bike hire and spa tent  and then at the other end of the campsite there was a small selection of rides, go-karts and the pirates tent.  

We started the weekend exploring the area, building dens in the woods and us adults having a drink in the bar area whilst the children made friends on the trampolines and in the playground.  There were no bookable activities for the swap over days (you can book Monday-Friday or Friday-Monday which meant we could explore at our leisure.  There was a family bingo evening though which was free to join in and we managed to win quite a few games between us! The children loved the pace and the challenge and they really loved winning!  

We had pre booked a few activities for our stay and managed to book some extras last minute after seeing how fun they looked in person.  This isn't always possible so booking early is advised.  There were plenty of activities available, but the ones we did were:

Pony trekking - The little two went for a half hour pony trek through the forest.  Each child had an adult leading their pony and parents could choose to leave them to it or walk along. Both absolutely loved this, and Cora spent as much time as she could visiting the ponies during our stay as the children were allowed to help brush them.

Robot Making - There were a few craft sessions but I thought this one would appeal most to all four children.  They all made very different robots using the materials and despite my older ones not being convinced they wanted to join in originally, they were the last ones sat in the craft area finishing off their work.

Zip-lining -  This was available for 4-8 year olds so the younger three did it.  They all loved their first experience of being harnessed and pulling poses as they zoomed through the trees.

Tree climbing - After seeing how much they loved the zip lining, I booked Archie and Finn into

tree climbing.  Archie had a great time, but Finn struggled to get the hang of the process.

Laser Tag - This was an activity for Ed and the boys and was set in the forest.  This was definitely a highlight for them and I was gutted I couldn't get involved!

Each evening there was a different entertainment put on.  As I mentioned earlier, the first night was Bingo and the last night was a family quiz run by the same team.  The middle night for us was a silent disco and I think this was unanimously voted the highlight of the trip for us.  There were three channels, one with a live DJ running it and the headphones had quite a wide range so you could choose to dance in the tents, walk around the area or (as the children loved) bounce on the trampolines.  There was a lady offering face painting (for an additional fee) and the mood was fantastic.  We spent almost the whole four hours at the silent disco and the children haven't stopped asking when we can go to another!

As well as the booked activities and the evening entertainment (which is included), there were additional activities you could do on site.  There was a tent for painting pottery which was reasonably priced and a great calm activity.  There was a small fairground which we included the bungee trampolines, a big inflatable obstacle course and go-karting track (all additional costs).  Unfortunately there was no food or drink available down this end when we visited, it would have been lovely to have a little stall down there.

There was also the pirates tent, a colourful bell tent full of toys and energetic 'pirates' who were on hand to entertain.  They had outdoor toys, engaged with the kids and gave us adults a chance to stand back and watch whilst they played.  This was included in the stay and was our go-to area when the rain hit! The staff had endless energy and were fantastic at coming up with creative ways to play with all the children.  For additional childcare (when you really need a break) there was a creche area run by qualified nannies who were available both in the day and for evening babysitting slots in the tents.  We hired one for a couple of hours and she did a craft with the children in our tent before settling them for the night whilst we enjoyed a quiet drink in the bar.

There are definitely areas I think Cloud Nine could improve on before next year, I would have loved more information on timings (the pirates did a bedtime story each evening in their tent, but we weren't told when).  More food options or a small onsite shop would have been good too, especially as there was regularly one of the four stalls shut or sold out.  Everyone we met was so friendly and helpful though and we had the most fantastic weekend.

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