Butlins Big Weekender… we went so you don't have to

We booked and paid for this weekend ourselves. Nothing here was gifted or hosted, which is probably obvious by the time you get to the end.

No seriously, don’t go

We paid £380 for three nights at the 90s Reloaded Big Weekender at Butlins Skegness, and the verdict is don’t go. Nothing’s all bad though, so here’s our full honest review if you’re on the fence & a few things worth knowing if you’ve already handed over the money.

We really wanted to like this. We’d heard great things on TikTok and it looked exactly our kind of feral, but we were so wrong. The best way I can describe it is that it felt like hanging out with all of the worst people you went to high school with, while they were out on a weekend free pass.

The WhatsApp group was the glaring red flag

The WhatsApp group set the tone for the whole thing, and it should have been our cue to bail before we’d even packed. I’ve never been one to listen to a red flag.

For context, we do this all the time. We join or set up cruise WhatsApps, we’re active in the Facebook groups, we go to the mixer events, and they’ve always been brilliant. It’s how you meet a few friends before a voyage, it’s where people drop which bar they’ve ended up in, and it’s where we’ve organised some of the best days and nights out of our trips.

This was not that. It descended into an adults only pic swap within about five minutes, which look, we don’t judge, you do you, but it isn’t our vibe. The part that annoyed me is that the chat was shared in public groups with no disclaimer that it was more about the hook ups than the hang outs. We left sharpish.

Top tip: if the weekender chat gets shared in a public Facebook group, lurk for a day before you introduce yourself. You’ll know very quickly what kind of group you’ve joined.

What £380 actually gets you

Three nights, adults only, and access to everything on the entertainment programme. Butlins lists the headline acts, tribute shows, the pubs, the silent disco, a pool party, karaoke and the quizzes as part of the package, with bottomless brunch, dining plans, VIP passes and early check in as paid extras (their list, not ours, and prices shift by weekend so check yours before you book).

Three nights, adults only, and everything on the entertainment programme.

For the two of us that’s about £63 each per night before a single drink, a plate of food or a paid extra. Keep that number in your head, because it’s the whole problem with everything below.

The pubs were fine. Just fine.

We were too late to book bottomless brunch, so I can’t tell you whether that’s the redeeming feature. What I can tell you is that the pubs were busy without being anything special. Standard bar, standard queue, standard drink. I’d have rather just gone out in Liverpool for the night, and that wouldn’t have cost me a three night booking to find out.

The music was the bigger let down. I’d expected proper 90s carnage and a lot of what we got was a DJ playing to an empty dance floor, with occasional surges of people appearing for the songs everyone knows and then vanishing again. The dedicated live band rooms were far better while the acts were actually on, and if you’re going for one thing, go for those. Even then they were surprisingly sparse for a sold out weekend.

Nobody mentioned the floor situation

There were a lot of very drunk people, which we have precisely zero issue with. We are frequently among them. The amount of couples making out and rolling around on the floor together was wild though, and I do mean on the floor, in the middle of the pavilion, at an hour when the arcade was still open. There’s a photo. I’ll spare you the close up.

If you’re picturing a slightly messy 90s night with your mates, adjust the picture. It’s closer to a free pass weekend with an audience.

The silent disco was the one genuine win

Credit where it’s due, the silent disco was the highlight of the weekend and I’d happily do it again. Roaming around the resort with headphones on, three channels going, everyone singing different songs at each other, it’s soo good and it’s the one thing I’d tell you to book!

Book being the operative word, because it does go. We ended up on the one on the last morning, which meant the energy was lower than it could have been. Do the first night one if you can get it. A field of people who’ve just arrived and are three drinks in is going to beat a field of people packing their cars in an hour.

Everyone hearing something different, and the only room all weekend that was properly full.

The food was worse than we expected, and we expected very little

Genuinely surprising, because our expectations were on the floor to begin with. Nothing was actively inedible, it was just tired, and at £380 for the weekend I resented paying on top of it.

The nicest thing we did all weekend was sit on the terrace of our caravan with a couple of beers and some food, which tells you everything. That’s not a Butlins highlight. That’s a garden chair and a supermarket run.

Final Verdict

Give it a miss. 1 out of 5, and I do think this needs its own badge because “don’t rush” is too kind for a weekend I’d actively steer people away from.

The silent disco was good fun, the live band rooms were decent while the bands were on, and the caravan terrace was lovely. That’s roughly two hours of £380 landing well. Everything else was either forgettable or actively made us want to go home, and the pre trip WhatsApp group is a genuine warning rather than a funny anecdote.

Would I go back? If a bigger group of our friends fancied trying the rock night, I wouldn’t turn them down and stay home, because most of what makes a weekend like this work is who you’re standing next to. On its own merits though, for £380, you could have three nights in a decent hotel in a city with actual bars in it. That’s what we’ll be doing next time.

That isn’t a throwaway line either, so do the comparison properly before you book a weekender. Put £380 for three nights next to three nights in Liverpool city centre, or whichever city you’d actually want to wake up in. It’s an uncomfortable sum and it’s the one that made our minds up.

Butlins Big Weekender FAQs

Is the Butlins Big Weekender adults only? Yes, the Big Weekenders are sold as adults only breaks, which is a big part of the appeal and, on our weekend, a big part of the problem.

Is the Butlins Big Weekender worth the money? Not for us. We paid £380 for three nights at 90s Reloaded in Skegness and the only part we’d pay for again is the silent disco.

Do you need to book the activities in advance? Yes, and this is the mistake we made. Bottomless brunch and the silent disco both sell out, so sort them as soon as your booking is confirmed rather than when you arrive.

Is the food any good at a Big Weekender? It was the weakest part of the weekend for us, and we hadn’t set the bar high. If you’re in self catering accommodation, do a supermarket shop on the way in.

What’s the Big Weekender WhatsApp group like? Ours turned into an adults only picture swap almost immediately, with no warning in the public group it was shared in. Have a look before you post anything, and don’t assume it works like a cruise group chat.

Which Big Weekender would you actually consider? The rock night, in a bigger group, if friends were going anyway. Not 90s Reloaded, and not as a couple.

What else could you get for £380 for three nights? This is the sum that settled it for us. It works out at about £63 each per night before a single drink or a plate of food. Price it against three nights in a city centre hotel and see how you feel about it.

Prices are what we paid in September 2025. Things move, so check before you book.