EuroDisney with Colin and Wendy

With good weather, our holiday began with a beautiful drive through the French countryside to our accommodation. After checking in to the “Cheyenne Hotel” on the Disney Park, it was a quick unpack, wash and brush up before we caught the bus to the Disney Village.

On consecutive days we were greeted at the Disney Park by Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. Over the whole holiday we were lucky enough to meet over a dozen Disney characters - making sure to get their autograph as well as a photo!

This was a particularly active holiday to Disneyland Paris for us. We went on many rides, including Pirates of the Caribbean, Small World, Teacups, Carousel and Toy Story Parachute. We also watched the Main Parade and the Auto Parade, seeing all our favourite Disney characters. We also took the Disney train ride around the Park.

We also visited the Disney Studios Park. Here we watched the excellent stunt show, another real highlight. The tram ride to the backstage experience was also very interesting. This evening we ventured away from the Disney Village for dinner, finding a nice Italian restaurant where we enjoyed our last night together before heading home in the morning.

Blackpool with Derek, Colin, Pat and Roni

Although it was a long journey up the length of England for most of us,we made the most of the trip, stopping at a very nice country pub just outside Nottingham for lunch. We knew the drive was well worth it as we arrived at the beautiful and spacious cottage accommodation.
We were fortunate to have reasonable weather all week which allowed us to enjoy Blackpool both during the day and of course to experience the very extensive and colourful alluminations.
During the week we visited the famous old Blackpool Ballroom where all of us stepped out for a dance and of course we visited both the shops and the pier where e few of us braved the rides.
We always manage to find time for a game of Ten Pin Bowling and everyone did their best to beat Colin and Derek in knocking down the pins although on this day it wasnt too difficult to do.
Our accomodation has several activities that we made use of amongst which several went swimming and all enjoyed finishing the day in the Bar & Gril, dancing until closing time.javascript:void(0)
A number of our holiday makers had been to Blackpool before and thoroughly enjoyed re-visiting the area. Those that were visiting the area for the first time all enjoyed the holiday and vowed to return again next year.

Butlins with Derek, Pat, Steve, Janette & Roni

After arriving at Minehead, we settled into our accommodation and refreshed ourselves before going for dinner at a local pub. The night was then spent watching the tribute Take That group and dancing until late.

After a hearty breakfast we acquainted ourselves with the Butlins site and arranged for a game of bowling in the afternoon. Bowling was great fun and there was some very good scoring. Later in the day some of the ladies went shopping for some glitz while others had some fun at the fair. David was brave enough to go on the trampoline! Dinner was at another lovely country pub and then it was off to dance floor to watch an Abba tribute group and to have a sing along.

Shopping therapy was the order of the day, with a walk through the lovely gardens of Minehead for some, while others went swimming and rides on the inflatables down the flumes. It was a first for John, Mandy & Debbie. After lunch we drove through the lovely countryside of Exmoor and saw ponies & sheep. It was a beautiful day and we stopped off for an ice cream with the stunning coastline backdrop. The trip took us to Lynmouth where we took a stroll through the town and stopped at a fudge shop for gifts and just to indulge ourselves. We had a fish & chip dinner before returning to Butlins for a soul night and more dancing.

Thursday was a day of playing the slot machines in the morning and bowling in the afternoon. Yet another good game and it was a tight finish. However, Derek’s team just edged it for first place! Late afternoon was time for the ladies to have some more beauty therapy before going off to another very nice country pub for dinner. It was well recommended, Pat having been there before. We had both Kenny and Keith with birthdays in the next day or so, so they received the cards and presents from everybody with all of our best wishes. That night we went into both clubs and ended up dancing to the tribute Blues Brothers. It was fab. David even managed to grab the compares mike and gave us all a rendition on his mouth organ and also gave the audience a song. They all clapped and cheered.

Our last morning and the guys fancied a game of snooker before setting off for lunch and a long journey home.

It was a very successful week with everyone enjoying themselves. New friendships were made and we look forward to seeing you all next year, if not before! Thanks to Andrew, Kenny, Keith, John, David, Neil, Maxine, Caroline, Mandy, Debbie, Christine, Jackie, Barbara & Lee for being such a great group.