Over the Easter weekend, we had some pretty big celebrations going on. Not only was it my favourite holiday of the year, but also the last two birthdays of birthday season too! I also decided it would be a great idea to head out on a few trips for reviews I had coming up!

So come Easter Monday, I negotiated the early rise of three of our girls, Olivia, E -12 and K – 10 and my sister of course, and headed out on the road to Blackpool. We were visiting Coral Island Blackpool, one of, if not the biggest entertainment centres on the Blackpool seafront. The weather was set to be another scorcher but I for one was more than happy to be spending some time indoors and in somewhere I couldn’t burn!

Coral Island Blackpool

There are entrances and exits on 3 sides for easy entry whichever direction you head in from. Home to a vast array of amusement arcade machines, 2p and 10p slot machines, a family bingo area, camel derby, claw machines, an adult entertainment area and casino, 2 indoor rides – the pirate flyer and the pirate’s quest ghost train and not one, but 5 places to eat! Phew, that is a lot to fit in under one roof, isn’t it!

One of the great things about Coral Island is that kids eat free (under 10’s) in all of their restaurants! (1 free child’s meal per paying adult and a child must be present per each child’s meal ordered). You can choose to dine without prior booking in any one of the following places;

• The Buccaneer Family Bar and Restaurant.
• Peggy’s Snack Bar
• Captain Jack’s Bar and Grill
• Traditional Chippy
• Big Fish Trading Company

Our Day at Coral Island Blackpool

We had chosen to keep this trip a secret from my younger niece. This kind of thing is literally her idea of heaven. Usually, we only do this when on holiday at a caravan park, so being told that she had to go into an amusement arcade and have fun, was literally going to be the best thing ever for her!

We arrived in Blackpool in plenty of time and headed into Coral Island a little after lunchtime. We decided to eat first before heading into the main amusement area. We had been gifted a voucher for our meals at the Buccaneer Family Bar and Restaurant. This was the perfect way to start off our afternoon of fun.

As you can imagine it is pretty overwhelming to be indoors in a place like this on a busy and sunny bank holiday weekend. Coral Island was busy but not too full you couldn’t get to play on anything. Of course, our first stop was on the 2p machines where we tried our hand at winning some points cards. to see what we could redeem at the prize store. We managed to win a few to start us off before heading onto the rides.

Now, we had been gifted a VIP card entitling us to unlimited rides for our visit on the Pirate Flyer and the Pirate’s Quest Ghost train. The girls were beyond excited to have a go. Myself, not so much as I took in the site of the monorail ride snaking its way around the top of the arcade area.

So up we went.

The girls in one car and my sister and I in another behind us. They were thrilled and loving it. We could see it in their faces as we watched them off in front of us. They, on the other hand, could see the sheer terror in our faces as we made our way behind them. It was a perfect vantage point for some pictures, however, we didn’t take up the kind offer of unlimited rides as the girls did. One ride was more than enough for us two scaredy-cats!

After another ride or 5, they hopped onto the ghost train, the group of 5 now a group of two riders as my niece’s rode the ghost train before we headed off to play some bingo.

Oh, how we love a game of bingo. It gets more than a little bit competitive when we play at home so I knew this was going to be fun! The family bingo area is pretty easy. The staff are more than helpful if you don’t know what to do like we didn’t! All you do is put in your money and tap the ‘free’ space on the centre of the bottom card on your screen. Really easy. All wins are automated so you don’t have to do anything other than tap! We spent a fair while here until all of us had once at least once. I won 3 times!

With our winning tickets collected, we decided to head over the camel derby to see if there were any spaces. Unlike the bingo, this game had been pretty full for each go most of our visit. We didn’t have a long wait before we could start playing.

At £1 a play, it isn’t cheap, but that just makes you more determined to win. To move your camel all you have to do is roll the balls on the stand in front of you and get them in the holes. The first camel to the end is the winner, simple! We didn’t win. After moving along there were plenty of people waiting to take our place proving that this game is still up there as one of the best games!

After we had finished here, we headed off to play some more games and check out the whole of Coral Island whilst the girls had a few more goes on the Pirate Flyer before we left.

What We Thought of Coral Island Blackpool.

After getting over our initial shock of just how big it was inside, we really had the best time. Sure, it was really busy but that made it even more fun. The girls had so much fun, especially my youngest niece. There is plenty to do inside and with the added bonus of the kids eat free offer you really don’t need to leave, except to go home!

We found Coral Island to be clean and tidy during our visit, an amazing feat considering the number of guests and any toilets we used also of a great standard too. If you’re heading to visit Blackpool, I would definitely recommend you check out Coral Island Blackpool!

Also, a big shoutout to Thor for the photobomb in the main image at the top too! The girls now want to see the new Avengers film! How good do these three look though!

*Disclaimer: We were invited along to Coral Island Blackpool and gifted with a complimentary meal and a VIP card for our visit. We also received a gift package including credit to use in the arcade and gift items too. All thoughts, experiences and fun are our own based upon our day at Coral Island Blackpool.*