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You are here: Home / About Waterlooville / Family Day Out: Cinema, Pizza & Playpark for 5 for £15

Family Day Out: Cinema, Pizza & Playpark for 5 for £15

Thursday 26th March 2015 by Steve Mayne

Since the cancellation of the Hampshire County Council Culture All Pass, we’ve been looking into cheap days out with the kids.

If you are a parent yourself, you’ll know the following equation:

Happy Children = Happy Adults

So this cheap day out may not be for everyone, but it will work for a lot of you.

You’ll need:

  • Tesco Clubcard with loads of points (purchases on a Tesco Credit card also generate points)
  • One or more children
  • Transport to Port Solent
  • Good weather

Step 1 : Have one or more children available. If you do not have a child, preparing a child can be good fun but will take a minimum of 9 months to complete.

Step 2 : Cash in the appropriate number of Clubcard Points to purchase Pizza Express Vouchers. £15 of Clubcard vouchers buys £60 of food. The vouchers are normally emailed within a day or so.

Step 3 : Go to Port Solent, park for free.

Odeon Family Screenings

We went to see ‘The Penguins of Madagascar’. The tickets were £3 for an adult, and £3 for a child. This came to £15, and is part of the ‘Family Screenings’ that take place at the weekend. We booked on-line which cost an extra 21 pence, you can also pick up tickets from the box office.

odeon booking

The film was actually okay, wasn’t too long, and I’d watch it again. As we were eating after the film, we didn’t purchase any food or drinks from the Odeon kiosk.

 

Pizza Express Port Solent

After the film we went to Pizza Express for our meal.

pizza express port solent

The Pizza Express voucher covers food only. It does not cover drinks. As always when we dine anywhere, we got a jug of tap water. Amanda and I decided to purchase a few coffees.

pizza express port solent 2

The children were given coloured pencils, and their menu also doubled up as an activity pack.

pizza express port solent 1

Amanda and I ordered a sharing platter of dough balls. They were yummy.

pizza express port solent 3

Our children had their own starter which they also enjoyed.

pizza express port solent 4

My pizza was huge!

pizza express port solent 5

Amanda’s Pizza was huge too!

pizza express port solent 6

Here’s a cheeky selfie of me, I’m very happy with my Pizza! Nom nom nom.

pizza express port solent 7

The children had a pudding each.

pizza express port solent 8

They could choose what they liked from the children’s menu.

pizza express port solent 9

The staff were attentive, polite at all times and we were made to feel welcome. The food was top notch, good and hot.

The amount payable came to £13.45 as we decided to have 4 coffees (£9.80) and we took away a couple of adult desserts to eat later. We also left a tip for the waitress (not shown). We could have forgone the coffee’s and extra desserts and kept the bill within the £60 voucher (shown in the receipt below) to do Cinema and Pizza for five for just £15.

pizza

Port Solent Play Park

The weather was a little warmer than expected and so we spent 30 minutes in the play park with our three children before heading home. There’s plenty to do here, including a climbing wall, play house, slides and a bridge + toddler toys.

port solent play park

Conclusion

With the cancellation of the BAE Leisure Park, Port Solent will remain the nearest Multiplex Cinema Leisure Park to Waterlooville. For those with their own transport, Waterlooville to Port Solent is just a 15 minute drive. For those that rely on public transport, at least two buses are required.

We got 4 hours entertainment, a huge lunch, and quality time with our family for very little cash. If only all days out were this inexpensive. We’ll do this again in the future, though next time I’ll choose a Pizza that is a tad less fiery!

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Filed Under: About Waterlooville Tagged With: Days Out

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Comments

  1. Mark Walden says

    Thursday 26th March 2015 at 20:40

    Disappointed at how this appears to make light of waterloovilles needs and lost opportunity .

  2. About Waterlooville says

    Thursday 26th March 2015 at 20:40

    Mark – please can you explain more? Thank you!

  3. Mark Walden says

    Thursday 26th March 2015 at 20:40

    To me this is saying waterlooville has lost out on a leisure park ! Oh well you can always go down the road , not like we needed one our self :-( Feel we should have been saying 6 months until the BAE site will look like this

  4. Ania Krzymowska says

    Thursday 26th March 2015 at 20:40

    I want that pizza. Now. ;) My little boy is too little for cinema, but we went to Port solent for lunch and playground, nice day. I used to go (when my son was tiny and mainly asleep) for mummies screenings on Tuesdays mornings. It would be great to have cinema closer, but it is not a huge deal, as Port Solent is just around the corner.

  5. About Waterlooville says

    Thursday 26th March 2015 at 20:40

    Its the only option for now, and the near future Mark. We’re on a budget, and so are many other families and it is important to make every pound count. Hopefully we’ll save a few pounds for Mums & Dads that follow our blog. We’d love to see the developer do a U-Turn and our prior posts regarding the BAE park ought to state our position.

  6. About Waterlooville says

    Thursday 26th March 2015 at 20:40

    Ania- oh it was delicious! We only started going to the cinema 2 years ago, pre-kids the last film we was was “A Bugs Life” in 1998. We found that around from 4 years old our boys were okay-ish. Getting to Port Solent on public transport is very difficult, and for those folks Gun Wharf is closer in time, if not distance.

  7. Ania Krzymowska says

    Thursday 26th March 2015 at 20:40

    1998! way too long! I love going to cinema! We will have a datenight soon, cinema is on the cards! I can’t wait to take my son to cinema! 4 years old seems like a good age! i would not dare to take him now, as he is 2 :/ it would end up in tears on both sides

  8. Alice Lawrie says

    Thursday 26th March 2015 at 21:40

    Port Solent is great! I like the free parking best. You can get vouchers for everywhere and my work does %off deals for a lot of restaurants (I am sure lots of workplaces have corporate deals too) It is 10 minutes down the road – I am sure for a lot of W’ville people the BAE place would take longer to get there, especially if you live closer to Horndean(more small roads, traffic lights and r’bouts)

  9. Dionne Rigby Hibbs says

    Thursday 26th March 2015 at 21:40

    We ate in pizza express on Saturday and I have to say I won’t return to the port solent one as the service was terrible and topped off with a very rude waitress!

  10. John Forster says

    Friday 27th March 2015 at 08:40

    You can see the advertising: Move to Waterlooville, leave it if you want entertainment. Remember there is no Waterlooville in HAVANT Borough Council.

  11. About Waterlooville says

    Friday 27th March 2015 at 14:39

    Lesley – the council aren’t at fault. The developer withdrew the plans.

  12. Lesley Jennings says

    Friday 27th March 2015 at 14:39

    Not everyone can drive or have a car!! it is not easy to get to!! Plus think the withdrawal of Cinema for Waterlooville is disgusting all those new houses being built by there and nothing for children or teenagers no wonder they get into mischief!! The council should be ashamed!

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