Please tell me Butlins is better than Haven

[OlderMummy1]

We are staying with friends in Wales and went to a Haven park yesterday just for the day to use the swimming pool. As we walked into the swimming pool we were greeted by the sight of a bloke on his hands and knees, butt crack on display, shouting "I told you you'd fucking drop it" at his 3 year old child

The place was awash with these types of people, shouting profanities at their kids, swigging lager at 11am.

We then had a 6 year wee on the side of the pool, mum just looked on and then left the puddle there, didn't even tell anyone!

Finally we watched a little kiddy show while having something to eat and the whole thing was toilet humour, not just the odd thing which I know the kids like, but really really crass.

Now I am very worried. We are booked to go to Butlins for the Just for Tots break in a few weeks. Will it be 5 days of this??

If you think Haven is bad, don't ever go to Pontlins! Went there with my 2 DDs & now x-h. It was truely dire. I had mistakenly paid to upgrade, upgrade to what I'm not sure because the bed was a bed sofa that dipped in the middle. The DDs had a bunk bed in a separate room but our 'bedroom' was the living/kitchen area! The actual facilities I can't remember that much about tried to blank this experience out there was an indoor pool & I remember the changing rooms being disgusting. Won't be going back there for certain. I've been to Haven & can't say I've ever experienced weeing children there, swearing parents probably is par for the course though...

Hamptoncourt, the WEA is an excellent and undervalued institution. Do they still do the sort of holidays I described? I remember enjoying sessions on Criminology, and I still have a little woven object produced on a weaving workshop.

At its maximum, our group consisted of 60 adults and kids. Frequent were the fallings out between partners and other families.

As it was the start of the season and maintenance was lacking, some chalets had coin operated showers where the coin fell straight through, so the shower was free. Some chalets did not, and their occupants badgered the free showerers to use theirs. Free showerers got narky and wouldn't let them in case they were hit by a bill at the end. Thirty plus years later, this churlishness is still remembered, as is the incident of the Unfair Sharing of the Prawn Balls when a take away was ordered.

Yes WEA is fabulous and still going. I don't think they do those sort of holidays but UNISON do. Unison Holiday Park

I hear it is lovely.

If only AIBU had been around for the Unfair Sharing of the Prawn Balls eh?

hamptoncourt

Tricky I am LOVING, your descriptions of WEA holidays.

I used to go on Anarchist Walking Group holidays and they were exactly the same!

Endless arguments about what food to buy and how to fairly share out the cost,
Some hippy trying to stop the rest of us using the dishwasher becuase its bad for the environment,
Stopping for a packed lunch (on a windswept crag of wet rock) and being told to take my boiled egg upwind of the vegans.

I could go on...

loved it though

I remember reading something about how you would need to walk 20 miles to burn off a christmas dinner and thinking- no wonder I lost weight on all those holidays. We got nothing even approaching a christmas dinner after walking 20 miles. Stingy dollop of lentil cassorole and a baked potato was more like it.

I went to both a long time ago and I understand your concerns. hopefully it will be ok

used to go to spring harvest at minehead and skeggy. also went to Grand hotel in Margate. we met some lovely people but it was spoilt by 1 rowdy large family who my dh had a disagreement with which spoilt it

I loved the entertainment and meals.

haven caravan in Poole. it was ok but the weather was poor. there were some nice people there and the odd herbert but still.

also went to hoseasons, accommodation bit basic but quite nice people and location

I want to go now. too much USA but then dh moans so much if we go to butlins etc or uk. he likes to be insular.

Totally depends on which one you go to. I've been to a few, the one I went to in wales recently was not one of the better ones. The one in the lakes is lovely though.

We went to Butlins in Bognor recently for the Fun for Tots or whatever it was called. We stayed in the Ocean hotel. We actually had a great time. There are people from all walks of life.

My OH probably fitted in well, brought up on a council estate, loves a beer and a football t-shirt.

We're multi millionaires, though. Try not to judge every book by it's cover!

dashoflime, those so called holidays made us the tough and capable women we are today.

Hello everyone. Seeking for some advice here hope that's okay. I'm planning an last minute emergency holiday break for me and kids. We suppose to fly to Marrakech on Sunday but my ADHD brain messed up our plans. Last night I realised that my son's passport expired in February. I remembered even a correct day but wrong year. Typical. Anyway so I'm trying to organise something for us in UK. I was checking Butlins resort and Heavens parks. Can someone advise me which is better to choose. I'm not fussy with accomodation standards but I really want us to enjoy the time, so included in the price attraction is a deal-breaker. Because of this situation we are in low budget as I'm not gonna have any money back from the holidays I already paid. I will be very grateful for any advice from you guys. Many thanks

Do you never encounter "those kinds of people" in your day to day life??

I do, so I don't bat an eyelid if I encounter them on holiday. 🤷 Just carry on about my day and leave them to it.

We've done Haven and Butlins holidays, we prefer Haven but they're both good budget friendly family breaks.

We tend to like to go swimming, go on the beach, do nature related stuff like bug hunts or pond dipping, etc. We don't spend tonnes of times in the arcades or the show bars so I suppose it also depends what you are doing too as to what you will get out of each place.

I commented on this. Thread ten years ago!
I have done loads of haven holidays it is what it is tbh I don't think there is much difference in the facilities these days although if slides in the pool are your thing haven can be very ht and miss for this ,some pools are great some not so much I think the pools are probably better at butlins. I have done silver at both haven and butlins and the accommodation was fine
We never go to the night entertainment we have a severely autistic teenager now and it's not our thing
But there is a variety if yhats your thing
We went to seashore in Norfolk a couple of weeks ago accommodation was good ,site was fine and facilities good imo.

Are you sure the people in the fort weren't filming for The Last Kingdom or one of those other Viking dramas that seem popular these days?