To have screamed at my sister about Butlins?

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Fucking Butlins. Just the name makes me angry.

When we were kids the family (our mum, our aunties and our cousins) would book a yearly holiday to Butlins. We loved it when we were little but as we got older it became a horrible fucking chore. The adults would force us to join “clubs” so that they could have grown up time away from them and most of us hated these clubs. We were forced to watch the babyish entertainment on a night, forced to do sports etc etc - this was the 80s. It was horrible, nobody enjoyed it, the adults usually ended up arguining, the kids were miserable yet they would book it year after year as if it was compulsory. When we were in secondary school one by one the cousins started refusing to go - I first refused to go when I was 14 and then had my auntie shouting at me that I was ruining it for everyone. Then my sister refused to go … by the time I was 15 the Butlins nightmare was thankfully a thing of the past.

Anyway! My sister has 2 children and started booking Butlins every year when her eldest was 3, youngest 1. This has been a yearly thing for the past 8 years. Every single year she starts complaining as soon as she books it “it’s so expensive!” Then when she gets back “it was crap! The chalet was mucky, the entertainment was shit, the kids didn’t want to do anything, the weather was awful “ etc etc

Shes booked again this year and goes at the end of this week. I saw her yesterday and she was complaining that the kids were not grateful, the weather looks to be shit, husband is moaning … “ I ended up screaming at her!! Why the fuck does she book it every year?? Why the fuck did our parents book it every year?? It’s madness! It’s not fucking compulsory to go to Butlins every year!! So she snapped back and said “rather go to Butlins than fucking Northumberland” having a dig at our holiday plans but I don’t book it every year and then complain constantly do I???

I can understand why you disliked it, I’m the same with camping.

YABU to shout at your sister though. It would have been to calmly ask her why she still goes there for holidays.

Sadly some people can’t see the woods for the trees.
I’d never been to Butlins before but in my work I was asked to take someone for a week; I was ok with that!!
Fucking hell I’ve never been to such a shithole in my life; the rooms were filthy; the food was crap; (work booked all inclusive) the site was like a graveyard absolutely naff all going on; the evening entertainment if you can call it that was so awful I wanted to stay in & pluck my eyeballs out with cocktail sticks just for fun.
How in gods name do people go year after year; it’s hell on earth.
surely booking a lovely cottage in a nice seaside town with lovely beaches all around you; with lovely pubs, walks; & different experiences children can be taken to is better than that craphole.
Yes you were right to bawl your sister out she needed a reality check!!

Ha! We love butlins. It might not be for everyone, but my kids really enjoy it and as a single parent it's great having everything under one roof.

Oddly our family did the same every summer throughout the 1970s, aunts, uncles, cousins etc all went together to Butlins ! Why ? To be honest it was novel back then and with everything included, including food ( in big communal dinning Halls) I expect it was a chance for our parents to get a break from everything too. However I took my family to a couple of Butlins camps in the 1990s and they were dreadful. Dirty, run down accommodation, crap entertainment, and not all inclusive prices any longer. In fact rather expensive prices to eat and drink on site. Actually so much more expensive than other holiday resorts, that have better facilities.So I can’t understand either why your sister would waste her hard earned money on a holiday that she’s going to complain about. Does she just like to complain. Incidentally we have just come back from a lovely week in Northumberland. The area is beautiful, lovely beaches, very friendly people, loads of history and Lots of nice pubs to eat in etc. So don’t let your sister put you down for booking to go to Northumberland, because you’re going to love it.

Butlins is so Chavy accommodation gross

Show your sister this website for Bluestone as it’s lovely but not cheap, knocks spots off Butlins and it has a water park for kids.

https://www.bluestonewales.com/discover/pembrokeshire?utm_medium=email&utm_source=Offer&utm_campaign=10%25+Low+Deposit+2023+V.2&pl=z02l03304b03i00s01b00h07d05a08x03p00i00n00

Not Iiking ButIins is not unreasonabIe, but screaming about it certainIy is. A simpIe "I never much Iiked it, so I'm not the person to taIk to about this" wouId have done fine.

I didn’t even know Butlin’s was still going! I used to absolutely love it and maybe she did secretly so I’d let her get on with it. You do you, etc. It’s not really affecting your life is it?

Does the OP use the word “screaming” literally? It’s all a bit weird tbh. Why can’t OP leave her sister to continue to book Butlins and let her moan about it? Have these 2 siblings never grown up?

I personally love Butlins.
we are due to go at the end of august and praying that this one is as nice as the usual one we go to.
I've only ever needed to complain twice in all the times we’ve been, once because we were opposite weed smoking loud mouths that allowed their kids to scoot up and down outside the apartments at 2am screaming… and bouncing a football from the first floor down onto the ground below! My poor daughter was so tired and crying because she couldn’t sleep!
the other time the apartment carpet was filthy! And they moved us into the hotels!
I admit though that I do always take cleaning products and on arrival have a quick wipe down of door handles and light switches and always clean the toilet room. But never found them terrible, I just like to have a wipe down myself encase.

But yes if she keeps booking it and moaning I’d just say ‘well why do you keep booking it??’
She obviously likes it more than she’s letting on and just likes to moan for the sake of moaning!

We're going next week.

Never had any issues with cleanliness. But always book the most expensive accommodation.

Weather is supposed to be good next weekend so picked a good weekend.

I've just remembered it was (maybe still is) redcoats at Butlins and bluecoats at Pontins.

Is it still the same? Do they still entertain the holiday makers?

Find the obsessive focus on your use of the word 'screaming' on here really strange. But YANBU and you're allowed to scream at your sister once in a while. One thing I would say to all the people on here saying how much their kids love Butlins. Are you sure? Because I can remember being badly bullied at school and my parents only finding out much later, because I hid it so well. Kids clubs, activities etc are fine for the self confident joiners. Nightmare for a significant number of others.

If I was experiencing Groundhog Day every year for eight years with her moaning about the holiday and rebooking it, I’d probably scream at her too. Maybe before the eighth time. I think you’ve been quite restrained 😂

Yeah, typical MN obsessive focus on a word. It would be pretty hard to actually scream all of the things she said, so I think it’s clear to most of us that she got exasperated and spoke in a loud voice to express said exasperation.

Well, Butlins doesn't have any clubs you drop your kids off at for childcare these days, just activities you book and go with your kids, so I think I'd notice if the dc were unhappy.

I'm at Butlins right now, my dc chose all the activities they wanted to do (slime making, archery, climbing wall, go karts etc) and we went as a family.

Absolutely fine if it isn't the sort of holiday your family would enjoy, but it surely isn't so impossible that some people enjoy it?

I only mention it if the incorrect/unclear use of language impedes understanding, particularly when the question is AIBU? It makes quite a difference in this case whether the OP was wailing like a Bean Sidhe or, well, I'm not actually clear on what the slang usage of screaming means, as I've never heard it used that way in real life. Raising her voice in anger?

It's a bloody daft and confusing usage. As is "fight" to mean "argument" in US English. A fight is throwing punches, hitting one another, not having an argument. If you mean an argument, say so.

They have shows.

So about 3-4 different venues with different shows at different times. With red coats maybe introducing or keeping kids occupied for the few minutes before it starts.

And evening disco at a venue with red coats leading it. Obviously you can do your own thing.

Yes. You can’t maintain screaming for long 🤣. Tbh I find it so irritating when people don’t choose more appropriate vocabulary. It can make a story very misleading. Terms like went ballistic/threw a fit/screamed/yelled are not very helpful when someone spoke with a raised voice or was very annoyed. 😡

Back in the 80s Pontins was amazing and better than Butlins. Used to love our Pontins holidays.

we find a decent caravan park resort is a good option these days for the same type of holiday, and kids usually love it all. Maybe not when teens though.

“Back in the 80s Pontins was amazing and better than Butlins. Used to love our Pontins holidays.”

We stayed at the Pontins in Somerset, (admittedly about 17 years ago so they may have improved since), but back then it was horrific.

The chalets were filthy, the playgrounds etc were borderline dangerous and the food options on site were dire (and massively overpriced).

I had not had a worse holiday before that and, fingers crossed, not since. If they’d paid ME to stay there I’d still have felt ripped off!

Yep, my mam SWORE we went to Pontins and had a great time as kids, I remember it being Butlins.

I went back to Pointins and it absoloutly was NOT where we went before. It was the most disgusting place (mattress was soaked in blood and everything had a layer of filth, front door didn't shut and lock either) I have ever been and yes everything was dangerously broken.

We didn't stay and I have never walked away from anywhere before. I'm massively low maintenance in expectation given my history homelessness but it was just too bad to cope with.

When they said they where going to house refugees there I thought 'they can't do that, thats beyond cruel'. If I was fleeing from war and the put me in pontins, I genuinely think I would rather take my chances and go home to the warzone.

We had regular Butlins breaks when the boys were younger, though we mainly joined in with stuff, archery, pool, swimming, shows etc. There used to be a teenager VIP club but that seems to have dried up and there's been nothing much for teenagers for a while now. Went last year with a friend and her 8 year old, I think that'll be the last.
However, we privately hired a caravan and didn't go for the chalets. Even that is now overpriced for what it is.
And yes, sounds like you've got unresolved resentment from your own teens. Always fancied Northumberland, enjoy!

I’ve had a lovely time reading all the terrible reviews of various Butlins on Tripadvisor. Most entertaining.