Parents and grandparents say their little ones are "broken-hearted" after a leading caravan holiday company has changed its popular children's characters. Haven, which operates 38 holiday parks including seven in Wales, has done away with popular Anxious the Elephant and Greedy the Gorilla characters and replaced them with new characters Annie and George.
The company has also replaced Bradley the Bear with a new character, which Haven says is "Bradley's niece", Jaz. The main member of "Seaside Squad", Rory, remains but sports a trendy new look and has a new "supersonic surfboard".
Sharing pictures of the new characters on social media on Thursday evening, a spokesperson said: "We’ve seen our Seaside Squad are making headlines so we want to introduce you to them directly. Meet Rory, Annie, George and newest recruit Jaz, taking over from her uncle Bradley and joining the squad. Keep your eyes peeled over the next few weeks as we reveal more." To get the latest What's On newsletters from WalesOnline, click here
Read more: Here's how you can enjoy 47 days off in 2023 using just 19 days of annual leave
The announcement has received more than 10,000 comments in less than 24 hours with countless families upset over the changes and hundreds more threatening to cancel their holidays or never book a Haven break again. One mum said: "Absolutely bloody pathetic. You have broken the hearts of thousands of children. This will be your downfall Haven I very much fear. My daughter wants to now cancel our next two holidays."
"Haven well and truly destroyed over the past few years, can safely say I won't be back with my kids, this new owner has just wasted an iconic holiday resort," added another.
Another parent said: "My three-year-old is absolutely devastated. He doesn’t take to change very well but does not understand why his favourite pink elephant anxious now will become Annie? These things just don’t need changing."
"Nope, definitely won't be buying these. The 'old' characters were cute and cuddly. A lot of families take their children to Haven sites to remember their own youth and share it with their children. You update and change your parks so often there's little of my youth that resembles how it was to share with my smalls and now you've taken our beloved characters away," commented another.
"Actually cannot believe this is happening. The original characters were amazing and cuddly. This is just far too modern and animated. Why does EVERYTHING have to change these days. It’s such a downfall for Haven," added another. "I’ve loved it since I was a kid and we’re going in October and I’m just disappointed now. You're changing this so people don’t complain - but look what’s happened: you’ve actually disappointed hundreds of Haven lovers."
Among the parents most disappointed in the change, parents of children with special needs say it's going to be difficult to explain the change to their children.
"My son is special needs and has loved these characters since he was five-years-old, he is now 19. Can you please explain to him these new characters and why he won’t be able to see that characters he loves anymore?" one mum asked. "Children with autism do not do change very well and there are a lot of special needs children that go to your parks. I tried to call to speak to the brand marketing manager last week but the head office is not currently manned. I think Haven need to liaise with parents and the National Autistic Society to try and make the experience even better for them."
"Ridiculous. So many kids have grown up with these characters. Many SEN children [children with special educational needs] won’t be able to manage the change," agreed another parent. "Why fix what wasn’t broken? On our recent visit to Hafan, a young lad of around 19/20 was going crazy for anxious with his anxious teddy. That’s what it’s all about. No one judged him. Was lovely to see," added another.
Others parents took to social media to say changing the characters is "pandering to the minority" and undo-ing great work in making the characters relatable to youngsters.
"Maybe the best thing to of done, would of been to ask the families who go to Haven [sic]," said one mum. "My kids grew up with Rory, Anxious and Greedy and Manic the Parrot and Snake. Then Bradley, Naughty Ned and Polly when they [Haven] merged with Bourne Leisure.
"Now their own kids love the characters as they were. It was all about the Tiger Club and the reasons kids loved Haven as it was their club. Now you are replacing much loved characters by generations of families for some politically-correct characters. People come in all shapes and sizes and temperaments, that's why the kids related to the original characters. Now seems like Haven is pandering to the minority instead of the majority. it's not broke, don't fix it!"
READ NEXT:
Shock as mystery 'creature' seems to pop up from sand on Welsh beach and 'wave' at little boy
20 pictures of the brilliant summer holidays we've enjoyed in Wales over the years
Covid-19 booster vaccination roll-out starts in Wales
People are all saying the same thing about sewage being dumped into the sea around Wales
