ImCal
1st September 2007, 05:41
Ok the holidays are almost over
I thought i would write a quick report on a few places i visited with my nephew and sometimes his m8.
Doctor Who
Doctor Who Admission : Adults £6.50, Concessions £4.50 Family Day Ticket (4 people - max 2 adults) £20.00
Ok this was at the science museum in Manchester easy to get to, (head towards the Gmex) trams, buses and walking all ok.
Event basically it was all/most of the props from the last 2 series, no Tardis though, plenty of Daleks and Aliens etc.
Verdict: Great if you are into Dr.Who complete ripp off if you are not, all though classed as the biggest DR.Who event if you took your time and walked around it you would have plenty of time left out of a hour, however being held in the science museum there is plenty of other things to do.
Cafes and drink places dotted around, plenty of toilets and a area to sit and eat your own food.
Dr.Who gift shop expensive same stuff around 30%-40% cheaper in Argos etc
Value for money : No
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National Space Center Leicester
Admission £11.00 Adults £ 9.00 Concessions (mention gift aid and these tickets become yearly passes).
Easy to get to, on the number 54 route(every 5min) from Leicester bus tickets 50p single child, 75p adult.
Not as big as you want it to be, You do actually see a real rocket and there are plenty of things to read about, there is a 3d cinema in the building first admission includes watching the 20minute film which blows you away , if you use your ticket for gift aid you can up it to a yearly pass which however does mean the cinema costs you a extra £2 each if you want to see the film again.
A simulator is included in the price but its over far too quickly, a few hands on for kids to do, on your ticket there is a barcode and at each place you scan it and when you get to the end you insert it in a machine and it tells you what your space job would be, you can print this up for a pound.
They send you to the cinema first, the way out of the cinema is stupid because you have to go back round to get back in.
Cafe and gift shop avail, gets very busy
Value for money? :No and Yes , No if you visit just once, Yes if you gift aid it and go a few times in the year, with the 20min film and doing everything 90mins is enough time.
We visited this place twice...so a 12yr old liked it.
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Sealife Centre Birmingham
This review is soley about the Birmingham place, different sealife centers could have a entirely different review.
Admission: This Varies as there are plenty of vouchers about avail from Wilkinsons, Tesco etc, but without these vouchers it can be expensive.
(from £5.50 to £11.50 - im sure i paid more or it felt like it)
A great opp to get to see some fish and underwater life, like the Japanese Spider Crab that is huge or should i say can become as big as a car, the one at this center is about 80cm in length but still mightly impressive to look at, there are plenty of boards with facts and figures on, but we found a lot were out of date ie the fish etc was no longer alive, depending on the time of the day you can actually go watch them feed the seahorses or the sharks etc.
Very educational but this place in my opion is small, having been to other similar places around the world, i felt disappointed the sharks were small, took us 50mins to walk around and when we left we felt we had missed something after double checking we hadn`t there is a mirror maze in this place but it wont get you excited we didnt way too small.
Value for money: Ok if you use a voucher where you get 2 kids in free with a adult, but no if you have to pay full price speaking to a full paying family after they felt ripped off, the way out is through the shops so no getting by withough kids asking for...stuff, there were toilets but we never found them , there was a place for food but it was closed when we visited, total time it took us was 50minutes and we went round the maze twice.
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Bradford Media Museum
Admission : free to get in
The Museum is very easy to get to, within walking distance of the train station.
History of Film/Photography , Tv and animation is all featured here, some great things to do with kids, like chromakeying, selecting some old tv shows to watch we picked the very first grange hill and bottom, there is a imax cinema here showing various films throughout the year the latest Harry Potter is now showing going to watch it there is a charge.
Plenty of things to look , try and discover, there is a simulater here charge of £2.75 per person to have a go but 1quid(if you come out and go back in straight away if you move away you pay full price) for each go after 3 different simulations to try.
There is a large cafe on the ground floor and toilets are dotted around and often hidden.
We spent 2hrs in here watching a few old tv shows and trying our hands at filming etc.
I personally enjoyed this place, because there was plenty of things to do.
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We did go other places like Drayton Manor and Alton Towers but they are the usual run of the mill places.
Conclusion:
When asked my Nephew and his m8 both said Bradford Museum was the best even though it took us 3hrs to get there etc, they both said plenty to do and to try and would go again.
Space Center came 2nd.
I thought i would write a quick report on a few places i visited with my nephew and sometimes his m8.
Doctor Who
Doctor Who Admission : Adults £6.50, Concessions £4.50 Family Day Ticket (4 people - max 2 adults) £20.00
Ok this was at the science museum in Manchester easy to get to, (head towards the Gmex) trams, buses and walking all ok.
Event basically it was all/most of the props from the last 2 series, no Tardis though, plenty of Daleks and Aliens etc.
Verdict: Great if you are into Dr.Who complete ripp off if you are not, all though classed as the biggest DR.Who event if you took your time and walked around it you would have plenty of time left out of a hour, however being held in the science museum there is plenty of other things to do.
Cafes and drink places dotted around, plenty of toilets and a area to sit and eat your own food.
Dr.Who gift shop expensive same stuff around 30%-40% cheaper in Argos etc
Value for money : No
---
National Space Center Leicester
Admission £11.00 Adults £ 9.00 Concessions (mention gift aid and these tickets become yearly passes).
Easy to get to, on the number 54 route(every 5min) from Leicester bus tickets 50p single child, 75p adult.
Not as big as you want it to be, You do actually see a real rocket and there are plenty of things to read about, there is a 3d cinema in the building first admission includes watching the 20minute film which blows you away , if you use your ticket for gift aid you can up it to a yearly pass which however does mean the cinema costs you a extra £2 each if you want to see the film again.
A simulator is included in the price but its over far too quickly, a few hands on for kids to do, on your ticket there is a barcode and at each place you scan it and when you get to the end you insert it in a machine and it tells you what your space job would be, you can print this up for a pound.
They send you to the cinema first, the way out of the cinema is stupid because you have to go back round to get back in.
Cafe and gift shop avail, gets very busy
Value for money? :No and Yes , No if you visit just once, Yes if you gift aid it and go a few times in the year, with the 20min film and doing everything 90mins is enough time.
We visited this place twice...so a 12yr old liked it.
---
Sealife Centre Birmingham
This review is soley about the Birmingham place, different sealife centers could have a entirely different review.
Admission: This Varies as there are plenty of vouchers about avail from Wilkinsons, Tesco etc, but without these vouchers it can be expensive.
(from £5.50 to £11.50 - im sure i paid more or it felt like it)
A great opp to get to see some fish and underwater life, like the Japanese Spider Crab that is huge or should i say can become as big as a car, the one at this center is about 80cm in length but still mightly impressive to look at, there are plenty of boards with facts and figures on, but we found a lot were out of date ie the fish etc was no longer alive, depending on the time of the day you can actually go watch them feed the seahorses or the sharks etc.
Very educational but this place in my opion is small, having been to other similar places around the world, i felt disappointed the sharks were small, took us 50mins to walk around and when we left we felt we had missed something after double checking we hadn`t there is a mirror maze in this place but it wont get you excited we didnt way too small.
Value for money: Ok if you use a voucher where you get 2 kids in free with a adult, but no if you have to pay full price speaking to a full paying family after they felt ripped off, the way out is through the shops so no getting by withough kids asking for...stuff, there were toilets but we never found them , there was a place for food but it was closed when we visited, total time it took us was 50minutes and we went round the maze twice.
---
Bradford Media Museum
Admission : free to get in
The Museum is very easy to get to, within walking distance of the train station.
History of Film/Photography , Tv and animation is all featured here, some great things to do with kids, like chromakeying, selecting some old tv shows to watch we picked the very first grange hill and bottom, there is a imax cinema here showing various films throughout the year the latest Harry Potter is now showing going to watch it there is a charge.
Plenty of things to look , try and discover, there is a simulater here charge of £2.75 per person to have a go but 1quid(if you come out and go back in straight away if you move away you pay full price) for each go after 3 different simulations to try.
There is a large cafe on the ground floor and toilets are dotted around and often hidden.
We spent 2hrs in here watching a few old tv shows and trying our hands at filming etc.
I personally enjoyed this place, because there was plenty of things to do.
---
We did go other places like Drayton Manor and Alton Towers but they are the usual run of the mill places.
Conclusion:
When asked my Nephew and his m8 both said Bradford Museum was the best even though it took us 3hrs to get there etc, they both said plenty to do and to try and would go again.
Space Center came 2nd.