Millenium Dome = Lines
Written: Jun 27 '00 (Updated Aug 27 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fun place to spend the day
Cons: Not Disney
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| jaz's Full Review: Cultural Centres |
Looking for a little escape from the hubbub of central London but don’t want to go too far? Hop on the tubes (subway) to the North Greenwich stop and walk a couple hundred meters to the entrance to the Millennium Dome, the huge 1,000,000,000£ (billion) attraction that will supposedly be only open for the year 2000.
Broken into about twenty areas, each offers a somewhat futuristic view of different areas of life, the universe, and everything. While you are not required to go through the dome in a predefined order, going in either a clockwise or counterclockwise order works best, that way you don’t have to keep backtracking to go to the next area. You’ll get a timed ticket to go into the Body exhibit, which takes you "inside" a human body, where you watch things like the heartbeat change based upon emotions. This exhibit will probably have the longest line. Other exhibit lines varied from really really long to none at all. The information booth had a screen showing line lengths but I never saw it change from 5 minutes or less for all exhibits, which wasn’t true, with some having a 30-45 wait (according to polls placed on the lines, from this spot...).
Besides the Body exhibit, the Work area was fun with different coordination games, like a 50-foot long giant table football (soccer for Americans) game. The Play area had a cat and dog chasing game where you had to hold up a wand either red or green to control a paddle. The Money area had you trying to spend a million pounds in 60 seconds. The Mind area had a gizmo that let you change your race, age, or sex (well, at least on the computer). The Living Island had an arcade area where they gave you some free tokens.
Besides the different areas around the dome, in the center area is an arena with a 3D-like show, with acrobats coming out from all areas of the arena. I couldn’t really follow the three acts, but the performance was amazing. Do arrive early or you won’t get a seat.
Another interesting part of the trip were the voting cards you get upon arrival. At different points in each area they ask questions about various topics, like will everyone be self-employed in 20 years, does a woman make a better boss, do you set aside enough play time, and many more. Over the course of the day you can watch the big screen in the arena to see how everyone else voted.
Great place for kids if they have the patience to wait around. There is even a special play area for those under 13. Lots of food choices spread throughout the dome, from McDonalds to table service at the fresh seafood place, and lots in between
To avoid the lines at the dome, you can pick up tickets in advance from either your hotel or one of the travel groups. It costs 20£ / person to get in. Not overloaded with gift shops throughout.
Wear comfortable shoes. You'll be here the whole day. At least give yourself 5-6 hours to get through the place if not more. Get there early.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jaz
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Member: John Zukowski
Location: Boston, MA
Reviews written: 18
Trusted by: 4 members
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