I spent a lot of money on an experience and didn't enjoy it

[Newname101]

There's something I've wanted to do for ages, do dh and I bought very expensive tickets yo do it. We travelled into London which he hated and it was short and wasn't for me, I left feeling stupid and sad that we spent out money on it. Dh said at least we gave it s go and we had the money spare. I enjoyed walking through St james park with dh more than the activity.
It's really made me doubt myself and worry about doing things in the future.

linky no worky

This has probably happened to most of us. It’s just the way things go. Not everything can be amazing and memorable. It’s better you tried it than just sitting at home too afraid to go anywhere or try anything. I do know people who never do anything out of their comfort zone & their lives look very dull.

Thanks all
Given my head a wobble and I'm OK
I'm seeing iron maiden in the summer, a life time dream do I'm going to keep trying new things!

And yes my DH is the best.

I find that what I like to do changes over time and I have to go and have a crap experience to realise that my taste has changed. I used to love rollercoasters and festivals-it took some very expensive days out to realise I've gone off them.
I've had crap holidays too with dynamics I won't be repeating.
You live and learn and at least your dh braved London and you had a nice walk in the park-little wins xxx

If you go to London again, avoid the tube and walk everywhere. It’s so interesting walking round London, you see so much. If you’re going a distance and have to take the tube, take the Circle line if you can, it isn’t very far underground so you don’t get the bad smells, the claustrophobic feeling, and the grey bogies that you get on the deeper lines.

Was it the London Eye?

It wasn't the London eye, I've done that a few times and like it, we live just outside London so tube all the way in as cheaper than mainline.

I hope it wasn't ABBA Voyage as that's fucking amazing.

You me bum bum train?!

A few years back we went on the tour around Buckingham Palace and the best bit of the day were the pelicans in St James park .

Yes, I, worried it's that as I have tickets and it looks incredible!

It wasn't ABBA voyager, my friend has been and said it was excellent.

If you don't try, you'll never know😁

Keep trying new things!

If you read the reviews again knowing how it didn't work for you, do you see there any warning signs/things you didn't know how to interpret, but are clear now?

Nothing works for everyone, so it is good to learn to read the reviews for the kind of issues which are relevant for you.

Isn’t this the whole point though? We go to something, sometimes it’s great, other times not. We just have to keep experimenting. The money is neither here nor there.

It happens sometimes. I spent £20 on the camera obscura attraction in Edinburgh which gets amazing trip advisor reviews and thought it was terrible. But 99% of the time when I’ve had a day out/visited an attraction it’s been worth the money.

Sorry you had a bad time OP but like the others say sometimes these things happen so don’t beat yourself up! I also agree that Abba Voyage is amazing so put that on the list! I went to War of the Worlds experience yesterday and I loved it. Didn’t particularly expect to. Sometimes it’s better when you have low expectations I think

No need to doubt yourself. How are you supposed to know before you've even been? How many of us have gone to something and then said, “well that was a bit rubbish wasn't it”. Probably everyone.

You're overthinking. You never know in advance if you'll enjoy something new, but if you never try new things for risk of not liking them you'll miss out on discovering all.sorts of things you do enjoy. This one didn't work out, but plenty of others will.

We’ve had a couple of things like this in the past, it’s disappointing initially although like you we tried to make the best of the day by fitting other things in also. However years later they are just funny anecdotes when we’re going somewhere - “hope it’s better than xyz” etc. I understand when you’ve spent so much money on it though, that’s very annoying. Keep trying new things though, for every rubbish one there are lots of fantastic experiences to see out there!

If it was skating at Somerset House, I’m with you OP!

A word of caution to manage your expectations for Iron Maiden. Sadly his voice is going - also have a look at recent setlists. Still enjoyable because IM fans are a lovely bunch.

Oh we've all done it

Dopamine Land = Rubbish

Most immersive Theatre - Embarrassing and Rubbish

Most 'edgy' pop up exhibitions (eg: Serial Killers/Pop Psychology/Dopamine - see above) = A bit grubby and Rubbish

I think a lot of it is down to social media. In the past, we'd read about something and maybe see one printed picture, so had no expectations. Nowadays - every exhibition has a hashtag/instagram page or website, so by the time you go, you've seen the best pictures, the highlights video and the fast cut edit of everything looking exciting, so actually, in 30 seconds, you've seen the whole thing with music, filters and fast edits. By the time you get there and wander about in real time, on a drizzly Wednesday, it all feels anti-climatic and shit.

Don't beat yourself up and don't doubt yourself. Think of it like this, far better to experience four disappointing things and one thing that blows your mind and you'll never forget, than miss out on that one thing for fear of the the other four.

Thanks for the warning about iron maiden, before kids dh and I saw lots of bands/singers who were maybe past their best but we were glad to see them before they died. Just seeing iron maiden will make me happy. I'm going on my own but know rock fans are the best.

😃 wanting to do something with the grandkids during my last trip to London I booked the Chrystal Maze and Go Ape…
I’m from Canada had zero clue what the CM was but paid and well tried.
Go Ape…I’m 67, pride got me started and my Guardian Angel and Mary helped me through MOST of it…but oh my that shall never be repeated.
Same with restaurants, pay dearly and some were massive waste of time.
I did try the tube and ventured a bit on my own and liked the section of tube I tried.
Keep trying OP, life’s an adventure.