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.

I got burned by a Groupon experience, verging on actual criminal rip off. I felt absolutely scammed by it! But lesson learned, crap review left and I was delighted to see they'd gone bust a year or two later. Couldnt have happened to a more deserving person!

This makes me feel better that we couldn't get a slot on the weekend we were up there.

How old are you op? What you are feeling is disappointment. This is a totally normal feeling when something doesn't live up to our expectations. You don't need to go doubting yourself of agonising over it. As you can see here plenty of people do things and some of them turn out to be a bit shit or not their cup of tea. This is how you learn about yourself. Stop fixating on the experience and the lost money and start thinking about something else you might like to try.

You know what, it’s done, the money is spent - important thing is you enjoy your time with you DH…… believe me as someone who has recently diagnosed with cancer, even if it’s a lot of money, money becomes an irrelevancy. Ok, you did not enjoy the experience, life has disappoints, and that’s life. Move on, laugh about it, make something positive out of it.

Lap dancing isn’t for everyone.

Never heard/seen/watched Taskmaster but I suspect your experience was l8ke meeting a celebrity hero, usually a bit of a letdown.

However, you went, you did it, you had the money, and you didn't get hurt/injured/robbed or any other bad things.
You have a convo topic many would be envious of.
Don't worry about it, and enjoy more walking.

Last year I went all the way to Brussels (from the midlands) for the Harry Potter visions of magic experience and it was shit.

Im a massive PotterHead (obviously) and i was really disappointed in it…. But such is life. I used it as an excuse to spend 10 days in the Netherlands so it wasn’t all bad.

Sorry but it happens, it's affectionately called life. Move on but don't keep second guessing your every Move.

"It's really made me doubt myself and worry about doing things in the future."

Sounds a bit dramatic OP. So what, it didn't work out. You had the money. Nobody died. You enjoyed the walk with your husband, just laugh it off and put it down to experience.

Look on the bright side OP. It was only London. I flew to Florida with my DDs just so they could ride the Harry Potter broomsticks in Universal Studios. We queued for about two hours in blistering heat, the ride lasted about two minutes…

Ugh, I hate all these experience things. I think the first one I “experienced” was the permanent shrek one, it’s so expensive for what it is! My husband brought me tickets for the Disney 100 one, way too crowded and really small for what it was. We’re off to the formula 1 in a couple of weeks at my husbands request, I’m expecting more disappointment. I get that some people love it, but for me it really just feels like hunting ground for influencers and someone is making a lot of money!

This is my life. I’m so concerned about wasting money on things that don’t end up being worth it that I’ve ended up doing nothing. I’m in a rut, and it’s been rubbish for the rest of the family in many ways. It’s often the women who are creative about ‘going g out’ ideas and I’m just not. I’m generally anxious about the future so this might explain the reasons behind being so parsimonious. It means I’ve got money in the bank but we’ve very few memories banked up. I wouldn’t recommend it. Don’t let it get the same for you.

I’m a bit puzzled by the sole focus on ‘experience’ things. (I mean, I know that’s what the OP was talking about.) But why not go to something where you know exactly what you’re going to get, and can pretty much assume that it will be pleasurable to you? I went to Madrid recently for a few days to see the art. I’d never been to Madrid before, and had obviously never been to the museums, but I knew generally what kinds of collections they had, and in fact it was better than I could ever have imagined. Just as an example. Short of falling ill, or something catastrophic happening to shut the museums, I knew I was going to have a wonderful time.

Booking things is a gamble and I'm the one in our family who does all the bookings. So anything we go to feels like my responsibility. I don't mind whinging if something is really shit, but I did get pissed off when MIL told us that the castle I'd chosen to visit wasn't ruined enough.

Shit things we've been to include:
London Aquarium - it felt like a massive germ fest, then you get to a bit where they keep penguins in a basement, which feels cruel.

Hansel and Gretel at The Globe. Nice theatre, but such a poor play that DD2 said, "thank you for paying so that the actors get paid, as it must be embarrassing to be in that".

A butterfly house, when DD1 route marched us through as she turns out to be scared of butterflies.

We didn't bother to go to Kielder when we had tickets due to the cloud cover. Glad we didn't.

I loved ABBA Voyage, but DD2 said it wasn't worth the 20 minute walk from the car park, so opinions vary.

I was also thinking this!!!!

I knew it would be this! So sorry you had a rotten time. I have heard quite a few people say the same thing

I know a couple of people who've been to these and they raved about the experience. I find it baffling because I can't get excited about it at all.

That tells us absolutely nothing.

It's really made me doubt myself and worry about doing things in the future

That's a big over-reaction to a mildly disappointing event, really.

Sometimes things aren't as good as we thought they would be. It's one thing! Think of all things you've done in your life that you wanted to do and which turned out to be great.

I saw Iron Maiden about 12 years ago at the O2. They were absolutely amazing. Bruce Dickinson had so much energy. He was bouncing around the stage as if he was still at his 20s. I did feel that his voice was struggling back then a little bit, but it didn’t dampen the atmosphere of the concert at all. I remember it as a fantastic night out with my then husband (now ex), FIL and BIL. I hope you enjoy it. Iron Maiden are fantastic entertainers and a legendary band.

I’ve seen them four times, their sets are fantastic and Bruce has the energy of a 20 year old! So I bet you won’t be disappointed with this experience 🥰

Shame to hear about the Taskmaster experience. I was tempted but not at the price.

Agree.

Look on the bright side - you have a nice DH who set aside his issues to accompany you and you enjoyed a pleasant walk in the park together.

Do you have what might be called a 'scarcity mindset' problem - do you often fret about and regret mistakes and waste?

@Newname101
Maybe consider detaching a little from stuff on TV. The version of it you have in your head is bound not to match up to reality.

Taskmaster does special deals. We've been twice - once in a preview for £35 each and then a Saturday evening deal for 2 tickets for £50. My daughter is on a mailing list so sees the specials.

It's fun, but definitely not worth £100.