Pre book everything!

[PumpkinKlNG]

So our plans got cancelled today so I thought we would try to book somewhere else but you can’t go anywhere, due to this booking now before you go system you can go anywhere spontaneous, I tried they zoo, nope, the aquarium, no, museum no! Has anyone else found this? You can’t just go somewhere spontaneous anymore as everything needs to be pre book or it’s sold out! This is from 10 am btw

Yep it’s the way things are at the moment
It is a bit rubbish though

You can def book somethings, my daughter went to one of those treetop climbing places last week and it was only booked the night before and they had lots of availability.

Yeah it’s a bit rubbish, especially with our weather. I don’t want to prebook a farm visit weeks in advance to find it’s pouring down. There’s generally always something or somewhere left but it’s a pain

Our museums don't take bookings anymore. Are you sure it's not old system they just haven't updated?
But yeah🙄 Pita

I mean you can’t do it on the day, yes you can book for the next day but I mean you can’t spontaneously go somewhere on the day

Have you tried phoning?
I wanted to book Laser Quest the other week, saw they had availability the night before but waited to see if my sons friend wanted to join. Went to book in the morning and there wasn't the option to book online for that day. I called up and could book over the phone.

There are still things you can do spontaneously. They tend to be free things too! Some farm shops have some animal enclosures or park areas that are good if you have children with you. Lots of parks have great play areas and cafes. Some museums do not need pre booking. I wonder if ringing up places and asking if they've had any cancellations might help?

We turned at the Wistow maze without a booking at the weekend. It was fine.
There are lots of things out there, it's just that they aren't necessarily things that you can find by googling, as the more Web savvy businesses are more likely to have online booking!

Yes, this is something I hate at the moment. I appreciate why it’s being done, but it’s annoying not being able to decide on the day based on the weather.

National Trust properties are now open again for spontaneous visits - at least in the north.

Even if somewhere has a pre booking system I've noticed lots of places can be called on the day to check if there is availability. I'd definitely call some of the places you'd like to go to see if you can just turn up /if they have availability.

I hate the lack of spontaneity but when you arrive and it’s only half crowded it’s fab. We went to theme parks in South Wales and zoos and it was bliss not queuing and being able to see animals.

You are being advised that it's full instead of finding out at the door. What's not to like.

I hope the prebooking stays!

I 'd be happy to pay double and see half the crowds inside, but everything is quite packed these days unfortunately.

We didn’t want to go to the park again 😬 been enough

I've enjoyed the pre-booking system for preventing overcrowding and queues. As a pp said, we've been to a few NT places recently and they're open as normal and a couple of galleries and museums have accepted walk up entry but are clear that this is limited.

These are places that have never been full until Covid restrictions though, I’ve never been turned away from any of these places and was allowed to buy tickets at the gate, you are not allowed to do that now though, the zoo has never been too full to let people in

For us with an autistic DS pre booking and the controlled entry and numbers makes trips out so much easier!

They are controlling numbers passing through the gate at any one time to prevent crowding and to enable social distancing. Probably part of their necessary risk assessments in order to remain open and keep Covid numbers low.

With a bit of creativity, I'm sure you could find something to do.

We're in central London and haven't found it too hard to find things on the day - you can't always be choosy about the entry time but everything we've tried has generally had availability on the day so museums, Tate, Zoo, trampoline park etc. London is quiet at the moment!

Yep, really frustrating way of life, especially when the weather is so unpredictable [ie. could pre-book something outdoorsey like the zoo, then find it pisses down all day that day]

How about coast trip, woodland walk etc?

That’s interesting as we are in London and today at 10am we tried London zoo, sold out, science museum sold out, natural history museum sold out, London aquarium sold out!

We went to the natural history museum yesterday. Said it was sold out online but had a queue for those who hadn't booked and we got in fine 🙂

Urgh yes its a pain.

Ive tried to book.so many things but all have just been unavailable. And with anything out doors you want to see what the weather is like in the morning. You don't want to book three days before and end up walking a round the zoo in a thunder storm.

Went out fir the day on Friday but was obviously just limited to shopping and a walk down by the river.

We saw a tattooist and thought we'd get dds ears re pierced but despite always having been able to walk in and get a quick.piercing done now that is impossible too. I know tattoos need time slots and many if them in sone cases but piercings, well filling out the consent form takes longer than the actual piercing.

Taking the piss now tbh

Especially since those of us in retail are meant to just allow everyone in all the time.

Can’t risk just turning up as we are the opposite end of London but good to know for the future

Whatwouldscullydo thank goodness was starting to feel alone! glad someone understands! I hate booking things in advance just incase plans change then you can’t go and you can’t get your money back, surprised to hear so many people love it, like today I had plans but they were cancelled luckily I hadn’t paid any money otherwise it’s tough luck!