Absolutely LIVID at the BBC

[ChilledMK]

I took the kids to the BBC Earth Experience in London yesterday. Traveled all the way from Milton Keynes. It looked the perfect day out for the kids. It was billed as an ‘interactive experience’ and a ‘transformative audio visible experience’.

I feel like I have been robbed. £100+ to walk around a big room with disjointed images showing random vignettes of animals and rainforests on cinema screens. No seating. No narrative. No touching. And most importantly no interaction. Looking at the website I can tell they have done some very clever camera trickery to make it more than it is.

I have never felt so angry leaving an ‘event’. I can’t believe they think it is acceptable to charge £32 to walk around a big room with a montage of their documentaries available on Netflix. No bad word to say about the staff or security, but the people at the BBC who planned this event are taking the absolute piss. Then to make it worse as we walk into a tat filled gift shop this almost half the space of the event, there is a projection of the earth saying it is my responsibility to make sure all the animals don’t die of climate change…

Would I be unreasonable to request a full refund? The kids were bored out of their mind and we didn’t stay the full hour.

DD was four and loved the VG experience.

The big, immersive room was the main highlight and I thought some of the scenes were really beautiful.

There were a few small digital displays as well, such as one where moving patterns were projected onto a large model of Van Gogh’s head. We liked these as well.

Elsewhere, there was a smallish recreation of Van Gogh’s bedroom at Arles (on three sides), complete with a bed and chair. DD LOVED the novelty of “being inside a painting”. I was able to take a photo of her sitting on the chair.

DD still mentions the VG experience and has asked to go back. I’m glad she enjoyed it, but the downside of taking a four-year-old was that she was too impatient and restless to let me read many of the wall displays. She also couldn’t sit still in the immersive room, which I feel a bit guilty about. I hope she didn’t spoil it for anyone else.

Thanks, that is super-helpful!

I went a couple of weekends ago. It had only been open 2 days so no reviews to drive my expectations. We really enjoyed it, but we are all adults, albeit of different generations, and we didn't expect it to fill a whole day. We had a pleasant 1.5 hours, which saw the whole presentation in the main room, sitting in a one area and then wandering to see different angles, then a wander in the small rooms focusing on sea life and insects. Building was clean, toilets and lockers were plentiful and staff, security etc were nice. Gift shop had nice bespoke products, not cheap plastic tat.
I've recommended to a few friends as their kids are studying the continents and would happily return myself another time.
Just thought I'd offer an alternative view for balance.

Some images if it helps.....

It probably is alright as a quick thing.

But charging £28.50 for an adult ticket you'd hope it would be exceptional. You can buy a ticket to the zoo or farm for less and see a real animal. You'd have a really memorable time.

With prices like that, lots of people will always end up disappointed. I'd say up to £7 is probably more appropriate for 1-2 hr walk around with limited storyline or flow to it. It seems very visual/aural- is there much for the other senses?

But I haven't been myself so all just my opinion based on this thread.

I agree that the price is very steep for a one-hour experience but if the website is clear that this is the duration (which it is) then customers are in full possession of the facts when deciding whether to book.

I guess so, it's the confirmation bias where if it's expensive, you assume it will be better. Anyway, I'm a Londoner and have been brought up knowing not to pay for these sorts of things.

That's not confirmation bias...

I want to know what the OP thinks was misadvertised.

Whatever you call it then, not really the point.

@NewNovember do you live in 1986?! 😆

I checked out the reviews on TripAdvisor and they're 90% bad.... thanks for the heads up was meant to be going in the summer with my family

Possibly because I'd had my expectations lowered by this thread, we really enjoyed it today.

I think you're being utterly ridiculous tbh. I was going to go, had a closer look at the website and thought mmmm looks like a lot of film on big screens. I'd say £15 charge maybe as a reasonable price given that it is Earl's Court.

It honestly took me about 30 seconds to decide it was flimsy, there is no misleading marketing whatsoever.

Lol at going 'all the way from MK' 🤣

I appreciate that I have conflated immersion with interactive, but my point absolutely still stands.

I’m afraid it really doesn’t, OP. The entire basis of your complaint in your OP is around the lack of interactivity. If you are serious about pursuing your complaint then you should get MNHQ to pull this thread, as it’s going to be very easy for the firm to identify you as the person who muddled ‘interactive’ with ‘immersive’.

I’ve read the trip advisor reviews. 66% were bad, 8% average 26% were good.

Sorry for getting the off the top of my head maths wrong

It's not maths, really. There's a big difference between 'almost everyone hated this' and '1 in 3 people liked it'.

I imagine the 2/3 who didn't also misread the website. Like the op.

I get your point.

@mysparkleismissing 😊

I went today...

The programme in the main area lasts just over an hour; there's an approx 10 minute segment about each continent, made up of shorter clips. We then spent another 20-30 minutes exploring the other areas (microlife, water life, vista, balcony)

I saw young children (aged approx 5-6) sitting quietly and looking engaged by the content, but obviously it depends on the child. I'm not sure it would have appealed to toddlers / preschool age for long. There were two brief scenes featuring an animal hunt / kill.

There are a couple of benches, and if you walk further in, there's a stepped seating area at the bottom of the stairs to the balcony. I took an inflatable travel cushion and was glad I had.

Just been looking to book and seen this so will avoid it.

Sounds a rip off and waste of money. However I wouldn't hold my breath for a refund if I was you.

Out of interest, what exactly is the information in this thread that makes you think differently about it, compared to the information on the event website?

I looked into it a few weeks ago and it was very clear from the official website that it is exactly as the op describes it - large screens in a big space.

What specifically is it about the op's posts that you think differs from what is described on the website?

I mean that's a fair point. I looked at the original advertising and wondered why anyone would want to pay so much money (or indeed any money) for what appears to be just looking at a load of screens

dh took 3 of our children to see Mario Brothers total cost £13.50
Where was this? DH and I took our 3 GC and we paid £40.