Hamleys

[Workerbe]

Newbie here.... looking for advice..

We have booked to go to London for my son's 8th birthday in March .. We are travelling down on the Friday night so he will wake up on his birthday with a full day ahead.
I have probably rather stupidly suggested that we go straight to Hamleys where he can spend his birthday money. However, having read a few bits on here and trip advisor I'm not so sure!
Is it a bad idea? Was planning to get there for opening time and writing off the next couple of hours. Also have London Eye and river cruise booked. And maybe the mummies in the British museum which is round the corner from our hotel. We have until Sunday afternoon and will also have the 3 year old brother in tow.
We have done NHM and SM recently so prob won't go back there.

Be honest, is hamleys a waste of time/money/2 hours of my life... (delete as appropriate)??
With Christmas being so recent, there really isn't much he wants, thought he could find inspiration for a present in there!! (Should probably add that he thinks it's a wonderful idea!!)

Thank you all....

It's just a shop!

I couldn't say it is a waste of time because you have a child who wants to go to the toy shop, but that's all it is, just a shop.

And you really don't need 2 hours for it. I mean you could spend 2 hours there, or you could be in and out.

Well my children enjoy going into Hamleys. The staff there do interactive demonstrations of the toys, you can get hands on and try out lots of toys and there are some really awesome lego models.

We tend to go opening time as it is quiet enough to actually move around and look at things at leisure, later in the day, particularly from lunch time onwards it does get horrifically busy.

The Star Wars floor (lowest one) is my personal favourite.

Ive lived in London for over a decade and my kids are early teens now. They still love Hamleys, it's their favourite shop and they still see it as a big treat to go there. It's a lot of fun and there's some lovely stuff in there. The people who work there do toy demonstrations and sometimes where fancy dress. I do think you're overthinking it a bit though.

Wear not where

It's also hellishly overpriced, so either be prepared for that, or prepare your child to choose what they want there, and then order it online!

I used the excuse of not having to carry it all day, and then ordered Lego from amazon at a much lesser price!

My kids loved it, and I remember loving it as a kid, but it is just a toy shop, so don't overthink it.

Hamleys is awful. Over-heated, crowded and massively over-priced. Your son's birthday money will go much further somewhere else.

My dd adores hamleys. She loves the staff doing demos etc. Some of them are very good at selling the product they're demo-Ing though, don't be suckered!
I absolutely hate it. It's too crowded, poorly laid out, noisy, stuffy, I always worry we'll lose each other.
I agree with browsing then ordering online. You really don't want to be carrying a load of stuff around london.

It is true things there are more expensive. Also, it gets very crowded.
However, for many kids including my two and me when I was little, the very idea of six floors of toys (or whatever) is thrilling. I used to love the dolls floor. Mine like seeing the toy demonstrations. And they very much like the pick and mix on the top floor.

If you go to Hamleys with a child it's like Hotel California. You can never leave.

We used to pop in if passing but it was always so crowded and so hot. Not a pleasant experience really.

I’d not bother and use the time to walk through St James Park to Horseguards, Number 10 and down to Houses of Parliament.

Thanks for quick replies.... much appreciated...
I suppose my main concern is exactly that- it is just a toy shop! It just happens to be a very big one and a bit of a novelty to my dc! And will probably eat up our entire morning in a great city that we don't visit very often..
However, from reading your replies, it sounds like it will be worth a visit (at opening time!)

Thank you

Last time I went in there, it was so crowded - like ants crawling all over each other!