London Dungeon - is it actually scary?

[EnglishGirlApproximately]

We're having a few days in London in August and wondering whether to book London Dungeon. I have a fairly easily scared 9 year old so I'm not sure if we'll enjoy it. Has anyone been with a similar age child that can advise how they found it please?

It is really scary. Not as bad as Madame Tussards Chamber of Horrors though...fuck me that was harrowing

From my post you can see that clearly I did at time time, but regretted that decision. Thanks for trying to make me feel bad!

@Floralnomad it isn't too late to change plans but we have Merlin passes so nothing to pay for Shreks Adventure or Madame Tussauds. @magentarocks I'll look at Clink thank you.

My experience of Madame Taussauds - we turned up with a prebooked ticket and still had to queue 2 hours to get in. I nearly had queue rage from all the pushing. Why push on a big long queue it doesn't get you in any faster......
We were in their max 2 hours. No one wants to go back ever......
(We wanted to go as lots of my eldest friends have been and he was curious as to what the fuss was. - As you have merlin passes you don't lose any money by going but if you can book a time slot then do.)

A friend took us to Shrek for her daughters birthday. It wasn't something we would chose but we all had a good day. If you can watch the movies first it helps but not essential.

Thanks Mumdiva, I've heard Shreks is quite short so wouldn't pay for it but we're staying nearby and its free so thought we would check it out. We've booked the time slot for Madame Tussauds, I'm hoping restrictions mean its easier at the moment. We went to Legoland Discovery last month and found it much more pleasant with limited numbers and pre booked slots.

I found the London bridge experience to be much scarier than the dungeon with the dark escape from a horrific movie set vibe at the end.

I would do natural history over the imperial war museum with a 9 year old, though they are both brilliant. If you go to the imperial war museum, I wouldn't do the Holocaust exhibition (think it is recommended 14 plus anyway). It is deeply moving but I would not take a 9 year old through.

Gave a great time @EnglishGirlApproximately

I’m adding another vote for the Tower of London. Less scary than the dungeons and still has plenty of stuff in the vein of horrible histories.

Is he quite adventurous with rides, etc? If so and he's over 1.3m tall then the slide at the Olympic Park in Stratford might be fun. It's feels a little scary because of the height but the ride itself isn't particularly scary imo.

arcelormittalorbit.com/whats-on/the-slide/

My two loved Madame Tussaud's. We did it on Tesco vouchers. I would advise getting there as it opens though as queues get big (although maybe not so much this year who knows).

The sky garden is free so that's always a good one to do but you need to book.

I'd love to go but a friend told me when she went she couldn't stop crying as she hated it. She was in her 40's and is the most sensible and unflustered of our group of friends.

@Mumdiva99 thank you, really looking forward to it. Its been years since I went to London as a tourist rather than for work!
Sone great tips from everyone, the slide looks fab i think I'd enjoy it more than DS though

Definitely do wonderlab. We spent most of a day in wonderlab plus science museum.

Will you walk past Buckingham palace etc?

I took a 9 yr old to shrek and london eye (and aquarium) as we're Merlin passholders. Was great fun!

Sounds like an amazing time!

Definite no to London Dungeon. I won't go there as an adult as don't really get that people being tortured raped etc as entertainment.

If you would let your child watch the torture scenes in GOT, then yes, go for it.
Very disturbing, even for adults.
I can see why people take children thinking it's going to be more Halloween themed. You don't really know what you're getting until you're inside and it's too late.

I went to Madame Tussauds a couple of weeks ago and the queuing was fine. It was 3.15pm on a very wet Friday afternoon though.

How about a hop on hop off bus tour? You can get multi day tickets

(I’d be inclined to give Madame Tussaud’s a swerve if you can chance the tickets. Won’t it be full of boring modes of people he doesn’t know?)

People saying to swerve tussauds etc obviously don't have Merlin passes 🤣

Make the most of them OP. Makes for a great day out and we loved Shrek.

Book the Skygarden for breakfast time (free but you need to book) and they do nice cakes etc.

My parents took me as a child (so 30+ years ago) and I found it unsettling. I was used to horror as my grandmother used to tuck me up in her bed from an early age on a Friday night with a mug of tea, pack of biscuits and a horror film or something creepy like Tales of the Unexpected, but the dungeon seemed more tangible. Don't know about now though.

@walkoflifewoohoo we had Merlin passes all the time my children were children , we did it once , was in there for about 20 minutes and left , it’s rubbish and not worth wasting time on free or not . That said we never rated the London Eye either , I’d rather pay and go up the Shard .

Can't comment on the London Dungeon, but I have to say, your itinerary looks horribly busy for 4 days, especially with a 9 year old.

If you've already booked and paid for London Eye, Shreks Adventure, Madame Tussauds and the Natural History Museum, then I would say that's plenty.

Tate Modern isn't very interesting for a child unless they are especially interested in art. Covent Garden and Borough Market are OK, but are really just shops/stalls.

London Eye and Shrek's Adventure are very close together, but for everything else, you need to factor in travel time - whether walking or using public transport, getting places takes time in London.

I'd suggest maybe a walk along the South Bank before/after London Eye/Shrek, there's lots of things to see, next to/on the river, but you can be pretty relaxed about it.

"If you've already booked and paid for London Eye, Shreks Adventure, Madame Tussauds and the Natural History Museum, then I would say that's plenty."

Disagree. It's definitely not "horribly busy".

We did the skygarden for breakfast, were on the London eye by 10.30, lunch stop and then Shrek done by 3pm. We then went to Covent Garden, watched some acts, had an evening meal and a walk around afterwards. It wasn't rushed or busy and the kids loved it.

With 3 more days we covered lots more.

We all enjoyed the Merlin attractions, if I had to choose my favourite London one it would be Sealife. Much better than some of the other sealife centres but OP hasn't mentioned that I don't think.

I've been a few times and it used to be quite scary pre covid, but I went last year with a 7 year old and two 9 year olds and they thought it was hilarious
A lot of the things they used to do, like grabbing and jumping out on people arent allowed now due to social distancing, but it's a good day out if you're there. I definitely wouldn't pay full price now until everything gets back yo normal.