Cybermen in Cardiff: visiting the Dr Who Experience

[caption id="attachment_4030" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Robert at the Dr Who experience in Cardiff[/caption]

Robert, who's 12, writes:

We went to Cardiff especially to see the Dr Who Experience – as I’m a big Dr Who fan. Let me tell you what it was like...

The Doctor Who Experience is made up of two parts, and the first is an interactive experience where you have to help the Doctor escape from a giant time-distorting octopus. We started by getting our passes that allowed us to enter “the Gallifrey Museum”. These passes changed colour and vibrated throughout the experience which was really cool and made you feel part of the story. After entering the museum we watched a live feed of the Tardis in which, coincidentally, the giant octopus attacked. We were hurried out of the room by our tour-guide and made our way into section. After a video call from the Doctor himself and an interactive “ride” where we controlled the Tardis, our group travelled through time to help save the Doctor. We met up with some classic Doctor Who villains along the way, some of the rooms were incredibly designed and the whole thing was very exciting. However, the guide who took us through was very unenergetic and seemed quite bored by the whole thing, which was a real shame.

[caption id="attachment_4052" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Two versions of Davros![/caption]

After we had saved the universe, we entered a massive two-floor exhibition about Doctor Who. This held a number of Tardis from different series, and included the control panels, not just the blue police boxes.

The exhibition was also home to outfits from all series, including costumes used for the different Doctors, monsters and companions. There were even all the costumes from this current series and they were the real outfits they used in the show. There were plenty of other props and objects from the show’s history too, most with an information board telling you what the specific costume was. I liked it, and so did my parents as it went back over many years so it was very nostalgic for them!

[caption id="attachment_4053" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Cybermen through the ages[/caption]

Personally I really liked the section where it showed how the cyberman had evolved - it included different cybermen through the ages. You could also get into a dalek and pretend to be one.

[caption id="attachment_4027" align="alignnone" width="800"] Robert as a dalek[/caption]

There was also a green screen where you could get your photo taken in a Doctor Who scene which was cool (although not necessarily cool enough to spend money on!)

Overall I had a really fun day out. Personally, I enjoyed the exhibition more than the experience as it felt a bit childish and there was no real interaction. But I would still recommend it all to Dr Who fans. And there's a great shop at the end!

The Dr Who Experience is open until September 9th. Admission costs £14 per adult if booked online (£16 on the door), and £9.75 per child (£11.75 on the door). A family ticket is £41. You can find more information here.
We were given free admission in order to write about it but the Dr Who Experience had no input into this blog post at all.

 

More about Dr Who - the Dr Who Festival, by Daniel

The Dr Who Experience in Cardiff (by Finn)

[caption id="attachment_1093" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Finn and his older brother with a new friend...[/caption]

This week we have a great guest post from Finn, who is 10, and went with his family to the Dr Who Experience. We are rather jealous that we haven't been there yet...

Over to Finn:

Last week me, my family and my cousins all went on a trip to the Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff, the capital city of Wales.

On the way there we spotted lots of brown signs with pictures of Daleks leading to the blue and grey building. In the queue we spotted an Ice Man’s costume, lots of different variants of Daleks and Time Lord costumes! At the end of the queue we were given VIP crystals in exchange for our tickets. We would need these later in the experience.

After we were given our VIP crystals we entered the Gallifrey museum where a Gallifreyan tour guide showed us around.,

We saw a box containing lots of cogs which included a time locket that changes Time Lords into humans and we also saw the staff used by a very powerful Time Lord.

After that our tour guide introduced us to a “time screen” which showed us the many faces of The Doctor and the end of the planet Gallifrey! Then it showed the 12th Doctor, Peter Capaldi, in his TARDIS being attacked by Time spiders and then the Time screen cracked open to reveal the lower floor of the TARDIS. We were all brought into an amazing adventure including Daleks, Weeping Angels and ultimately the Time Spiders. We even got to control the Tardis!

As we reached the end of the experience we came to the Exhibition Hall. All the Doctor’s TARDISES and a few costumes were downstairs, but upstairs contained costumes and items used in the actual show like Sonic Screwdrivers and all the different Doctors' clothes. It contains the world's biggest collection of original Dr Who props and it was my favourite bit.

[caption id="attachment_1094" align="aligncenter" width="480"] In front of a weeping angel[/caption]

There were costumes that most of the companions wore including Clara’s, Amy’s, Rory’s and Rose’s. My mum’s favourite costume was Clara’s Victorian dress. There were different monsters like Cybermen through the ages and a Dalek that you can get inside.

I thought the exhibition was quite like the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D exhibition in New York except that it was bigger and had a lot more costumes and scenes.

It is also similar to the Harry Potter studios tour at Leavesden, but is smaller and  a fraction of the price. It was about £40 for a family of four and I think that overall it was good value.
I give the Dr Who Experience 7/10 and would recommend it for all ages.

Finn and his family took part in the Interactive Experience and visited the Exhibition Hall which are both part of General Admission tickets to the Dr Who Experience.  Special tickets, available at certain times of the year, can also include a walking tour of Dr Who locations around Cardiff and the TARDIS tour.

 

Tickets cost £14 for adults (£16 on the door) and £9.75 for children aged between 5 and 16 (£11.75 on the door). A family ticket is £41 (£49 on the door - so book in advance!)

 

Read about the Harry Potter studio tour and the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Orlando

 

Rediscovering the lands of the valleys: Wales (September 2005)

The last time I went to Wales I was 12 years old and it rained every day. It's hardly surprising then that I didn't return to the land of the valleys for another two decades. Now, however, I've become a Welsh convert.

In the old days - before children - holidays meant relaxation.

Once upon a time my husband and I worried about the time hotel breakfasts finished (could we really make it down by 10.30?). These days we worry that they start too late (no food until 7.30? What are we to do for the two hours before that?).

[caption id="attachment_1156" align="aligncenter" width="940"] Sarah and Jess enjoying themselves on a boat in Cardiff Bay[/caption]

Nowadays the lure of a spa and Jacuzzi are less likely to tempt us - instead we look for child-friendly activities, pleasant staff and children's food consisting of more than just fish fingers.


This trip was to be our first as a family of four. Our daughter, aged three and a half, had been away with us before, but it was an entirely new adventure for our four-month-old son.

We decided to stay in the UK because trying to get buggies, sterilisers and all the other baby paraphernalia on an aeroplane seemed likely to kill us. Scotland was too far and we have already "done" various parts of England. So Wales it was.

By the time we pulled up at the glorious Vale hotel, just outside Cardiff, the baby had become car-phobic. But he soon recovered. As did we all. The hotel was simply fantastic. Our family room was more than big enough (although more cupboard space or hooks for hanging up all the coats and bags that accompany two children would have been welcome) and it was very quiet.

We felt that even if our son decided to scream, he would be unlikely to upset anyone - which is vital when you stay in a hotel with children.

The hotel staff were incredibly friendly and the facilities marvellous. We took our son swimming for the first time, took our daughter to supper in one of the restaurants as a special treat (she was angelic) and rejoiced in the wonders of baby listening - which meant we could spend supper together the other two evenings.

In the interests of research - and obviously not because we wanted a few hours off - our daughter even tried out the creche, and thoroughly enjoyed herself.

There were lovely grounds, a good choice of restaurants, and various other activities, including tennis, squash and touch rugby, for children of all ages.

The Vale also had a lovely atmosphere. It is upmarket, but not snobbish, and very well-equipped, not just for families, but particularly for sports with two golf courses. And there is also a delightful spa, offering everything from facials to massages Our first day began bright and early (a forerunner of the entire stay). The baby woke his sister up at 5.30am and, as she refused to go back to sleep, we decided to get going sooner rather than later. After a delicious breakfast we set out to explore, and a short drive brought us to beautiful Cardiff Bay. This area has been transformed in the last few years, and is grandly described by the Welsh Tourist Board as "Europe's largest waterfront regeneration".

However you describe it, it is delightful, clean and full of restaurants, shops and some fabulous buildings (notably the Welsh Millennium Centre), as well as boat tours.

It was tricky forcing ourselves to leave The Vale, but for the second part of the holiday we decided to try self-catering, which had the advantage of separate rooms and simpler mealtimes - although on the downside, you do have to cook yourself.

The Ty Tanglwyst holiday cottages, on a 120-acre working dairy farm, are perfect for a family which loves animals and is happy to get themselves mucky and have fun - remember your wellies!

The owners, John and Liz Lougher, have a herd of 80 pedigree Holstein dairy cows, all bred on the farm and milked twice a day.

So far, they've turned their old farm buildings into three holiday cottages, with another - with wheelchair access - due to be ready by next spring.

We stayed in The Granary, which was very pretty and well equipped, including cots and stairgates, and there was ample room, with three bedrooms (two doubles and a twin), not to mention a sofa bed.

We were also impressed that small items like tea, coffee, washing-up liquid and dishwasher tablets were provided. We have self-catered a lot and it is always frustrating having to buy these minor items.'

Providing them - and the Welsh cakes - for free was certainly a good start, while the sight of cows outside our window thrilled our daughter.

We chose to explore some different areas, starting with nearby Porthcawl, which boasts clean beaches and its own surfing academy.

Following the recommendation of farmer John we made our way to Rest Bay which was gorgeous. The baby lay on a blanket on the sand, while our daughter paddled in the sea and explored the rock pools. She was also fascinated by the number of people surfing, having never seen such a sight before.

On our final day we visited Margam Park and Orangery Gardens, which has extensive grounds, a very pretty castle and, in the summer, a fairytale village for young children.

[caption id="attachment_1158" align="aligncenter" width="586"] Brian and Robert outside Cardiff Castle[/caption]

We then decided to visit Swansea and had a lovely time exploring and enjoying ourselves on the huge, and very quiet, beach. If we hadn't had the children with us, we would probably have dropped into the Dylan Thomas museum as well.

All in all we had a fabulous - if exhausting - time. We packed in so much and yet there seemed so much more we could have done if we'd had more time. The key to any holiday is whether you would go back and we definitely would.

And the weather was great. Most of the time

For further information on holidays in Wales, contact Wales Tourist Board on 0800 915 6567 or visit www.visitwales.co.uk 

This article was originally written and syndicated to UK regional and local newspapers by the Press Association.

Rediscovering the lands of the valleys: Wales (September 2005)

The last time I went to Wales I was 12 years old and it rained every day. It's hardly surprising then that I didn't return to the land of the valleys for another two decades. Now, however, I've become a Welsh convert.

In the old days - before children - holidays meant relaxation.

Once upon a time my husband and I worried about the time hotel breakfasts finished (could we really make it down by 10.30?). These days we worry that they start too late (no food until 7.30? What are we to do for the two hours before that?).

Nowadays the lure of a spa and Jacuzzi are less likely to tempt us - instead we look for child-friendly activities, pleasant staff and children's food consisting of more than just fish fingers.

Read more »