Bear Grylls Adventure Birmingham and LDC Birmingham

[Danny]

I know the Manchester one has also started closing at 13:00 on off-peak periods, as the centre became virtually dead in the afternoon. We'd often have guests commenting how nice and quiet it was, until the after school lots started turning up at 16:00 until it closed at 18:00.

I can see why they're doing it from a financial perspective, but they'll have been subjected to a backlash from the guests who made the most of the 16:00 - 18:00 slots.

The 10:30 entry cap is utterly bizarre.

In the grand scheme of things, people have slowly realised that LDC's are a rip off compared to what they offer. In the words of many guests, it's a "glorified soft play centre". The concept needs to be revitalised.

In Bear Grylls news, pass holders can finally use their passes to gain access to some of the experiences without having to pay:

 

[jon81uk]

I would guess that part of the issue with LDC is they didn't really make any money from passholders visiting, but the price isn't right for what is offered for day guests.

 

[Funcone]

It sounds like Danny's worked for the LDC in Manchester, so he'll know a lot more than I do. Presumably the fact that adults have to be accompanied by children greatly limits the audience for visiting during term time. I understand why they have this rule, but if everyone over 18 could visit during school hours, then that's quite a big pool of people. If you have to be accompanied by someone under 5, then that's ruling out a lot of people. Particularly as anyone under 2 isn't going to get a lot out of it, so really they're only targeting an age band of 2-3 years. The birth rate is quite low these days, so there probably aren't loads of children aged 2-5 to fill the place up.

 

[Matt N]

I’ll admit that does sound like a very strange policy… half an hour is a very limited window for entry. Surely that will just create huge crowds outside the entrance between 10 and 10:30? And what’s wrong with people entering between 10:30 and 1 if they only want to visit for an hour or two? I probably shouldn’t question it, as I’m sure Merlin have a very reasonable rationale behind making the decision, but I’ll admit it does seem like an intriguing move from my outsider’s perspective… why wouldn’t there be families with pre-schoolers who’d want to visit in the afternoon, or maybe families with kids in reception who might want to visit as an after-school treat?

Although I guess they’re probably still very conscious of controlling crowds due to COVID, therefore having everyone enter at the same time is probably a good idea in that regard.

However, I’ll preface my post above by saying that I admit that I know very little about the LDCs in general, so that might be perfect for the format. Is it one of those things where you’re taken on a guided tour lasting a set amount of time? (Given the LDCs are midways, I guess that wouldn’t be too surprising)

Building upon that, can I actually ask; if anyone wouldn’t mind answering, what actually are the Legoland Discovery Centres? What sort of thing do they actually entail?

My first guess based on the name and the fact that I know they have trackless dark rides within them was some sort of mini indoor Legoland theme park. Kind of like one of those little FECs with a coaster or two and a few other small rides (although I know the LDCs don’t have coasters), but in the Legoland format. However, the very low maximum age surprises me (the full-size Legolands target up to age 12), and makes me think that any remotely substantial theme park offering would be out of the question…

Do excuse my ignorance; I don’t know as much about the midways as I do about the RTPs and Legoland theme parks, and I’d say I know less about the LDCs than I do about your average midway!

 

[Thameslink Rail]

Building upon that, can I actually ask; if anyone wouldn’t mind answering, what actually are the Legoland Discovery Centres? What sort of thing do they actually entail?

My first guess based on the name and the fact that I know they have trackless dark rides within them was some sort of mini indoor Legoland theme park. Kind of like one of those little FECs with a coaster or two and a few other small rides (although I know the LDCs don’t have coasters), but in the Legoland format. However, the very low maximum age surprises me (the full-size Legolands target up to age 12), and makes me think that any remotely substantial theme park offering would be out of the question…

Do excuse my ignorance; I don’t know as much about the midways as I do about the RTPs and Legoland theme parks, and I’d say I know less about the LDCs than I do about your average midway!

Imagine an indoor Legoland theme park, it has a Miniland, plenty of building space, an interactive Dark Ride, 4D cinema, a Zamperla Magic Bikes and a soft play area. I went when I was 9 (to the Manchester one) and it already felt a bit young for me.

 

[Matt N]

Imagine an indoor Legoland theme park, it has a Miniland, plenty of building space, an interactive Dark Ride, 4D cinema, a Zamperla Magic Bikes and a soft play area. I went when I was 9 (to the Manchester one) and it already felt a bit young for me.

So my initial hunch wasn’t too far wrong, then!

I wonder why the attractions aren’t getting more visitors?

Also, how come the LDCs only allow kids 5 and under? According to Merlin, they target kids ages 3-12, and a “child” is classed as anyone under 17…

 

[Funcone]

It's not that they only allow in children under 5, but the discussion was about the fact that they're very quiet on school days and now close at 13:30. The children over 5 are going to be in school, and since they don't allow in adults without a child, it means every visitors has to be under 5 or accompanying a child under 5. If it's suitable for the 3s and over, and people start school before they're 5, then unless there's an inset day, or a school trip, it's a very small pool of people who can visit on a school day. I don't think them being very quiet during term time necessarily means they're unsuccessful overall, so long as they're still busy at weekends and school holidays.

 

[jon81uk]

So my initial hunch wasn’t too far wrong, then!

I wonder why the attractions aren’t getting more visitors?

Also, how come the LDCs only allow kids 5 and under? According to Merlin, they target kids ages 3-12, and a “child” is classed as anyone under 17…

They allow children of all ages to enter. But adults must be accompanied by a child.
Monday to Friday 5-18 year olds are in schools.
Hence the comments that most of the time the main audience is aged 2-5.

This is the problem with many attractions aimed at children, during term time, its probably not worth operating at all.

 

[Matt N]

They allow children of all ages to enter. But adults must be accompanied by a child.
Monday to Friday 5-18 year olds are in schools.
Hence the comments that most of the time the main audience is aged 2-5.

This is the problem with many attractions aimed at children, during term time, its probably not worth operating at all.

It's not that they only allow in children under 5, but the discussion was about the fact that they're very quiet on school days and now close at 13:30. The children over 5 are going to be in school, and since they don't allow in adults without a child, it means every visitors has to be under 5 or accompanying a child under 5. If it's suitable for the 3s and over, and people start school before they're 5, then unless there's an inset day, or a school trip, it's a very small pool of people who can visit on a school day. I don't think them being very quiet during term time necessarily means they're unsuccessful overall, so long as they're still busy at weekends and school holidays.

Ah, sorry; I thought people were saying that only kids under 5 and those accompanying them were allowed in… that makes more sense!

 

[djtruefitt]

Great news about bear grylls, I did the high ropes a few years back when it was new and had some good deals on (back when you were also forced to do all the other rubbish at the same time). So it’s nice now to see the basic activities are included for pass holders. I can only guess it’s not been that busy or popular, so now opening it to pass holders will make it busier and I guess they will hope these pass holders buy food and drink and then May do some of the paid added extras, such as the skydiving etc.

 

[jon81uk]

Yeah I expect the thinking is that if passholders get the basics for free they are more likely to pay for the other experiences.