SEA LIFE Manchester

[IanB]

The idea of been able to walk through the tank sounds interesting, but how much is it going to cost, and how much more are you going to see I am not sure.

I also wonder how much they are going to start affecting each others trade, are people visiting Manchester from Birmingham or London, going to visit when they have one in there own cities.

Ian

 

[Thomas]

Personally I'd suggest that people would want to visit the other ones, because they vary on scale, so for example what was The London Aquarium, which is now the London Sea Life, may still have people visit because of it's size and location.

The Birmingham Sea Life Centre: originally the National Sea Life Centre, may not do as well because inside it is layered, and it does have a different and floor plan, but there's only so many times you can look at a ray or an underwater tunnel with a sunken head, aeroplane or pirate ship in it.

I suppose others would argue that they're attractions in their own right, but at this point in time they're beginning to look very cookie cutter. Personally I'd like to see some differentiation, like Merlin have done with the theme park side of the business, how you'd approach that with a Sea Life Centre I'm not sure.

Yes they are all very spread out geographically, but in an ever shrinking world, with Facebook (social networking allowing people to in effect try before they buy, see reviews and guests photos) and transport far easier (For Sea Life at least) than it has been making attractions seem special is going to be difficult.

The Dungeons manages well enough (I've heard, you'd never see me in one of those, hate the dark and sudden jumps) to differentiate using the local history, why Sea Lifes can't do the same with 'local' creatures' I don't know.

At the moment it's all too similar, but that doesn't mean I'd like to see BIRMINGHAM'S THRILL SEA LIFE CENTRE.. face your fears at the scariest Sea Life Centre ever, just yet. Not that Merlin would be that daft.

 

[Plastic Person]

why Sea Lifes can't do the same with 'local' creatures' I don't know.

Agreed that they are all horribly cookie cutter, but it's difficult to fund unique local sealife in Birmingham or Manchester!

 

[Thomas]

Well, the nearest coast to Manchester or Birmingham

 

[Harv]

It just goes to show how dated and hideous the Scarborough Sea-Life is. We have a really ugly one. Makes me wonder why Merlin hate investing so much... :/

 

[Thomas]

Here we are, the Europe's first feature!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsbDIdoxJhE#ws

Just read on Facebook that it's £60 a person which includes entry to the attraction. Not too bad, I'd love to have a go and it seems like a decent idea for a present. I don't know whether it's to limit the potential damage to the sea life and surrounding tank, but I'd of preferred it to have been free! Ah well, MAP discount anyone?

 

[Thomas]

New map for the Sea Life Centre that's opening this Friday. Having not visited the Trafford Centre I would presume that this is all on one level? As far as what the attraction has, it's pretty much as you would expect: glass tunnel, Conservation area and I presume one of those tanks with the little red micro-lobsters in them that feel like velcro on your skin.

I'm looking forward to visiting this if ever I make it up North this year! I wonder how long till we see some spider crabs? Or have I guessed next year's main event!

Crumbs and crumpets! I appear to have double posted, such is the high level of interest in a new Cookie cutter Sea Life Centre. Mods if you can merge this and my previous post I'd be as happy as someone with 50 rides and attractions to enjoy.

 

[stretchy]

Today the Some friends and I went to the Merlin Annual Pass Preview Day at The Trafford Centre, Manchester. I have done an annotated picture review of it. The photos arent as good as my usual photos. My camera is rubbish inside.

The Sea Life itself is in a section of the Trafford Park.

It is pretty well hidden. It was only when I moved closer I noticed it.

Inside you are greeted and pay your entrance, get your photo. Then you go into 'The Turtle Experience'.

Inside you are greeted by the above lady who explains to you all about turtles, starting with that they have been around since before Dino's existed.

They use projection mapping on the floor to show you a turtle. It is extremely effective.

especially when the baby turtles hatch. The whole show takes only about 5 minutes but is an excellent start for the centre. I really enjoyed it.

You exit this via walking through the sea (not sure why but this is the way it is and enter this amazing room. The fish are racing around the room like lights from a ballroom mirror ball. This photo is a panorama shot and is nearly 360 degrees.

The rest of the sea life is pretty much a normal sea life centre. There are some cool bits like this kids mini tunnel.

Which is just before the main tunnel, which is curved.

There was also this ultra cool tank which had the happiest looking stingrays in it. They seemed to be playing tag one leading the 4 of them and then another, always weaving in and out of the other fish.

And as with all Merlin attractions, you exit into a shop.

So my overall verdict.
What was there was excellent. There was only 1 tank that wasn't populated. The theming is excellent and totally immersive, even though the roof looks a bit odd, but out of the 3 of us, I was the only person to notice the roof, your eyes are drawn to the fishes constantly. Unfortunately I wonder whether it is worth the cost. We took our time and did the whole thing in 45 minutes. I think it is comparable to the neighboring Lego Land and the joint tickets make both together a much more reasonable time. What they also do, that I think would be cool, is for £2.50 +vat they do a behind the scenes tour. They also do a "Walking With Fishies" where your stuffed into a dry suite with diving mask and you actually get into the main tank with the Sharks. This is far more expensive though.

 

[BigAl]

Managed to visit today. Some of it was good, some great, but there's a lot of bland areas and gaps in theming (the first few rooms being the worst for this) and it could do with more adding to it so areas don't look so empty.


The entrance is nice and bright and there's one tank in there to give you a little taster of what to expect.

I thought the projection mapping in the first scene was a bit rubbish (especially the city), and you could see that the guy running it clearly felt a little silly. The queue before this was also a little rubbish as they've used another green screen (or a painted wall in this case) for photos. I never like attractions doing this as it always feels a little cheap. You're basically pretending to have a good time whilst they photoshop the experience you could be having in behind you. :/

The bigger tanks are great and there are one or two decent pieces of theming in there (the great big head being the most obvious and memorable), but the level of theming isn't anywhere near that of the Sea Life Centre in Birmingham. I'd have thought, this being smaller, that they'd have been able to make it much more immersive.

The staff were all great though and I'd visit again (only with my MAP though, those prices seem a little steep and we did overhear quite a few people saying they weren't sure about the cost; one woman saying they may as well upgrade to the full MAP instead ). Much more appealing to the whole family over the Legoland Discovery Centre, though LDC will obviously still be the favourite with youngsters.


Overall I'd say it's better than Blackpool in general, more interactive than both of the Sea Life attractions at Chessington and Alton Towers, but it's not as immersive as those in Birmingham or Alton Towers (I can't really remember the theming at the Chessington one enough to say whether this is too).




Anyway, I've taken a good number of photos and uploaded them to an album on Flickr. Here are 16 of the best (not exactly stunning since I'm not a photographer and I was pointing and shooting with my iPhone )...

There are a number of blury photos in the album, so I do apologise!

 

[Harv]

Aha, now from what I've seen there, that seems worth an entrance fee. That looks to be lightyears away from the SeaLife attractions that I've visited... It's modern and appealing and also looks very family friendly. If Merlin roll more of these out I can't really complain all that much as it's kind of changed my perception of what they're capable of in terms of new construction within the SeaLife brand.

 

[BigAl]

There's potential, but like with most things that Merlin do, it has a long way still to go.

 

[Alastair]

Aha, now from what I've seen there, that seems worth an entrance fee. That looks to be lightyears away from the SeaLife attractions that I've visited... It's modern and appealing and also looks very family friendly. If Merlin roll more of these out I can't really complain all that much as it's kind of changed my perception of what they're capable of in terms of new construction within the SeaLife brand.

I don't really think there's scope for rolling many more out in this country. To be honest, those at Blackpool and Manchester are too close together as it is. Perhaps they could open one more in the south west and be done with it, and then start refurbishing the older ones.

 

[Harv]

I was more referring to the US, actually, but I did consider Scotland, is there one already there? Merlin and refurbishing don't often go together well but if they do plan to upgrade existing SeaLife centres, they can start with Scarborough.

 

[Craig]

We paid a visit yesterday afternoon and whizzed through it rather quickly! I do love the pre show, quite a novel idea for a Sealife and worked quite well. However, I'm not sure how annoying it'll be during busy periods as it seems a little low capacity in there. Have to agree with the comments about the shoal room, its quite a simple idea but looks stunning when you go in.

The attraction itself was pretty much standard for Sealife. There's a few new style tanks, the ray pool being one of them. The design should hopefully stop people constantly touching the rays, which was an issue on previous displays. The bubble tanks which stick out are pretty cool too, giving a different view of the puffer fish that were in there. The tunnel I felt was a little underwhelming on this one though. Perhaps I was just hoping for something that seemed a little bigger, or maybe I'm just used to them now! Overall, the quality of the theming is good, if a little 'samey' to every other Sealife, but there's some nice interactive touches such as a the Jellyfish lighting changer. The ceiling doesn't really bother me too much, there's some effort made to disguise it and I didn't notice it too much.

It does seem like a pretty small attraction all in all, though maybe that's just due to me overdoing Sealife attractions and not really stopping to look at every single thing. I think we were in and out within around 13 minutes - pre show and Picsolve dodging included!

I guess time will tell whether the place remains popular, the combo tickets for LDC next door but one will hopefully be something that encourages people to visit - although I still think it's a little too expensive on the door for what it is. The lack of child prices is somewhat annoying as well. There's a mass of advertisements I've spotted in and around Manchester at the moment too. Lots of billboards and AA signs around the Trafford Centre itself, along with the tourist info place in Manchester City Centre having it's windows pretty much overtaken by a mass of Sealife vinyl branding.

Kids will no doubt love the place, but I don't think adults will feel they're getting value for money from Sealife (or indeed LDC) to justify multiple visits. And although they may be aimed at kids, it's the adults who are ultimately forking out the cash!

 

[djtruefitt]

Me and Sammy did this yesterday for the first time, and I have to say overall I wasn't that impressed.

There were some really nice bits, but also some not so nice bits. Unlike other Sealifes I have been in, this one has way too many big blank walls and open spaces. And where themeing should be on the walls, they just have vinyls, vinyls and more vinyls, which kind of look cheap! They seem to be aiming this Sealife more at children, which lots of them themeing and graphics looking cartoonish.

When you look around there really aren't that many tanks or fish. You would really struggle to spend more than an hour in there, including the pre-show.

Some good bits I enjoyed was the pre-show and the talking turtle bit, they are both simple, but work well. The big round tank near the start was also very impressive, as was the rays tank.

The final shark tunnel was a bit of a let down, and no where near as good as the one at Towers which goes down to the floor.

Overall it's good if you are in the area and have children to also visit LegoLand, but I don't think it's the kind of place you would rush back to in a hurry!

 

[BigAl]

Had another quick look around here again today (literally about 20 minutes) and spotted a few things that won't might interest you all. Before I post the pictures, I must apologies for the poor quality of the images (the photos were taken on my Dad's old Blackberry as I'd left all cameras at home - didn't think I'd need them after my first trip there).


First up, as we walked through the tunnel we spotted a few people diving in the main tank:

And the best part of my day was spotting one of the images on the touch screen monitors by the main tank (facing the big head) with a Shutterstock watermark still over it:

Points for whoever finds that image on Shutterstock's website first!

 

[Dungeons master]

Being from Blackpool I prefer Blackpools sea life as they have just returned their shark tank area. The only good bits about Manchester sea life was the intro, and seeing Ernie the green turtle.
The downside was the curved shark tunnel. Prefer the normal straight one's, and the lack of creatures in the touchpool area. I would rather had spent £40 in traveling to alton towers sea life smaller but better.
Here is my pov of Manchester's sea life from my youtube channel.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BIaYQIWleHI#ws

 

[Enk27]

Visited Sealife manchester today for the first time since it opened.

It was a lot better today. They seem to have toned down the "explosion in a crayola" factory theme.

The staff went out of their way to be helpful without encroaching. The ray tank has more fish in it and seems complete now.

It is still a little on the short side but there's little that can be done about that now. If you have a MAP and your at the Trafford Centre then it is worth 30-45 mins of your time.