First and foremost, I'll make one point clear- I work at Dickens World, and have done since it opened. As such, this may sound like a press release and/or shameless plug at times, and for that I'm sorry, but I'm going to strive for fairness in this review.
All of the other reviews on this site about this attraction were written after visits from customers in the opening few days, and I'm not going to argue them down- they're justified. The opening of the place went horribly- it was busier than expected, staff were untrained and unprepared, and the site itself was not finished. Without question, the place did open before it was ready- it opened at least a month before building was finished, and you'll see that many of the criticisms in those reviews are based around things not being open/ready.
Now, I'm writing this in August 2007, and everything is ready, everything is working, every day of the week. It is no longer a building site- it is an attraction. But the question
you want answered is, is it any good?
My answer is yes, if you have an idea of what to expect. I stress that Dickens World is not a theme park, and it has never been advertised as one. It is an attraction, it is the experience of life in Dickensian times. There are not dozens of huge, fast, thrill-seeking rides, anyone going there expecting an Alton Towers or Disney World will be disappointed.
What IS there is a collection of six or seven different features, based around a central square in which costumed staff put on activities and entertainment. Ned the Rat Catcher, William Sykes, the town drunk and the beautiful wenches are just some of the characters portrayed, helping create a lively atmosphere. The entertainments include things like street games, improvised sketches, or magic tricks.
The main features are as follows:
"Great Expectations" Boat Ride - the most popular part of the attraction, this is a long, slowboat ride which guides you across the rooftops and through the sewers of Dickens' London. You are taken through some of the scenes in Dickens' novels, and introduced to a few characters. You get a little wet, but it's not a thrill-based ride.
Haunted House - A guided trip through the haunted house, in which spooky holographic scenes from Dickens' novel are recreated, such as the visit from the three spirits in "A Christmas Carol".
Dothebys Schoolroom - An on-site teacher supervises as you sit at a desk and play trivia games on screens in front of you.
Britannia Theatre - A recreation of a theatre from the Dickensian period. Every hour there is an animatronic show on stage featuring Dickens communicating with his characters, explaining some of their history and background.
4D Cinema - Although the cinema has been open for a while now, I've yet to see the film itself, which I believe gives some history about Dickens' roots in the local area. I have heard mixed reviews from the content of the film.
Fagin's Den - Like the 4D cinema, I've not been in Fagin's Den, which is a supervised play area for children.
Other than that, the attraction contains ample (probably too many) food and drink places, from a Dickensian pubrestaurant (The Six Jolly Fellowship Porters) and a muffin parlour to Pizza Hut, Nando's and Chimichanga's. At the moment the Britannia Theatre also hosts a Jongleurs comedy night every Friday evening, which has had steady success.
For me, the bottom line is that for what it is, Dickens World is reasonable. The main point, the main distinction that hasn't been made is that in Dickens World there's a lot to SEE, but not a great deal to DO- and that's an important point to note. Queues permitting, you can cover the whole attraction within probably 3.5-4 hours. Younger children do really enjoy it, they love the activities in the square in particular, and the technology isn't wasted on them. Senior groups also give a lot of positive feedback, because visually the place is a sight to behold, and it's very accessible. For older children and adults, however, it's probably not what you'd expect from this sort of attraction, and yes, perhaps you will be disappointed with what your entrance fee got you.
I'll repeat it one final time- Dickens World is an attraction, not a theme park. If I were a visitor with the knowledge I had now, I'd probably plan it as part of a day visiting all three of the buildings in the complex- Dickens World, the Dockside shopping centre and the Odeon cinema. Between them, you could make an excellent day out, catering for a whole family with ease. But by itself, Dickens World is for the young and for the old. It looks impressive, it smells and feels authentic. It's definitely worth a visit, it's worth seeing, but don't be too surprised if you find yourself wondering "Is that it?" after a couple of hours.
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Good Review. We are off here tomorrow and despite what I have read will go with a very open mind. Having been to similar places I understand that it is what you make it. if you just rush through you don't get much out. if you tale time and look about you will see and get much more. The only thing I am still puzzled with is whether we can take our own food!
Ann1eS 27.10.2007 13:38
Good for you! And I agree wholeheartedly with everything you say. I was very impressed by the staff, in fact I e-mailed to say so and got a very nice reply. We were only there for the afternoon but found plenty to do, and we didn't have to queue for very long, despite it being half term, maybe folk were put off by some of the other reviews. As I've said on other comments, we went on the boat ride 6 times with narey a queue in sight! Well done to you and all your colleagues, as far as I'm concerned this can only go from strength to strength - and I wouldn't mind going again!
Mortious 22.09.2007 12:49
Clearly a biased review from a member of staff with false information about the length of the Attraction. If there are little queues you can get round and see everything in about an hour and a half or 2 hours (told to us by the reception staff and was the case for us) After my visit 20/9/07 (way after completion) And Is definetly not for the young (as stated) I took 10 under 10's and not 1 found it interesting or fun.
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Aug 28th, 2007
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