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Is there Life in Newcastle

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5 Oct 24th, 2001  (Oct 25th, 2001)

34 Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful

Advantages:
dry and warm on a cold day

Disadvantages:
expensive, small

Recommendable Yes:

bronwyn91

bronwyn91

About me:

I'm back, have missed you all stacks and hopefully will bein the thick of things this week Mx

Member since:16.10.2001

Reviews:21

Members who trust:6

I have just returned from a ‘fun –filled’ family day out.. Life is an interactive museum in Newcastle upon Tyne, which we have driven past several times, and today a wet and windy day in the holidays we thought we would visit. So off we went my disabled mother, 10-year-old son, my 16-month old daughter and myself .

Getting Parked

When we arrived and followed the signs to the car park we were disappointed to find that the only official car park for the museum was a pay and display in the centre of Newcastle but when I asked the car park attendant what facilities were available for the disabled he advised me to drive round the car park and come back and speak to him. My first thought was great he is going to direct me to a disabled parking area near the entrance. No such luck, he said we could either fight for a place in this car park which cost 40p an hour or we could give him £2 and we would be allowed to park outside the museum. This sounded a bit dodgy so I didn’t pay him and drove to his mate who was over the road. He said if I gave him £2 he would radio ahead and get the main attendant to let us in I still wasn’t convinced but paid the money and asked that he radioed while we waited. Eventually we got parked then we had the challenge of the queue to get in.

Before I move on to the next part may I just say that even though my mum is classed as disabled she is not in a wheelchair and does not have any physical signs of her illness. The relevance of this will become apparent.

The Queue

My mum went in the centre ahead of me as I was attending to my son and locking car etc and she had my daughter in the pushchair and wanted to get inside out of the cold. She had just stood in the queue when a member of staff approached her and said as long as one of us stood in the queue she was quite welcome to go around the barrier and take a seat (we hadn’t mentioned the disability at this point). I took her place in the queue and she went and sat down. I approached the member of staff and advised that my mum was disabled and were any concessions available he said yes there were concessions and the receptionist would advise me. After a 5 minute wait our turn came, I advised that I would be paying for 1 adult (£6.95), 1 child (£4.50) 1 under 4 (free) and 1 disabled adult (I expected the concession price of £5.50). I was pleasantly shocked when the receptionist told me that I would be able to go in free as a carer for the disabled adult

The Place Itself

When you first enter you are guided to a strange looking machine to get your photo taken and saved onto your entry ticket – it seemed very strange to me but the first part of the exhibit is about evolution I am not going to tell you much more but it is very interesting especially seeing the way evolution happened to you…

Next are various attractions such as the secret of life, cell city, jack’s Story (very interesting), the brain show and the Crazy Motion Ride (not for the faint hearted).

The Food

We ate lunch in the café, the food itself was very tasty but the service and eating area left quite a few things to consider. We ordered our meals and then went to pay but there was nine people in the queue in front of us so I requested that the other till be opened and credit to them this was done straight away. Then we couldn’t find any seats so we asked a very nice lady if she would mind if we joined her, she was fine about this but I definitely think more seating could have been offered.

There isn’t a lot more I can say apart from the fact it was an enjoyable and educational day out but it is definitely geared towards children from about the age of 10 the younger children just seemed to be running about but not taking things in.
 

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Comments about this review »

RobinLawrie 06.11.2001 16:15

I am hoping to visit here very soon, nicely written op.....Robin

MichelleScott 03.11.2001 01:02

Very good op. It sounds a great place to take kids.

niclemamy 31.10.2001 15:07

I pass this place all the time and still haven't ventured inside! I will make a point of taking my son for a visit soon - thanks for the info :)) Nicola

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Life Science Centre (Newcastle) - review by mikeydred

Advantages: The Crazy Motion Ride and Lots of Things To Do
Disadvantages: Maybe a bit on the expensive side

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Life Science Centre (Newcastle) - review by Donald

Advantages: Both educational and fun
Disadvantages: not particularly suitable for younger children

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