London Eye, London > Reviews (92)

NAME OF LOCATION: BA London Eye, the tallest structure in London, which is like a Ferris wheel.

BACKGROUND: Sponsored by British Airways since 1996, it is one of the most well known Millennium structures. I have always wanted to go on this, and we keep hearing rumours that it is only going to be open a few more years (don’t know if they are true) so we decided that we would do it this year. Gee Vee Travel, a Barnsley company were doing a day special to include this and Buckingham Palace State Rooms (see additional review soon).

ATTRACTIONS: It is a 40-minute ride on the London Eye (called a flight to keep with the BA theme) and is near Westminster Bridge at the side of County Hall. The ticket office is inside County Hall and nearby is the London Aquarium, Westminster Abbey and the Houses of Parliament including the tower, which houses Big Ben.

TRANSPORT: We went by coach from Chesterfield to London, which dropped us off at Buckingham Palace for a guided tour then picked us up and dropped us off again at the Eye.

The website: www.britishairwayslondoneye.com states that the Eye is accessible from the following:

Nearest Tube Station: The Eye is about five minutes walking distance from Waterloo tube (follow signs for the South Bank) and Westminster tube station (exit one, follow signs for Westminster pier).

Nearest Train Station: The Eye is about five minutes from Waterloo station (Take exit six for the South Bank and follow the signs OR it is 15 minutes from Charing Cross station, which is accessed via Hungerford pedestrian bridge.

Coach: If you are bringing a group by coach or by disabled minibus and need to drop off and pick up your group at the Eye, you are required to book a coach-parking bay. This service is complimentary, but groups must be booked in advance – for more information please call Group Sales on +44 (0) 870 990 8886.

You can only stay 20 minutes whilst you drop off and then pick up your group. You are not permitted to stay whilst the group visits the Eye.

Car: It is advised not to try driving to the Eye but there are 3 car parks nearby on the South Bank.

PRICE: We paid £40 in total (each). However, this included entrance fees for Buckingham Palace, the London Eye and transport to and from Chesterfield.

The websites listed above and below give the 2004 prices as £11.50 (adults), £9 (seniors or students – must provide proof of eligibility), £5.75 child (aged between 5 and 15) and under 5’s go free. Book online for a 5% discount.

GOOD POINTS
· Views (both as you go up or down, and when you are at the top)
· Although it seems very high when you are beneath it, it seems very gentle and hardly seems to be moving when you are on it.

BAD POINTS
· Length of queues despite having a pre-paid ticket, with a scheduled flight time
· Kid screaming
· No audio commentary explaining what was available from each window.

QUEUE LENGTH
The queue was very long. We had pre-paid (scheduled tickets) for the 4pm flight but we were advised by the security guard that we had to wait in the queue (behind the shop).

You have to arrive 30minutes before your scheduled flight time, which we had done, but we still didn’t get onto the Eye until 4.20pm! There was nobody directing you when we got to the queue behind the shop or anyone checking tickets. NB If you get a fast track ticket you only have to arrive 15 mins before your flight.

Later I noticed that there was someone stopping people and checking/writing on their tickets before letting them through so I asked her if my ticket should have been checked. She said it should have been and marked it accordingly. However, my boyfriend Robert and his friend Calvin did not do the same at this time.

We finally got back to the original security guard who had advised us where to wait, he allowed me through then HORROR OF HORRORS tried to send Robert and Calvin back to the end of the queue. Luckily for them both, I explained what had happened earlier and that they had been waiting with me for 20minutes. We still had a long wait from this point.

SECURITY
After another 15 to 20 minutes wait, we had been split into 2 queues instead of one (and mine seemed to be moving quicker than the other one for some reason – Mason Magic I called it). We were then told to take our coats off and remove objects from our pockets (women were also told to open their handbags).

We were then scanned individually, by hand held scanners and a guard gave a “cursory” glance into my handbag. He only checked one zipped compartment! I was not impressed with this security arrangement and it compared unfavourably against the Buckingham Palace arrangements. There has been a lot of bad press lately about the Palace’s security but it certainly was better than this.

THE POD
Yippee! We can see the pods at last! Each pod can hold about 24 people in them – although some had less than this in them. You can make a special request to only have your party in the pod – but this costs more than the above prices. We saw one pod with only a newly wed couple in it and a person pouring champagne!

The pods are huge but you have to get into them whilst they are moving – although I believe that they stop them whilst disabled people get in/out. We were asked how many were in our “party” and this is to ensure that you all go in the same pod, which is why sometimes they do not fill the pods completely.

We unfortunately got on a pod with people who were not on our coach trip and had 5 children in their group. The children’s were aged between 4 and 13. The eldest seemed terrified the moment he got on. He then started screaming “Let me off”, etc and he did this for the first 10 minutes. He was frightening his younger brother but his mother and I distracted the youngest one pointing out the sights. The eldest one hid beneath a scarf until we got to the top. His friends (or sister) shouted at him because it was her birthday treat and “he was spoiling it”.

However, when we got to the top he calmed down (don’t ask how or why I don’t know). By the end he had managed to sit up and look around and then finally stood up and walked to the window and held on to the bar.

He came off the pod with his thumbs up and wanted to go on again. I said to him “I hope you won’t be screaming when you get back on next time!” He smiled and apologised as his mother had been doing all along. This was the only thing that really spoilt my trip – but he was scared of heights (as I am but I thought I’d be the one to be screaming!).

WHAT CAN I SEE?
Most of London including Buckingham Palace, the Houses of Parliament including the tower that houses Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, St Paul’s’ Cathedral, The River Thames, The Gherkin office block, County Hall, St Thomas’ Hospital, The Serpentine river in St James Park, The Mall and much much more.

You cannot see the Tower of London, Tower Bridge or HMS Belfast. Despite these being on the River Thames, you cannot see them because of bends in the river and buildings blocking the views. You also cannot see the Millennium Dome.

AFTERWARDS
As the flight draws to an end, you can stand in a particular place in the Eye pod and be photographed. There is an announcement just before you get to the appropriate place to give you time to get into position. Be prepared – I got ready too early and was not actually smiling on my photo because I thought they had already taken it! There is a sign, which shows you where to look, and then a flash momentarily blinds you. If you want to purchase these, you can do so after you depart from the flight. They were priced (2004) at £7.50 for 1 and £10 for 2, so I purchased one each for my boyfriend and me.

MORE INFORMATION FROM
www.britishairwayslondoneye.com or www.londoneye.com If you book online you get a 5% discount on all tickets.