The Regenerated Doctor Who Experience

Firstly, I hope you all had a fabulous Christmas and celebrated the New Year in style. 

For this post, I am going to take you back in time to November, when I was due to visit the "regenerated" Doctor Who Experience and once again head over to the BBC Studios at Roath Lock to step onto the real TARDIS on the studio tour. This was all bought altogether as a joint ticket offer.

Unfortunately, our trip didn't go quite to plan. You see, I had been so busy with my new job at the time that I had not had a chance to check my emails in days. Sadly, when I finally got around to it, the Tardis Studio Tour part of the ticket had been cancelled and because I had not responded to the suppliers email quick enough, they assumed I still wanted to head to Cardiff for the Experience and didn't process my refund. I was absolutely devastated to say the least. I had been counting the days until I could step onto the real TARDIS once again. I was heartbroken, so much so that my stubbornness nearly saw me cancel the trip altogether and lose out on the money. 

However, Luke stepped in and put everything into perspective. There may be more chances in the future to step onto the TARDIS, plus the Doctor Who Experience had just reopened after refurbishment, so it was worth having a look! And if all else failed, I was off to one of my favourite places, Cardiff. 

☆☆☆  Experience ☆☆☆ 

Please note: there are little bits of detail on the experience to follow without giving too much away. If you would like to avoid any spoilers prior to your visit, please scroll down to Exhibition.

So we decided to drive the 3 hour journey down to Cardiff on our booked day. We arrived earlier than planned but the staff allowed us to queue alongside the group of an earlier timeslot. There were more props in the queuing area than during my previous visits. These included the Timelord costumes and props, as well as Clara's book "101 Places to See" from Series 7, next to The most important leaf in human history. 

Visitors are now given a crystal lanyard to wear around their necks for the exhibition part of the experience, which glows and vibrates during the different parts of the interactive walk-through.

Before heading in, we had a quick briefing from a member of the Experience team who was very enthusiastic; really getting us visitors excited for what was about to come. Once we wondered through the opened doors, we were greeted by a room full of scattered props from the show, and were told to have a nose around. We then watched a short film (which was excellent - but I shan't give anything away) and we were shown into the next room. This was probably my favourite room of the whole experience, it was magical, and the centre piece focused on a plot from Series 7.

We were then led into the TARDIS, which was my main disappointment of the experience...as it had not been revamped or regenerated since my previous visit. All that had changed was the scenario video that played during our time through the experience, which featured Capaldi instead of Smith. 

HOWEVER... do not let this change your decision to visit, I for one can say that walking into the TARDIS was wonderful during my previous visits, but with this being my third time, I was a little disappointed with the lack of regeneration in this particular scenario. Anyway, not to give much else away, we were also led through a storyline featuring the almighty Daleks (which was very similar to pre-refurb, but with a bit of an added paint-job) and then we were taken through the maze of weeping angels - again, similar to pre-refurb, but with a few extra props. To repeat - both of these parts of the scenario are brilliant for first-time visitors, so don't let me put you off! 

The final room was the 3D cinema screen, which had been updated to follow on from the main scenario that ran through the experience. 

☆☆☆   Exhibition ☆☆☆

We were then led into the exhibition hall, where all the props and sets were located. This has been my favourite part of the whole Experience in previous visits, and once again, this part of my day did not disappoint. There had been SO much more added since my previous visits. A quick suggestion - if it is quiet, head straight up the stairs to your left and visit the props up above first, as there will be more time and room to take as many photos as you like before it gets overcrowded with visitors. 

Myself and Luke decided to make the most of this part of the experience, and spent over an hour in the exhibition, taking as many photos as we could to make our trip all the way down to Cardiff for the day worthwhile - and boy, did we! I apologise in advance if the next part of my blog is picture-heavy. I have tried to include props I have not had my photo taken with previously... 

 

Fist-pump with a Weeping Angel... it seemed like a good idea at the time...

Ok, now I'm not so sure...

Worth a visit...?

Positives ☺

• The Experience guide was brilliant and should be commended for a splendid job, he really got into character and made sure that everyone, whether young or old, were involved in the story-line.

• It was more of an interactive experience - there was an opportunity to find crystals, even in the scariest of settings, and I thought it was a nice little added extra, especially for the kids. (And big kids alike)!

• A fresh, new storyline with scenarios filmed by Peter Capaldi especially for the Doctor Who Experience visitors was fantastic, it really made everyone feel part of the story, and as if you could have really been running alongside The Doctor through time and space.

• The Exhibition hall had lots of new props from Series 8 and plenty of room to take photos. The Experience team are always on hand to take any snapshots of you and your friends.

Negatives ☹ 

• Although the storyline and some of the settings were fresh and new, as I previously stated, I couldn't help but be disappointed with some of the rooms inside. The TARDIS console room, for instance, needs to be updated from the Eleventh Doctors first TARDIS. I also believe that the Dalek scenario worked better pre-refurb.

However, do not let this put you off, especially if you have never been before! The Doctor Who Experience is one-of-a-kind, situated right next door to the BBC studios where they film Doctor Who and located on the picture-perfect Cardiff Bay. I get so many people back in the little land of Shropshire asking what its like and whether it is worth the trip down south, and the answer is a definite YES! You NEED to go there to experience it for yourself, because there is nothing else out there like it. And with tickets starting at as little as £14 for an adult, and £9.75 for a child, you have no excuse not to check it out for yourselves. 

You can buy your tickets here:- http://www.doctorwho.tv/events/doctor-who-experience/tickets/ It is recommended you book in advance for a discounted price, and to avoid disappointment on the day. Plus - make sure you keep an eye out for more studio tours in the future, with your chance to walk through those infamous doors - I know I will.

Check out my previous visits to the Doctor Who Experience:

• Doctor Who Experience Opening Day - Cardiff 2012 Review and Pics
• Doctor Who Tardis Tour and Experience

I'm seriously considering a re-vamp of my blog over the coming months. If you have any ideas, please let me know, it would be lovely to hear them (as I'm not great at designing!)

I hope January is treating you well and you haven't given up on your resolutions just yet... I'd love to hear them! Mine is to blog more, and seeing as I have three more posts lined up for over the coming weeks, I'll have to get a move on. As always, let me know what you've been up to, and keep up to date via my twitter feed - @pluckykelly and my Plucky Kelly Facebook Page.

Blog to you soon

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Doctor Who Experience Opening Day: Cardiff - Review and Pics!

Hello everyone, hope you’ve had a brilliant weekend. The weather has been on and off here, but I hope the weather is good wherever you are! Where is that so-called summer?!

So on Friday (20^th July) I attended the opening of The Doctor Who Experience in Cardiff. I had been looking forward to it since my brother managed to secure me and the boyfriend tickets whilst we were on holiday in June. We booked the 12 o’clock slot, which in actual fact was the time the Experience opened to the public anyway!

We headed from our hotel at 11am and reached the experience building about 5-10minutes later. It has a prime spot overlooking the Bay, you can’t miss it!

 As we got nearer, we noticed that the outside was already busy and full of fans, and not long after we arrived a Silent and Silurian were let out of the building to greet (and scare) the fans. I have to admit the Silent was particularly scary; it’s probably one of my most feared DW monsters! I kept trying to act confident, telling myself it was just a man in a suit, but the actor was really in character – the head, leg and arm movements were all choreographed to perfection! Below I’ve included some of my pictures of the Silent and Silurian, so you can see for yourself just how brilliant they were. There’s also a video I recorded whilst waiting in the queue, which I have uploaded to Youtube.

Joining them just before the Experience opened its doors was a Dalek and a Cyberman. Everyone had their cameras at the ready – I thought it was a brilliant way to get the crowd excited with what was to come.

The Experience

 Myself and my partner were part of the first group to head into the Experience. I must admit, I was slightly apprehensive with what was to come as I had no idea what I would be faced with, after never visiting the attraction when it was in London.

 From here, I was going to produce an in-depth review of the Experience itself within the blog post, but I don’t want it to contain any *spoilers* for those of you who are planning to head to the site in the future.

 So without giving too much away, I will preview some of my favourite moments-

• The first montage of the Experience gave me goosebumps.
• The special effects used within are extraordinary; in parts I really did feel like I was a million miles from home.
• The Doctor is as quick-witted as always.
• When the Doctor told me to run, I ran for my life. When he told me not to look back, I did just the opposite.
• Whatever you do, don’t blink.

 In my opinion, the Experience itself is perfect for any age. It captures your imagination, allows an escape from everyday life and plummets you into a journey where you feel as if you are running alongside the Doctor.

Exhibition

 After the Experience, we were walked into a large exhibition room which contained costumes, props and artefacts from the show, dating all the way back to when the show started in 1963.
Being the first group to enter, the room was empty, and we were lucky enough to explore each exhibit and take photos without waiting for others to do so.

Some of my favourite exhibits included the 9th and 10th doctors TARDIS (which had a clip of 10th's regeneration scene on the screen at the side), the looking glass from ‘The Girl Who Waited’, The Pandorica, River Song’s Diaries and the Silent ship, with an ACTUAL silent walking around, I just had to get a picture ;) The only downside (which was one of my own making) was that many of the exhibits were in the Prop Room at the Doctor Who Convention which I went to in March, so I had seen many of them before. However, it wasn’t at all a disappointment because I still want to go to the Experience for a second time and see them all again!! You can see my post from the Convention HERE.

I’ve included a few of my favourite pictures below to give you a little insight into the huge prop/exhibit room -

 

 In my opinion, the Exhibition part of the attraction is brilliant for any Doctor Who fan. It gives everyone a chance to stand next to their favourite props and take photos, engage with the exhibits and learn more about the programme through animated screens and displays. 

Overall

 All in all, I had a fantastic day at the Experience and would recommend it to anyone of any age. I am very grateful to have been given the chance to attend on the opening day. The atmosphere was all a buzz of excitement and curiosity which added to the day and being in the company of so many big fans of the show was just amazing. 

 To follow this post, I will blog about the day before I attended the convention, where me and my partner ventured to Caerphilly to visit the sites captured in many of the 'New Who' episodes. Along with our trip to 'Leadworth Hospital' from the Eleventh Hour. More to come ;-)

Thanks for Reading!

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