Last week we headed to London, when I say ‘we,’ I mean me and 4 children! No, I haven’t had another one on the quiet, I took my niece with me, as she’s always wanted to go. We were asked to go and have a look round Ripley’s Believe it or Not!, which has been a feature of London’s Picadilly for as long as I can remember, via Families online. I’ve always fancied having a look round, but to be honest, the price has always put me off! It’s currently £27.95 for an adult and £20.95 for a child over 4, but if you book more than 14 days in advance, the price goes down considerably to £13.98 for adults and £10.48 for children (Prices as of August 2016).
The building is slap bang in front of Picadilly Circus station, so very easy to get to, and is set over 6 floors. You take the lift up to the top floor and work your way down. The experience begins outside the lifts, with an activity sheet you can complete on the way round. Once in the lift, there are people talking to you and the lift itself is decorated.
On coming out of the lift, there are immediately amazing things to see. A life size knitted Ferrari caught my eye, and the kids enjoyed climbing up on the huge chair to get their pictures taken. There were stuffed animals with extra limbs which worried me slightly – was this going to be like a freak show of yester year? Well, aspects of it, yes. There was a roaring dinosaur which my older 2 found a but scary (they’re 7 and 5 but are scared easily!). As you progress through there’s lots of interesting things to see, I’d have preferred to take it more slowly, but with children as you know, they go through the more interesting things quicker than you’d like – I was particularly interested in the art galleries. I loved seeing part of the Berlin wall, I remember it coming down so to touch and see such a big piece felt very special to me. I gave the kids a quick history lesson. It’s hard to believe that in our lifetime in Europe, there was a wall dividing the city, with restrictions on one side and animosity between the sides.
The Berlin Wall piece – hopefully they’ll appreciate it one day!
There was an upside down room, lots of people with odd body parts – Robert Ripley was a man who travelled extensively and brought his artefacts and photos back with him. There are now 32 Ripleys in 10 countries. There are interactive displays, which proved popular with my party, teeny tiny sculptures that you need to look through a microscope to see, an infinity mirror and lots more. There was a cafe type area in a large room, where you are confronted with the fattest man and woman, with a chance to compare your weight with his! We all stood on the scales together including the buggy and were nowhere near. The human part of me wondered if he was ok with putting himself up for ridicule, and he was probably a man who had deep pyschological issues! We brought some snacks with us, they had vending machines available (at a premium price), which you could pay by card with. It would have been nice to have a little cafe, perhaps with healthy, organic snacks and food in, but I guess space is at a premium. The children loved the projected responsive fish pond on the floor the best.
They have a mirror maze, which we were escorted to and from as we had the pushchair, the staff were very friendly and helpful. There were plenty of toilets around and they were accessible which was a plus. William and Phoebe don’t like the dark so they weren’t keen on the mirror maze, it was lit with red light so not totally dark, and the optical illusion is great – my niece (age 12) thought it was pretty awesome and led us round. There was an array of shrunken heads and a fertility statue said to have amazing powers – I steered clear of that one, just in case. In the basement, there’s the LaseRace, which is included in the ticket price. You have to queue up to wait your turn, there weren’t that many people waiting but it was still a 10-15 minute wait as they go in one by one. Again, as it was dark mine weren’t keen so my niece went in, she’s very flexible and slim so she did very well and enjoyed it, you get a little report afterwards.
The Best Way to enjoy a day at Ripleys Believe it or Not, London
All in all, a good day out, with lots of interesting features and exhibits. Book more than 14 days in advance to get the best price, and check sites like Groupon to see if there are any deals going on. Probably not ideal for under fives, the older kids will get the most out of it. Adults would enjoy this without children too. Take a packed lunch, there’s no cafe, only expensive vending machines, but there is a place to sit down and eat. It wasn’t too busy, we were able to take our time and see what we wanted to see. The only thing we had to wait for was the LaseRace. Very helpful and friendly staff, so if you have younger children or a disability, you’ll be well accommodated. Here’s a vlog I made of the day:
Daniel is getting the hang of being a blogger’s child, he wanted to stand against this wall and be photographed – who am I to say no?
Disclosure: I was gifted the tickets to Ripleys, all opinions are my own.
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