Wednesday, May 28th
The dirty little secret about our visit to Cardiff was we were really going for one reason. We boarded a train in London and rode for two hours west into another country. All for one reason. The Doctor Who Experience
Look...I could pretend this isn't the only reason and come up with a hilarious story trying to divert the attention away from the fact that this is the only reason I dragged Elias to Cardiff. But I won't. Both you and I are too smart for that. The reality was we were in London. Cardiff isn't that far away. So why not take a day or two and go to another country?? And nerd-out over Doctor Who. Which is what we did.
Now I already wrote about our visit to Cardiff. I loved it. Elias...tolerated it. But this story is all about Doctor Who. So let's do it. And if you're not a Doctor Who person feel free to skip to the next day. I won't judge.
The first step of our Experience was getting to the Experience. Now we were staying in the City Center. You can get to Cardiff Bay from the City Center by walking...in the rain. Which is what we did. But you do need to make sure you are walking in the right direction (which we weren't...at the beginning). And you need to be aware it is a 20-30 minute walk. There's also a bus from the City Center (the 6 bus) that drops you off right in front of the museum. This is fitting because if you're walking, once you get to Millennium Center, you think you're there, but no. You still have more walking to do. About halfway through our walk, Elias turned to me and said, "Can we take the bus back??" Yes. Yes we can. I'm pretty sure we would have felt better about the walk if it wasn't raining.
It was pretty easy to see when we made it to the Doctor Who Experience. The TARDIS hanging above the bay gave it away. Both Elias and I were both thrilled to get out of the rain. Happily, the line to get tickets wasn't very long.
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| Ignore the Band-Aid. |
You can get tickets online. I almost did. But the cost with a handling fee turned out to be nearly the same amount of money if I purchased tickets at the "window." The tickets were £15 each. I probably could have gotten Elias in as a 16 year old, but I was too excited. I kind of forgot about the student discounts.
Once tickets were purchased, you got in another queue that would take you through the show. Every 15-20 minutes, you were brought into a chapter in The Doctor's story. Outside of the queue, there were some excellent props. Like, River Song's red shoes and notebook. Did I take any pictures?? Ummm...see...well...no. I kind of didn't think about taking the picture until it was too late. I'd like to say "don't judge me," but I seriously have no excuse. Continue on...
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| But later, I got pics of River Song's clothes. So slightly redeemed?? |
The worker stood on a platform and tried to get our group of mostly kids, but many adults (none sporting TARDIS apparel, surprisingly) pumped about going into the attraction. The first part...the show itself...no photos (apparently not a problem for me since I didn't think about taking pictures of the shoes). We were ready to go. Let's do this.
Now my memory isn't super clear on the show, but Matt Smith is Eleven. We were all moved into a theatre where Eleven is trapped in the Pandorica. He needs "our" help to get out of the Pandorica and there are visits to multiple locations in order to do so. I won't spoil too much of it, but the good guys win in the end. Kids (mostly) got to drive the TARDIS, and we saw Daleks and all kinds of other beasties while saving the world.
The show itself was cute. It is definitely geared towards kids (as Doctor Who is known to do). Of course, with Peter Capaldi as Twelve showing up in the next few weeks, this storyline is quickly becoming out of date. Good thing we weren't visiting in September. The museum is closing on September 1st for around six weeks as they restructure for Twelve's arrival. Thank god we weren't traveling then. Cause my anger level would probably hit a twelve...
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| TARDIS Selfie. |
Once we all saved the day (did you have any doubts??) it was time to go through the artifacts. Since Eleven is the current Doctor, it was pretty geared towards his adventures. But there was enough Ten (and others, but mostly Ten) to make everyone happy.
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| I'm a Donna gal, myself. |
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| This is as close as I ever expect to get to Tennant. |
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| One of the incarnations of the TARDIS. |
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| Yeah, it is... |
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| Awww...look at that little Face of Bo... |
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| Because you can't have a museum without an Ood. |
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| Don't touch them. Just in case. |
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| Well, isn't this sweet?? |
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| He won't be smiling once he's been exterminated. |
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| You thought the Weeping Angels were scary. |
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| Before... |
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| Hey...where did Elias go?? |
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| This may be my favorite picture. That face!! |
Elias and I wandered through the museum portion for probably 30 or 45 minutes. After a while, it was time to go to the gift shop. We got our wallets out, ready to hand over our money only to find...meh.
No really, the gift shop was highly disappointing. I've been on the BBC America Shopping site and have longed for the TARDIS cookie jar or a plush Adipose. I figured this was the place for a nerdy t-shirt or a dorky mug. I was ready for it. And honestly, we just found nothing. I ended up with a magnet (because that's what I do) and a tote bag (perfect for pool time this summer). Elias didn't want anything. But had there been decent options, he'd have ended up with a nerdy t-shirt too.
Overall, the Experience was everything I needed it to be. As much as I love Eleven, I had hoped it wouldn't be SO Eleven-focused. But I guess it had to be. It makes sense. We still had enough taste of the other Doctors. And Elias, even though he's not a total Fanboy (though is starting to watch the show), he liked the museum as well. Is it a place you should go out of your way to see?? That is up to you. You'll know the answer to that question if it needs to be asked.
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