London: Sealife Centre

We have already visited two of Merlin's Sealife centres at Blackpool and Manchester and thought that both of these were great, but then again we all love anything to do with sea life and never get bored of seeing the same things over and over.  Knowing how good the other Sea life have been, we decided to pre book our time slot for the Sea life Centre when doing the London eye with it being in the same area.

Our time slot was fro 5.15pm and we got there at around 5.00pm. There were no queues so we went straight in.  Like all other Merlin Sea life centres there are photograph opportunities all the way around.  You can skip these and all the staff are extremely pleasant when you say that you don't want your photo taken.

One thing that we did love at the start of the London sealife centre was the glass floor that was above the Shark tank.  We thought that this was a great way to start the tour. In the other sea life centres there have been booklets that the children get to collect stamps as they go around. If this was available there we didn't see it, but this time as a treat we did treat Titch to the Ranger Pack at a cost of £4.  This kept him busy on the way around and searching for facts. He particularly enjoyed using the magnifying glass to look closer at the animal.  For Titch this added to his experience as rather than just walking pass each exhibition he was keen to look closer.

Although it was busy, it was much calmer than our previous trip to Madame Tussauds. The only queue that we encountered was when going through the tunnel.

As with the other Sealife centres, there was plenty to see.  Now maybe because of the time we went, we did not see or hear of any talks that normally occur in sea life centres, in actual fact there was not many staff around.  This did not ruin the experience as we read all of the information that we wanted too.

Titch enjoys anything interactive so enjoyed playing the Jelly fish game which is something that is not at the other Sealife Centres.

We also enjoyed seeing the penguins, although most were asleep.  

In total we spent around 1.5 hours in there which is about the average time we have spent in any Sealife Centre.  As Merlin pass holders it is obviously worth going too, but if I was a paying customer I am not sure if it would be worth the money unless we had some sort of discount or deal - which they do for the London Merlin Attractions (5 attractions for £55) 

A Blackpool Day trip

Blackpool, some people love it and some people hate it.  And I totally understand why. There are some run down parts which are not appealing to the eye and there is definitely a stigma attached too.  Despite this Blackpool is a traditional British Holiday resort and it is easy to see why so many of us flock here each year. Ice creams, Candy-floss, the beach, Fish and chips, arcades, rides, donkeys - what more could you ask for!

The husband and I hadn't been Blackpool since we were kids ,but thought that we would take full advantage of our Merlin Passes and head to Blackpool for the day.  And just like we use to do when we were kids, the first one to spot the Tower won. 

We arrived in Blackpool at around 9.50am and decided to park behind the Coral Island Amusements for the day costing us £12 for 12 hours which we though was reasonable seen as it was a pretty good location.  

With our Merlin passes it entitled us to free entry to the Dungeons, Blackpool Tower, Blackpool Circus, Jungle Jims, Blackpool Ballroom, Sealife Centre and Madame Tussauds.  Not wanting to cram too much into one day we decided to leave the dungeons, Jungle Jims and the Ballroom for another time.  

We had read online that it was essential to book the circus in the morning so we headed there straight away for opening at 10.00am. We booked our tickets for the 4.00pm show and upgraded to front row seats which included pop corn and a drink.  

We then decided to explore the other sites.  

Our first stop was Madame Tussauds and there were no queues on entry - even inside was pretty quite. We took our time explore the wax figures, reading about the different stars. Titch loved having his photograph taken with different Wax figures especially some of his favourite Marvel characters.  We had a drink in the Rovers half way around and then continued through to the end. I would say we spent about 1.5hours inside but could have spent longer in some parts. As it was pretty quite we managed to get photos with many different wax figures and take part in some of the interactive games. The only downside to Madame Tussauds is the photographs. Now whilst they maybe a great souvenir it can become expensive if you choose to buy them seen as we were stoped at least 5 times throughout the tour.  My advice would be that if you don't intend to buy them then be polite and say no thank you when they ask you to have them done. 

After visiting Madame Tussauds we moved next door to the Sea life centre, and I have to say that we were all really impressed by it. We spent just over an hour in here but missed some of the talks as it was lunch and we were all getting hungry.  the saline centre was spacious and had lots of interactive sections including Touching a Starfish.  Titch and his friend enjoyed stamping their books and receiving pop badges at the end.  The staff inside were friendly and informative and did not mind spending a few minute or so answering our questions.  This is definitely a place that we would revisit.  

For lunch we decided against taking a picnic and inside set our sights on chips from the promenade.

Lunch cost around £10 for 4 meals and 4 drinks - which we thought was reasonable considering we were on the fronts.

I had to order the chips in a bucket and this is how they came, in their own little bucket with a spade.

After lunch we still had some time to spare before the circus so we decided to go up Blackpool Tower, which made me slightly nervous.  Before you go up there is a 4d experience that we thoughts was great and then you are escorted to the lifts that take you up to the top.  These made me a little nervous but the view going up was spectacular.

At the top there is an inside viewing platform with a glass floor. Titch and the Husband were straight onto it; I, however was a little more scared and it took em awhile to step on- it was a long way down.

You then had the option to climb up more steps on the outside.  I did manage another two floors but did not go to the top.


Although a little scared at first, I really enjoyed the experience and would probably now do it again.

By the time that we had come down it was time to head to the circus. I was unsure what to expect so did not have any pre thoughts on how good it was going to be. But honestly it was Fab! We laughed and clapped along like we were kids again.  We were having such a good time that I even forget to take any photos - it only means we need to go again. The circus was a great way to end the day and our time in Blackpool.

Would we go again..? definitely! We all had such a good day and made lots of memories - including an incident with a Seagull stealing a donut out of Titch's friend's hand!