SE1 visitor attractions - too expensive for most families?

My jaw dropped when I was reading Time Out and saw the prices being charged for one of the new visitor attractions opened in SE1 last week.

The "London Bridge Experience" is apparently charging as follows if you book online:

Quote:

Adult £14.95
Child £10.95
Family (2 adults 2 children) £45.00

plus...
All individual tickets are subject to a £0.95 booking fee per ticket. Family group tickets are subject to a £3.00 booking fee per order.

But even more alarming are the prices if you turn up on spec:

Quote:

What are the current prices on the door?
Adult £19.95
Child £14.95
Student £15.95
Family £69.80

(these are the figures quoted in this week's Time Out)

which makes it more expensive than the gate prices at the Tower of London.

However, I suppose their markey competitor is the London Dungeon, which I discover now charges a princely £20.95 for an adult and £10.95 when booking online for peak weekend slots and implies that the gate price is now £23.95!

Can SE1 sustain two horror attractions so near to each other? Or will this summer see touts for the two venues waving severed limbs at families emerging from London Bridge tube trying to convince them that they are purveyors of the more gruesome experience?

By contrast, the new "Movieum of London"(in County Hall) is charging less than half the asking price of the Star Wars exhibition that was previously occupying the same space:

Movieum prices:
Adults: £8 Children: £5 Concessions: £5

Star Wars prices
Adults £16.50 Children £12.50 Children under 5 go free

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised by The Movieum's pricing - which its founder says is intended to be affordable/accessible - given that everything else around County Hall seems to be extortionately priced.

There will be features on both The Movieum of London and The London Bridge Experience on this site later this week.

Lang Rabbie wrote:

Can SE1 sustain two horror attractions so near to each other?

I guess so; The London Bridge Experience must have done their research and projections. Hopefully it wont dominate the street like the London Dungeon does with its huge queues blocking the pavement.

The London Bridge Experience have got a planning application in to have this on the Tooley Street facade (under the bridge):

[click for larger version]

One of SE1's best attractions, though, is surely the South Bank itself. One of London's best walks, and it's free.

The Tate Modern is also free.

It's not all over-priced!

The Imperial War Museum is free. Southwark Cathedral is free.

There is so much that you can do in London for free I don't know why Lang Rabbie should be upset that some commercial ventures manage to take large wads of cash off some tourists, providing employment and prosperity for SE1.

My two favourite places in London are free and uncrowded: Sir John Soane's museum and the Wallace collection, but hush! don't tell anybody.

From what I saw on the news, the Movieum looks a bit like a resurrection of some of the parts of MOMI I really enjoyed as a child.

A lot of London experiences, including theatre, are essentially unaffordable if you need to buy tickets for a family of 4.

Great then when locals have opportunities to access these via offers etc. For example I have managed to get 2 restricted view tickets for the upcoming GBS at the Old Vic for my 12 year old and a friend for £5 each. Surrey Cricket Club is a great deal for junior members. The whole family really enjoyed War Horse when my son and I got up early to queue for day tickets at the National. And a couple of years back we went on London Eye after buying cheap tickets via Waterloo Millennium Green for a damp winter afternoon.

Some places like the Unicorn seem determioned to pitch their prices at an accessible level. But agree with Rabbie that there are some places that we would never consider going as they seem only interested in the tourist market, even though differential prices in off-peak seasons would deliver additional revenue and local support.

So Tower Bridge, Aquarium, London Eye etc, offers via this site woudl be welcome and appreciated.

A lot of these attractions are covered by occasional 2 for 1 offers for people with Oyster cards, Travelcards or rail tickets so it's worth looking out for those offers. Lastminute.com often have discounted attraction tickets too. Problem is these deals only bring the attractions down to being reasonable value for money instead of extortionate!

One local attraction which used to offer a reduced rate to Southwark/Lambeth residents recently told me that they were no longer allowed to do this by law. Not sure how that works.