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Dr Who event - Cardiff
andy1231
Posts: 5,100 Forum Member
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Just wondered if anyone went to the recent Dr Who event that was held in Cardiff. If so what did they think about it, was it value for money, who was actually there and if it was held again would they recommend it.
Sorry if trhis has already been asked but I can't find any thread abouot it.
Sorry if trhis has already been asked but I can't find any thread abouot it.
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http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showpost.php?p=57330507&postcount=1377
As far as I can tell, feedback from those attending has been pretty much universally positive.
http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1642932
Blimey. What an excellent (and not cheap) birthday present. lucky you.
I'm so glad to have heard all these glowing reports from people who went. especially as there was much comment before about value for money etc. sounds as though the team really put some effort into making it something exceptional.
I'm not at all jellus of the tardis tour. not a bit. **grinds teeth**
Whilst I don't doubt for a moment it was a fantastic experience and well run etc..etc... I wasn't prepared to fork out the £99 (that was correct wasn't it?) fee.
Basically, I would have taken my sons who are huge fans (as well as myself!) so definitely wasn't going to pay £300 for the day!
But, as I say, that's not to say I am not jealous of everyone that did go! It sounded great, but for me, at that cost, it was a definite "no no".
I could easily have afforded it, don't get me wrong, but just didn't feel that it was worth paying out nearly £300 for three of us to go for the day. With travelling costs (I live in Sussex) and a possible hotel stop off overnight, this would have escalated into £500 easily, so had to give it a miss...
While I can appreciate that it would indeed be expensive for a family to attend, with respect thats the case with almost anything. If you wanted a family trip to a west end show, what would that have cost you if you added in travel costs and hotels? Or a weekend at Alton Towers? And what we got was a far more unique experience, in my view.
I do think they maybe could have had a slightly discountated rate for children, but that aside, as someone who actually DID attend, it was most definitely worth the entrance fee.
That's very true......just depends what sort of person you are - personally I would never ever pay almost £100 per ticket for anything......no matter what it was....
The most I have ever paid is £50 per ticket once...there's something that just prevents me from doing it when it's this sort of money....
There's a *tiny* bit of me that see's it as the BBC making a lot of money out of fans - please don't hate me for saying this!!! I fully understand and appreciate a charge would have to be made, but it just seems a little too steep to me.....obviously just a personal viewpoint and something perhaps I am very, very wrong about......
Obviously, as I say, I am so glad (genuinely so) that everyone that went had a fantastic time.
As I say in my review, i find it very doubtful the BBC made a lot of money out of this event, because everything was 1st class in terms of how it was put together, by the time they covered all their expenses I very doubt they did that much more than make a small profit, and that probably off the back of the merchandising side. And I think they are quite justified making a profit given how much work went in to this.
When it was first announced with only Matt and Moff as guests and a few vague descriptions of other events £99 was ridiculous, nowhere near value for money compared to other events. However they built the event up over the months and the final list was very impressive indeed. The clincher though was the TARDIS set tour, something you can't (currently) buy and a real big bonus. Is £99 still a lot? Yep, absolutely, and I suspect it was right at the top end as they didn't sell out until a week or so before the event. Problem is if they drop the price they'd probably need to go with a bigger event to make their money (and yes, I'm sure they made money. 3000 tickets gives an income of £297,000 plus the extra dosh from autograph / photo sales and merchandise would likely put them over £400,000 for the weekend) and a bigger event means some people would probably miss out or get a worse experience.
The one thing I'd still be critical of is the extra charge for an autograph / photo slot. That really did seem a bit over the top and could have been included IMO. That said if the lineup next year is as good as this one I'd really consider going and hopefully they learn from experience and announce more details at the event launch.
Yeah, the TARDIS set tour is the one thing that would perhaps have swayed me (despite all I've said above about the price)..... I like you, originally saw the £99 price tag and thought "no way" and left it at that. IF they had annouced this set tour at the begining as "part of the package".....well......? Maybe..............maybe not. Don't know. It would have swayed me a tad.
BUT
You had to pay extra for the autographs/photos?????
Goodness. How much extra was this? Surely this should be within the price of the ticket.
Actually, thinking about it then, perhaps I really still would have given it a miss.......although, don't get me wrong, my sons and I are HUGE fans and would have simply adored to have gone......
Never mind......maybe they'll do another one next year that might be slightly cheaper?
You have to pay extra for autographs and photos for most events of this kind, although some do give you one free one as part of the admission cost. And the pictures were very nicely done indeed, they had a good photographer and they were high quality prints in a pretty nice cardboard frame.
Oh I thought this meant they charged you for taking your own pictures on your own camera etc....
Did you have to pay for this upfront? Just wondering, did everyone who paid to have their piccys done actually get time to get them done....I guess by paying you are perhaps guaranteeing a quick meeting with Matt Smith etc?
Gone are the days when you could have an autograph/piccy for free then.....that's a shame, but maybe understandable.
No, in fact in spite of the standard disclaimer they always issue about photography prior to events like this, they could to have been more accommodating when it came to pictures. After the special effect demo we were even allowed on to the stage to pose with dalek used in the show, and at the tardis set tour, they had crew members taking pictures of people on the set.
Yes you had to pay in advance for photos, though there some on the day ones for people like Nicholas Briggs, Mark Sheppard, and Simon Fisher-Becker, which people just got in line for.
I had my picture taken with Smith, you didn't have that long with him, to be fair, but he was very charming, and I noticed he was quite personalised in what he said to people. He complimented me on my t shirt...:o
The days you can get freebies aren't completly gone, like I said some places will give you a free autograph as part of your package, but it is increasingly common you are expected to pay for them. Actually I'm not sure that people had to pay for the autographs for the supporting cast mentioned upthread. Not sure as I had no time to get in line myself, but it didn't seem that way from what I observed as I walked past but I could be wrong!
Matt, Karen and Arthur were the only ones you paid for, everyone else was free. You had to pay £20 for either a photo or autograph. They were given an hour to do signings and an hour for photos. I had an autograph with Karen who wished me happy birthday, and they were allowed to sign up to 2 items, you also got a free script from the Christmas 2011 episode as a bonus. And then a photo with Arthur, who was very kind, with the younger fans, instead of having the standard photo pose where you smile, he said, "Okay, look like you're scared, like you've seen a Dalek" and he would pose scared with them, as well as a regular photo. Which was nice. But the supporting cast you could have autographs and photos with them for free. Nicholas Briggs and I talked about Karen Gillan, he wanted to know what she was wearing :P And Barnaby Edwards talked to me for a bit, he was asking where I was from and then asked me what the parking was like there because they were there the other day looking at locations and found it difficult to park. It was a great expereince, but like I said earlier, if I could do it again, I'd try and find out about it earlier and get photos with more than 1 members of the main cast.