Techniquest

This isn't a cheap place to visit in the first place but was made worse when the person behind the till added on the discretionary donation without asking and didn't charge the family ticket price and instead charged for everyone individually. This meant we were £12+ out of pocket for the group. We didn't realise until we were handed the receipt and then I challenged this and he shrugged and said he didn't know how to change it. I held firm and he tried to call a manager, after a few minutes of him being on hold and a queue forming behind us we decided to swallow the extra cost.

Inside some of the attractions are pretty good but we were really disappointed that many were out of order or with pieces missing. At over £90 for our group of 8 (inc two children) it was an expensive way to spend a couple of hours.

I must say that I am not happy with Techniquest as online I saw advertised that tickets were £10.50 per adult. Even when I arrived at Techniquest, behind the cashier the prices were stated as £10.50 per adult ticket, and £12.00 per adult ticket with donation. When I asked to purchase a ticket she put it through the till and asked for £12.00. I pointed out that the ticket price says £10.50 and that the price she just asked for was with the donation included. Her reply was "We just add it on every time, most people don't comment on it". I thought a donation was mandatory. I don't know if its just me but I see that as being dirty, its practically like a scam.

I loved coming here as a kid so wanted to take my children here. Told my partner all about it and how much fun I had so we went and payed £29 for 2 adults, 2 kids and a free toddler. The place was over run with wild kids snatching off you, jumping on what ever you were on and even when we managed to have a go of something my kids were bored. Things I remembered are no longer there anymore. They now have giant musical instruments, large puzzle type games where you move a bit to see a picture, ant farms, smokers lung vs normal lung and press a button and they both enlarge although button was broke, a "floating ball" that a toddler kept hold of and running around the place with, foam area with foam sticks and blocks? A booth that takes a 5 second print of your shadow on the wall, a box that has a button and if pressed little wheels move and lights come on????? Was so bàd we walked the place 3 times as we were upset about the money we payed but still ended up leaving after 30 minutes.

Very disappointed! Used to LOVE this place as a kid, took my best friends daughter there last weekend and was shocked at how rundown it was. I would say at least a third of the exhibits were either broken or had things missing, there is no crowd control, so it can get very busy and you cant get near things and both children and their parents are lacking in manners! Its not cheap to get in, so you have to wonder what they are spending the money on, as it certainly isnt the displays! 80%+ were there 20 odd yrs ago when I was a kid and like I say most of them dont work anymore. Very, very sad and I certainly wont be going back anytime soon 😔

Think it’s very expensive for a 3 hour time slot, no floor staff on busy Saturday (half term week) , didn’t see one. So no one to assist in any of the activities, we were stuck on one and even tried to ring 3 times to find out where we were going wrong and no reply. Busy with no queue system if you do wait your turn someone will jump in before you as lots of kids wondering and doing as please , which is what it’s for just be aware. The good activities are same as were 10/20 years ago , the new things are touch screen, which are only suitable for the older child think 8+ with help and were boring but educational, the fun educational activities are all the old one.

No where to have coffee there unless the cafe at front which you need to leave and go through shop to get too. We did sit for a bit in the picnic area but we had to clean it up ourselves as all tables had been left dirty and as said no staff, but this was more an issue with other customers cause who wouldn’t pick up after themselves?

I think tickets should be open ended and have a cafe to go to in the centre to sit have food/coffee etc and then continue. You can go out and get coffee but when only 3hour slot and that expensive not really an option , as want to make most.

I do know it’s a charity but tickets still need to be cheaper to allow for all families and not just the well off. £35.50 for 2 adults and 1 child (£32.35 without donations)or close to £50 if you have 2 children means locals aren’t able to make the most of the educational activities and it’s a once in a blue moon treat , where as to learn you need to repeat. Maybe more funding needed from other sources lottery, government etc if ticket prices aren’t covering the cost and that’s why no staff available?

Did keep the little one busy for the 3 hours but improvements needed.

It was our first time visiting since the new update, and it’s awesome! My 3 year old loved it, especially the addition of the slide. There is now a lot more for children that but older too, meaning we could bring our 11 year old family friend without her being bored, but also keep a 3 year old occupied!

In regards to covid, There were plenty of hand sanitiser dispensers, though I did not see anything being cleaned in the 3 hours we were there. There were signs for social distancing but it was not enforced by staff, nor was the correct wearing of masks. If you are still worried about covid it may not be the place for you, how ever if you are more relaxed like we are then it won’t be an issue.

Reception staff were welcoming but there was little to no interaction from the floor staff, and hardly any floor staff to be seen.

I worked at Techniquest 20 years ago as exhibition floor staff and it was part of the job to interact with children and families bringing a little extra to their day.

The two men we saw were extremely introverted and even through he was stood right next to us on an exhibit no conversation was started with the children instead he walked off.

There were also a number of older boys running at speed around the exhibition floor, at one point pushing my daughter out of the way to then dive head first down the slide!

It’s was also disappointing to see that the majority of the exhibition equipment is exactly the same as what I worked with 20 years ago!!

I went to Cafe Mania in techniquest and it was lovely, socially distanced, very clean, the staff were lovely, I cant fault my experience there. they even helped my aunties carry their drinks down to our table. Everything is well cared for and love goes into everything they do, even the plants in there are dusted and shined and they are real. blown away well done guys.

We visited this as a family with kids aged 10, 13 and nearly 16. We have been to a number of really fantastic science museums and planetariums here and abroad and this is up there with them! There was plenty for us to see and do, with only one machine we found out of action in the day of our visit. I had left 3 hours but it wasn’t long enough!

The Extreme Earth talk was really excellent, engaging, interactive and educational (not in a boring way!) The Stars Tour in the planetarium was also magical and jam packed with information - and there was the opportunity at the end to ask questions or request seeing things in the night sky.

Thanks for a memorable visit!

Techniquest was great! Adults were £8.20 each which is fair, the ladies at the till were very lovely. The exhibits were fun and good to play around with. The only downfall was it is full of screaming kids which you can obviously expect. Most of the exhibits are made for kids but they’re still fun. The highlight was the planetarium talk. We saw The Search for Life with Sebastian as our guide. He was fantastic! He was funny and knew what he was talking about. Highly recommend!