Our passes run out in the summer and we're not sure yet whether we'll be able to afford to renew them so we're definitely making the most of them whilst we can. Last month we visited the lovely Warwick Castle and have trips planned later this month to Alton Towers and Chessington World of Adventures.
Of all the attractions offered with the pass, I had already been to the London Eye a few times and so wasn't desperate to do it again. However, Matt had never been and we thought it'd be a good excuse to visit London for the first time in a while.
We got the tube to into central London which was the first of many exciting components to the day. The kids loved it, Ollie is train mad at the moment and Lily was fascinated by the idea of tube tunnels running underground. With only one change at Bond Street for the Jubilee line we exited the tube at Westminster and walked across the bridge to reach the South Bank.
As soon as we arrived at the London Eye we found there were plenty of uniformed staff members to point us in the right direction. I hadn't realised that our passes enabled us to join the fast track queue but it was well worth it - the other queue was huge but we only waited for a maximum of 20 minutes from start to finish. Perfect if you have little ones who don't like waiting!
We had our buggy with us and it could be taken in the pods as long as it was folded down. The staff were all friendly and approachable, especially with the children. The trip round the wheel was about half an hour and despite it being my third time, I still enjoyed seeing all the sights from up high.
For Matt and the kids, it was a whole new experience. Lily liked spotting Buckingham Palace and being up so high whilst Ollie was obsessed with the boats on the Thames and the trains crossing the bridge into Charing Cross. It was quite busy in our pod but everyone was polite and moved around so that you could see over London from different angles.
I did wonder whether the children would get bored after a while but they seemed interested the whole way round. Ollie did attempt to run around a bit but Matt and I were able to quickly distract him so that he didn't bother the other passengers.
After getting off we did think about visiting the Shrek's Adventure attraction next door but unfortunately, as we hadn't booked a time slot there wasn't anything available for at least 4 hours! If you want to do both attractions then I would highly recommend booking a slot for Shrek online before you go. As it is, we'll be heading back into London soon to try it out.
Standard Ticket entry is usually £22.45 for adults and £17.95 for children (under 3s go free) if you buy online and this also includes the 4D Cinema Experience which we didn't do with the children. Fast track tickets are available from £31.45 and I would urge you to consider spending extra if you're not a fan of long queues! It is pricey but there are plenty of combination offers where you can visit the London Eye and other Merlin Attractions at a discounted rate. If, like us, you have a pass already then it's definitely worth checking out.
*I have not been asked by anyone to write this review, all opinions are my own*
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