West of Scotland

Scottish Power Planetarium

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "The Sky At Night"

Quote:

The Scottish Power Planetarium is located on the first floor of the Glasgow Science Centre, the shows run at various times throughout the day and you book your tickets in advance and make sure that you are on time as no latecomers will be admitted, tickets cost a very reasonable £2.50 per person. The waiting area outside the planetarium entrance doesn’t have any seating but there are a few interactive exhibits to play around with including a camera in a creepy crawly tank which allows you to zoom in on giant cockroaches!When you enter the theatre you take your seat, you will be surprised at how far the seats recline (personally I don’t like reclining seats because I think they make my bel...Read More

The Scottish Power Planetarium is located on the first floor of the Glasgow Science Centre, the shows run at various times throughout the day and you book your tickets in advance and make sure that you are on time as no latecomers will be admitted, tickets cost a very reasonable £2.50 per person. The waiting area outside the planetarium entrance doesn’t have any seating but there are a few interactive exhibits to play around with including a camera in a creepy crawly tank which allows you to zoom in on giant cockroaches!

When you enter the theatre you take your seat, you will be surprised at how far the seats recline (personally I don’t like reclining seats because I think they make my belly fat look more prominent!) but this is because the main show is above your head on the circular dome where the night sky is projected.

The show starts with an introduction to the solar system from the guides. The lights are slowly dimmed and at this point you wonder what all the fuss is about as the stars don’t look too great. When the lights are fully dimmed you can hear gasps of awe from the audience as the night sky in all its glory is projected on the dome above your head, we don’t normally see how beautiful the night sky looks because of clouds and light pollution. The skyscape which is projected is the sky as it would be seen above Glasgow on the evening of the show.

The talk continues with the guide pointing out various constellations including all of the horoscope signs and teaching the audience how to look for landmarks in the sky using the North Star as a guide. The talk is really interesting and you will learn a lot about basic astronomy and how it has been used over the years by the likes of sailors. The final part of the show lets you just lie back and enjoy the sight of the stars as the whirl around overhead and you can either try to find patterns and landmarks or just lie back and enjoy it, it is extremely relaxing to recline and watch this going on.

The lights are slowly put back on again to allow your eyes to get used to the light again and the guides also answer questions during this point.

The Scottish Power Planetarium uses an amazing Zeiss Starmaster projector which cost in excess of £3 million pounds to bring this show to life, no wonder it is seen as one of the best planetariums in the world. The show is truly awe inspiring, I have seen it twice now and would happily go back again. The kids I have taken to see the show have always enjoyed it too, I was worried a hyper little boy would not settle but he ended up asking for a mini planetarium for his bedroom and started reading books about the solar system after his visit so it is educational as well as fun.

Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on March 7, 2010

Scottish Power Planetarium
50 Pacific Quay
Glasgow, Scotland G51 1EA
0141 420 5000

Cheer!
Flag

Amazonia at M & D's Theme Park

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Arachnophobe Meets Spider"

Arachnophobe Meets Spider Photo - Amazonia at M & D's Theme Park, Motherwell, Scotland

Quote:

Amazonia is an indoor rainforest attraction situated within M and D’s theme park. We visited M and D’s on a pretty cold day and it was lovely going inside to warm up even if the humidity made my glasses steam up. There are a number of animal, bird, fish and insect exhibits set amongst jungle foliage and butterflies and birds fly freely around. The insects are thankfully all behind glass, I don’t think I would have coped with a giant bird eatibng spider or massive millipede on the loose! The different coloured tree frogs were a massive hit with the kids, especially when they walked up the inside of the glass using the sticky pads on their feet. The different species of monkeys were lovely...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on October 8, 2009

Amazonia at M & D's Theme Park
Strathclyde Country Park
Motherwell, Scotland
+44 01698 333 777

Cheer!
Flag

M & D's Theme Park

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "All The Fun Of The Fair"

Quote:

The kids had been talking about Blackpool non stop since we took them there last year so we decided to treat them to a day out at M and D’s theme park which is much closer to home. I loved to go to the shows as a kid but the cost of taking three kids out for a day quickly adds up so going to a theme park with unlimited rides for a set price seemed the a good option for us. There were five of us in our party, two adults and three kids aged eleven, seven and six. The six year old was under the 1.30m height for riding unsupervised on almost all rides, the seven year old reached the 1.30m limit when his hair was spiked up high so managed both the kiddie and bigger rides and the eleven year old was tall en...Read More

Member Rating 3 out of 5 on October 8, 2009

M & D's Theme Park
Strathclyde Country Park Hamilton Road
Motherwell ML1 3RT
+44 1698 333999

Cheer!
Flag

Xscape

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "There's Sno! Place Better Than Sno!zone!"

SNO!zone Photo - Xscape, Glasgow, Scotland

Quote:

Scotland is well known as a winter sports destination but the Central Belt of Scotland receives hardly any of the white stuff. Spending days sledging was one of my favourite activities as a child but since my kids have only experienced one winter with a lot of snow they have not had that same experience so as a Christmas treat I decided to book a family sledging experience at the Sno!zone within Xscape in Glasgow. Of course I booked weeks in advance and we have had one of the coldest winters in decades so they have had lots of chance to play in the snow this year but they still enjoyed their day out.Sno!Zone is a fantastic indoor ski slope in the Xscape leisure complex near Braehead in Gla...Read More

Scotland is well known as a winter sports destination but the Central Belt of Scotland receives hardly any of the white stuff. Spending days sledging was one of my favourite activities as a child but since my kids have only experienced one winter with a lot of snow they have not had that same experience so as a Christmas treat I decided to book a family sledging experience at the Sno!zone within Xscape in Glasgow. Of course I booked weeks in advance and we have had one of the coldest winters in decades so they have had lots of chance to play in the snow this year but they still enjoyed their day out.

Sno!Zone is a fantastic indoor ski slope in the Xscape leisure complex near Braehead in Glasgow, the main slope is 200m long and has 17000 tonnes of real snow on the slopes. The Xscape complex is brilliant, it is a huge building with the snow slopes, cinema, bowling, crazy golf, amusement arcades, shops and dozens of places to eat and drink all under one roof. The building itself is beautiful with sparkly red floors and everything looks lovely and clean and new.

We were told to arrive in plenty of time for our family sledging session which cost £55 for a family of four. When we arrived it was time to book ourselves in and make sure everyone was suitably dressed in sturdy shoes, warm clothes and gloves and a safety helmet. There is a changing village within Sno!zone and lockers to store your clothes and bags. We waited by the entrance to the snow slope until we were called in and then it was time to hit the slopes.

The snow slopes are fantastic with lots of crisp white snow. The temperature is between -3 to -5 degrees centigrade but because there was no wind chill and the atmosphere was nice and dry it did not feel nearly as cold as this. The sledging slope faced the main ski slope with safety barriers separating the two and a small area of the ski slope was also cordoned off as an ice slide area. The sledging was a lot of fun, Santa and his elves joined the kids on the slope as they climbed up the snowy hill and then went flying down on a small sleigh racing against each other. The hill is extremely steep and trudging uphill through the snow is great exercise for your legs and mine felt very sore at the end of the 45 minute session.

At the end of the sledging session we were presented with vouchers to take to the Sno! Bar to exchange for a platter of food and soft drinks which was part of the family fun experience. The Sno! Bar is lovely with lots of sofas to lounge on and enjoy your food and drink while you sit in the warmth and watch the skiers and snowboarders through huge glass windows. There is also a wooden balcony above the slopes which lets you get closer to the action and this is the same temperature of the slopes.

Our food came on a huge silver platter and we had burgers, onion rings, pizzas, chips, garlic ciabatta and chicken gougons. It wasn’t fine dining but the kids loved it and the adults were happy enough with the food too. There are of course other options on the menu, the prices here are extremely reasonable with the most expensive main course being £5.95 for a chicken dish and they have different meals for any time of the day from breakfast to late night snacks. The bar also had an impressive range of wines, spirits and liqueurs and hot and cold soft drinks. Children are welcome in the bar during the day but in the evening it is adults only.

We enjoyed out day out at Xscape and will certainly visit again. The family sledging and ice slide packages are suitable for kids of all ages as well as adults and it was lovely to see the kids with ruddy cheeks from the cold laughing and enjoying themselves. I really enjoyed watching the skiing and with lessons starting at a reasonable £20 an hour including ski hire it is something I may well treat myself to in the future. Xscape is a fantastic destination where you are guaranteed lovely crisp white snow no matter what the weather is like outside.
Read Less

Member Rating 5 out of 5 on December 22, 2009

Xscape
Kings Inch Road
Glasgow, Scotland
+44 0871 222 5672

Cheer!
Flag

Craig Tara Holiday Park

Best Of IgoUgo

Attraction | "Holiday Hell"

Quote:

Craig Tara holiday park near to Ayr in south west Scotland is run by Haven Holidays which is a large company specialising in providing family holidays in the UK. I have now stayed in two Haven resorts and they were like chalk and cheese; Marton Mere in Blackpool was lovely but Craig Tara is awful and somewhere I will never visit again.We booked a long weekend at Haven for a huge family group, me and my sister and our kids stayed in one caravan and another two adults and three kids stayed in a second. Each group paid around £100 for three nights caravan hire plus extra for bed linen but we had different classes of caravan given to us. The caravans are basic but comfortable, our three bedroo...Read More

Craig Tara holiday park near to Ayr in south west Scotland is run by Haven Holidays which is a large company specialising in providing family holidays in the UK. I have now stayed in two Haven resorts and they were like chalk and cheese; Marton Mere in Blackpool was lovely but Craig Tara is awful and somewhere I will never visit again.

We booked a long weekend at Haven for a huge family group, me and my sister and our kids stayed in one caravan and another two adults and three kids stayed in a second. Each group paid around £100 for three nights caravan hire plus extra for bed linen but we had different classes of caravan given to us. The caravans are basic but comfortable, our three bedroomed static caravan was adequate for our needs, it had one double bedroom and two single bedrooms one with bunk beds and one with twin beds, the double bed was a bit saggy but the single beds were fine. The bathroom had a shower and plenty of hot running water. The kitchen came well equipped with a gas cooker, small fridge and plenty of pots and pans and utensils. The living area had a dining table and plenty of chairs and a small flat screen TV. It's certainly not luxury accommodation but for a family on a budget then it is fine.

The accommodation itself was adequate but the rest of the park was a run down mess with staff who didn't care less if you had a good time or not.

Craig Tara bills itself as a family resort with fun filled entertainment for all of the family. The main buildings in the centre of the park have amusement arcades, bars, food outlets, a swimming pool and bowling alley but that is not enough to keep you amused for more than a day. We decided to brave the family bar one evening and it was crowded and noisy with overpriced drinks, dirty tables and terrible entertainment. There is a limited choice of food, Harry Ramsden's seemed like a safe bet as you can't go wrong with fish and chips, unfortunately they had ran out of many items and the staff were busy chatting to serve the guests anyway. Never mind off to Burger King where they had no rolls so you could only have chips. The Chinese food van served the greasiest Chinese food I have ever tasted but at least there was a doughnut van serving freshly fried cakes which was good!

The swimming pool was the highlight of our visit, there are large family changing rooms and not enough cubicles for privacy but the pool itself was good. There were numerous slides and water features and it was a firm favourite with our family and is also included in the price of the holiday. Unfortunately the kids all caught verrucas from this pool so even a dip in the pool led to trouble.

Other forms of entertainment in the park involve you spending lots of money. The huge amusement arcades even have teeny machines for little kids to play. My daughter spent a fortune winning tickets from machines to exchange for prizes from the shop. The bowling alley was ancient and in need of a revamp but at least they guy there let the kids play unlimited games on the air hockey table for £1, sometimes having staff that didn't care was a good thing.

An attraction that Haven boasts of is direct access to the beach from the park, in reality it is a good long walk to get there and when you do arrive it is strewn with seaweed and is not very nice or relaxing.

The park overall had a tired and gloomy feel about it. Despite the fact you are not meant to have large groups of young adults we had a caravan full of lads partying all night next door to us. The huge seagulls ran amok over the site, they have obviously grown fat on all the litter thrown about providing loads of food for them. The park feels a bit like a prison camp rather than a holiday resort. We escaped to Ayr to go to the supermarket and found it to be a rather run down little town, it is home to Burns cottage but is not a place I would really recommend you visit.

As you can guess the adults hated Craig Tara but the kids still managed to have fun. If you are looking to book a Haven holiday make sure it is not at Craig Tara.
Read Less

Member Rating 1 out of 5 on January 19, 2010

Craig Tara Holiday Park
Dunure Road
Ayrshire, Scotland KA7 4LB

Cheer!
Flag

IgoUgo

Scotland Journals

Upload Photos