what is a name?
22nd June 2018, 11:27
My wife went through to Edinburgh (Scotland) yesterday to meet an old friend over from New Jersey and they decided to do the tourist thing and visit an attraction called Dynamic Earth, an immersive interactive media walk through exhibition with various 'pods' that tell you all about our planet.
As each group enters a pod, the doors are closed and they are locked in.
My wife and friend realised after a couple of pods that a sequence of 'triggers' are used, usually starting with an 'adrenaline raising' encounter that opens up the psyche for further 'manipulation'.
Upon asking the security if they could miss out some of the pods, they were told that due to the 'programming' of the attraction YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH ALL THE PODS. The security were told 'on yer bike, we are out of here' at which the 'control room' were walkie talkied and told 2 visitors did not want to 'complete' the tour.
A quick google of visitor reviews and a mother told how her children were terrified and complained and was told that the attraction is aimed at the younger audience - 47,000 school children a year go through.
Below is what the mother wrote:
Angry Terrible experience at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
I took my two children to Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh last week and had a terrible experience - it costs a fortune and my daughter (5) was terrified. I wrote to them to complain, and got a reply back which was basically fobbing me off. I have pasted both my letter and their response below, for the information of anyone with small kids thinking of going there.
Dear Madam.
Today (Friday 18th January) I visited Our Dynamic Earth with my two children, aged 20 months and 5 years old. Having consulted your website, it looked as if your establishment would be an exciting place to visit, with lots to interest them. We travelled through from Glasgow on the train and paid £16 admittance fees. My 5 year old daughter was absolutely terrified by the experience, as was the son of another mother visiting at the same time as ourselves (her son, who looked to be about 5, was absolutely hysterical). The dim lighting, dramatic music and sombre tone of many of the exhibits is completely unsuitable for small children and I think that you should state this on your website - instead of claiming you provide 'fun for all the family'.
The staff did not seem surprised by how upset the children were – in fact they seemed to be quite used to this reaction. One member of staff, seeing the two crying children commented “Oh dear, we’re not doing too well today” – seeming to imply that other children had reacted in the same way earlier in the day. Another member of staff, after ushering us into the ‘big bang’ room showed us where the exit was, “in case it gets too much” before playing the sequence – this also seemed to imply an awareness of the fact that young children find the nature of the displays disturbing and/or frightening. Then, having decided that there was no point in prolonging what was obviously not an enjoyable experience, myself and the other mother asked how we could exit the display quickly – the fact that we were unable to, and had to walk through six linked galleries before finally getting out was a claustrophobic and stressful experience for our children.
As each group enters a pod, the doors are closed and they are locked in.
My wife and friend realised after a couple of pods that a sequence of 'triggers' are used, usually starting with an 'adrenaline raising' encounter that opens up the psyche for further 'manipulation'.
Upon asking the security if they could miss out some of the pods, they were told that due to the 'programming' of the attraction YOU HAVE TO GO THROUGH ALL THE PODS. The security were told 'on yer bike, we are out of here' at which the 'control room' were walkie talkied and told 2 visitors did not want to 'complete' the tour.
A quick google of visitor reviews and a mother told how her children were terrified and complained and was told that the attraction is aimed at the younger audience - 47,000 school children a year go through.
Below is what the mother wrote:
Angry Terrible experience at Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh
I took my two children to Dynamic Earth in Edinburgh last week and had a terrible experience - it costs a fortune and my daughter (5) was terrified. I wrote to them to complain, and got a reply back which was basically fobbing me off. I have pasted both my letter and their response below, for the information of anyone with small kids thinking of going there.
Dear Madam.
Today (Friday 18th January) I visited Our Dynamic Earth with my two children, aged 20 months and 5 years old. Having consulted your website, it looked as if your establishment would be an exciting place to visit, with lots to interest them. We travelled through from Glasgow on the train and paid £16 admittance fees. My 5 year old daughter was absolutely terrified by the experience, as was the son of another mother visiting at the same time as ourselves (her son, who looked to be about 5, was absolutely hysterical). The dim lighting, dramatic music and sombre tone of many of the exhibits is completely unsuitable for small children and I think that you should state this on your website - instead of claiming you provide 'fun for all the family'.
The staff did not seem surprised by how upset the children were – in fact they seemed to be quite used to this reaction. One member of staff, seeing the two crying children commented “Oh dear, we’re not doing too well today” – seeming to imply that other children had reacted in the same way earlier in the day. Another member of staff, after ushering us into the ‘big bang’ room showed us where the exit was, “in case it gets too much” before playing the sequence – this also seemed to imply an awareness of the fact that young children find the nature of the displays disturbing and/or frightening. Then, having decided that there was no point in prolonging what was obviously not an enjoyable experience, myself and the other mother asked how we could exit the display quickly – the fact that we were unable to, and had to walk through six linked galleries before finally getting out was a claustrophobic and stressful experience for our children.