115 replies to this topic

[laurab1]

crippsy_99, on Oct 5 2011, 05:22 PM, said:

80sactionfan, on Oct 5 2011, 04:00 PM, said:

What's wrong with the accessability by public transport? You can get a train there from Charing Cross in London. It's not a problem, anyone who can get to London can get to Bluewater.

But you have to know how to get to Charing Cross though.
While its no problem for me if I go (Just hop on the Bakerloo line from Paddington) although it might take me a good 4-5hrs to get there from cardiff (Bus, train, tube, train, bus one way basically!)     Surely everyone knows how incompetent the general public is when it comes to public transport, and some people may genuinly struggle to find their way there. Then what trains do you get from Charing cross for example etc.

So just because some people are ok and could manage it, doesnt mean everyone is, and I think thats what people are griping about.

Oh other notes..do we know if its free entry being a shopping center, or paid entry like Glasgow etc?

It appears it's in the new hall at Bluewater, not the shopping centre itself, so I'd imagine it will be paid entry as per (mostly) usual.

[adam.anouer]

laurab1, on Oct 5 2011, 06:04 PM, said:

crippsy_99, on Oct 5 2011, 05:22 PM, said:

80sactionfan, on Oct 5 2011, 04:00 PM, said:

What's wrong with the accessability by public transport? You can get a train there from Charing Cross in London. It's not a problem, anyone who can get to London can get to Bluewater.

But you have to know how to get to Charing Cross though.
While its no problem for me if I go (Just hop on the Bakerloo line from Paddington) although it might take me a good 4-5hrs to get there from cardiff (Bus, train, tube, train, bus one way basically!)     Surely everyone knows how incompetent the general public is when it comes to public transport, and some people may genuinly struggle to find their way there. Then what trains do you get from Charing cross for example etc.

So just because some people are ok and could manage it, doesnt mean everyone is, and I think thats what people are griping about.

Oh other notes..do we know if its free entry being a shopping center, or paid entry like Glasgow etc?

It appears it's in the new hall at Bluewater, not the shopping centre itself, so I'd imagine it will be paid entry as per (mostly) usual.

Which I'm gonna put down as a good thing because Shopping Center events get so crowded it's unbearable I mean just yesterday at Westfield...Four Musketeers Premiere...Could not move an Inch.

[MorningAngel]

Re travel confusion if people come by coach all coaches come and go from Victoria coach station. So less confusing the trains.

As for trains there are three lines serve Dartford and Greenhithe so trains are every few minutes. And go from Charing Cross through Waterloo East (connected to Waterloo) and London Bridge. Also there are trains from Victoria but I don't think they run on Sundays.

Also there are superfast trains to Ebbsfleet but there is a bit of a bus journey so may not by any faster although fastrak busses are really good.

[TommyT]

alisonloub, on Oct 5 2011, 10:40 AM, said:

Donkey, on Oct 5 2011, 08:58 AM, said:

TommyT, on Oct 4 2011, 09:15 PM, said:

Only if you're coming by public transport. Actually there may even be direct coaches there, but trains I'll admit mean a change in London. But if you're driving it's a breeze - M25 and no problems with London traffic.

Most people from the north, will be coming either from the M40, or M1, or from the west the M4.
Whilst its not 'difficult', its just inconvenient, and a puzzling choice.  
What time is anybody not staying over, going to have to get up to have a reasonable chance of getting an autograph?.
Thats the first time I've ever heard anybody going clockwise ever say 'no problems with traffic' and 'M25' in the same sentence.

Well after living around the M25 area for all of my life and using it everyday for a year to get to work at one stage ( I worked right by the barriers of the tunnel) , I never really had a problem, weekends shouldn't be bad at all, it's 5.30pm on a Friday afternoon is where the problem should be, even then using a Satnav for local roads is good, there are LOTS of ways to get into Bluewater!.

Yes, the M25 can be a pain during rush hours, but most of the rest of the time it's pretty good. Anybody driving down to arrive Saturday or Sunday mornings should have no problem.

80sactionfan, on Oct 5 2011, 05:42 PM, said:

Just hop on the tube to Charing Cross. I'm pretty sure everyone who has travelled to LFCC and EMS before knows how to read a Tube Map. Then from Charing Cross on the train to Greenhithe for Bluewater.  

If people are really unsure about getting from London to Bluewater then they are more then welcome to meet me at Charing Cross station early in the morning and follow me. I plan on getting to Bluewater for opening time.

I'll agree that it ain't great having to get a train out of London if you faced a long train journey to get to London first, but the trip to Greenhithe isn't that bad. Some years ago I spent several months commuting 5 days a week from the west side of Hammersmith to Greenhithe and back every day. I found it surprisingly quick and pleasantly relaxuing.

[deringpluckley]

MorningAngel, on Oct 5 2011, 07:05 PM, said:

Re travel confusion if people come by coach all coaches come and go from Victoria coach station. So less confusing the trains.

As for trains there are three lines serve Dartford and Greenhithe so trains are every few minutes. And go from Charing Cross through Waterloo East (connected to Waterloo) and London Bridge. Also there are trains from Victoria but I don't think they run on Sundays.

Also there are superfast trains to Ebbsfleet but there is a bit of a bus journey so may not by any faster although fastrak busses are really good.

Ebbsfleet International is much faster -the 499 bus takes you from there to Bluewater in about 7 minutes , non stop -the fast track amazingly takes much longer.

[MorningAngel]

Oh I didn't know about the 499. I've only done Ebbsfleet a couple of times.

[JennJenn]

So excited! I'll be there with bells on if there's any guests I'm interested in!

[SlippDigby]

Quote

We have London Film and Comic Con, London Entertainment and Media Show, now Bluewater and Milton Keynes....

What happened to the likes of Collectormania in Coventry or Manchester?

Why can't Showmaster's spread them out a bit so we all have the opportunity to have shows near us as well as having those that a bit further away?

I have to take you up on your first point a little, you mention CM:MK well apart from LF&CC as if it were the kind of new event you are referring to but it was of course one of the early 'staple' SM shows...the only thing that has changed is the location within MK itself.

You also mention EMS (which was formerly CM:London) like it is not new...but when it actually is one of the more recent additions to the SM canon, it confused me a bit (does not take much actually   )

Though you are 100% bang on about CM: Coventry though, that would be fabulous as there are loads of places it could happen...including the RICOH area.

[deringpluckley]

TommyT, on Oct 2 2011, 09:48 PM, said:

ann+sara+emma+dani, on Oct 2 2011, 08:37 PM, said:

what/where is Bluewater?

Very large shopping centre in north-west Kent - general info here

If you are interested , Freema Agyeman has been known to shop there -so it attracts a nice type of person !

[Big_Pants]

deringpluckley, on Oct 10 2011, 12:21 PM, said:

If you are interested , Freema Agyeman has been known to shop there -so it attracts a nice type of person !

Would be nice if she shopped her way into the Collectormania section!

[MorningAngel]

It's a good way to get female guests. 'There's shopping!'

[WeddingFairy]

I'm so looking forward to this event! My youngest brother, he's 11, attended EMS with me, and really wanted to go to another con with me. Thanks to this event he can without mass travelling costs, as he has a freedom pass which allows him free bus travel in Kent, so getting to Bluewater for us will literally be my return bus ticket cost, which is under £5 (I think its £4.40 or something, I haven't done the journey in a while).

[RMC001]

Collectormania Bluewater sounds good, I might take the family along to this one!

The great thing about this event is that it is OUTSIDE LONDON, unlike most of this year's Showmasters events.

Plenty of parking, and you don't have the hassles of driving into London to get there. No expensive train tickets for each member of the family either. In fact we may even be very lucky and find our local coach firm are running a trip there on the weekend of the event.

I went to Bluewater myself at the end of last year. Very nice place, the whole shopping centre is built inside an old quarry. The shops are a little small, but there are lots of them, and plenty of places to go for a drink after the long drive, as well as something to eat later.

I wasn't planning on going to any Showmasters events next year, as I won't go into London, regardless of who is going, and it's unlikely I will be going back to any draughty, smelly stadiums either.

Let's just hope this one isn't cancelled like the September MK Shopping Centre one was.

[tonystarkben]

jediwarrior, on Oct 2 2011, 05:07 PM, said:

It's not a bad drive for me, but I'll only go if there are a couple of guest I want to meet. Please can we cut down on the Dr Who's guest this time. I know it's popular and I enjoy the show but just to many at the moment.

I agree - I loved LFCC but i skipped the last event as it just seemed to be either Dr Who / Harry Potter and i'm not a fan of either

[miffy72]

Does anyone know when the website for Bluewater will be available???

[DavidB]

No set time i'm afraid.

Everything will be announced on here when sorted, so just keep an eye out - it'll be in the relevant event section.