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Milton Keynes


Ironside
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One thing that bugs the hell outta me...why is there main shopping centre INDOORS??! I suppose this time it was actually a good thing because the weather was crappy most of the time. FOOD!...is another pain, everything is so expensive there, and most places want to charge you extra for eating in, i don't know if its just me but i couldn't find a single Greggs! I had to spend too much money on food and drink.

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One thing that bugs the hell outta me...why is there main shopping centre INDOORS??! I suppose this time it was actually a good thing because the weather was crappy most of the time. FOOD!...is another pain, everything is so expensive there, and most places want to charge you extra for eating in, i don't know if its just me but i couldn't find a single Greggs! I had to spend too much money on food and drink.

 

 

i love the fact that its indoors - i can wear a t shirt no matter what time of year it is (unless its near the john ewis doors!), and i dont have to lug about a coat or an umbrella if the weather is crap! i dont like looking like a bag lady carrying upteen things.

 

and as far as food goes - you'd think that food is an cheaper at earls court etc? last time i went to wembely i paid £3.50 for a hotdog!!! I agree a greggs could be good, but other than that its no different to any other shopping centre, and cheaper than an exhibtion/entertainmetn venue. The place has an excellent selection of places to eat, (very nice soup and salad place over near debhamans) spread out over a large area for using of time whilst waiting to meet guests or to make it into a day out if you're only there for one or two.

 

please keep it in MK. Sure its a weird place, but thats the beauty of it.

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Ok...another thing, again i dont know if its just me...but OMG how far do you have to walk to take a ****?? The toilets seem far from the main area. True it is a better venue than an exhibition centre, you can expect to pay £1.50+ for a bottle of coke in those places.

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One thing that bugs the hell outta me...why is there main shopping centre INDOORS??!
Whaaaat? Aren't all shopping centres indoors?? What's wrong with indoors anyway? CM aint exactly an open air summer concert. Edited by nicky
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Ironside, I think when you've done a few conventions where you're basically stuck in 1 place all day with the choice of 1 restaurant/cafe and nothing else to do but sit on the floor to wait your turn for an autograph/photo/talk, then you'll come to appreciate how great it is to have Collectormania at Milton Keynes. The hotels/restaurants/shops/shopping centre and clean and well laid out and it makes life so much easier to go there for most fans than anywhere else. I personally prefer it to Earls Court in London, even though I live in London, as it's all there for me in one place once I'm there and I actually like the 'American' feel to the place.

 

Yes! I couldn't put it better myself. I've only been from the train station to the centre so haven't seen anymore of MK, but I agree it's not much to look at. However, as others have said the value of having it in a shopping centre is not seen many other places. Who hasn't found themselves with ages to wait until a ticket is called. At least at MK you have things to do. At many other cons/events i've found myself sitting on a concrete floor staring into the distance as ther is nothing to do. You can only look at the trade stalls so many times.

 

Collectormania is by far the least boring event to go to.

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Last time I visited MK I really didn´t like it. This time around I didn´t mind that much maybe because I knew what was waiting. I also stayed in a hostel outside MK in Bradwell Village this time which was very cozy with geese wandering around, so I didn´t spend the entire days in central MK.

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One thing that bugs the hell outta me...why is there main shopping centre INDOORS??!
Whaaaat? Aren't all shopping centres outdoors?? What's wrong with indoors anyway? CM aint exactly an open air summer concert.

 

Well i didnt exactly mean it like that, i meant it as though thats alls MK has, ive been before on a hot summers day and ive been stuck indoors the whole time, do they even have a high street? I live in Birmingham where theres a lot of choice for a day out, so i guess im not used to how small some other places can be, but man id seriously hate to live in MK

Edited by freefall
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One thing that bugs the hell outta me...why is there main shopping centre INDOORS??!
Whaaaat? Aren't all shopping centres outdoors?? What's wrong with indoors anyway? CM aint exactly an open air summer concert.

 

Well i didnt exactly mean it like that, i meant it as though thats alls MK has, ive been before on a hot summers day and ive been stuck indoors the whole time, do they even have a high street?

 

as Milton Keynes is fairly new...40 years is new in town/city terms....it wasn't designed like your typical town or city.....as most cities and towns are villiages that have just expanded and grown together.....Milton Keynes was built from scratch....with the shopping centre being the focal point....no different than say blue water or lakeside...with homes and offices then built around it.....Bletchley is in Milton Keynes....but is much older and has your typical high st!

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Ok...another thing, again i dont know if its just me...but OMG how far do you have to walk to take a ****?? The toilets seem far from the main area. True it is a better venue than an exhibition centre, you can expect to pay £1.50+ for a bottle of coke in those places.

 

There are toilets in John Lewis, which is right next to Middleton Hall, where the event is.

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The fact people are calling it wierd is making me chuckle :wub:

 

I don't honestly know where you're getting the idea that places like McDs, pizza Hut etc are expensive!! They're the best of their kind!! It certainly helps keep the expenses down when you have places like that to eat.

 

And too true about having things to do whilst waiting for your ticket number to come up.

 

There's also toilets in costa which is right by a selection of the guests.

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I do feel sorry for people whose only glimpse of MK is from the railway to the centre as i can appreciate how built up it looks. Venture out and about and you will find more green prk areas than most cities. Wonderful areas like Willen, Furzton and caldecotte lakes. A wonderful theatre with its restaurants and bars and the xcape building.

The roads are easy and free flowing that when travelling around the worst delays are around th centre where there are traffic lights not roundabouts.

As for food and drink there are burger king Mcdonalds pizza hut but also giraffe and lets eat and a cornish pastie shop plus the food court and sainsburys 2 mins walk away aswell as restaurants in BHS, JOhn Lewis and Debenhams. All of these at fair prices rather that the inflated ones at Earls court eg about 60p for kit kat or packet of crisps

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I have a real sentimental attachment to Milton Keynes -

Look at these pics and see if you can recognize why...

 

PDVD_008.jpg

 

PDVD_012.jpg

 

PDVD_013.jpg

 

And nothing has changed there since 1986. Even the sets used for the Daily Planet look exactly the same. MK Rocks!

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I have a real sentimental attachment to Milton Keynes -

Look at these pics and see if you can recognize why...

 

PDVD_008.jpg

 

PDVD_012.jpg

 

PDVD_013.jpg

 

And nothing has changed there since 1986. Even the sets used for the Daily Planet look exactly the same. MK Rocks!

 

 

its true a Superman film was filmed in Milton Keynes......just don't tell them which one! :smile:

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I here comments like this a lot from people who's only experience of Milton Keynes is a visit to the shopping centre! You need to stay a while to really appreciate how great it is - If you don't like it stay away! As for the shopping centre as a venue its great - free and you have lots of other things close by to entertain you while you wait for your VT number to come up.

Dedicated venues don't offer this.

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MK is great for CM. I used to go to events in Basildon and it was awful - nowhere to get food as it was held in a leisure centre, and a really unpleasant atmosphere if you went to the town centre. The trains were usually affected by engineering works as the events were always on Sundays. I'm glad that events aren't held there any more. As for food, in MK you can get a meal at Boots for under £3. Or bring a packed luch and you save even more.

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I love MK, it's hard not to when you get to visit the lovely 'shopping centre' we have here in Luton!!!

AND strange but true fact - Cliff Richard once made a music video up the John Lewis end, I kid you not. I was watching VH1 one afternoon and I saw him roller skating! up and down, and I got all excited because C11 was just round the corner.

 

As for prices of food etc, well there are plenty of places to eat, it just depends on your taste and price range.

 

It's true that once you have been to a few cons here you will truly come to love it, and strangely it will feel like coming home twice a year.

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*flexes fingers* where to start!!

 

MK certainly does feel like home when you spend 4/5days there even only twice a year! (but I've been loads of times between events visitng friends / Christmas Forum meet / gig in the Bowl) :chair:

 

who who ever it was said there are no decent hotels, you are having a laugh!!! there is a Ramada and Jurys 5mins from the bottom of the shopping centre and if that's a bit pricey, the Travel Inn over by Xscape and the Travel Lodge by the station, just for starters, all of which are within a short walk to the bottom of the shopping centre! and we only paid £26 for our rooms in the TL so don't say it's all expensive either!! :P:D

 

as for food, yes places like Costa and M&S and Starbucks ARE expensive for food and drinks (£3 for a hot choc is to me but then I'm a poor student who only tends to go into Starbucks/Costa for a treat) but really it's not unless you are used to cafes that just give you a cup big enough to hold a few mouthfuls :D

Boots do a "meal deal" and M&S also do sarnies and then BHS (which also does potatoes), Debenhams and John Lewis offer a sit-down restuarant/cafe. if that doesn't take your fancy, there's Burger King, McDonalds, Pizza Hut (which is hardly expensive, espesh when a few of you share a pizza or two!) Subway (or that Subway type place in the outside-y bit near M&S?) or even the market! they do very nice chinese take-out or if you'd rather the traddisional burger and chips off a van? there is a Sainsburys, Waitrose(?) AND an Iceland a few mins accross the road from where Collectormania is held and if you'd prefer something a bit more up-market, there's Nandos, Ask, Frankie & Benies and a whole heap of places at Xscape which is just a few more minutes on! also Hagen Daz icecream, yummy! oh and not to mention a WHETHERSPOONS pub which has meals roughly 2 for £6/7 so how people say it's expensive amazes me!!! Not to mention TGI Friday's Yates, another Pizza Hut, Elements all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet and others to the right of the supermarkets! SPOILT FOR CHOICE!!!! :chair:

 

you go to ANY other event eg Docklands, N EC, Earls Court and there will be about one shop selling sarnies crisps and chocolate and one selling "coffee"!!! oh and each sandwhich is about £3.50 ;)

 

I do wish there was a Gregs! cause in Cardiff city centre we have 4! :chair: but we also have a Primark, H&M and other "lower-class" shopping places MK doesn't have :( it's too posh haha!! still amazed there's a Card Warehouse tbh!! LOL!

 

anyways, as for "please move it to the middle of the country" that's just selfish!!! :o what about people who live in or near MK? (which isn't me btw!) there's already the N EC for the Middlands! True I do wish SM would do an event in Cardiff cause it's about time we had one in Wales seeing as there is now one in Scotland!! :chair:

 

as for it being in a shopping centre, that's what makes Collectormania unique (though not the MK part now cause of Glasgow :D) and fun! it's truely a location you can take the whole family cause of all the other stuff there is to do! (cinema, ski slope - which is cool to watch too if you don't wanna try - wall climbing, arcade, bowling...!) though it is true you appreciate it alot more when you've been to a proper convention (epesh in a hotel at Heathrow HAHA!) or a location like the N EC or the Docklands that are truely in the middle-of-nowhere where there is NOTHING else to do while you're waiting for autograph numbers or photoshoots. Atleast Earl's Court and GMEX have streets with shops and pubs etc near by!! :chair:

 

unfortunately, most movie threatres seem to be like that these days :( had simular problem when we went to see Spidey 3 after Collectormania at Cineworld on the Monday, damn chavs lol!!

 

 

phew anyways that's all for now folks! :chair:

 

surfy sah xx

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Milton Keynes rocks!!

 

before any more of you bash it i suggest you all pay a visit to my wonderful town of stony stratford, just down the A5 from central milton keynes, literally 10-15 mins drive and you'll see why i love this place!! My house has plenty of character, was built in the 1800s so...yeah I don't complain about it having no character - stony has a LOT of history and its wicked!! as for central milton keynes - food prices? where do you eat? i have no problem with the price of food - its generally quite cheap but maybe thats because i haven't ever lived anywhere cheaper! :blink:

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Milton Keynes rocks!!

 

before any more of you bash it i suggest you all pay a visit to my wonderful town of stony stratford, just down the A5 from central milton keynes, literally 10-15 mins drive and you'll see why i love this place!! My house has plenty of character, was built in the 1800s so...yeah I don't complain about it having no character - stony has a LOT of history and its wicked!! as for central milton keynes - food prices? where do you eat? i have no problem with the price of food - its generally quite cheap but maybe thats because i haven't ever lived anywhere cheaper! :D

 

I live in Yardley Gobion not far away from you at all. :blink:

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Milton Keynes is closer for me than London and still has a Krispy Kremes so I think it is great! By the way I did report the rat problem at the front of the centre near Midsomer Blvd (I think) so hopefully that will have been dealt with to some extent before the next event!

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