Tuesday, July 30, 2013

The London Eye

*I received two complimentary tickets for the purposes of review.


I'm sure that I've mentioned several million times, that I'm terrified of heights.
REALLY, really afraid of heights.  The staircase in our new house even makes me nervous. 

You may recall that about a month ago, I decided to tackle that fear head on and went up to the top of the tallest building I could find,  The Shard.
And I did it!  I was so proud of myself. 
In fact, I was so proud that I might have gotten a bit cocky.

Surely I could tackle The London Eye.  No problem.
(Well, other than the hyperventilation and sweaty palms.) 

And I did it.  I went up in the EDF Energy London Eye


Twice. 

The EDF Energy London Eye 
The first time was with Matthew.  We started with the 4D film in the visitor center.  It's just a few minutes long, but beautifully done.  It actually brought a tear to my eye.
It's a love letter to London.
 
The EDF Energy London Eye

Then we fast tracked it to the base of the wheel and stepped into the capsule as it moved slowly along the platform. (They can and will stop the ride if you need more assistance getting on.)

 I immediately parked it on the bench in the center of the capsule and got out my security blanket cell phone .  (I'm surprised it didn't slip out of my sweaty hands.)  I thought tweeting and instagraming through the next 30 minutes would help and it did.
I got a lot of very helpful encouragement.   Thank you so much!! 


The EDF Energy London Eye

The EDF Energy London Eye

The EDF Energy London Eye

The EDF Energy London Eye

The EDF Energy London Eye

The EDF Energy London Eye

The EDF Energy London Eye 
The capsule is very spacious.  There were about 20 people with us but it didn't feel crowded.  Everyone walked around and took pictures of the beautiful views.  I just handed the camera to Matt and didn't move from my spot.   I pretty much held my breath until we were on the very top and slowly let it out as we came down the other side.  

The EDF Energy London Eye

The EDF Energy London Eye

The EDF Energy London Eye

 Being terrified, I was hypersensitive to every little movement.  The capsule wobbles a bit as people move around or it stops and starts to let someone on.  But I'm sure it feels slow and steady to anyone not on hyper alert with a very vivid imagination.  

The EDF Energy London Eye

The EDF Energy London Eye

The EDF Energy London Eye
 
I was happy to hop off and consider Project Conquer Fear a huge success.


The EDF Energy London Eye

The EDF Energy London Eye

We then made our way to the London Eye River Cruise.  By the time the 40 minute boat ride along the Thames was over, I was completely recovered. 
I love the Thames.  I could float up and down it all day long and never tire of the views. 

A few days later, I was invited by SouthBankLondon.com to explore South Bank with them.

I love the South Bank, so of course I jumped at the chance.

Guess what was number two on the agenda... yep.  The London Eye
So, I put on my professional blogger hat and fearlessly...
not really.  I stepped into the capsule, sat down on the bench and didn't budge.

Several people in the group spoke to me, I have no idea what I said to them.

I can only imagine. 
 
Luckily, the Press Manager for the London Eye was with us and completely distracted me with fun facts about the wheel. 

The EDF Energy London Eye

 Here are just a few:


1.  On a clear day you can see as far as Windsor Castle, about 25 miles. 

2.  It can carry 800 people per rotation, equivalent to 11 double decker buses.  10,000 people a day take a trip around the wheel, an average of 3.75 million visitors. 

3.  There are 32 capsules, one for each London borough.  But, they skipped unlucky number 13 so they are numbered to 33.  

4.  It's the fifth tallest structure in London and UK's most popular paid for visitor attraction. 

5.  It's not a ferris wheel.  It's the world's tallest cantilevered observation wheel with fully enclosed and climate controlled capsules positioned on the outside of the structure. 

6.  American movie star Jessica Alba holds the record for overseas celebrity that has gone around the most... 31 times so far.  

The EDF Energy London Eye

I haven't completely conquered that fear of heights yet.
But it is certainly not preventing me from experiencing London. 

Planning Your Trip to the London Eye


 Adult Standard tickets are £19.20 (16+),Children £12.30 and under four are free.
Prices go up from there depending on Flexi and Fast Track options.
They also offer a full range of combination ticket options.


For general information on the EDF Energy London Eye
and a 10% discount on bookings, visit www.londoneye.com.

The London Eye is open all year round except for Christmas Day 

and one week in January for annual maintenance. 

The hours of operation are 10am to 9pm from June to September and 10am to 8pm from October through to May. 

The County Hall ticket office is open from 9:30am each day. 


Have you been in up in the London Eye?
What did you think?

 

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 *I received two complimentary tickets to The EDF Energy London Eye and River Cruise
for the purposes of review.
I also visited the London Eye as a guest of South Bank London.
All photos, writing and opinions are my own.  (Actually Matthew took most of these.)
As always, I promise to be open, honest and transparent with my readers.
If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.


You can find this review and many others in my
London Attraction Guide.

17 comments:

  1. We loved the London Eye. We had clear skies too so the view was wonderful... we got a lot of photos. :)

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  2. What a beautiful day you had!!!
    Would you say The Shard or the London Eye was better in terms of views? I have yet to do either as I am waiting for a visitor to want to do one of them.

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  3. Hi Selena! Your pictures are beautiful!

    Thanks for sharing this touristy post on London! I will definitely be pulling this post back out when my husband and I finally move to London. We are currently preparing for our move to London, as my husband was relocated to London with his firm. Ironically we are accountinf/finance as well! My husband works for KPMG and I previously worked for Crowe Horwath.

    I also just started a blog that will chonicle our adventures as expats and discuss the challenges and obstacles with moving abroad!

    I would love it if you would take a peek at my blog.

    Mary @ Living our Life like a Song

    http://livingourliveslikeasong.blogspot.com/

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  4. I went on it maybe 6 or 7 years ago, all I can remember is that it was really hot and it felt like being stuck in a greenhouse.
    I'm doing some mentoring at the moment and my mentee wants to go on it so ill probably be going on it again soon.
    My friend works on the eye and she always has a good story to tell about it or the people in the queue.
    Love your pictures but I hate how dirty the Thames looks

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  5. I love the London Eye, and I am glad you braved it :) Awesome photos!

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  6. Look at you! You are practically a "Heights Expert!" The Eye is so worth it for the views! The last time I was in London I took a whirl on it first just to get my heart pitter-pattering about my favourite city again. It worked - I spent the next few days visiting and re-visiting all of my favourite sights that I had seen form the Eye. Thanks for bringing back some English memories!

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  7. Oh, this makes me want to ride again! On a clear day, though. It was just too rainy the day we went! That is really good to know that they'll stop the ride for people if necessary when loading. After watching them practically shove an elderly woman onto the pod, I assumed they didn't stop the wheel for anyone but royalty! ;o)


    What a bizarre fact - Jessica Alba must really enjoy London if she's visited that many times. Or maybe she's just stayed on the wheel for 31 rotations? ;o)

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  8. I have been to London now multiple times and never done the London Eye but always have wanted too... maybe next time! Gorgeous views of the city from up there!

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  9. Well done you! Lovely pictures. I miss my city sooo much!

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  10. Gorgeous pics! So awesome you conquered your fear!!!

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  11. I really, really want to go on that!
    P.S. You should be very proud of yourself for conquering your fear :)

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  12. I read this yesterday but it's such a pain to post on my phone, I really loved this post, I love how you write and I chuckled out loud when you said "I sat down and didn't budge"... You really make me smile. I've been to London 13 times in 5 years and I've yet to get on this bad boy, but I will, it looks a lot more roomy inside than I imagined that it would. I hope you're staying nice and cool in this heat... Tammy xx

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  13. what a fun trip!!!!

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  14. Well done, Selena! It is a fun thing to do - we've gone on a clear day and also at night over the Christmas holidays giving a stunning view of the city lit up. If you want to brave it again, I'd definitely recommend checking it out in December. :)

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  15. way to go! when i went to the eye for the first time, there was a wedding reception going on inside of it! guests were getting on and off different parts! so clever!

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  16. A wedding reception? How cool would that be!! Thanks so much for stopping by & commenting, Emi!!! xoxo
    Selena

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  17. im terrified of heights and this sunday im going on the eye with my son, i cant walk on bridges or go in glass lifts etc i literally freeze so im really nervous any tips other than shut my eyes!

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