Brent Sellers

Review of Bell Studio

This is an entertaining and interactive place to v...

This is an entertaining and interactive place to visit, but it could benefit from a few tweaks for family-friendliness.

We visited as a family with three young children for the Fred Penner concert on Family Day. It was really nice to have a Canadian icon brought in for no additional charge beyond the admission price.

Our kids loved the interactive displays, and the place is beautiful in its architecture and modern and clean. It was very busy, which is both nice to see but also adds some elements of complexity to the trip.

With that many people in the building, several of the displays were overrun and very crowded, even some hallways became choke points.

Having spent $70+ on admission, our aim was to spend the better part of the day. During the day it was especially difficult finding a place to eat and using the washrooms. Plus, your mostly carrying stuff around as there weren't any lockers it seemed.

There's really only the one cafe on the bottom floor that has tables in it, it can hold about 50 people tops from the looks of it, and it was packed. This left us looking around for a bench to eat at, which meant us and many other families doing the same thing with little kids were eating all over the building in areas not really designed for food.

There are washrooms on each floor, but they are small. Two urinals and one stall for the guys, and four stalls for the ladies. With hundreds of guests in the building, this meant it was nearly always a wait or a hike up or down (and sometimes still a wait) to use the facilities.

Additionally, "concert" goers should know that arriving early and lining up doesn't really guarantee any benefit in the seating arrangement. We arrived before 10 AM, waited at the main doors, then waited to get our tickets scanned, then waited until 10:30 for the theater doors to open, only to be on the one side of the theater that they opened second. So, although we were third in line on our side of the theater, we still barely got seats at the back because they let the other side of the theater enter first.

So, pro tips (or keep-your-sanity tips for parents):

1) Go with managed expectations for concert seating.
2) Leave anything you don't want to carry around in the car if possible. Your ticket is good all day, just keep it with you for reentry. The complimentary coat check is a nice touch.
3) Be prepared for crowds and lines on holidays and weekends.
4) Arrive early for parking close to the building.

Finally, Studio Bell, maybe note the sharp corners on the toilet paper dispensers in the washroom stalls. Our kid took a nasty jab from one just trying to flush the toilet.