KidZania London Reviews

Really sad and disappointed about our visit yesterday (29th dec 17). I took my 7 year old nephew who has been visiting us from Hastings for Christmas, he was so excited about the day! When we arrived to collect our tickets there was a lady complaining at customer services and becoming quite aggressive, my nephew was quite scared! The lady dealing with the complaint was very flustered and it was becoming more heated as we were waiting. The staff don t seem to have the customer service skills required to deal with such varying volumes and needs of people and families!
When we got through to the check in part we queued for an hour to get through and the staff were under so much pressure to get us in they explained absolutely nothing not even what the wristbands did and then said any questions? We actually had so many but we simply couldn t ask as there were just so many people waiting and she was clearly rushing us through.

No one was at the desk when we walked in so nothing explained to us so we spent most of the first 30 minutes wondering around trying to figure out what to do. We didn t get ANY activities done because the queues were literally ridiculous (30 mins minimum) and my nephew just wanted to go home! It was hot and overwhelming and the staff just seem to be so focused on the conveyor belt of getting people in and out we both felt really overwhelmed and stressed.
Was a real shame. Judging by the reviews left by other people on here recommendations to this place are very limited and I wish I had checked before I went. The owner seems to only respond to positive reviews which is a shame as there are some huge organisational, operational and staff training and development flaws as they all seem incredibly unhappy in their jobs and not inspired to help at all, it literally feels like chaos. Will not revisit and will not recommend!

This place is AWFUL!!! You have to queue for at least an hour just to get in and even more when you actually want to do an activity!!! It was understaffed, loud and there was no clear instructions on what to do! I am an eleven year old boy and I was looking forward to going. I left with my brother after half an hour of queueing for one of the activities, and it saddened me to see my NINE YEAR OLD sister leaving in tears. Everything was too crowded and the staff didn't care at all about us. Overall, I am disappointed by this experience and I thought waiting for my food in Byron Burger was more fun than this. I would give a no star rating but I can't.

Yours sincerely, Jamie Chetwood, aged 11

Called The POLICE - Will take this Public

Only few words.

My child is high risk of abducation. The school took them there today and her safety tracker showed she started moving miles away.

The kidzania people refused to allow me to get in touch with the school people.

I called the Police and I will report them to the BBC. They need some Gov.uk kick to straight up their procedures.

Estimate? People working there, have no children.

See you on live TV and I will make a documentary about your place.

It was amazing my kids loved it! I loved it to! It's child friendly! The children even get bank cards!

the lady in the cabin crew yelled at me to stop touching everything and you know that's what kids do it was small and you have to pay for some activities in real life you don't pay to work and its o exspensive for a 10 yr old and adult its nearlely 50 pounds and the air con tube climing you are literally getting free money there is nothing wrong with the air con tubes so that is a waste of time andits ment for little kids it is the crappyest descision westfields have done they could have put a soft play instead it would be much funner

Always a joy for my children even though they're now approaching an age where they may be outgrowing it.

I cannot confirm the other complaints concerning queues; it was a great day out. Certainly more tiring for the parents!

We visited at the weekend. Located on the top floor of Westfield shopping centre. Set in a simulated indoor "City" environment, on different floors. All the City facilities and Stores offer a hands on opportunity for your child to get involved. Each activity lasts approx 15 to 20 mins. From Policeman to catering stores, British airways Pilot to TV studio, pretty much every occupation you'll find it here. Kids earn money (like monopoly money) for activities completed, educational plus role play. Which can even be paid into the on-site Bank. Fantastic "work experience" fun for children. Safe, comfortable site, clean, plus secure (wrist tags worn by all). Would definitely recommend.

Great place for adventuring kids who want a great experience.

An excellent children's towns, full of exciting jobs and kidzania money, cash cards and machines. Worth the money and time taken to travel here.

My daughter has been coming to Kidzania since it first opened and loves the experience every single time! Fun and educational!

What a lovely way to spend the day with the kids! The kids had a blast going from activity to activity, so much variety and choice!

Great place for the kids lets them get into there own little world. The kids absolutely loved it and would recommend to any parent take them there

What an amazing place. My daughter loved it. 4 hours is not long enough. But still worth a 5 star....

Stressful waste of time. Staff couldn't be more uninterested in helping the children have fun. Best avoided and take the train to the coast instead.

It's a good idea to plan what activities you want to do before coming, as advised as there will be a lot of WAITING! Especially for the popular ones like Police, TV, Fireperson, etc.

In our visit, the staff at the Hotel were not assigning number badges correctly and as a result, numerous times, I saw children had to wait longer than necessary. The hotel staff attitude was not great either (hand on her hip and talking) - customer experience much to be desired!

We went during half term, so we should have expected it to be busy. Would be good to try this again on a less peak period.

My daughter did enjoy her time, but it's tiring for us adults!!

My daughter and her cousins went here, they thoroughly enjoyed it. They had over 4 hours and managed to go on several activites. The only downfall I would say is after spending most of the afternoon there and making a large amount of kidzania monies from the jobs they had done they eagerly awaited to see what they could buy in the shop with the money they had earned, it was quite ridiculous the amount of kidzania money you need to purchase a mere pencil or a rubber which was incredibly disheartening for the children. However, i would recommend as it is a unique experience and was enjoyable overall.

More time spent waiting for activities than doing them. Poor communication e.g. spent several minutes waiting for a 'bus tour' before finally going to find a member of staff who advised it only runs at weekends. No information to this effect on the actual bus stop we were standing at, which would have been helpful. Possibly if your kids we're around age 9-10 plus this might not be a horrible experience for parents as you could just sit and read the paper but with kids age almost 7 and 3 this was really hard going. Older child found long waiting times hard. There was very little for younger child to do and what was available to him was poorly equipped e.g. A room with a poor selection of books and puzzles with missing pieces, crayons but no paper. Another, better equipped area but toys which required batteries didn't work. There was a mini 'house' which was ok, a painting studio with only black paint available and no member of staff assigned to any of these areas to ask about anything. There's a feeling that there's little attention to detail here, staff not giving much thought to the visitor experience.

Terrible experience. We arrived there for the 2pm slot and apparently they had oversold tickets and the place was full so a chunk of people had to wait until other people left the premises but the front desk had no clue when that would be. What's the point of allocating 4 hour slots if they can't control who is there and when the previous group needs to leave?

By 2:30pm, the queue hadn't moved so I went to find a manager to ask for a refund and he actually said that waiting 30 minutes was not that bad and the queues were even worse upstairs!! What a joke.

Really chaotic and terrible customer service. Not an activity I'd recommend.

This place is fantastic! We just got back from there, in my kids can't stop raving about the great time the bed. They will running all over the place doing as many jobs as they could. The only problem is, now they don't want to see anything else in London. All they want to do is come back here.

Brilliant place for those over 4 and a good way for youngsters to learn the value of work and money.

My 10 year old twins visited here yesterday with 2 of their friends for their birthday and had been looking forward to it for months since they visited here with their school a year or so ago.

My wife and myself started looking round the shops, but had a text from my little boy in around 40mins to say he wanted to leave as they could not get on anything followed shortly by the staff at Kidzania to advise our little girl and her friend were in tears as they also could not get on anything.

We collected them well under an hour since they started and visited customer services to complain and request a refund, but all they could offer was for all of us to go back in and thr 4 hour clock start again - we advised there was no point as the queues were even bigger at the main entrance so the queues inside would be even worse so we got an EMAIL address to write to for complaints.

Like I say it put a real dampener on what should have been a very fun day and have travelled for well over 1.5 hours each way in car and tube to get there.

I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS PLACE TO ANYBODY AS KIDZANIA SHOULD CONTROL THE AMOUNT OF PEOPLE THEY LET IN!

Great experience even though it was running at a limited capacity due to covid

They refused the school group entrance despite having a booking and arriving 30 minutes early. They do not answer our messages on social media nor our telephone calls. The staff at Kidzania London have told me that it takes at least 24 hours to get an answer over the phone by the booking service. I am just apalled that my children had to go through this twice and that is not by accident but established abusive malpractice.

We visited Kidzania shortly after it opened and my children loved it. However on our three trips since it has progressively gone down hill, on our most recent and possibly last trip the queue to get checked it was huge and poorly organised and we weren't given maps. Inside the lines for activities we off puttingly long. The early years area needs a lot of attention as it hasnt worn well. The shop inside where the children spend their "Kidzos" had closed down and is now a poor excuse for a shop once you exit. My children couldnt do some of the less popular activities upstairs as a staff member of three or four just stood around chatting, informed me she couldnt start the session without 8 children in attendance! My children decided they'd had enough half an hour before our time slot expired. Such a lot of money (Christmas money on this occasion) for a disappointing day out.

Where do I start...
So I went here for my sons birthday treat he is turning 4...
But he couldn t go on anything, couldn t be a fire man or a police man he is seeing the fire Engine going around but couldn t go on it...
He had to watch his 7 year old brother and his cousins on it.
There is 8 things under 4s can do it, so it s not a family day at all...
Plus my boys have ASD & ADHD, their is nothing in place for that apart from a yellow wristband for mum and kids to wear so there carer can stay with them.
The lines are about 30/45mins long so waiting with them is hard work, let alone you only do a couple bits...
Don t waste your time or money.
It s not a place for under 4s or someone with special-needs!

My kid loved it and it gives your kids a nice sense of achievement.

Awful. Too busy they let too many people in. Way too busy and you have to queue for 45 minutes for a 10 minute activity. For everything you have to pay extra. No where to sit down and no where to go for adults. Kids were bored and fed up of waiting. We left an hour early. Very disappointed. Over priced. Would not recommend.

I visited kidzania Westfield london yesterday with my 2 boys, from start to finish we were treated like vips, even when the fire alarm went off and we all had to evacuate.. kidzania kept my children safe until I found them again, staff were friendly and helpful at all times. My boys enjoyed there time at kidzania earning money, the highlight was opening a bank account so they could save all there hard earned cash for when we go back and visit again. Next time I would have no worrys about leaving them to set about kidzania on there own whilst I go shopping in West fields. . Also it was exceptionally busy, but we didn't have to wait any longer than 20 minutes for each activity, will be going back very soon

Not even 1. Extremely expensive and you have to que 30 minutes everywhere

AMAZING!!! I absolutely loved it coming there with my school, lots of fun, creativity and some fun products to buy with 'KidZos'. If I'd get to describe it in my word I'd say it's a Disneyland... but cheaper and closer for the people of UK, we also should be thankful that they chose London as the next place for Kidzania... not those selfish and fluffy wussies from Paris who can't get enough enterteinment

Great idea but executed poorly. If you love waiting in line with your kids....This the place for you. Kids are supposed to get 5 to 6 activities done in the 4 hours you pay for. Mine only got 3 due do the horrible lines and the fact they they only take 8 kids at a time. Waste of money. The number of kids dramatically reduced in the evening after 4:30. This was a blessing since the kids spent most of their visit in lines. Hence the extra star.

Appalling. Extremely overcrowded. The amount of queuing for each shop is simply endless - you can't do the activities you want to do. On top of that you get people pushing in everywhere and general confusion. I found the staff in the karaoke section at around 11:30 this morning very obstructive and unhelpful. Some staff were stressed and impatient and didn't seem to know what they were doing. What's the point of having a queuing system of you just let people push in? For some activities, we queued for over half an hour and the kids were getting restless. SO frustrating. The idea of KidZania is good but it's just executed very poorly. I DO NOT recommend and will certainly never come back. Terrible experience.

Children loved it, but the down side is adults have to pay full price, just to stand around as they are now allowed to accompany children into the attractions.

great if your dropping the kids offf to shop but have to stay with the little ones best really to go in term time as absolutely heaving food a bit overpriced but grandaughters had a good time

Really good for young kids. Might be a bit childish for kids 11-14

Amazing place, going there tomorrow can't wait. Last time I went queued for about 20 mins which was alright .Normally hate Westfield but that time I loved it.

Very busy and have to wait a long time to do something

I read the reviews before I came today, I shouldn't have because me and mine loved it...some staff definitely stood out for us, that was the paramedics, cleaning service lady and "miss chicken Wing", they went the extra mile to really More

Removed most food making activities and nothing really to do

Kids loved it. Chance to sit and rest while they were busy

Research what to do when you get there but once you understand it - the place is really good.

ACTUALLY AMAZING I SWEAR TO GOD. NOT AS GOOD AS DUBAI BUT STILL LITTTTTTTT !!!! YASSS TURN UP

Fabulous day out for the kids and at a fair price. Only let down was at the end when kids went to exchange their Kidzania money. Mostly junk and nothing that they could afford anyway. Kids left dissapointed.

Excellent place to take kids 4 years and above...however certain experiences are earmarked for 7+ year olds only. You need at least 4 hours in this place. The kids will love the experience... Kids under 8 need to be accompanied by adult...For the grown ups there isn't much to do...but follow the children... But truly worthwhile for the money spent

Found some solace in the small, pretty uncomfortable and grubby Grown Up s Garden Shed until it was invaded by 10 or more shouting kids!

We did our Son s 4th Birthday here. It s fairly decent in there in terms of size and what it has to offer. A whole host of activities for kids to experience from the public service sector. It s a two storey facility with real-life activities and restaurants. Whilst it s a great concept, it s priced extortionately. Tickets for entrance I can understand, due to location this is acceptable. The food however if a rip-off. The kids obviously had fun and it s worth tucking it off the list, but we wouldn t go back here again.

If you go when it's quiet it's a good experience for children, but not so much when it's busy as they spend most of their time queueing. It's expensive especially for adults. Their argument is that adults can participate in some activities - but it's only to enable children to shool their activity - ie to be served on a plane or to be thre audience for the concert. If adults did not pay, or paid a nominal amount, I'd take the kids regularly

the place is quite good. went with school and there was a good amount of actives to do and they were very hands on which was good. it was a bit babyish for like 11+ and one problem was that my friend used her 75 kidzos on a kidzania credit More

I went with my school and I absolutely loved it so fun,friendly-staff,amazing a way to get ready for the challenges ahead of all of us kid's!!!.. FANTASTIC FOR KID's IT'S KIDzania.!!!!!!!!!!!

If there would be a zero star rating I would go for zero stars.

We used to be big fans of Kidzania based on our previous visits at their Bangkok branch and certainly Kidzania was high up on the list for this years London trip.

But we got extremely disappointed. The place is overcrowded by school groups which run around without supervision. In fact my kids qere run over twice. In addition, ques were extremely long in front of every activity. With an entrance ticket valid for 4hrs only, queing 40+minutes in front of every activity is simply not ok. Add to this that despite having a 4 hour ticket we were asked to leave 'the city' after 3.5hrs as they close at 15.30 and our 11.30 entrance ticket did only allow us to go in at 12 due to a long queue at entrance.

Also we had not been informed at time of ticket purchase about the closure of the stadium and theater due to school lunches - two activities, my kids were looking forward to.

Last but not least, the whole edutainment concept does not work as the kids are being told wrong things. Or can anyone please explain me why a fireman needs to pay in order to get to work while the police officer gets a salary? Sure in the whole concept kids shall learn to earn and spend money but having to spend money in order to go to work.... questionable lesson.

As mentioned we had been big fans and long time returning visitors to Kidzania Bangkok, they have similar school visits there, but it is much more under control and waiting times are acceptable.

Update: I spoke to management who is appreciative of the situation and sughested me to come again on a weekend day which is what I will do. Hopefully I will improve my rating then.

Totally amazing for children. I highly recommend.The boys had a great time. The activities caters for younger children as well which is nice. However find a time that is less busy so your children can fully enjoy all activities and have pictures taken at the end of each. We missed out on photos due to the large numbers of children in the facility so activity times had to be cut short.

Pros and cons of this place,

Pros:
Great concept
Nice selection
lots of fun.
Location is close to tube station

Cons:
Poor execution.
Long lines
Experiences 30-40 min wait!
idiot parents shouting and making kids cry,
AND STAFF DO NOTHING!?

Overall:
For all the pros there are cons. What I think should change is that, they should stop allowing parents in (unless in emergencies)

A amazing experience it was fab ( should be able to buy the passport with kidzoes not real money

My kids loved this. The experiences I felt were really well setup and didn't feel cheap at all. The kids working there (the real ones being paid) all seemed polite. Great experience for my 6 and 4 years old.

It is a wonderful place especially for older children learning to become adults

I found it really disappointing that there was a 4hr time limit - especially since children have to queue/wait for activities. I don't think there should be a limit if you have to wait! Sometimes you're waiting for 20+ mins for an activity then another 20+ mins for your child to complete the activity, so that's 40+ mins spent on just one activity! Wouldn't mind so much if there wasn't a time limit. Felt like we had to rush and always had the limit in mind (not really ideal for a day out is it?). This was on a weekday so I can only imagine the hell on a Saturday!

We had to wait 30 mins for our child to do the wall climbing (which your child has to pay for incidentally) because only 1/5 ropes were in operation! Then they only get a couple of minutes climb!



Finally, we weren't able to purchase anything from the shop as all of the items were 200+, so obviously you have to keep going back to earn more.

No chance lol

The children were not happy that you've made certain changes that they couldn't use their kidzos to make and buy

Brilliant idea!!! And was amazing inside, However the little shop at the end where they can spend their money that they've earned is rubbish! It does put a downer right at the end.

Absolutely fantastic, my son loved your and understood the value of money. A place where kids can learn life skills and money management. Open a bank account and spend the money earned.

I would say its a great place for kids but I thought that with time slots given it would be better organized felt we could only do a few activities as the ques were quite long for the popular jobs we were waiting at least 30 minutes just to do fireman job with a little one I think that is a long time..

KidZania is lots of fun for kids, when they're actually able to do an activity. I can't help but feel like the whole thing is a bit broken and you can easily spend more time waiting than doing anything.

There are three reasons you would have to wait for something:
- There's a birthday party and the station you want has been reserved, in which case it can be up to 45 minutes until it becomes available.
- There's a line... some stations run 15-20 minutes. If you're at the back of a long line you could easily wait 40 minutes
- The next session won't start for a while... this happened to us in the morning when nobody was there. In the afternoon, it seemed like all the stations ran back-to-back.

Other complaints

- Charging adults anything is ridiculous. There is nothing to do except watch your child. I can do that at home for free.
- Some very grumpy, unfriendly staff. Most were good but there were a couple who should find another job. Sheesh

Things that worked well:
- The stations were cool for the most part and the money system is fun for the kids and a good way of ensuring kids don't overuse the same activities again and again. The stations where you "earn" money are pretty fun too
- The pilot and firefighter stations were great, as were the pitstop and music studios
- very clean, including the toilets
- chillout area for parents

I think it's good, but better for slightly older kids where mum/dad can hang out in the cafe while the kids run riot. I'll go back but not for quite a while

Great place for a day out with kids. Ticket prices for adults don't make sense.

If you talk about a magic place for kids, this is the place. I love the concept and the experience.

Really expensive- but soooooo much fun for the little ones. My 9 year old had loads of fun. I wouldn't recommend for under 5's though- as probably too young to fully grasp the concept of making money, saving and spending.

Great way for children to learn the value of money and to be put in a playful work situation. Clean place nice staff very friendly and helpful. The children do not speak good English yet I could accompany them.

I was incredibly disappointed with KidZania.

Firstly the lifts were broken and I came with my 4 year old and baby. I had to take my pushchair up the stairs and down the stairs on my own and there was hardly anyone around to help me. When I asked someone they would point me to another person.



Kids have to wait 20-30 minutes for activities. We waited for 20 mins twice and parents pushed in front of us living my child crying twice. When I spoke to the person manning the activity they shrugged their shoulders, despite being me hold a 6 month baby and crying toddler.

The staff members manning the different sections were completely disconnected on how to talk to children. When my little one was in the Shell section it felt like a training day for SHELL. The children just looked up in a daze, bored. I got into an argument with one of the staff members when we chose to leave the group as my little one found it boring. They were talking as if they were on some street corner. She left the group of other kids to aggressively ask me why I was leaving. I said she was a little young and she beckoned me back and took it personally.

I also don't like the idea that there are brands littered every where sub consciously indoctrinating our children into knowing or liking these brands from an early age. It feels sinister. They enter and are given a wad of cash. These imaginative forms of role play do not need to be branded and so money led.

There was nothing given to us in a form of leaflet to know about activities going on such as reading in the library and the check in process was long winded all whilst being boiling hot. We were sweating before we got in.

I probably might have experienced it differently if my children were 6+ but this is not a place to go with kids if they are younger than this and omg DO NOT GO if you have a baby. It is so stressful.

I might ho back when they are older but there are lots of gaps and a lot of work that needs to happen to make this work.

I will not be going again. If you have a 3-6 year old I wouldn't waste your money. The wait tie for that age is too much, the early years is terrible and there isn't a sense of care for parents.

The 9 and 11 year olds that we took seemed to enjoy themselves

Went there after reading all the great reviews about Kidzania with my 3 children aged 2, 4 & 5. Great idea but executed all activities very very poorly. Its basically a theme park but activities instead of rides! Long waiting queues ruined the whole experience and staff were just rushed to fit everyone. Parents with young children can imagine waiting 20-30mins absolute nightmare. Specially with expensive ticket prices you would expect a much better and organised experience. Sorry but I will not be returning there again. I Recommend packing lunch, snack and drinks if you visit as food prices are extortionate and avoid busy period. Reason for my two stars are because the staff were great.

Good variety of activities for kids but overpriced for only 4 hours allowed so you can only do around 4 activities as will be queuing most of the time. Like all other theme parks, they should allow entry for the whole day if they're charging so much.

We were hoping for a nice day with the kids and all we got was horrid chaos. And a very expensive one. I'm still wondering how did they manage to ruin such a brilliant idea and turn it into a horrible experience?
They asked if we've been there before, said no. Welcome to hell, we don't care about you as you don't have a yearly pass. No maps, no explanation of the concept, no introduction for the kids to understand what's the deal with those money. Went in - angry parents at every corner, random kids, cars and staff running around. Left after some hours exhausted and with an angry kid.
Wish I had some energy left to ask for a refund but had a train to catch.
Don't bother going there if you want a nice day out with the kids - or go there if you have money and energy to waste.

Absolutely brilliant fun for all the family. Our kids love it here. Highly recommended.

Well I like everything about kidZaina apart from the "customer service desk on second floor" there is no lift to that floor. customers with pushchairs and people with mobility should use escalates which is dangers.

So dissapointed long queues and no staff training on how to manage a SEN child very rude staff. waste of money and absolutely nothing really to do for 3 to 4 year olds

On a concept level this place is amazing and it should be 5 stars but there was just a few things that really let down an otherwise amazing experience for the children.


My daughter didn't settle in very well so we had a phone call from her cousin and we went up to get her. One adult was allowed in to locate her! I sent my sister in as i wanted her to asses how my daughter was (they are always worse with mum!) and upon locating her it became clear she was scared of the loud noises and was not going to settle without an adult. This is not unusual for my daughter and no reflection on the attraction, however what is annoying is that no member of staff was with her to reassure her. She was left to her own devices walking around crying with her fingers in her ears and her cousins trying to reassure her. I was then made to pay for an adult ticket so that i could go in and settle her! I was expected to go back down the stairs 4 minutes outside of the building to que and buy a ticket. Im in a wheelchair so fortunately my mum did this for me but i still was not allowed in until they had their money all cutting into my daughters time!
Once settled (and she did settle just needed reassuring) it became quite clear to me that there is not enough staff around for children to be left. There is a lot of staff at the security check areas so no child can leave unattended and theres plenty of staff occupied in the attractions. However staff to wander around and check children where ok in between the attractions? If they where there i didn't see any in the 3 hours i spent. I only saw a member of staff wandering to take pictures. I feel there should be staff wandering around outside the buildings especially as there are so many other parents around either that or do not allow any child to be unsupervised by a parent.



3. 4 Hours is not enough time in busy periods as there is a lot of queuing involved. There should also me a system where as if a child started queuing before the end of there time limit and it runs out whilst in the que they are allowed to participate and asked to leave after the attraction. I witnessed a little boy being turned away after queuing for 25 minutes! Either more time is needed or pay for a certain number of attractions.

Saying all that we WILL visit again and my daughter loved it once she had the reassurance of mum. I would not leave her even with her cousins again however, as I do not see it as a childcare facility after visiting myself.
I felt the childs entrance price was fair as my child did a lot in her time there after she settled and the attractions where novel, unique and high quality.
I just hope that these issues will be addressed and that the bitter sweet feeling will be just sweet next time.

Children enjoyed it but I think it's overpriced and the gifts they got word not worth

Ok but token system is a joke. Price of items in shop are way above what tokens you can accumulate in possibly 10visits let alone 1. And they won't allow you to pay the difference. Been once that's enough