Game of Thrones Studio Tour — Attraction in Ireland

The tour was AMAZING, 5/5 BUT, could be 10/5. Fast review: 40£, you really like game of thrones, you will enjoy it a lot, in the second you start the tour, you will be wordless!!!. Audio guides only on English.

Long review:

We (my bro and I) want to thanks Miguel, who speaks Spanish! And really made a difference there, we spoke like 30 minutes and enjoyed it a lot, we could talk for an hour more and still enjoy and have more to talk haha, so thanks a lot!! People there are so kind and what to talk and tell their experience in the museum or GoT world, so talk to them, ask questions, they will happily answer. So, why I said it could be 10/5? Because many details are missing, and details are VERY import for the user experience. Here I explain some that could be amazing to be there:

First of all: the videos MUST have subtitles/captions for hearing impaired users (me). Also, there should be something for blind or deaf people, not sure if there was something, but I'm sure there are fans of GoT with other disabilities.

2: it's a bit tedious to get there: we were in Belfast, so we have to take a bus to Banbridge, then a bus to get to a boulevard, and THEN another bus to go linen hill studio where is the tour. The third bus should start on the Banbridge station, then go to the boulevard (for people who goes with car or anything to there). Also, there should be a giant sign on the Banbridge station that explains how to go there, maybe with GoT design or a character explaining it.

3: it felt that there should be more signs, prints or stuff around the station or the boulevard center, characters printing, music, dragon printings, anything. The bus that took us from the boulevard to the studio, was printed outside, but inside was a regular bus lol, imagine how better could be if you enter and see a bus printed with game of thrones design, flames, characters, dragons, rocks, tv with some scenes, anything! Even there is no music at all. The same when you reach the studios, it could be amazing to see flames, dragons, spears, anything when you walk to the doors to enter inside. The guards could be dressed If they like, it could be amazing to see that, or maybe some printings of security or jail at the bottom, anything. It seems a bit just like made a museum with the minimum effort, don't get me wrong I loved and really enjoyed it!

4: it could be nice to have a room with "mature" content... This means blood, head, spears, prisión, etc, it's game of thrones and no blood or dead people!

5: it would be amazing to have people dresses as guards, in black, white walker, main characters, anything, you can take a pic & if you like a professional photo you can add it to the pack of photos.. something like this, free and an extra to the photo pack so it's more convincing to spend 16 /26£ for photos... Also, there should be something to dress, like a guards, shirts/armor/dresses. Or Lifting a real sword and shield taking a picture with a guard or a lady, maybe "fighting" someone, or maybe a sword show or a fight or something, it could be much more than a simple tour/museum!!

6: the shop could be more amazing, variety of stuffs, and good stuff. Same with th food on th cafe; thematic food!!!

I think that's all I can think in one day. A very short review hehe this is the longest review I ever made, it shows that I really like game of thrones and the world of Westeros! Imagine the possibilities and how amazing could be this place!! The user experience is not only the service (museum) it's the before (website, bus, travel) and the after (services, photos, travel, etc).

Again thanks a lot the crew and everyone, specially Miguel for making the tour better and giving us a great experience!

Matt S Levy - Writer & Designer |...

Wonderful day out with the kids to round out the summer holidays. As a big GoT fan, this was a somewhat selfishly motivated treat to myself after taking time off to care of the kids all summer. I was concerned, as all to young to watch the show, a lot of this would be lost on them, but the facilities were such that I needn’t have worried.

My first concern was parking etc, not being familair with Banbridge or the Boulevard. Zero issues here, tonnes of parking here and right next to the Visitors Centre and bus stop. We arrived early, and spent 40 minutes walking around The Boulevard.

After checking in at visitors centre, you are led up to the bus, where a short trip takes you to the exhibition suite.

Grabbed a quick coffee, and held off on visiting the gift shop, and then headed into the exhibit.

The whole thing is just stunning for fans of the show. I’d recommend the audio guide, narrated by Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei) and includes lots of interviews. The only knock on this was, it will autoplay onto the next clip, so there’s lots of interaction with the device (a captive mobile phone) as you navigate the exhibition. This was challenging for the younger members in our family (9 & 10) and they required assistance.

The exhibition itself was pretty stunning. Great to see so many of the costumes & props. You move through various locations (Winterfell, Castle Black etc) and it culminates in the ruins of the throne room. Throne room aside, I loved the Great Hall of Winterfell and the Dragonstone map table (just amazing to see that in person). There were quite a few interactive sections for the kids, they enjoyed the bow & arrow game, and using the screens available to take their photo for temporary display on the Hall of Faces (they spent 10 minutes on this alone).

We had lunch in the restaurant, good food and reasonably priced.

The gift shop was a dream for GoT fans. Lots of goodies here and all well priced (no merch price gouging here), and I could have spent a fortune.

Staff were very friendly and helpful throughout.

If you are a GoT fan, this is well worth a visit. I think there’s enough here to be on interest to anyone else as well. The fact that the show itself isn’t for kids shouldn’t put you off brining them, the kids loved it.

Looking forward to the new Conquer the Skies Dragon Ride coming in October this year! We’ll be back when...

Absolutely amazing. From the experience of first arriving and waiting for the shuttle to first walking into the entrance and having photos taken in front of the green screen. Each and every team member was so engaging and really embraced their role. The person who took our pictures before we saw the introductory film was amazing. He got us in character for several of the photographs. Once we entered the area where the movie was played to introduce us to the studio tour, the doors opened and dense fog rolled in higher than my waist and developing you into this world of game of thrones. It was transporting and engaging all the senses to see the high-quality displays of the actual costumes from the series was incredible. The set displays were so well done every detail was expertly crafted. There was a place where you can make your own schedule and it was really cool. Then some of the props from the movie like the armory and the swords and the long bows and crossbows you could actually try them out and see how they worked and how big they actually are. Also the enormous crossbow that was created for the scene that shot at the dragons outside of Westeros was incredible how detailed and functional it was. Then moving onto the dragon skulls and in comparison to the size of an adult human, how actually enormous they are. The tour can last as long as you like it is almost like a living museum, with music playing and many things to read and you can get the audio tour if you want as well. They had restroom facilities available, and they were clean and well cared for, they had a smoking designated area as well , which was also very tidy and covered. The tour finished off as you enter the gift shop, which was incredibly well put together and I felt the pricing was very fair. The only disappointment I had was they charge you to have your picture taken on the actual throne, I felt like with the cost of the tour. It should have at least included one picture that you could take with your own camera on the throne. Overall, the entire experience was above and beyond what I expected. The shuttles were very clean and comfortable with courteous drivers. Highly recommend...