Magic Alley — Attraction in Stratford-on-Avon

Last Friday (22nd December, 2023), we had the absolute pleasure of fulfilling a long-held dream by visiting the enchanting Magic Alley in Stratford upon Avon for their 'Christmas in the Crystal Kingdom' extravaganza.

Describing the sheer wonder of our journey from start to finish is a challenge, but it was nothing short of extraordinary. It was a truly enchanting experience for the children, and the interactivity throughout was a delight. To preserve the surprises that make this adventure special, I won't divulge all the enchanting details in this review, but I can assure you it was nothing less than awe-inspiring.

The experience offers three distinct 'quests' tailored to different age groups of children. Our eldest, Max (8), was in his element, exploring meticulously decorated rooms, solving puzzles, cracking riddles, decoding pictures, and discovering hidden letters. It's a unique experience unlike anything we've encountered before, and Max has already insisted that it must become a yearly tradition!

I would recommend that children are proficient in reading and writing to fully enjoy this interactive adventure. Max felt so grown-up, tackling each puzzle independently, while Mia (7), who faces several hidden disabilities (she's non-verbal, severely autistic, has sensory processing disorder, hypermobility, and more), excelled with my assistance, and Holly (3) simply reveled in every room ️.

Every character we encountered along the way was a delight - friendly, astonishingly helpful, and deeply engaged with the children. Their costumes were utterly charming, and there were endless opportunities for capturing precious family photos.

And then, the pinnacle of our journey, meeting Santa and his elf helper, was an experience beyond words. Undoubtedly one of the most remarkable grottos with the most realistic Santas we've ever had the privilege of encountering. The children were utterly captivated.

To Sam Jenkins and the entire team at Magic Alley, you are all truly exceptional. Your unwavering dedication transformed this into a magical experience, and every detail left us in sheer amazement. 'Christmas In The Crystal Kingdom' was a masterpiece, from the very beginning to the grand finale. I can't recommend it highly enough. I also thoroughly enjoyed perusing the charming shop both before and after our adventure.

If you haven't had the chance to visit this year, make sure to mark your calendars for Christmas 2024 when tickets become available. It's an absolute must!

We had an...

Really wanted to like this place. The staff were friendly and welcoming. Plus, my family and I are nerds and the description of it being a bit like an escape room with puzzles to solve sounded like the kind of thing we'd enjoy. The positive reviews about it being quirky and fun were also encouraging. I did flinch a bit at the cost: £27 for 2 adults and a child seemed steel for something that was said to last about 40 minutes, but thought it'd be worth it. I was wrong. The questions on the sheet we were given were along the lines of: what year did so-and-so arrive in such-and-such a place. To find the answer, one had to trawl through several boards of dense text (bear in mind, we're a family of readers who normally enjoy reading!) that appeared to be in no logical order and, for the life of us, seemed random and incoherent from room to room. By room 3 we had given up trying to find a story and had taken to skimming the boards for key words from the questions so that we could answer them and move on. In each room there's a "magic word" and a "magic number" to discover - by 'discover' it turned out they meant look for them written on a sign in a prominent place in the room. At the end, one had to rearrange the letters from the magic words and add up the magic numbers (be prepared to refresh your memory of adding fractions...). There was no thinking involved, no puzzling out, just reading and answering comprehension questions that, quite frankly, were boring and something the year 4s at my school would have complained bitterly about. I have no idea who this is aimed at: older children will be bored, and younger children will find the reading too much to process. Thick adults won't manage the reading or maths, clever adults won't be sufficiently stimulated. I'd suggest £3 per person would be a more palatable cost for an activity that passes the time if this place wants to avoid more...

If I could give this a 0 I would, but unfortunately I can’t.

I visited Magic Alley at the weekend as a tourist with family. My son loves this type of thing so we were really looking forward to it. We left absolutely gobsmacked.

My sister picked up a candle that had a TKMax price of £5.99 on the side and a Magic Alley price of £19 on top of the lid. She went up to the counter to ask about this as she was confused. The young lad wasn’t sure so asked his colleague, I think the rude colleague’s name was Barry, but can't be 100% certain. My sister said that she didn’t want to spend 3 times more than the original price they paid for it and was basically told to leave, and that’s putting it nicely. Now I must add here that my sister was NOT rude, did not use any type of awful tone or do anything to receive that disgusting behaviour and attitude. She also had her 4 year old daughter at the side of her!

I turned my son around and told him I would not give my business to a place like that. My sister spoke to the owner about this but he didn’t seem bothered to be honest and basically brushed her off.

I would have thought that at a place like Magic Alley, which looks on the outside to be very family orientated, they would actually have staff who treat the customers with respect. I will not be returning if I am ever in that area again. Shame on them!

So, if you want to be outrageously overcharged and treated like something on the bottom of that man’s shoe then this is the place for you!!! If not, there is a lovely shop around the corner with lovely staff and lots of Harry Potter, Lord of the rings and Game of...