The WonderWorks by Hornby Hobbies — Attraction in Thanet

I recently visited the cafe at WonderWorks in the Hornsby building in Margate with my grandchildren for lunch, and was pleasantly surprised by the refurbishment. The space now feels much more open and inviting, with some really interesting features, including a fun replica of Del Boy's three-wheeled van, which certainly adds character.

Upon arrival at the cafe, despite only one person being ahead of us, there was a noticeable wait due to what appeared to be a mix-up with an order. I'm generally quite patient, so this wasn't a major issue for me. We ordered a jacket potato, a sandwich, and two children's meals (which came with a toy). The young man at the till seemed a little unsure and called over a young lady for assistance before he unfortunately left the till area. The young lady efficiently took over and completed our order, which came to just under £28.

We then sought out a table. We were warned there would be a bit of a wait for the food, which again was fine. However, we found our chosen table to be sticky. As I couldn't spot any staff nearby, we ended up cleaning it ourselves with wet wipes. Disappointingly, the two tables closest to us were still cluttered with plates and rubbish from previous customers when we left about forty minutes later.

When our food arrived, my sandwich had been forgotten. The young lady who brought the food was very polite and immediately apologised, explaining it hadn't been written on the order, and promptly went to make it. Once it arrived, I had no complaints about the food itself; it was good.

After lunch, we intended to visit the WonderWorks exhibition. There was a significant queue of at least ten people, many with arms full of items from the gift shop. We had a look around the shop while assessing the queue, but ultimately decided to call it a day as it was moving incredibly slowly.

Overall Impression:

While I appreciate the aesthetic improvements to the cafe and found the staff I directly interacted with to be friendly, there are definitely areas that could be improved. Keeping the cafe clean and ensuring tables are cleared promptly is essential. Some of the staff, particularly at the till, could benefit from a little more support and training to build their confidence. Additionally, an alternative queue for exhibition tickets, separate from the main shop purchases, would greatly enhance the visitor experience and reduce...

After months of being closed for renovation works, the Hornby Model Railways visitor centre has opened again as The WonderWorks Margate, occupying a smaller floor space; the paid for area is about the same size as the shop, which is about the same size as the cafe (which looks to be the same size as before). The Thomas layout has gone, as have the night time industrial layout, Harry Potter layout, bridges layout, N gauge layouts, Steam Punk layout and the large town layout that looped across rooms. Instead they have a TT layout, HM7000 layout (controllable via tablets) and one large L shaped layout. Thomas now just gets one cupboard, and I'm not sure where they could put a full rake of Eurostar on display. Scaletrix have one large track - at the time we went it was Delorean vs Kitt - and a smaller loop-the-loop track. Given you can race up to six cars with the Scalextric Digital, two at a time at the mecca of the hobby seems a missed opportunity (and queues when more than two people turn up), though it still resulted in plenty of time placing cars back on the track as they over cooked the corners. Airfix have lost most of their displays, though they look to have a model airfield for future events. Corgi have a few cabinets, though not as many as they had. And Pocher has a small corner. I think the fact they've moved their offices back to the site (and the The One:One Collection has also taken space) has had an impact, but what should be the prime example of the hobby, it seems like they could do a lot more with the space to show off what you can do with the hobbies.

As it was the opening, they didn't run any extra events (eldest was looking forward to weathering), so only basing on...

A nice amount of parking spaces for visitors, and a good ramp. When you are through the door the first thing you will see is Hornby. The boys were in heaven. You get a really warm welcome and even the boys working dogs were given a lovely welcome. Entrance fee was £7.50.carers go free. That is just fantastic. After a long battle of I need a cup of tea, but mum you need to see this right now. We got to the cafe which is not even a stone's throw away. It very spacious plenty of tables and chairs and comfy chairs too. Tea was served in proper mugs by a lovely lady and a nice young man the food too was amazing. Portions were just perfect and the dogs loved the chicken sandwich and sausage roll. You even had the choice of pudding. After eating I wanted to sleep. Not a chance. The museum displays are very easy on the eyes the lighting is just right. The history of how how everything began is very well presented. There is a lot of room to get around. Short films. The museum is not only about trains they cover scaltrix, airfix, Corby, they have a race track set up. Lots of trains you can see going around and if something is not working you can see the fix it. Yesterday we saw the flying Scotsman man being fixed. They also have a section were it shows them making the models. A new display was in progress There is something for everyone. Classic cars planes trains. Everything was amazing clean and just brilliant only problem was leaving. " Mum please please it's only £356." Could we have maybe some rubbers and pencils to buy please Naturally we will be back, and I told my bedroom is no longer I it the Hornby room. They will find me...