Monday 3 September 2012

Blue Mountain Mystery Screening Summary

Well, three days ago I went to London with the family (I can't drive so they had to take me) to see  Blue Mountain Mystery with some friends from YouTube including TRI3, DieselFan50, ThomasFan8 and CH01.  The hotel was nice, though quite plain.  Then again, when you go to a Travelodge you don't expect luxury really :P. 

On the Saturday we all (me and the family) set off to Westfield Stratford City, home of the Vue where we'd be seeing the special.   We set off at 8:20am, which was good as we soon got lost (I live around 3 hours away from London so it's hard to find our way around, especially since I rarely go there XD).

Eventually though, we got there, but were told we couldn't park IN the shopping centre as they were during the 2012 London Olympics and Paralympics.  After a bit of negotiating with a kind security guard, we pulled up in a layby and I was allowed to get out and head to the cinema.  With the help of other guards (and about three elevators XD), I managed to get to the second floor, where the cinema was just in time.

After another elevator ride, I booked my ticket and was taken, by the manager and with DF50 with me, to ANOTHER elevator to a "special" floor which turned out to be the VIP seats (I'd only paid for a normal seat at the front row with the rest of the group :P).  The seat was great.  I would've loved to have been closer to the group, but I could see all the screen so I didn't complain much.

25 minutes of adverts later and the film started.  An hour later, it was all over, and I thought it was awesome!  I won't say much though, so that I don't spoil Thursday's review.  After going back down the elevator, I met up with everyone else, and it took a while to decide that we would go and have lunch at KFC (which tasted like rubber to be honest :P).

Soon after, 8 members of the group took the tube to Leicester Square, while I left for a taxi.  Because things were a bit rushed, DF50 and TRI joined me in the taxi to Charing Cross.  Sadly though, when we got to the Vue in Leicester Square for a goody bag, they'd all gone (or so the Vue staff said...).  After a few hours trying to get one, we gave it up and went to Hamley's (after scanning through HMV).

It was warm, stuffy and very uncomfortable in there.  To make matters worse, myself and TRI had to wait ages because some lazy buggers couldn't be bothered to even look for the stairs, let alone climb 'em.  Finally though, we got to the 4th floor and regrouped with everyone.

On the 4th floor there was a HUGE range of Hornby stock, including Thomas stuff.  There wasn't much I wanted from there, except for these two:

Taken from my hotel room on Saturday night
Yep, Spencer's coaches!  Sure, I could've got them cheaper online (I paid £20 for each coach), but the memories that come with them mean more than money.  After I bought these, we headed out of the shop and pretty much went our own ways: I caught a taxi and headed back to the hotel (I didn't really want my dad to get lost in London again so I thought to be driven by someone who knows where they're going :P).  The next day, I headed home.

I can honestly say, despite most of the day fighting Vue for goody bags, that Saturday was the best day of my life, to know I'd finally found some friends that wanted to spend time with me and were concerned about my safety.  Not even my REAL friends do that...  Thanks to everyone who went for such a terrific day, especially DF50 and TRI3 for being the most helpful and seeing me off in the taxi to the hotel.  It really meant a lot to me, and I really hope we can all do it again next year!

8 comments:

  1. Was great indeed and a pleasure to meet you- just a shame a lot of it was spent hanging around but never mind.
    Thank YOU very much for those ERTLs too- they are lovely.

    It was indeed a great day overall and I personally am glad that we were that helpful to you- for me its just nature to be friendly and help out like that.
    Here's to the next one, with any luck...

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  2. It sounds like you REALLY wanted one of those goody bags! :) Sounds like you had a brilliant day though, well worth the hassle.

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  3. Sounded like a good day! Will you upload the movie too dailymotion?

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    1. Once the DVD is released in the US, yes. I don't want to ruin anything for the US fans

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  4. I recently went to London the week before the olympics, and Hamley's was a favourite of mine! They had a huge array of stuff there, I was surprised to see a whole bunch of retired models in 2005 boxes (Stepney, Arry, Bert, Bill, etc.).
    Glad to hear you enjoyed the movie, when you enjoy something we all know it's gonna be awesome. I'm even more excited knowing Andrew Brenner is the script editor....:D

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    1. I didn't really see the retired stuff, but it was incredible how much stuff was there. I'd be lucky to find even a fraction of that in my local shops.

      As for BMM, when you see my review you might not be able to wait for the special

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  5. It was fun meeting you all for the first time at VUE cinemas. Sorry I didn't have time to talk to you as my dad, brother and I went to see Tottingham vs. Norwich, but I do love your BMM adaptation. Shame you guys couldn't get the goodie bags :P

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    1. To be honest, the memories of the day mean a lot more than any goody bag, even if we'd have been able to get some :)

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