Free BT London Live tickets

halkerstone

We went on Saturday to Hyde Park and enjoyed the event.

To begin with, we were slightly disgruntled that we had to dispose of our new bottles of water but the guys at the entrance explained that if we took in our empty bottles we could refill them for free at the water points, which we did. I would not have been happy to ditch a picnic though. You were allowed to take in sunscreen in 200ml bottles.

The Cadbury World Joyville was fun, particularly for the children, free chocolate and the chance to try out various mini-sport games and have a photo taken which is sent to your face book or can be emailed to you.
In the sports zones,in the arena, there was a chance to try out the three triathlon events; there was also tennis, and badminton. I think the sports will vary depending on the day.
In the BT area; they were interviewing athletes- we saw Ade Adepitan; anyone with a BT landline can access the upstairs VIP area and enjoy free phone calls, play video games, try out ipads etc. It was also air-conditioned and you could enjoy a drink on the balcony overlooking the ground. Only drinks available were from the Olympic sponsors- but there was a real ale tent at one end of the arena and a non-Cadbury ice cream van too- unlike in the stadium itself.
There was a band playing on one of the smaller stages and lots of action on the giant screens. There was quite a variety of food available - a falafel wrap plus salad and trimmings was £6, I think.
There was also a plentiful supply of clean loos.
We didn't pay to get in, and we enjoyed the chance to watch the action- If you are thinking of going , just check the btlondonlive website so you can see what you can and cant take in.

sarah1980

halkerstone wrote: »

the guys at the entrance explained that if we took in our empty bottles we could refill them for free at the water points, which we did

Please be aware that this is only possible with bottles of less than 500ml.

halkerstone wrote: »

but there was a real ale tent at one end of the arena and a non-Cadbury ice cream van too- unlike in the stadium itself.

The vans are not branded Cadburys but they are still only allowed to sell Cadburys branded ice creams! Cue very upset daughter who wanted a Mr Whippy

I would say all of the things mentioned in halkerstone's post are great if you have kids over the age of about 5, and the athletes/bands performing only come on in the evening. The venue itself was almost empty during the day yesterday.

Anyway, point is, unless you live in london and pay next to nothing to travel there it is not a MSE day out!

Oh, and as for the portaloos - they may be plentiful but I was practically retching having to see the state of them. My advice - don't look down!

Inigo_Montoya

sarah1980 wrote: »

Anyway, point is, unless you live in london and pay next to nothing to travel there it is not a MSE day out!

Good use of any free £10 redspottedhanky voucher(s) from previous promotions (if you live close enough to London like me)

Off tomorrow to see if its any good - thanks for the tip on the 500ml bottle limit - will try to smuggle in some bits of food in my pockets & will look out for the free chocolate in the Cadburys tent

I guess blankets will be useful for watching the big screens on the grass

pinkpinkfizz

I had travelled to London for a long weekend and pre booked our family tickets for Hyde Park, with cadbury's house etc, for the Sunday.

The security to get in was utterly disgraceful. A mentioned previously all food had to be thrown away, no flasks or water containers allowed in. Bags searched and full airport style security including x-raying of bags and walk through metal detectors, frisking of entrants and extra hand held metal detectors. It was a complete disgrace.

We watched as tourists had souvenirs of chocolates and drinks thrown in bins. Expensive perfumes removed from handbags and one man had his video camera refused entry because it wouldn't power up. I didn't see but I would assume he turned away rather than lose his camera.

I did tweet at BTLondonLive my thoughts on how utterly disgraceful it was and received a reply stating "all our security measure are as per agreement with LOCOG. Apologies for any inconvenience". :mad:

Rather than stay in Hyde Park (over priced food) we left to go to Mcdonalds for dinner and the kids were given the limited edition collectable Olympic Glasses, but they were confiscated on our way back in.... even though they were Official Olympic Merchandise!!!!

Oh by the way, it was dead on Sunday and reports in the newspapers on monday that 10,000 watched the live band Scouting for girls, were vastly exaggerated as I reckoned there were less than 1000 people left by the time the gig started (and it was pulled forward from it's scheduled 21:40 to 21:15) as there were so few people around! We stood right at the front with my 10 year old daughter, as there was no fear of any crushing/squashing or over enthusiasm.

The band were good and my kids were delighted to have seen them :j

We were not at all happy and certainly wouldn't consider attending any other events like this.

Ladyshopper

I went yesterday and thought it was great.

It was very well publicised about not taking liquids, food etc, so not sure why people were suprised about it? It says on the London Live site, the olympic info about hyde park, plus I was sent an email reminding me.

It is fairly easy to get food in if you hide it well in your bag - wish I had taken more, as wasn't sure and didn't want to risk it getting chucked away. However, don't think the scanners see or are interested in food, its liquids they're looking for. And you are allowed to take chocolate and crisps in, as they have signs in there and those things have big ticks.

I saw plenty of people with food they had taken in. Mine was wrapped in in clothing in my bag!

Atmosphere was great, and it was packed. We went out of the London Live area to go and watch the womens triathlon, and had no problem getting back in. Spent the day chilling out (weather was great) soaking up the atmosophere, and enjoying the sport. McFly were brilliant and played for an hour, my daughter and her friend were in heaven.

All in all a great day, and I would definitely go again.

holbol1

Hey,
Just so you all know BT London Live is free and you do not need a ticket at all!!! we went the other day and had no problem getting in, dont take any liquid or food with you (exceptions 100ml bottles and 200ml suncream) empty water bottles are a good idea as water inside is free

Really great day, just turn up on the day no need to print out vouchers etc

Holly

LaLaLa_2

We went yesterday and it took about 45/50 minutes to queue up to wait to get searched. I was a bit worried about having our food thrown away, but when he looked in out bag, he didn't seem bothered and just made us pour away our water and let us keep our bottles. So I guess it depends on the person searching the bags. Once we got in, it was a worthwhile wait as it was great to just soak up the atmosphere of everyone supporting GB. There's a fair amount to do and loads of screens and areas to sit down and chill for the day too. So I'd say it's worth it