Review IMAX VR Experience Manchester

by Nisbah · July 27, 2018

Finding activities that will entertain and be popular with teenagers can often be a challenge but when we heard about Europe’s first IMAX Virtual Reality Experience opening in Manchester we knew we had to give it a try. Even though my little adventurers are on the young side with older nieces and nephews we are always on the hunt for the coolest, most unique and quirky activities for the older children too. So here’s our review of the IMAX VR Experience Manchester.

What is the IMAX VR Experience Manchester?

Located within the lobby area of the cinema complex of the Intu Trafford Centre Manchester, you will find the new IMAX VR Experience Centre. The IMAX VR Experience Manchester is incredible and offers the latest and truly immersive, virtual reality player experiences to visitors. The games are realistic and provide an additional dimension to gamers and are a great twist on the usual gaming experiences that are available. The VR Experience consists of 10 “pods” which are home to a range of different experiences. I loved the fact that there are a range of experiences to suit the needs of all those who participating so you had more relaxed and causal immersive VR experiences, ideal for first time users or those who like a slower pace to super intense games for those who want a fast paced, adrenaline charged games. I also loved that there was a variety of ways to enjoy the latest VR Experiences, from multiple players to single users.

The cost of the experience varies from one game to another with the cheapest costing £7.50 and the most expensive £10. The games are different lengths with the shortest being 8 minutes and the longest 20 minutes.

What we thought

We visited the attraction with 18 scout and explorer children who were aged 14 – 18 years old and 2 adult leaders. The children and leaders alike loved the VR experience and loved the challenges and games that they tested. Between the group we tried a wide range of experiences and found each one to offer something different and it was great there were lots of different ways to play from single, to team to playing against one another.

In terms of the VR experience we found it be to really realistic, the handsets and headsets really made the experience immersive and even though the games only last 10-15 minutes dependent on the games, we found them to be a good length for this type of experience. I often have reservations of VR experiences and often feel that the hype doesn’t necessarily match the experience in the end. Having tried a range of VR experiences over the last year, this was by far the most realistic, fun and something which all the children loved. It’s a testament to how enjoyable the experience was that everyone who took part was keen to return back over the summer break to have a try on the games they didn’t get to try,

Amazing Summer offer

We love to bring the best value of money offers for our readers and love the offer that is currently running at the ODEON Trafford centre. For those people who purchase a cinema ticket during the summer months, they will be receive a voucher for a free VR with every ticket purchased. The voucher can be redeemed on one of the following IMAX VR experiences until 7^th September 2018. The voucher can be redeemed against Justice League, Richie’s Plank Experience, Paranormal Activity, Eagle Flight Multiplayer and Space Flight. That is great value for money as you can have an exciting summer boredom buster all for free!

Things to note

The age limit to take part in any of the experiences is 13 years old. So really an attraction for older children.
Everyone taking part needs to sign a waiver which can be completed in advance online. This is a great way to save time when you arrive to the attraction. However, if the child is under 16, this needs to be done by a parent/legal guardian and must be done onsite as cannot be done online.
There is a chance that you could be sharing your gaming pod with a stranger. As we were there on a relatively quiet day, the children were the only group present but it is something to be wary of.
Like all VR experiences, they can sometimes be too powerful and immersive for some people so it may be advisable to try an easier / less intense experience fro your first VR Experience.

We love to discover new and cool experiences and the IMAX VR Experience Manchester did not disappoint. As someone who has lots of older nieces and nephews and also having 60+ children in our scouts group, its often difficult to find something which is popular for everyone in the age group. Even though the IMAX VR is an activity which only lasts an hour it is lots of fun and a truly unique experience for older children and adults. With the current summer offer in conjunction with the cinema it is an ideal way of trying out the VR experience. Overall, all 20 from our group who attended loved it, even the adults were left wanting to return for another session.