What was novel, too, is that Gladiators Experience didn’t make you feel like you were being squeezed through a money-squeezing mangle. Sure, there was a shop and merch (£45 for a nylon t shirt and shorts, really?) and you could pay extra for meet-and-greet with current Gladiators, but the experience price – £44 for adults, £39 for children – seemed fair, as we spent over four hours having fun. Less so was the £22 charge if you want to spectate aka supervise your kids. But mineral water dispensers around the arena for free were a nice touch – you don’t get that at Disney World – and changing rooms and lockers were plentiful, clean and spacious. Then there’s The Vault, a free museum of Gladiators history and memorabilia, with the original costumes, archive clips, photos, facts, and cut-outs of the current Gladiators (where I learnt I go up to Apollo’s belly button). It’s well worth 20 minutes of your time once the adrenaline has faded (only visit after your 75 minutes has run out), and has lots of photography stations where you can pose with the key equipment.
Contenders, ready? The Gladiators experience is a great family day out
