Roald Dahl Museum tickets on sale for Half Term fun
The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre is open throughout the autumn Half Term holiday (Monday 26-Friday 30 October 2020) and tickets are now on sale for an immersive adventure, exploring all your favourite stories and characters.
Located in the beautiful village of Great Missenden, just an hour from central London, the newly reopened (10 September) Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre offers an amazing VIP visitor experience for fans of the great man’s books and stories.
Simply pre-book a guided tour for people from the same ‘bubble’ (sticking to the ‘rule of six’) and prepare to see what you’d look like in Roald Dahl’s school uniform, measure yourself against his characters, fly like the Roly-Poly Bird, chant like an Oompa-Loompa and explore the early drafts of some of your favourite books, hearing how things might have been in some of Roald’s best-loved tales.
However, this will be so much more than just a tour, as Director Steve Gardam explains: ‘We want to make your experience as special as possible, treating every child and grown-up like a VIP. Ahead of your visit, we will give you a call to make sure you have all the information you need to have a great, safe day, and to help us make the visit as personal to you as we can. We have never been able to show the museum like this before, and so far, people seem to really love the experience as we have been busy since we reopened with fantastic visitor feedback. We’re really looking forward to welcoming even more Roald Dahl fans at half term.’
You and your ‘bubble’ will be taken around the Museum by an expert guide, who will also uniquely tailor your tour, based on your favourite books and characters – and each one is ideal for anyone, whether they’re aged 5 or 105!
You’ll see highlights of the Museum, including spaces and secrets not usually seen by the public, take part in some ingenious interactive activities, have the chance to ask all the Roald Dahl questions you can possibly think of and see some close-up treasures from the Museum’s incredible archive.
At the end of your tour, you’ll all be given an activity pack to take home, so you can enjoy even more Museum activities from the comfort of your own home. Oh, and perhaps the best part is that it will only be your group and tour guide in each of the Museum’s gallery spaces at any time, with the guide at an appropriate distance, of course…
Each guided visit runs every thirty minutes, from 10am to 4pm, and takes around an hour and a quarter. Guests can also pre-order a picnic from the Museum’s café to take away.
A guided visit ticket at the Roald Dahl Story Centre and Museum is priced from £7.40 for adults and £4.90 for children/concessions, brilliant value for a private tour. However, guests are being asked to support the Museum at this tricky time by very kindly donating the price of extra tickets for as many ‘imaginary friends’ as they can.
Following the government guidelines, visitors will be asked to maintain two-metres social distance and wear masks throughout their visit.*
The Museum’s three multi-media galleries are a delight. Boy Gallery looks at how Roald Dahl’s school days inspired his story ideas in later life. Solo Gallery houses his original Writing Hut, complete with its eclectic collection of mementos including his suitcase footrest, his own hipbone (which he’d had replaced) and a heavy ball of metal foil (made from dozens and dozens of chocolate wrappers). The Story Centre is the Museum’s creative hub, where the displays are designed to inspire writing and story-making in the young and young-at-heart.
The village of Great Missenden is a magical place in its own right. So why not, after your visit, grab your pre-booked picnic from the café, or pick up a takeaway snack and drink, and follow one of the recommended trails, to walk in the author’s footsteps along the historic High Street and in the beautiful woods that inspired Roald Dahl and appeared in his stories. Along the way, you can see the petrol pumps from Danny, the Champion of the World, guess which High Street house is Sophie’s ‘norphanage’ in The BFG, visit Matilda’s library, and ramble in the woods where Fantastic Mr Fox lived. You can also visit Roald Dahl’s grave (complete with BFG footsteps) at the Church of St Peter and Paul, for a beautiful view of Roald Dahl Country.
And with anticipation bubbling away for the new Warner Bros’ movie of The Witches – directed by Robert Zemickis and starring Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer – there’s a definite witchy slant to this October’s Halloween festivities.
For more information follow @roalddahlmuseum on Twitter, like the ‘Roald Dahl Museum’ Facebook page or visit www.roalddahl.com/museum.
*Children under the age of 11 are exempt from this rule.