Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

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hingethunder
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Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by hingethunder »

So how are people finding the new venue? I'm surprised to say I'm finding it works better than the West End on balance -

Pros:

We have the whole cinema, much more of a festival / community feel
All screens I've been in are a good size including disco screens
Easier to move between screens as they are all on one floor
Not battling with hordes of tourists for places to eat or drink between films
Big pub in the same building gives a focal point between films - I'm a solo frightfester and had a lot more random chats this time as a result
Location is fine for me as I'm from out of town so staying a 5 minute walk away - never managed that with Leicester Square

Cons:
The toilets!
Bigcat
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by Bigcat »

hingethunder wrote:
Pros:

We have the whole cinema, much more of a festival / community feel
All screens I've been in are a good size including disco screens
Easier to move between screens as they are all on one floor
Not battling with hordes of tourists for places to eat or drink between films
Big pub in the same building gives a focal point between films
I agree with those pros. I was super sceptical about the move to the bush - doubled the journey time for me and I thought I would miss the glitz of the west end. This was one of the reasons I only did 2 days rather than all 5. But I was wrong to be sceptical, it was a great venue. Loved having the spoons right there (breakfast for 2 with coffee and juice for less than a tenner!!!) and loads of other cheap options. No need to get a second mortgage to buy a round!

Comfy seats with loads of legroom was much appreciated.

I'll definitely be back on a full festival pass next year, whether it's at the bush or west end.

Ladies loos were fine in my experience.
Lunny68
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by Lunny68 »

Another sceptic here, who was turned around. I opted for 2 and a half days, mainly because of the venue, but like was said above, legroom was brilliant, the variety of grub accessible much easier, the large screens and didn't have to fight through millions of people just to get to and from the tube etc.

Con: I do like to have a little wander down towards St James park between films sometimes, to get some fresh air, chill out and enjoy lovely London. Wandering around Westfield shopping centre just didn't have the same effect.........

Fingers crossed that the Vue West End refurb will put the legroom and screen sizes on a par with 'The Bush'
queenb
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by queenb »

I only had one day which was Saturday and I have to say it was brilliant, so much better than the West End. Ladies toilets next to the screen and no queues, only negative feedback was the toilet roll running out at the end of the day and not being replaced.

People seemed to be more relaxed and for the first time in years people were chatting to me about the movies.

The beer was fabulous and cold and not rip off West End prices.

Thank you organisers I really had a good time. I won't mention Blood Feast.....
jonbly
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by jonbly »

Pro - Whole cinema concept is nice... but makes me wonder why we haven't taken advantage of it to run things in the empty screens... could have had one screen showing a perpetual loop of the shorts, for example.
Green is a nice place to sit. Could be greener.

Con - No comic shops for miles around.
Location change announced too late for many. Sculptures fun but badly placed - nothing should impede foot traffic on the main drag.
Catweazle
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by Catweazle »

Much prefer Vue West 12.
Decent size screens (the Vue West End only has 2 reasonable sized ones - 5 & 7), and much better seating and sound across all the screens. Reasonably priced food and drink outlets on hand (and on tap - I thank you).
Personally I'll be really disappointed if the Festival moves back to the West End next year. It was a real heart wrench to lose the magnificent Empire One screen - and the (enforced) move to the awful Vue West End compounded this loss for me.
Critter Egg
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by Critter Egg »

Got to agree with the comments from others. I found the new venue much better than expected, I liked the whole cinema being taken over by FrightFest and everything being on one floor, and the quick trip through the shopping centre back to the Ibis hotel where we were staying was brilliant, much quicker than through the throngs of tourists in Leicester Square! Also saved money this year, food and hotel was much cheaper (and please can we always have a £1 shop close to the fest for cheap sweets?!)
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STun
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by STun »

Agreed.

The new venue was so much better than I thought.

Definitely better than west end vue.

Great to have a whole cinema to ourselves on one floor along one corridor.

Easy to get to by train and car (Westfield parking for £6 the whole day is better than £6/hour in Leicester Square).

The films in the discovery screens were great AND the size of these screens and sound were awesome (compared to the smaller discovery screens at west end vue).

Hope it does stay here next year
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hingethunder
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by hingethunder »

I thought my view might have been controversial but clearly not! Everyone I spoke to over the weekend felt the same too. A few tweaks needed but generally it was great.
scarebear
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by scarebear »

I Agree with everyone here.

I thought that moving from the West End to the Bush would be a disaster, but how wrong i was. There was more of a "family" feel about the whole place as we had the whole Cinema. The Guys at Vue were very helpful. Loved the cheap beer from the wonderful kiosks. All the screens that i visited (1 was in the Arrow screen all day Monday and also saw indiviual films in the Horror Channel Screen and Disco Screens on the other days) had great leg room.

Getting there was a doddle as i live in South london so the train to Shepherds Bush was quick and at night the buses seemed quite frequent (although i had my own personal frightfest on the way home Monday night, due the pissed up nature of some people travelling home from the nearby Notting Hill Carnival!). Getting something to eat and drink was easy (loved the oriental buffet).

Toilets were probable the downside, but you can just about live with that.

So i for one would more more than happy to go back there next year, i fact id prefer it as we had the whole cinema.
Persephone
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by Persephone »

I had mixed feelings about the move from the West End.

Havng the whole cinema to ourselves was a huge bonus and definitely improved the community vibe of the event. The Poundshops and Morissons downstairs providing cheap snackage was also useful. And for the ladies the toilets were fine.

On the minus side I find the area very grotty, it more than doubled by journey time which made getting in for the first film a bit painful and I personally prefer the food options in the West End - particularly having China Town nearby. All weekend with one exception I never had more than about 45 minutes between films so grabbing food was tricky as there was never quite enough time to go over to Westfield and back (given the place is a a maze) .

I think the West End is a slightly more prestigious location for it but there were certainly some cost benefits to the new place and the Vue staff were excellent.
wakko
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by wakko »

Not a big fan of the Vue chain as I find them little sterile. Picturehouse cinemas would be a great location!
Persephone
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by Persephone »

wakko wrote:Not a big fan of the Vue chain as I find them little sterile. Picturehouse cinemas would be a great location!
Picturehouse Central would be glorious but I suspect maybe more expensive? Can't argue that the Vue events team and staff were amazing
adeyboy99
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by adeyboy99 »

I was firstly impressed on how close the tube station was to the vue, literally just across the road. On approaching it however I thought 'oh dear the cinema is in a shopping centre' but as we were heading up the escalator my fears turned to joy as I couldn't believe how much space there was.
All the screens being on one level certainly improved upon the multi levels from Leicester square as you can actually see all the hustle and bustle and socialising going on, which is what this fest is all about. The fact that the interview section was also on the same level was great as opposed to the ground floor of the last couple of years.
The lack of tourists was a welcome bonus and everything was in close proximity for food and drinks between films etc.
Didn't have any issues with the toilets, other than there not being enough of them to suit busier times.
The self beating hearts dotted around the cinema was a great touch and all the stalls were well spaced out.
That fear of the walking dead experience was just pants in my opinion, although it sounded like it scared a few people...wussies !!
The fact that we took over the whole cinema was fun especially watching familes arriving only to be turned away disappointed that they couldn't watch finding dory (I'm a cruel man !).
It was my sister's first frightfest and she really enjoyed her experience and is definitely up for coming again next year. Well done to everyone involved, please keep it in 'the bush' ! :D
ChrisReynolds
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Re: Vue West 12 vs Vue West End

Post by ChrisReynolds »

As a cinema, Vue West 12 is much better than Vue Leicester Square, other than in the small toilet facilities. The additional space is convenient and makes it more pleasant to move around between films.

Two things that should be improved:
1. A proper location for the after party. The Ibis hotel bar couldn't handle it. Even just telling people to to the Phoenix as usual would be fine, it's only 12 minutes on the Central line.
2. more servers in the Wetherspoons (I don't know how much Frightfest can control this).
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