rupert123 Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Went to Event City motorhome/caravan show in Manchester yesterday to look at a few vans, really should have checked who was going to be their before we went. What a waste of time and if it is intended to take the place of the NEC cannot see it succeding long term. It was fairly busy but everthing is crowded in, simply not enough space, long queue's for toilets and food, a few accessory people but mostly junk, would not bother. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
watsoa Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Agree with everything that rupert123 has said and have to add that it was extremely warm at the venue - hate to think what it will be like at the weekend when it will probably be a lot busier. The only saving grace from my point of view was that we didn't have to pay for the tickets thanks to an earlier post on the forum with a link to get them free from Lyons Holiday Parks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike B. Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Absolutely agree Complete waste of time and in addition had to queue for 40 mins on M60 to get to totally disorganised venue. The only good thing about it was it gave me a chance to run the van out and charge the batteries! Interestingly, Radio 2 traffic warning came on whilst we were queuing and said Quote: "Very heavy & standing traffic on M60/62 from J17 M62 to J9 M60 for some sort of event near the Trafford Center!". Obviously organisers had informed everybody beforehand. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogsbody Posted January 20, 2012 Share Posted January 20, 2012 Surprised nobody has commented on the requirement to fill in personal details ( name,address, vehicle owned )on the entry ticket. I am sorry that Mr Mickey Mouse , Disneyland, Orlando, Florida is going to receive my junk mail but no way am I going to give my details to an unknown organisation as a condition of entry. Dogsbody PS Not a bad show for a first effort, totally caught out by numbers turning up on first day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 We went yesterday. The parking signs were very confusing, first we ended up along with cars going into what turned out to be an indoor car park with height barriers, so we had to do a U turn, then we turned into the 'official' car park and were told we were too big and had to go into the other car par ... yet another U turn ... we then parked okay in one of the main Trafford Centre car parks. All this could easily have been avoided by a couple of simple signs showing which car park motorhomes should use - so this was badly organised. :-( As for the show itself, lots and lots of caravans, and statics, but not that many motorhomes/van conversions, but there were quite a lot of stalls with many of the 'regulars' there however noticable by their absence were the "Double Skillet" people which was disappointing as I want some stuff from them so I'll get it next time I'm at a show. :-S We had a good mooch round and especially liked the Globecar Globescout Style camper van with a rear transverse bed which is totally removable bar the two side parts (one housing the water tank, the other the gas locker and boiler) - very well designed but it was a bit pricey at over £42k. On the caravan front, although we couldn't 'see one' in the flesh, the 'slide out' caravans by Eterniti Caravans looked very promising - the below link gives more details however due to an unfortunate incident on the cargo ship the caravans had been delayed, but they were hopeful to have one of them at the show today so those who had gone especially to see them, could at least see one. You have to take your hats off to them though, as rather than just stand around looking all forlorn with nothing to 'show', they'd actually had some full size floor plans of a couple of models made up and laid out on the floor of their stand, so you could actually still see the layout and how much space the slide out created. It proved to be a wise move as it appears that even without a 'real' caravan they were doing great business having sold over 20 by yesterday afternoon!!! :-> http://www.outandaboutlive.co.uk/Caravans/News/New-models/Luxury-slide-out-range-launching-at-Manchester-show/_ch2_nw1821 We also had a good look around the statics for 'style' ideas, with the 'winner' being the new Swift 'Auvergene' range which has a much more modern external appearance than the others. The model on show was the 38' FL version and it was extremely nice and we compared it to others of the same, or higher price, and it was by far the best one there - at just over £36k I'm sure it will sell very well indeed. As the Destinations show was on as well (free entry to those going to the MH show) we had a potter and got quite a few ideas for future holidays, especially Croatia and Norway. B-) We managed to resist the pork scratchings :D so only procured items from one stall ... he was selling some silicon Eggpods for poaching eggs, Lakeland do them (they call them Poachpods) and charge £5 for 2 but he was selling them at £2 for 3 but as I wanted an extra one (2 for home, 2 for the 'van) I got 4 for £2.70. I tried them today and they are brilliant and cook the eggs perfectly - I wish I'd got some more as presents for a few people for 'Easter'!!! *-) It has been a while since we've been to a Manchester show and only decided to go in the end as it was a new venue (bigger?) and we wanted to go to Ikea anyway (at Leeds) and were planning on spending a few days at Southport on the West coast, and I found the link for free tickets. :D Unfortunately I think this will be the last of the Manchester shows we'll go to though - if you are on the look-out for a caravan or a static, it is okay, but certainly not for motorhomes - I'm surprised really that the MH dealers bother to go. As for us, it was a bit of a washout - it was very cold in the 'van on Thursday night and looked to be even worse on Friday, with lots of rain and wind again, so there was no point in going to Southport - the dogs were a bit fed up being cooped up with it raining, so we decided to cut our losses and head home instead to our nice snuggly warm bed. :$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulmold Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Mel B - 2012-01-21 11:55 PM As for the show itself, lots and lots of caravans, and statics, but not that many motorhomes/van conversions, but there were quite a lot of stalls with many of the 'regulars' there however noticable by their absence were the "Double Skillet" people which was disappointing as I want some stuff from them so I'll get it next time I'm at a show. :-S :$ We last saw the Double Skillet people at Season Finale show at Lincoln in September and chatting to them (her) it emerged she was retiring and no-one else was taking the reins so you may not see them again. (Don't quote me on that, I may be wrong) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brit_Stops Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Went yesterday. After a year travelling successfully to a variety of motorhome shows around the country I was frustrated and not a little bit annoyed to find a total lack of any signposting for the show once in the Trafford Park area. Spent about half an hour in gridlock traffic circulating around the centre looking for the venue. Was not in good mood therefore when arrived with just a couple of hours left to look round the show and we were asked to fill in forms. Mildly ashamed to say I spat the dummy at this point and refused. Then once inside, found very few motorhomes and none within our price range. Bought an egg poacher. Very unlikely we'll go again. Either as visitor or exhibitor. Steve PS Also very disappointed with the quality of finish on some of the new motorhomes we saw - one had a stainless sink bowl held into kitchen worktop by countersunk screws that stood proud of the rim waiting to catch your hands on them. Even as a bungling DIYer I wouldn't use a countersunk head screw unless I could drill a countersink dip into it - and that's before we get to the whole idea of quality of finish! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 There were some AA signs up for the show but very few and only as you had literally got there anyway. We did find out too that the POI on our Tom Tom for the Trafford Centre was totally wrong and deposited us on the wrong side of Manchester at Gorton!!!!! 8-) So after a tour of part of Manchester we ended up in the right place and eventually got parked, about 30 mins later than we had intended. Not having been to the new venue before we didn't realise. *-) Interesting about the double skillet people, shame and I hope someone takes up the mantle as they do appear to be very popular at the shows judging by the number of people carrying their bags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeti Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 Mel I trust you contacted the Southport site and informed tham of your change of plans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mel B Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Yeti, we weren't staying at the Southport site and yes I did let the site owner know as soon as we made the decision to come home who agreed that the weather was bad and we did the right thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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