“Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Experience” promised something serious: an immersive experience for children based on the Roald Dahl novels and their spin-off films.Giant sweets, live flowers, mysterious sculptures and magical surprises“. But the end result was nothing short of magical – and far from inspired by the latest film on the subject with Timothée Chalamet, which is still in cinemas…
Indeed, the dream quickly turned into a nightmare on February 24 in Glasgow, Scotland, a nightmare that quickly flooded social media with images of the sad spectacle…
Instead of chocolate fountains and candy gardens, guests were treated to a gray, almost empty warehouse. Footage of the event quickly spread online, showing several tables and props, a half-inflated bouncy castle and some depressed-looking Oompa Loompas.
Despite the enticing AI-generated ads that promise “A journey full of amazing creativity and fascinating surprises“or”dreams come true”, families who visited described the experience as “absolutely terrible“and one”waste of money” – 35 pounds ticket, or almost 41 euros.
House of Illuminati, the company behind the event, is now under fire for false advertising. Despite the promise of a variety of sweets and treats, attendees were surprised to find that the “Chocolate Experience” included… no chocolate! In fact, one parent told the ABC that their children only got one piece of candy and half a glass of lemonade.
- Wonka: Does Timothée Chalamet eat real chocolates in the movie?
As stunned families wandered through the space, they were greeted by actors in shoddy costumes reading incomprehensible scripts, “AI-generated gibberish,” according to some.
We’ll let you discover for yourself…
Cheating actors
For-hire actors claim to have been cheated. Paul Connell, the actor hired to play Willy Wonka, recounted his experience to the media: “I was very excited. And then I got the script… The reaction to the event itself naturally made people angry. The kids were really disappointed and that’s not good“, he said.
While plenty of photos of the Wonka fiasco have surfaced, one image in particular caught the internet’s attention: the actor wearing a shrunken Oompa Loompa costume. Haunted, surrounded by smoke, behind a desk covered in scientific equipment, the image has been compared to a “methodological laboratory”.
The organizers apologize
The event was canceled midway through the first day on Saturday and the company promised a full refund after a backlash from guests and police being contacted.
In the post published on Facebook, we read:
“Today has been a very stressful and frustrating day for many and we are truly sorry. Unfortunately, at the last minute we were disappointed in many areas of our event and we did our best to keep going and move forward and now we realize that we should probably cancel first thing this morning.“
“We apologize for the inconvenience and are issuing a full refund to everyone who purchased tickets. We are devastated by how this has turned out and understand people’s anger and frustration“, the spokesperson added, before indicating that refunds could take up to 10 working days.
Does all this make you want to dive back into the world of Willy Wonka? There are three options available to you: Wonka with Timothée Chalamet Still showing at your nearest cinema, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) Tim Burton with Johnny Depp is available on Netflix. Finally, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1971) with Mel Stewart and Gene Wilder is available on VOD.
And talking about mistakes and‘Errors Here are the ones we found in the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movies:
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
