‘Come with me, and you’ll be, in a world of pure imagination’ hit a little too close to home for families in Glasgow recently. An event, billed as a ‘celebration of chocolate’ (c’mon, we all love chocolate) and a ‘Willy Wonka experience’ turned into something out of Roald Dahl’s worst nightmares:
Glasgow Willy Wonka experience slammed as ‘farce’ as tickets refunded https://t.co/cFHS7ym6vj
— Guardian news (@guardiannews) February 27, 2024
Police were called to a venue in Glasgow last weekend after furious families who had spent hundreds of pounds on the Willy’s Chocolate Experience complained about the “awful” event that left children in tears and was abruptly cancelled midway through.
The event organiser, House of Illuminati, which charged up to £35 for tickets, promised an “immersive experince” based on the Warner Bros film Wonka, which stars Timothée Chalamet as the young chocolate entrepreneur and was an instant hit with children and grownups over the festive period.
The event publicity promised giant mushrooms, candy canes and chocolate fountains, along with special audio and visual effects, all narrated by dancing Oompa-Loompas – the tiny, orange men who power Wonka’s chocolate factory in the Roald Dahl book which inspired the prequel film.
But instead, when eager families turned up to the address in Whiteinch, an industrial area of Glasgow, they discovered a sparsely decorated warehouse with a scattering of plastic props, a small bouncy castle and some backdrops pinned against the walls.
Yikes.
But, as the Internet has learned to do, it took this disaster and turned it into an Everlasting Gobstopper of sarcasm, wit, and humor.
Recommended
Willy Wonka’s Meth lab you mean pic.twitter.com/mBOPGZWoxr
— Bram 🇳🇱 | VR/AR/MR & Indie (@RedDuelist) February 27, 2024
OMG.
We all know a stoner from high school who is 35 years old and still decorating the house they share with 6 people like this pic.twitter.com/cDX9mwPt9q
— Alex Jewell 🧢 (@bestfoodalex) February 27, 2024
Like, at what point did someone hang this up and decide, ‘Yes, that’ll work’, because that’s about 10% effort, right there.
It’s not even hung straight.
Tickets to our backyard Adventure Park are now on sale.
Tetanus shots are mandatory. pic.twitter.com/buBOjPo5B0
— Marielle Redclaw 2024 (@MarieleRedclaw) February 27, 2024
So are hazmat suits. We hope.
So this was the Fyre fest but for kids
— That ZuluChick (@DeesseRudigan) February 27, 2024
Major Fyre Fest vibes here.
But this is so Willy Wonka too
— kitcateleven (@kitcateleven) February 27, 2024
Yes, but just the freaky boat ride down the tunnel.
— Iron Tarkus (@SunlessSolaire) February 27, 2024
Can’t go wrong with a ‘Simpsons’ reference. It is Homerland.
It was an experience alright… and not a good one 😂
— Andrew Mc Cormack (@phpfyi) February 27, 2024
Oh, make no mistake: these families will be talking about this for generations now.
Thank God for getting a refund and not dying inside willy Wonka Factory. Gosh. pic.twitter.com/Yz2mMMrznF
— Mommy 🦈 (@urbandesimom) February 28, 2024
That’s the silver lining, we suppose.
Me at work on Monday mornings https://t.co/0b9l0pGeIo pic.twitter.com/NyYbTCSBN4
— Vanessa (@Nessakins_) February 28, 2024
We feel for the Oompa Loompa lady. She’s become a meme overnight.
The Oompa Loompa from the knock off Wonka land experience looks like she’s running a literal meth lab and is seriously questioning the life choices up until this point. If you scripted this, I would say it was too on the nose pic.twitter.com/WwkGO8Hjck
— Disappointed Optimist (@disappoptimism) February 27, 2024
This ‘Breaking Bad’ sequel looks awful, to be honest.
I mean doesn’t anybody remember what happened to all those kids https://t.co/Izr8TWkjVI
— jimtreacher.substack.com (@jtLOL) February 27, 2024
Apparently not.
HAHAHAHA https://t.co/Igsxxkaugx pic.twitter.com/BWbwmR6IRJ
— ⚡OG (@Randy_Shannon) February 27, 2024
‘House of Illuminati’ probably should’ve been a red flag.
“We were told to hand the kids a couple of jelly beans and a quarter cup of lemonade at the end.” https://t.co/1LVovjTYUN
— Anthony LaMesa (@ajlamesa) February 28, 2024
Wheee! Jelly beans and lemonade. Will the fun never cease?
apparently this was sold as a live Willy Wonka Experience but they used all AI images on the website to sell tickets and then people showed up and saw this and it got so bad people called the cops lmao pic.twitter.com/tfkyg0G0WG
— Chris Alsikkan (@AlsikkanTV) February 26, 2024
Fooled by AI. Wowza.
When you want the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory experience but your mum says you’ve got a chocolate factory at home: https://t.co/vgGqpum2lv
— Heather (@H3atheroo) February 27, 2024
Actually laughed out loud at this one. Well played.
If this was a parks and Rec episode the Oompa Loompa would be April’s creepy friend Orin https://t.co/F4QqkygJid pic.twitter.com/NWCnr1GqAr
— Jess Siswick (@tinymallet) February 27, 2024
That’s a perfect reference.
Oompa loompa doompety doo,
We’ve got some Glasgow Wonka alt text for you 🍭 https://t.co/LyRt7bXsWL pic.twitter.com/STGztIp5oE— RNIB (@RNIB) February 28, 2024
Now we’re going to have that stupid song stuck in our heads all day.
Mom can you pick me up from Candyland I’m scared https://t.co/ugyQyUTgNh pic.twitter.com/jJCQgFVOJt
— Seed Oil Disrespecter™️ (@SeedOilDsrspctr) February 28, 2024
So are we.
I found the Facebook group for the Willy Wonka experience scam and it’s beautiful. https://t.co/CmZ90ndzaw pic.twitter.com/CeCMF8Cxh4
— Dan Wilbur (@DanWilbur) February 28, 2024
It really is a *chef’s kiss*, isn’t it?
The Willy Wonka debacle reminded me of how Scotland does nightmarish children’s attraction better than any other country https://t.co/fVRskYRqv7 pic.twitter.com/BeVp0x8b7D
— Rafa Sales Ross (@rafiews) February 27, 2024
The stuff of nightmares.
This is terrible and all, but after seeing the movie or reading the book, why would you *want* to visit Willy Wonka’s factory? https://t.co/Tf1nKfP2nk
— The Card (@JaggedAuthor) February 28, 2024
Yeah, the ‘Willy Wonka experience’ didn’t work out so well for some of those kids, did it?
I am in awe of this. I need a 6-part documentary series about the Glasgow Wonka “experience.” https://t.co/UkUHAn4J1U pic.twitter.com/UY27C0G4U6
— Baylor 🏳️🌈 (@theBaylorJ) February 27, 2024
It’ll be like ‘Tiger King’ but with Scottish accents.
They took this line and made the whole experience around that. https://t.co/pl7MAABlt0 pic.twitter.com/5eBL6zbmEL
— Ira (@IColbyV) February 27, 2024
Yes, they did.
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