Willy Wonka Event Angers Parents Who Demanded Refunds & Called Police
Willy Wonky.
By Tamara Jayne — 28 Feb 2024, 12:14 PM
What was meant to be a fun-filled, colourful weekend for attendees of a recent Willy Wonka event in Glasgow, Scotland on 24 and 25 February quickly turned into a grim, tear-filled event for disappointed children and furious parents
Event listings for 'The Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory Experience' advertised that there would be interactive adventures, live performances by Oompa Loompas, and tasty treats "straight from the pages of Roald Dahl's imagination".
However, the world of pure imagination seemed to have taken things a little too literally, leaving much to the imagination.
Visitors shared their experience, describing a sparse Glasgow warehouse, a partially inflated bouncy castle in the corner, and scattered benches and chairs
Families were furious about having to pay between 35 pounds and 44 pounds (RM211 - RM265) per ticket, only to see a minimally decorated space that was far from what was advertised.
One visitor, Stuart Sinclair, who travelled two hours with excited kids eagerly dressed in Willy Wonka outfits, was one of hundreds of families who demanded a refund.
He told Sky News that his children only received a couple of jelly babies and some lemonade, describing it as "an absolute shambles of an event".
"The worst part of all, there was no chocolate," he added.
Jenny Fogarty, who was hired to play an Oompa Loompa, told The Scotsman that she was given a 15-page script to learn the evening before the event, and her costume arrived an hour before families arrived on the event day.
"I noticed that the costumes we were given — all of them were female, and we were given the sexy version as opposed to the traditional ones. Some people had T-shirts underneath to give it a bit more modesty. I just had a lacy shirt underneath," she said.
"The wigs were very cheap. We were just handed an Amazon box that probably arrived that morning. It was shocking. It was embarrassing to be pretty honest. We were trying our best, all the actors, to make it work," she added.
"Some families were very, very angry and had little children who were crying. It was a tense atmosphere and new families were arriving looking bewildered," Aileen Butcher, who had taken her daughter to the event, told the Daily Record.
"We went inside and there were some posters, a visual display including a rainbow, toadstool and a gobstopper.
"There also appeared to be a table strewn with jelly beans and a bouncy castle at the back. It took us a minute to walk through," she added.
The event was advertised as 45 minutes to an hour long.
Police in Scotland were summoned to the venue and provided guidance as crowds started to assemble outside
After facing such a furious reaction from the attendees, event organiser House of Illuminati decided to cancel the event halfway through the first day.
In a Facebook post that has since been deleted, a spokesperson from the company said, "Today has been a very stressful and frustrating day for many and for that we are truly sorry. Unfortunately, at the last minute we were let down in many areas of our event and tried our best to continue on and push through and now realise we probably should have cancelled first thing this morning instead."
They also explained that "refunds are still being processed".
