Inside the disastrously bad Glasgow Willy Wonka ‘experience’ that had kids in tears

A Glasgow based event has gone viral after what was sold as an immersive Willy Wonka experience ended in disaster, crying children and police called to investigate what went down. ‘Willy’s Chocolate Experience’ saw parents paying hundreds to give their children what was promised to be “a celebration of chocolate in all its forms”, but it ended up being cancelled halfway through as kids were in tears and the general shitshow of it all seeing the experience go viral across social media.

Parents at a “Willy Wonka immersive experience” in Glasgow called the police after their children were left in tears upon seeing the quality of the warehouse event, for which they paid $45 each. pic.twitter.com/dwJ4GVBgMv

— Pop Base (@PopBase) February 28, 2024

‘Willy’s Chocolate Experience’ was organised by House of Illuminati and they promised a land full of huge mushrooms and candy, inspired by the Timothée Chalomet film released in 2023. But instead, families paid £35 a ticket and showed up in an industrial area of Glasgow to a shoddily decorated warehouse and disaster quickly reached fever pitch.

An actor involved, Paul Connell, said: “My heart sank looking around … I just felt sad because I was aware of how many kids were going to be coming through. We were told to hand the kids a couple of jelly beans and a quarter cup of lemonade at the end.”

The dude cast to play Willy Wonka in the Glasgow clusterfuck has spoken out on TikTok 🤣

Script was “15 pages of AI-generated gibberish…”

“First red flag was them casting me as Wonka”

“Children were given ONE jelly bean and a quarter cup of Tesco’s own-brand lemonade” pic.twitter.com/GPCO7nhRAS

— Garry McC (@TheGMcConnachie) February 27, 2024

A Facebook group even got set up by the parents who bought tickets, to share outrage at what they paid for. House of Illuminati released an apologetic statement saying “Unfortunately, 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’ve confirmed everyone will be getting full refunds.

But still, the laughs of the Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience live on via Twitter, where the memes are going insanely viral and one particular picture of an Oompa Loompa looking very much over it.

This photo from the Willy wonka experience is single handedly the photo of the year. I know it’s only February but close the vote there’s no topping this. Please find this woman she needs to be interviewed ASAP pic.twitter.com/97wsodLLpQ

— 🇱🇹 (@agneponx) February 27, 2024

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There was also a terrifying villain invented called “The Unknown”, a rival evil chocolatier Wonka has to defeat. He reduced children to screams and seemed all round rather harrowing.

The cries of the children I am HOWLING what part of this is in Willy wonka omfg pic.twitter.com/ADpJ7FvdMi

— 🇱🇹 (@agneponx) February 27, 2024

Just another normal day in the world, I fear. The fact the viral Willy Wonka experience in Glasgow has reached America is even funnier with all eyes on how much of a car crash it was. I never want the pictures to end.

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Related stories recommended by this writer:

• Man who played Wonka in Glasgow Willy Wonka ‘experience’ speaks out about the chaos

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