Families in Scotland were expecting to taste chocolate treats and observe “optical marvels” at a Willy Wonka-themed event in Glasgow this past weekend. Instead, they got a couple of jelly beans, a short walk around a nearly empty warehouse and a visit from police officers.
The event, Willy’s Chocolate Experience, scheduled for Feb. 24 and 25, promised on event listing websites to include chocolate fountains, performances by Oompa Loompas and interactive experiences inspired by scenes from Roald Dahl’s book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
One father, Stuart Sinclair, drove two hours from Dundee to take his three children to the event. “There was maybe 20 chairs, a couple of tables and a half-inflated bouncy castle,” he said.
Mr. Sinclair said that he paid 35 pounds, or about $44, per ticket for his two sons, aged 10 and 11, and his daughter, 4, who was dressed in a Willy Wonka costume and had told her preschool teachers how excited she was to go to the event.
“The children got two jelly beans each,” Mr. Sinclair said. “And then they got a half a cup of lemonade.”
Families had booked time slots to enter the venue every 15 minutes and were greeted by rows of unadorned tables and walls of black fabric separating one sparsely decorated space from another.
“As soon as they walked in the door, they were like, ‘wow,’ just shaking their heads and totally in disbelief of how bad it was,” Mr. Sinclair said.
Alana Lockens, of Hamilton, said that after she had bought tickets, she noticed the event website had been updated with a legal warning to say that it was not related to the Wonka franchise, which is owned by Warner Bros. She grew concerned it was a scam and was initially relieved to arrive and see an actual event taking place.
“I can laugh about it now, but initially I just thought it looked ridiculous,” said Ms. Lockens, who went with her ex-husband, a friend and her two children. “It was so poorly done considering how much the tickets had cost us.”
Facing crowds of disappointed families, event organizers abruptly canceled the event Saturday afternoon.
Police Scotland said that officers were called after the event was canceled, but that the police determined they were not needed. It was not clear who called the police.
The event organizer, the House of Illuminati, addressed the complaints on Saturday, saying in a statement that it recognized the event was a disappointment and that it should have canceled it earlier. “We…
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