“Disastrous” Willy Wonka Experience Charged Kids $45, Labeled a Complete Scam by Parents

Grifter: A grifter is a con artist or swindler who uses fraud to trick people out of money. — Vocabulary.com.

It's a terrible feeling when you think you've been hoodwinked out of your money under false pretenses. You want to kick yourself for being so trusting and playing through all of the events leading up to you falling for said grift, constantly re-telling yourself you should've been more mindful of the telltale signs that could've cued you in recognizing said con.

But then there are instances where some may argue that it wasn't their fault they were grifted, as they were promised an experience that didn't quite live up to the hype, like the infamous Fyre Festival that saw tons of people flying into an island with refugee tents for a musical experience that never took place, leaving tons of people with sunburn and boxed lunches packed with cheese sandwiches.

Now, a bunch of kids in Glasgow, Scotland, have their own Fyre Festival to speak of: a Willy Wonka Experience that promised an immersive event for those willing to shell out $45 a piece.

What customers ended up getting, however, was a viral moment that is being collectively roasted on social media as photos of the event began making the rounds on X (formerly Twitter).

In fact, parents were so upset when they showed up to the event that they ended up calling the authorities stating that they felt scammed out of their money because the warehouse looked like something cobbled together for folks to make a quick buck.

Images promoting the event appear to have been cobbled together using artificial intelligence — the bright, vibrant colors and a semblance of Gene Wilder depict a lovecraftian universe made of candy.

However, a quick look at the event's website and some of the screenshots that emerged from it depict an increasingly strange assortment of sweet-treat-inspired imagery.

Then, there's the oddly-spelled verbiage used to promote the experience: "Encherining Entertainment Catgacating . live performances . Cartchy tuns . exarsderdray lollipops, a pasadise of sweet treats"

The event was called "Willy's Chocolate Experience" and promised guests they would: "Indulge in a chocolate fantasy like never before" and that they would get the opportunity to "capture the enchantment" as a result.

Pictures from the event showed an empty warehouse with bouncy hair, some cafeteria-style tables and chairs, and circular folding tables decorating the common area of the experience.

Cloth step-and-repeats were hung up on the wall, along with a white translucent softening umbrella set up for photography, and then there was the question of the "maze" children walked through a series of drooping bits of cloth attached to plastic fixtures and random mirrors.

The Tab commented on the event, writing: "‘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."

According to an actor who participated in the event, it didn't seem like much thought was put into the event: they said that the script they were asked to follow was "15 pages of AI-generated gibberish," and that they felt sorry for the kids who came out hoping to have a good time.

Although it was a "chocolate experience," the event organizers gave children a single jelly bean and 1/4 of a cup of Tesco lemonade when all was said and done.

The company that put together the event released a statement apologizing for carrying out the event instead of just canceling it after they realized it wasn't going to be up to snuff.

"Unfortunately, last minute we were let down in many areas of our event and tried our best to continue and push through and now realize we probably should have canceled first thing this morning instead," House of Illuminati said, according to The Tab. The company did write that everyone who paid for the experience would be getting their money back.

And while many aspects of the experience were lampooned on social media some were derided more than others: like this Oompa Loompa exhibit actress, some folks said looked like she was operating a meth lab.

And then there was a rival chocolate maker who lived within the walls of the experience, called "The Unknown" who popped out behind a mirror to scare children.