Parents shelled out roughly $44 per ticket over the weekend to take their kids to "Willy Wonka: The Chocolate Factory Experience" in Glasgow, Scotland.
They were promised a "world of enchantment" where "dreams take flight and every corner holds a delightful surprise." They were instead met with a dreary event space littered with a handful of slapdash exhibits and no chocolate in sight.
Disbelief and disappointment soon turned to rage, prompting Scottish police to swing by and the organizers to grant over 800 refunds.
The official website for the event, which was not officially related to the Wonka franchise, showcased various elaborate AI-generated images of candy-covered landscapes and "wondrous creations."
According to the event listing on What's On Glasgow, families would be able to immerse themselves in "visually stunning and intricately designed settings inspired by Roald Dahl's timeless tale. From the iconic Chocolate Room to the whimsical Inventing Room, each space promises a visual feast."
Extra to the promise of eye candy, Billy Coull's House of Illuminati promised an "exhilarating" adventure down the so-called Tunnel of Fear; live performances featuring Oompa Loompas; an "interactive spectacle that captivates all ages"; chocolate fountains; "delectable treats"; and a day "filled with surprises."
The organizer failed to make good on most of his promises but made sure to give families at least one big surprise.
Footage and photos taken at the event indicate the "visual feast" at the Box Hub venue in Glasgow was actually a grim display of mismatched props strewn across a largely empty room. A few backdrops were clumsily pinned to walls, ostensibly for photo ops. At the back of the main room was a small bouncy castle and picnic benches.
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The live entertainment was apparently also a letdown.
Jenny Fogarty, 25, one of the women hired to play an Oompa Loompa, told the Scotsman that she received a 15-page script the night before the opening of the event and was given a "sexy" version of the iconic costume.
"I was hired as an Oompa Loompa. I didn't get a costume until Saturday morning, about an hour before people started to arrive," said Fogarty. "I noticed that the costumes we were given — all of them were female and were given the sexy version as opposed to the traditional ones."
Fogarty noted further that the wigs handed out came out of an "Amazon box that probably arrived that morning."
Paul Connell, the actor who was apparently hired to play Wonka at the event, quipped on TikTok that "people who wanted Timothee Chalamet ... got Timothy charlatan."
Connell claimed he was cast for the role on Thursday, just days ahead of the event, and told to learn 15 pages "pretty much of AI-generated gibberish."
Stuart Sinclair, a father who drove his three children two hours to the event, said it was "an absolute shambles of an event."
Sinclair told the New York Times, "There was maybe 20 chairs, a couple of tables, and a half-inflated bouncy castle."
"The children got two jelly beans each," said Sinclair. "And then they got half a cup of lemonade."
Sinclair indicated that as soon as families walked in the door, "They were like, 'wow,' just shaking their heads and totally in disbelief of how bad it was."
"The worst part of all," added Sinclair, "there was no chocolate."
The Scotsman reported that one mother waited in line outside the venue for 40 minutes before being ushered inside, where she had to wait some more. That's when the real vexation began.
"Underwhelming was an understatement," said the mother. "Embarrassing doesn't even cut it. I paid for Willy Wonka and got Billy Bonkers."
"I can laugh about it now, but initially I just thought it looked ridiculous," Alana Lockens told the Times. "It was so poorly done considering how much the tickets had cost us."
Police officers were reportedly sent to the scene around the time parents began raging and complaing about what they figured for a scam. However, it was determined that the officers were not needed. After all, the organizers ultimately indicated they would give full refunds.
The House of Illuminati suggested in a Tuesday Facebook post that it had refunded at least 850 tickets.
The event was shut down Saturday afternoon.
The organizer stated, "I am truly sorry for any upset and disappointment caused at the weekend. Refunds have been issued and will continue to do so."
The organizer added, "This was an event gone wrong[.] The house of illuminati will NOT be holding any other event in the foreseeable future."
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Eleven adults in Scotland have been arrested and charged with various horrific crimes related to a so-called "paedo ring" that they allegedly ran for 10 years.
Iain Owens, 43, Elaine Lannery, 38, Lesley Williams, 40, Paul Brannan, 40, Marianne Gallagher, 37, Scott Forbes, 49, Barry Watson, 46, Mark Carr, 49, Richard Gachagan, 44, Leona Laing, 50, and John Clark, 46, all of the greater-Glasgow area, were brought before the High Court in Glasgow to face charges related to crimes they allegedly committed against three children, two girls and one boy, between January 2010 and March 2020.
The indictment claims that, at various times, six of the defendants shoved the younger female "into a microwave oven, an oven, a fridge, a freezer and cupboards including a cupboard containing an electricity meter.” They also supposedly hanged the girl on a hook by her sweater.
All eleven have been accused of repeatedly raping all three children. During some of the sexual assaults, other defendants would supposedly "clap, cheer and verbally encourage" as they filmed the rapes. At least two of the adults also allegedly engaged in sexual acts in front of the children.
Aside from the sexual assault charges, the defendants have also been accused of forcing the children to participate in satanic "seances" and compelling them to "use a Ouija board ... to call on spirits and demons." The children were also supposedly made to watch "classes involving witchcraft, point wands and utter spells thus causing them to believe that they could levitate."
The accused also occasionally wore devilish costumes and blew smoke from various drugs into the children's faces.
Other charges leveled at the defendants involve the abuse and torture of animals. Some of the adults have been accused of forcing the children to kill dogs and forcing the boy to stab a bird to death. One of the girls was also supposedly made "to act like a dog" and "eat cat and dog food" until she vomited.
There are yet still more charges issued against the defendants, but these charges are apparently so heinous that writers at the Scottish Sun refused to print them.
The identities of the children have not been released, and it is not known whether any of the children are related to any of the accused. There were 16 or 17 total adults named in the indictment, but anywhere from three to five of them have already died.
Judge John Beckett scheduled a hearing for either some or all of the defendants in October and an eight-week trial is set to begin in September 2023.
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