A disastrous Halloween-themed ‘Glasghost’ event has been branded the ‘new Wonka Experience’ and a ‘waste of money’ by short-changed parents.
Just a year after an ‘immersive’ Willy Wonka show in Glasgow left children sobbing when it turned out to be a tiny bouncy castle and a small lollipop, another let-down has arrived in town.
Held at the city’s SEC arena, the spooky event promised families rides on a ghost train and fun on a bouncy castle, as well as other activities including a silent disco, a pumpkin patch and laser tag.
Tickets for the experience last Sunday were not cheap, coming in at £16 for children and £26 for adults depending on the time slot.
And parents hoping to show their kids the magic of Halloween have been left fuming by the event, with one TikTok user, Mumtosons, branding Glasghost ‘Willy Wonka 2.0’.
She added: ‘Be prepared to be underwhelmed. Glasghost has bumped us of a small fortune for that event.
‘There’s hardly anything for the kids to actually do. It’s all photo opportunities and one had the cheek to charge you a tenner.’
The social media user claimed rip-off stalls charged visitors extra for their products, and there was a half an hour queue for the ghost train and a 20-minute wait to use two inflatables.
A disastrous Halloween-themed ‘Glasghost’ event has been branded the ‘new Wonka Experience’ and a ‘waste of money’ by short-changed parents
Social media users claimed rip-off stalls charged visitors extra for their products, and there was a 20-minute queue for the ghost train and alien invasion activities
The dance floor for the silent disco was ‘tiny’, while the marquee laser tag event also involved a queue of 40 minutes.
Depressing clips of the show see meagre event sets barely covering the vast black floor of the SEC room.
The few activities on offer had dozens of people waiting in vast queues, while children and parents alike looked around for something to do.
Bizarre exhibits included a table with a plain black cloth and a strange gold set of scales carrying marshmallows in one plate and some fake spiders in another.
A seemingly empty cage was covered in fake spiders, while a few more made it into a large silver bowl, situated on the table for no apparent reason.
The rest of Glasghost resembled a run-down village car boot sale, with various stalls offering Halloween nick nacks and random assortments of toys.
Another clip showed the hall to be almost empty, with children looking almost as bored as the parents, who stood there with their hands in their pockets and glum expressions on their faces.
A rescue vehicle, doubling up as a Ghostbusters van, was parked, isolated, in the middle of the arena with no one quite sure as to whether they should approach it.
Further photos display the ramshackle nature of the show’s decorations, with some pumpkins piled up on each other in front of a silver fence, covered by a thin layer of fabric
Tickets for the experience last Sunday were not cheap, coming in at £16 for children and £26 for adults depending on the time slot
‘Over there is a store selling more s***e,’ that_elaine_wylie said in the TikTok video. ‘Absolutely s***e. I paid £40 to get in here.’
Kryaan, meanwhile, posted a couple of photos showing the sad reality of the expensive Glasghost bonanza.
One shows a young child sitting on the black floor, looking somewhat fed up by the whole event, while the other shows a near-empty room with a couple of basic fabric signs and an inflatable Ghostbusters character.
Further photos, posted by Caitlin Telford, display the ramshackle nature of the show’s decorations, with some pumpkins piled up on each other in front of a silver fence, covered by a thin layer of fabric.
Another shows a sad-looking pumpkin balloon, apparently costing £8, which ‘started deflating the same day’.
The TikTok user adds: ‘So can we all agree that this was the Wonka Experience 2.0?’
Miserable punters are seen queueing in front of an artificial and garish Halloween mural in another video, uploaded by Danielle Brown.
One slide shows a sign telling visitors the queue for an ‘alien invasion’ is 20 minutes.
Police were called to an ‘immersive’ Willy Wonka event in Glasgow last year after it was cancelled halfway through
Clutter covers the purple carpet of one activity area with a few people seen sitting down looking at their phones.
The rest of the arena seems to be empty and dimly lit by aggressive colourful lighting, with some smoke emanating from a corner of the hall.
The clip is ironically scored by Pure Imagination, the theme from Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory.
Another user, xjadekelly, said in a video: ‘That was one of the worst things I’ve ever been to.
‘You go in and it’s the tiniest space. The silent disco was the tiniest area. The ghost train you’re on it for 15 seconds but you queue for half an hour.
‘My pal said it was Willy Wonka 2.0 and it was, wasn’t it? It was really bad.’
Last year’s ‘Willy’s Chocolate Experience’ event was universally panned as it went viral for its lacklustre attempt at entertainment.
Irate parents slammed the £35-a-ticket event in Glasgow as ‘an absolute shambles’ after being promised ‘a universe where your dreams come true’ and would ‘make memories that will last a lifetime’.
Families were left stunned when they arrived and were greeted with a near-empty factory with a few Wonka-themed props and a small bouncy castle
Families were left stunned when they arrived and were greeted with a near-empty warehouse with a few Wonka-themed props and a small bouncy castle, leaving distraught children in floods of tears.
The event was cancelled halfway through on Saturday as angered mothers, fathers and grandparents demanded refunds. Organisers promised to give people their money back.
A Police Scotland spokesperson said officers were called to the cancelled event and ‘advice was given’.
Despite organisers posting pictures on social media of thousands of sweets and lollies in the days leading up to the event, it was claimed by one parent their children were handed just a couple of jelly babies and a quarter of a can of Barr’s limeade.
Pictures posted on Facebook by irate families showed a few posters pinned to a wall with tables lined up resembling a school dinner hall.
One table appeared to be a ‘refreshments’ stand with a few clear plastic cups placed on top which were barely half full.
A glum-looking actor dressed as an Oompa Loompa appeared to be conducting experiments in another snap.
An apology on the website of Fan Frontier, the event’s organiser, read: ‘Thank you so much to everyone who came down to Glasghost 2025, we’ve had a fangtastic time with you all.
‘For our audiences who experienced some of our teething problems, thank you for your patience and for those who emailed us we will get back in touch with you this week.
‘Putting on new events is not without its challenges, especially when you work with multiple third party suppliers for things like rides and attractions. We will be reviewing all feedback (good and bad) with those suppliers as soon as possible.
‘As always, thanks to our wonderful team who worked their socks off all weekend and went above and beyond to give lots of lovely children a great experience.
‘Have a Happy Halloween Glasgow.’
The Daily Mail has approached Fan Frontier for comment.
