Shrek's Adventure London

[nickhutson]

The Experience

The journey starts at the DreamWorks Tours Departure Gates where there's a chattering headless knight in shining armor and a replica of Shrek and Fiona's Onion Carriage complete with a mischievous and talkative passenger onboard.

Guests join a tour bus to… you know where: Far Far Away. This is the 4D ride and Donkey is your driver. You'll soar above the London skyline and its iconic landmarks and see many favorite DreamWorks characters whizzing by before a crash landing in Shrek's Swamp.

You now need to find Shrek as only he can help you get out. But he's not at home and Cinderella is house-sitting so the joke-packed storytelling beings.

Rumpelstiltskin

Guests have to negotiate the Spooky Forest and find themselves inside Rumpelstiltskin's carriage with

a crystal ball presided over by fortune teller Esmeralda. Guests will need to convince the money-grabbing soothsayer to summon up her magic and use her crystal ball to help them on their way, but watch out, Rumpelstiltskin and his witches are in hot pursuit.

The Poison Apple Pub

Next it's a visit to the favored haunt of villains, assassins and fairy-tale characters gone bad: The Poison Apple Pub. Here you'll need to uncover secret information and Puss in Boots is the animated feline to help. He 'coughs up' a critical clue so you can dash over the Rickety Bridge, with volcanic lava beneath, to the Games Show Studio where Rumpelstiltskin’s horrid henchman, Thelonius, is hosting a high stakes contest.

The Game Show

Take your seat and play the game to save Pinocchio from a grizzly fate and collect the next item needed for your quest. But, of course, this is a magical Game Show so surprises are guaranteed.

Magic Mirror Maze

If you can manage to win the Game Show your next task is to get through the Magic Mirror Maze and find the Muffin Man's house. Lord Farquaad's spiteful Magic Mirror won't be there to help as he'll tease and misdirect at every twist and turn.

Drury Lane

When you reach Drury Lane Gingy the Gingerbread Man is there to guide you to the Muffin Man's House where he is stirring up a magical concoction and needs some special items collected by guests on their quest. Donkey adds one more magical ingredient and the Magic Portal is revealed.

Run inside and the Muffin Man will keep you within a protective circle. A wind picks up and the room comes alive, spinning and twisting with lights swirling as a tornado of magic gradually builds and engulfs guests. Suddenly, the movement stops and the light returns but the portal is faulty and guests are still far, far from home. Luckily help is at hand as a cloaked Princess Fiona steps out of the shadows to lead guests onwards.

Finale

While you'll want to sit down after the Magic Portal experience you'll soon discover you have been tricked and are trapped by Rumpelstilskin. This is the "show stopping finale" where Shrek must save the day and help everyone find their inner ogres to blow down the prison walls and return home.

DreamWorks Tours Arrivals Hall

It doesn't end here as there is a colorful line up of other DreamWorks favorites. Meet Marty the zebra, Gloria the hippo and the Penguins from Madagascar. From Kung Fu Panda, hero Po is waiting for guests to hone your martial arts skills with him, or they can balance plates with Mr Ping in his noodle bar. Then it's time to put on your best Berkian armor, look to the skies and marvel at a gigantic model of a flying Toothless with Hiccup standing proudly on his majestic Dragon's back in the How To Train Your Dragon area.

Tickets

Tickets for adults are from £23.40, children from £18.72.

[jamesc]

Does anyone think they will reuse the old 5D Cinema from the old London Dungeons in this Shrek's Far Far Away Adventure?

Last time I heard it was in storage at Thorpe Park, it would be a shame for it to go to waste?

[nickhutson]

No. Its capacity is not big enough for an attraction like this. It's never seeing the light of day again.

[Morgan]

They're even advertising this as a worlds first? Merlin, come on! These "world first ______" marketing tactics really, REALLY annoy me. They seem stupid and in 'ya face. Stop please Merlin!

[nickhutson]

Well, technically, it's the world's first Shrek walk through attraction.

I know what you mean, though... but it's general marketing bullcrap.

I think it was Firefighter express at Dollywood that's been labelled as "The world's first forward and backward launching family coaster". They'll come up with any old junk to put in the press release and marketing imagery.

[TomL]

There's a new video HERE which shows some of the scenes. It actually looks like it's going to be a good'n if they pull this off. I look forward to visiting this!

[Danny]

Sounds quite pricey for an hour and 15 minutes experience. From the website, it seems the Dreamworks Friends section will be like Madamme Tussauds mixed with Actors, as it says you can spend as much time as you like in this room.
I look forward to trying it, but only because I've got a MAP, otherwise I wouldn't be sure

[Dom]

A gingerbread house has 'magically' appeared on London's Southbank and guess what, Its edible. It is the ticket office. It will be there until 2pm today. Here is some iages from the Shrek's Adventure Facebook page.

[Zachary]

I will be interested to see what they do with it, although it feels like shrek isn't exactly the most popular film at the moment, so I'll be checking on how popular this attraction is.

[Danny]

Rumours say that a new Shrek film has been in the pipe works for some time, although I know we would probably hear about something that major a year or more in advance. But I suppose when and if there is a new film, the attraction will expand and offer a new experience

[Chaz]

Hello guys and girls. Purely for my job, I'd like to know you're opinion on Shrek's Adventure! London please.

Are you looking forward to going? Why? Who do you think the attraction is aimed at? Are you planning on going? Have you booked? What details would you like to know? Etc etc

Your help would be highly appreciated.

Thanks

[lewis97]

A behind the scenes video has been released. It does look like a very well executed experience so I'll be interested to see what it turns out to be like when it opens in just over a week.

[Benjsh85]

£26 on the door price, with 10% discount for on-line bookings seems a bit steep for my liking. I'm going to be in London for a few days in August and was thinking of doing this, but at those prices, I don't think I'll bother.

[Dom]

Did any VIP Pass holders go to the special preview event? If so, what was the attraction like?

[nickhutson]

A couple of thoughts:

1) The walk to the bus station is very long and has some quite fun moments along the way (and 4 photos to be taken; three in front of the green screen and one in front of a lovely onion carriage). The entrance queue basically screams Harry Potter/Kings Cross. I dread to think how long the walk to the first show will take with groups - but they're doing groups of 35/45 - so that's quite good!

2) The 4D ride is amazing. AMAZING. The wrap around screen is very impressive and the fact that all the dreamworks characters make an appearance is fun. I wanted a bit more rocking on the bus ride - but I'd have to go again to properly experience it. My jaw was too much on the floor to really take it all in! Bravo SimWORX!

3) The shows are fun. They're quite dungeon like - but there's a stronger through story line in so much that some members of the group are given items to create a potion at the end. The kids will LOVE it! There are some jokes in there for the adults too - and it's a lot funnier than I thought it would have been.

4) The mirror maze is of a good size - with some nice magic mirror visuals.

5) There are some very clever moments involving a furball and an onion in two separate scenes - which really made me blink in shock! Great stuff!

So there are some thoughts. I don't know if it will merit multiple viewings as I don't see how they can update it in the future. Maybe have snow up at Christmas or something... or do shows based around Shrek The Halls or Scared Shrekless.

I'd be very interested to see how it will handle with large crowds. The fact that the 2nd time I went around with James... it was just me and James! It made for a very surreal experience! However in the first group - the kids' faces were just all smiles. This will be a huge hit for families and that's what the Southbank is for.

It's the best theming Merlin have ever done; the details are just astonishing. I don't know if that's Dreamworks' demands - but there's so much to look at! Smells galore (hold your nose in the first scene in Far Far Away!)

So - overall - very positive. Give it time - they're still working on some effects and moments. Make suer you stand in the centre of the vortex room (and if you've seen a video of Mystic Manor or the queue for Oblivion: The Black Hole - you'll know what effect to expect). I do with they could hide things like projectors, speakers and the emergency exit signs (though green) are still really garish in some places. Damn health and safety.

My gripe is that we see the other dreamworks characters in the first ride and they don't appear again until the Madame Tussauds style exit area.

[jamesc]

Is this Attraction open yet, also can you use your merlin premium pass to enter at the moment or not?

[Chaz]

Opened today. Premium MAP holders get in from September (July entry with special "Green Tickets") and Standard MAP holders won't get in until next year.

[jamesc]

Thanks for that info, but where can I get these special Green Tickets?

[Chaz]

I was sceptical; it worried me that Merlin were investing heavily in (what I see as) a dead Franchise. I didn’t see the point of it, but I went in with an open mind. Some spoilers below…

We entered 15mins before our timeslot, there was no queue up until the photo point, where we were kept back to allow the next section to get less busy. The staff were great (ok, they were 4 days into their new jobs) and very smiley, chatty and great with kids. It was all themed brilliantly. The queue walls are covered in decals, these won’t last 5mins with the general public – which is sad – but I hope they are kept maintained.

After the photo op the “short” queue to get into the lifts seemed to last forever, it was quite boring and the airport-style announcements were slowing driving us both crazy. The lifts (there are 2) hold about 5 people, and are used for both entering and exiting the attraction – not ideal. And not a great first impression. Once out the lift, there was another queue (yay!) but it didn’t last long. We then got our photo taken with Donkey (which the staff are happy to take them with our phones/cameras – which was brilliant) and then onto an over-enthusiastic host. After hearing the usual safety stuff, off we went.

I won’t go through exactly what we experienced but all I can say is that even if you don’t like/care for Shrek, go for the bus! That was incredible. I’m 26, know how the theme park industry and it’s rides work, but for 3/4mins I believed I was actually flying. That tech is incredible! From disembarking the ride, everything was themed from floor to ceiling – was incredible. The kids loved the whole experience, all adults had smiles, and I loved it. I even fell for the ending, you truly believe you’re in the story.

It’s a shame tickets aren’t selling at the moment, but I hope as reviews start coming in they’ll be getting more trade.

In short – if you can go, just go! If you have kids, they’ll love it. There is much interactivity with the children, a few adult jokes and the way the actors interact with the CGI characters (including tangible props) is fantastic.

[Stan.H]

What are the queue like for this?? :-k