Dreamworks Tours

DreamWorks Tours is a Midway Attraction brand owned by Merlin Entertainments.^[1] The tour is themed after Dreamworks franchises such as Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon. The first tour opened in London, in County Hall in July 2015 titled Dreamworks Tours - Shrek's Adventure! London, however, it is also shortened to just Shrek's Adventure.^[2][3] This "Immersive Tunnel" from Simworx^[4] is built in collaboration with Merlin Entertainments, the 20,000 square feet (1,900 m²) live interactive walk-through adventure presents an original story written by DWA, along with a character courtyard, also featuring characters from several other DreamWorks Animation's franchises.^[5]

Current attractions

London

DreamWorks Tours: Shrek's Adventure! London opened in July 2015 in London's County Hall. County Hall is already home to Sea Life London Aquarium, the ticket office for The Coca-Cola London Eye and The London Dungeon which are all also owned by Merlin Entertainments. The tour's ticket hall is located in the same space as the original Sea Life ticket hall, which is designed to fit around the Atlantic Tank in the Aquarium.

Once your allocated ticket time has arrived, you enter and go around the ticket hall, and enter a photo opportunity. Then the queue snakes around the ground floor of County Hall with transportation themed props such as metal detectors and suitcases which interact with the guests as they go round. The tour then enters an elevator with an animated ceiling which features Gingy from Shrek. Once the lift arrives on the first floor of County Hall, the queue then passes a buggy hold themed as a lost and found and another photo opportunity awaits, this time with Donkey. After this, groups are formed and a safety spiel is read to the group.

Then the group head down a corridor to The Magical Bus Depot and meet Princess Fiona. She explains what the group are meant to see during their visit to Far Far Away, however her presentation goes wrong as villains take over. Donkey then appears on screen and reveals that the Magical Bus is out of magic, and Princess Fiona reminds the guests that the bus uses the magic of music. The group sings a karaoke of "I'm a Believer" and the bus starts working again. The group then boards the bus and Donkey flies to Far Far Away. On the journey, you meet characters from Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon. When the bus arrives in Far Far Away, it is visible that it is taken over by Rumpelstiltskin and his Witches. On the descent, the bus runs over Rumpelstiltskin's favourite Witch and the bus falls to the ground and crashes in Shrek's swamp. In the swamp, you meet Cinderella who is cleaning Shrek's Swamp. She reveals that the group needs to visit a fortune teller and gives the group gold to pay him. The group take the gold to the fortune teller who reveals that the group needs to get a Magic Portal Spell from the Poison Apple Pub. In the Pub, Doris tells the group the recipe for the Magic Portal Spell. The group will need to find, The Hair of a Hero, The Essence of Ogre, and The Conscience of a Boy. After Doris speaks, Puss in Boots reveals himself as a projected character. He spits out a hairball which is The Hair of a Hero. Once he leaves, a Witch arrives with a bag with a cat in. The Witch explains that she is on the look out for a group of tourists, and works out that the visitors to the pub are those tourists. She prepares to get backup when Doris pours water over her and she melts.

The group leave the pub and head to The Wheel of Torture room. Here, a soldier has captured Pinocchio and the group has to press buttons on their seats to answer questions. After a few questions, the guard receives a call on his Eye-Phone and goes to answer it. Here, Pinocchio tells the group to press both buttons at the same time to reset the Guards brain. This works, and he becomes a friend to the group. He gives the group a Cricket which is Pinocchio's Conscience. The group exit into The Mirror Maze of Insanity. After the Maze, the group enter The Muffin Man's shop. Here, they prepare the recipe and however they are missing the final ingredient, The Essence of Ogre. Luckily, Donkey is on hand to give the group and onion by throwing it through a window. The recipe creates a portal through a door and the group exit into a room with an LED strip around the floor. Projections referencing the previous events on the tour circle the group until a Witch arrives and takes the group into a cell. Here, Rumpelstiltskin is visible on several screens around the cell. Shrek appears and starts to break in. They both run around the cell to try and catch each other. Shrek then breaks a wall down and a projected Shrek is visible behind the wall. He explains that the group need to let out their inner Ogre to get out, and the group shout Ogre! Then, a magic portal opens up and a Dreamworks Tours representative enters revealing that they have landed slightly of track and need to walk back to get to the arrivals gate. However the only way there is through a Tube tunnel and there is 40 seconds until the next train. The group then walk out of the Tube tunnel and into a photo opportunity room. They then enter the same lifts that the entered in and Gingy says goodbye. They then exit through the gift shop.

Future attractions

Merlin have confirmed that they are looking into creating similar experiences in Asia themed to Kung Fu Panda.

References