A pop-up event temporarily leased a space at Uptown Shopping Centre to offer parents and their young kids a family-friendly Halloween experience ahead of October 31st.
However, after just one day, the event received online criticism from disgruntled parents who say it did not live up to their expectations.
A local promoter and event organizer, I Dream in Decor, was solely responsible for the execution of the event with no ties to Uptown Shopping Centre beyond her leasing the space on Uptown Boulevard.
The space could be booked in two-hour slots, and parents were under the impression that their children would be entertained for the entirety of that timeframe.
In addition to this, there was a train ride which was an add-on cost and it was just as disappointing to parents as the rest of the space.
Some parents took to social media to warn others of their experience and said the space took a fraction of those two hours to bore their kids, with the train ride being a massive letdown.
“If you haven’t already DO NOT buy tickets to the Halloween ghost town at Uptown. It is a complete rip off,” wrote Anjeline Sran on a Westshore-based Facebook group.
“The tickets are $25 per person plus another $15 for the train, adults can barely fit.”
Sran continued saying that adults can hardly fit in the train and that the organizers were giving away free train rides at the event, but charging people in advance online.
“You can walk through the whole thing in 5 minutes and they are selling it as a 2 [hour] block,” she added.
Sran was not alone in her disappointment with the event as her sentiments were echoed online in various groups and forums.
Following its opening weekend, Halloween Ghost Town shut down temporarily until Friday, October 27th.
I Dream in Decor is now saying they needed to rebuild some set pieces that were damaged and expand on some activities based on the feedback from some of the event’s attendees.
Victoria Buzz reached out to I Dream in Decor to comment on the feedback they received, but have not received their statement as of this publication.
