Shrek's Adventure! London is a tourist attraction located in London, England. It is a hybrid of walkthrough, simulator, and live show attractions featuring various show scenes themed after locations throughout the Shrek series. Several characters such as Doris and the Muffin Man are portrayed by live actors that interact with guests. This helps give the attraction the feel of a theatre performance blended with the thrill of a regular attraction. Shrek's Adventure! London opened in early 2015 to celebrate the 15 year anniversary of Shrek, and is still running to this day.
The Experience[]
Guests enter by walking through a faux establishment called "DreamWorks Tours", where tourists can pick a destination from a popular franchise such as Berk (from How to Train Your Dragon), China (from Kung Fu Panda) and Europe (from Madagascar). However, you are boarding a magic bus in order to visit the world of Shrek. Upon walking through the queue, guests can take photo opportunities, either with a statue of Donkey peeking out of the Onion Carriage, or in front of a green screen where you can do a roar for the camera.
When arriving at the "gates", you then walk through long halls with portraits of the Shrek characters, until finally arriving at your destination where the magic buses are waiting. Guests are soon greeted by Fiona (in her human form), who is telling them what they're in for when going to the realm of Far Far Away, only to get her presentation ruined by pictures of various villains. She presses on however in order to greet Donkey, who reveals that the buses aren't functioning due to a "lack of magic". Fiona then says that the buses actually run on the magic of music, and plays one song from a selection of famous tunes from the Shrek films. Once the song plays, the buses begin to gain steam and Donkey awaits your arrival. Soon enough, you're riding through a simulation of traveling through London, England and then fly into the sky, where you meet various DreamWorks characters. First running into the Penguins of Madagascar, then into Hiccup, Toothless and Astrid, until finally seeing Po riding on a giant firework rocket.
Donkey proceeds to land in Shrek's swamp, unintentionally crushing the witch Griselda in the process (a nod to the death of the Wicked Witch of the East in The Wizard of Oz). You'll then leave the bus and visit Shrek's house, where Cinderella is housekeeping. She tells them that Shrek is not home and that there is a strange cart nearby. When walking towards, you find out that it's Rumpelstiltskin's old mobile home, where a fortune teller tells you and other guests that Rumpel is angry upon hearing about the death of his "favorite witch". It turns out that Rumpel was going to propose to Griselda to be his wife, and now that she's been killed, he's out for cold blooded revenge on the tourists. Shrek then promises to help his new friends get back home before they are taken away by Rumpelstiltskin.
Along the adventure, you'll encounter various show scenes and interact with certain characters. The most prominent being a trip to the Poision Apple, where Doris is serving drinks and talks to Puss in Boots about the current situation involving Rumpel. She is soon visited by Baba, who kidnaps Puss and talks to her about what's been going down with Rumpel, and protects the tourists from being spotted by her. Eventually the guests manage to escape and find themselves in the Duloc torture chamber, which is now being used as a set for the game show, Wheel of Torture, hosted by Thelonius (who also now works for Rumpel). Pinocchio is being held captive, and in order to free him, you must answer three questions correctly. The outcome remains the same regardless of who answers the questions, as Pinocchio will be tortured some more by Thelonius. During the process, he'll tell everyone that in order to get back home, they'll have to see the Muffin Man.
Trying to find Drury Lane, you and the tourists run through a mirror maze (a nod to the original Shrek! book) where holographs of Shrek, Donkey and the Magic Mirror pop up. You'll luckily find your way there, only to encounter Sleeping Beauty. She will try to tell where where to find the Muffin Man, but constantly sleeps before she can give you directions. Eventually, she stays awake long enough and you finally meet the Muffin Man. He shows you a cauldron that can help bring you back home, and takes a volunteer to put in the last pinch of magic flour. Guests expect to go home, but are surprised to find themselves in the clutches of the witches, but are quickly rescued by Shrek. One of the DreamWorks Tours staff members end up finding the guests and hopes they had a "Shrek-Tacular" time. He/she then tells everyone that their train to return home leaves in 40 seconds, and encourages everyone to rush down the halls.
At the end, there are multiple photo opportunities with various Shrek and DreamWorks characters, and naturally, there's a gift shop at the very end.
Trivia[]
- On opening day, there was a giant gingerbread house made entirely out of large candy and cookies to celebrate the first operating day.
- Also on opening day, a Starbucks was made with the sign "Farbucks", a reference to the parody chain in Shrek 2.
- There is a reference to Georgie Porgie in the queue, with a voice over from Gingy saying "Please be on the lookout for Mr. Georgie Porgie. He's been kissing girls and making them cry."
- Concept art revealed by artist Darren Webb reveals a potentially different plotline for this attractions. These included:
- The storyline involving Shrek turning into a toad.
- Fiddlesworth playing a significant role, now working as a minstrel.
- Rumpelstiltskin would've been seen with his infamous spinning wheel.
- Merlin taking the place of either the fortune teller or the Muffin Man.
- In the Duloc torture chamber, Pinocchio and the Three Little Pigs were supposed to appear with Gingy (as a possible homage to Shrek 4-D's preshow).
- On select nights, there's an "adults only" version of the attraction dubbed "Shrek's Adventure Lates!". Notable differences include:
- Reserving alcohol at the Poison Apple.
- More crude and slightly sexual humor.
- Even hammier acting.
- Emphasis on nostalgia.