Wonderland at ACMI

https://www.acmi.net.au/events/wonderland/

Wonderland is wonderful! Lewis Caroll’s story of Alice in Wonderland has been told and retold through the ages, and now ACMI are hosting “Wonderland”; an exhibit about all things Alice.

Though for me the Disney version is the Wonderland with which I am most familiar, this is just one of over forty versions of Alice in Wonderland that have made the screen.

You start the exhibit by being assigned a character and receiving a map (I got the Queen of Hearts). As you walk around you can scan your map to find out more information and unlock even more with your “special key” when you get home. You’ll have to grab your own map for that one though!

Then it’s through the tiny door and off we go (unless you are too big in which case there’s a big door too).

The interactive exhibit walks you through many of the key parts of the story; the hallway of tiny doors leads onto the pool of tears for example. Each section had elements that will appeal to children and adults alike; from tiny houses to climb through to movies playing around in the different rooms.

The highlights for our crew were the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party and The Queen’s Crochet Ground.

The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party is a four and a half minute long lights and sounds show set around a big table hosting a tea party. No videos allowed, but I assure you it was pretty magical (and a little bit creepy/crazy as Wonderland often is!).

The Queen’s Crochet Ground is undoubtedly the most kid friendly space within Wonderland. There’s some crafting activities and great photo opportunities. In addition you can get your photo taken and then it is uploaded onto the big screen whilst you paint the roses red!

Check out this little video to see what I mean…

Wonderland was really well put together with plenty to look at, read and interact with. I would allow about 1-2 hours to do it justice.

Tip: Go with two adults if you can. There was a bit of a wait for the Tea Party during our visit so it helped to have one person in line whilst the other wrangled children!

Prices:

Full $25
Concession $21
Member $20
Child over 4 $16
Family $65
Children under 4 free!

Pre booking is recommended but not essential. Entry is done by the half hour time slot so you may need to wait if you just turn up without a booking.

Also worth noting is the ACMI café has gone a little bit Wonderland themed too. We had coffees and cake and then later returned for lunch there and found it excellent. You can view the menu here.