Wellington : Wētā Workshop 90 - Minuten Tour

Our guide Fin(?) was really knowledgeable and enthusiastic which was lovely! Great exhibits but the time spent in each area was far too short.

Such a fun and interesting tour to go on! Definitely worth checking out. 😊

The tour guide was knowledgeable and well-rehearsed. She made the experience fun by interacting with the guests. Professor tin foil looked the part and also had some good stories. Overall, a great experience being close up with the exhibits and better than I expected.We had been to the Gallipoli exhibition at the museum and we couldnt believe how lifelike the people Weta created were.A very moving experience. Also with the Weta Workshop, as an engineer i appreciated the workmanship and detail. If we have people visiting from overseas I would recommend they take the tour. We had no idea how many movies Weta has been involved with.

Super fun and interesting experience

Friendly helpful staff with a sense of humor, great unique products a little bit expensive but good quality. Mark the guide was great so informative and easy going.

A fantastic experience for any Lord of the Rings fan! The gift shop has all the collectibles you could want, plus some photo opportunities with some life-size trolls, Lurtz (the Uruk Hai) and a set of dwarven armor. We did the transport tour (they drive you to the workshop from the CBD/Downtown area) and our driver Derek was amazing. He had tons of fun anecdotes to share, and because we were the only people doing the van ride over, he was able to drop us off at the Town Belt (city park) where some of the filming locations for the movies were which saved us a bunch of hiking uphill. The tour itself was lovely. Our guide Hazel was super friendly and knowledgeable, and made sure to circulate and chat with everyone and point out some of the most interesting props that might be easy to miss or miss the context of. The tour is very well run, making sure you have some time in each space and providing opportunities to handle some screen-used props, see into the actual workshop where they were working on real props, and try your hand at a bit of sculpture yourself. In addition to our guide, there were two artists who were available to chat with, one of whom gave a quick demonstration of some of the work she does. For us, the big highlight was the screen-used props from Lord of the Rings and some other familiar properties, and getting to try on an Uruk Hai helmet and a Rohan helmet for some pictures. It was a nice mix of movie props, stunning collectibles, hands-on exploration of a small studio space, and fun facts. If you're coming to New Zealand for Hobbiton, it's definitely worth swinging down to Wellington for this and heading up to the Town Belt to see the filming locations. The tree where Frodo is reading is pretty easy to find and take pictures at, while some of the other locations you have to use your imagination a tiny bit more but get the general sense of being in the place. It's very strange to be seeing the road where the Nazgul rode through or where the hobbits hide by the roadside and hear children playing at the playground a few hundred yards away.

It was a fantastic experience i was amazed at how much Weta had been involved in! I would say not for a younger child , but great for teens And adults who love movies! I ended up watching Krampus when we got back to the hotel just because I saw one of the puppets at the Weta workshop! Also got to talk to a couple of the creators who were working that day. Met the “gloop” guy, he made 8,000 litres of gloop for the Matirx movies 🤣

The kids leather workshop was amazing and our tour guide for the tour was so kind and engaging. We have done the tour many times and each time your tour guides give us a fun new take on the tour.

For a huge fan of The Lord of the Rings, this is a bucket list. The store has some amazing and expensive collectibles, perfect for window shopping and instagraming. The staff and guide are super friendly and funny. Definitely recommend it.

A wonderful experience not to be missed. I learned so much about how props & costumes are made and the many hours involved. We are blessed to have such skilled and passionate people in the various workshops.