Auckland: Wētā Workshop Unleashed Interactive Movie Experience

I did not expect the price was US Dollor when you purchased the ticket in New Zealand.

So much fun to go behind the scenes and learn about the movie magic that happens at Wëta! Immersive experience where you can touch and be a part of it all. The care, artistry and creativity is mindblowing.

Tour was fantastic - loved the hands on nature of the tour and really engaging to see and feel the technology. Great tour guide to keep us entertained.

The guide was engaging and at each stop had rest areas for mobility impaired. The workshops were engaging and fun.

I was excited to attend this workshop but left apologising to my partner for taking him along. I didn't mind that the movies weren't real movies but my main issue was that it was advertised as a workshop and was more like a walk through museum where you can touch things. If the cost was maybe $20-30 and advertised appropriately that would be ok. Our guide was pretty good. I did an in-house feedback form and perhaps cause I scored them low they didn't ask me to share their reviews....that's the only reason I can think of why they score high on the online reviews.

Overall this was a really fun experience. Our guide, Anna, was very knowledgeable and was a lot of fun. Our interest with Weta lies mostly in the Lord of the Rings work they've done, which wasn't a large focus of this experience, but we still had a good time. The gift shop (aka Cave) has some giant troll statues and a huge Smaug head, great for photos. There's some LotR merch, Warhammer collectibles, and other things they've worked on. It's not huge but it's nice to wander around a bit before your tour. There are a couple photos you can get taken by the crew during the tour which are available for purchase afterwards, but there's plenty of opportunity to take your own pictures. This tour focuses more on the general prosthetics, animatronics, and creative process than the Wellington tour, with less focus on the specific projects you may be familiar with from Weta's work on Lord of the Rings, District 9, etc. It was a fun opportunity to feel some of the materials used in movie prosthetics, see some of the process behind it, and play a little with some puppetry controls, as well as see some very large models and sculptures. There's a small "haunted-house" style experience you can skip if you get startled easily.

Was awesome, the tour was awesome interactive, interesting and well worth the money, but what truly made all the fun stuff great was the knowledge and energy brought by the guide Eliina she was able to answer every question and had a great sense of humor and a curiosity that made you feel as if you were part of the Wéta world and family. Sure hope my internship comes with an EAP (iykyk)

Awesome hands on experience.Guide was great, Tom .Very entertaining and knowledgeable. The only negative was the surprise charge for the throne picture. Otherwise would recommend this to anybody Amazing

Tom was awesome! What great fun. He was witty and charming and kept the group totally engaged. We are so glad we went.

We visited Weta Workshop Auckland at Sky City in the July holidays, my 6 and 8 year old grandkids had a fantastic time! We did the Combo workshop where they loved making their own sculptures, with help from the lovely tutor, and then a little break before doing the guided tour through the incredible Weta creative workshop which was absolutely amazing! This was led by a fabulous Weta guide who used her sense of humour and gregarious personality to make a uniquely fun, interactive experience for our group something we will long remember! So much to see, try out for ourselves, and enough time to enjoy each stage of the tour without feeling rushed. The kids both loved the entire Combo at Weta, I’m so glad we did this, it was worth the cost, really great value and something very unique and memorable. I’d highly recommend this to anyone with kids over about 5 or 6 years old, up to any adult age.