Disney celebrates 100th anniversary with immersive experience

Walt Disney Company has unveiled an immersive experience to celebrate its 100-year anniversary.

Aimed at young adults, “Wonder of Friendship: The Experience” will open in London from 12 to 21 May at 180 The Strand.

It invites groups of friends to venture through 1,000 square metres of various installations inspired by Disney classics like Alice in Wonderland, The Lion King, Mickey & Friends and Lilo & Stitch.

Guests will begin the experience by falling down the rabbit hole into the topsy-turvy Garden of Mystery, inspired by Alice in Wonderland.

Disney fans will walk among towering flowers, bread-and-butterflies, and the Queen’s Card Guards into a haze-filled maze.

If they have managed to keep their heads, visitors can experience the tropical scenes of Lilo & Stitch’s Ohana Bay by taking a stroll down Lilo’s memory lane and hopping on a surfboard.

Later, guests can explore The Lion King’s jungle-themed, Orchestral Oasis room, complete with famous Disney friends Simba, Timon and Pumbaa.

Finally, visitors can find themselves hanging out with life-sized statues of Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy, Goofy and Pluto in the Mickey & Friends Wonderverse room.

Motion sensors are triggered when guests interact with the characters, sparking each character’s unique live art animation on one of the giant LED screens within the room.

Guests will also be able to visit various retail pop-ups including an experience powered by Creator Studio, where they can create an original piece of clothing using augmented reality technology.

Throughout the experience, Disney fans are encouraged to use Snapchat’s AR filters, which can bring Disney characters to life, by scanning QR codes in each exhibition room.

As groups of friends finish the experience, they will find out which Disney friendships they share, with a "Disney Wonder of Friendship" printout.

The experience was produced in partnership with Haygarth.

Early ticket access is available to H&M members in the UK and France for two weeks from 25 January to 8 February.

Tickets for London, Paris and Berlin will go on general release on 9 February 2023 at £17.50 per person.

“Throughout our one hundred years, Disney stories have shown the importance of friendship and appreciating the differences in others, so we couldn’t think of a better theme to celebrate our milestone anniversary,” Sarah Fox, vice-president of marketing and comms at Disney Consumer Products, EMEA, said.

“From Alice in Wonderland’s flower walkway to Lilo & Stitch’s photo frame opportunity, there’ll be plenty of social media moments to share with your best friends and relive for years to come.”