Parents have been left furious after queuing for eight hours to a BBC Gladiators event they have branded an ‘absolute flop’.
The event, held at Bluewater Shopping Centre in Kent last weekend, was built-up by its organisers to be ‘an action-packed’ and ‘immersive experience’ where fans could meet some of the show’s biggest stars.
It also had an inflatable dueling pit for children to act out their own performances as Gladiators, as well as other versions of the show’s most popular events.
But the ‘thousands’ of people who set off to the experience, which was held on Saturday, March 22 and Sunday, March 23, have been left furious after they were forced to queue for eight hours.
By the time some families finally got in, they were told the activities were no longer running, leaving kids devastated having not met their heroes.
One visitor who attended the Saturday event claimed the organisers told them they had only expected 500 people to turn up, leaving them scrambling when masses of families tried to attend.
Posting to X, the user @LDJAFC said they had ‘completely underestimated the popularity of the gladiators’.
Agreeing in a reply, @nigeljflanagan also attended the event and said ‘4000 people’ had arrived on the day.
He said: ‘I didn’t expect tonight to be that busy, fair play to all the parents and children who waited. Next time it needs to be a ticketed event with time slots to save any disappointment.’
One popular Instagram account ran by a mother who regularly posts videos enjoying days out with her daughter in London and Kent areas labelled it ‘the worst free event we have ever been to’.
Posting under the account @allfunadventures featuring a video of the incredible queue, she said: ‘We joined the queue to see The Gladiators at 10am.
‘The event was scheduled for 10am-5.30pm, but the queue was closed at around 11am with the expectation told to us by the organisers of queueing for 2-4 hours.
‘We queued for almost 8 hours! To get inside to be told that the activities were no longer running!
‘An absolute flop of an event which could have easily been prevented by a ticketed system and virtual queue, I wonder why this wasn’t in place when it was clear this would have been a hugely popular event.
‘Poor management by whoever organised this and I hope the day runs better for others tomorrow.’
As the weekend grew longer, more videos and images of the ‘flop’ event began to surface on social media.
The queues can be seen stretching the entire perimeter of the shopping centre in Kent, forcing some parents to abandon the plans.
On Facebook, @thethirtyishmum called her attempted day out with her two boys as a ‘fail’ after they were left ‘so upset’.
Her post read: ‘We are HUGE gladiators fans in this house and today we severely underestimated the queue.
‘I assumed it would be a busy event, maybe a 1-2 hour wait, but it was clear by chatting to those in the queue that had got there at 7am and still weren’t in by 12am that we had no chance at all.
‘Jack and Alfie were so upset.’
The disastrously long queues and underwhelming entry has evoked memories of the Willy Wonka Experience in Glasgow which went viral last February.
Irate parents slammed the £35-a-ticket event in Glasgow as ‘an absolute shambles’ after being promised ‘a universe where your dreams come true’ and would ‘make memories that will last a lifetime’.
Just 24 hours before ‘Willy’s Chocolate Experience’ last February at the Boxhub, organisers House of Illuminati posted pictures of a van full of props and said ‘it’s all coming together nicely’.
Yet families were left stunned when they arrived and were greeted with a near-empty warehouse with a few Wonka-themed props and a small bouncy castle, leaving distraught children in floods of tears.
The event was cancelled halfway through the first day as angered mothers, fathers and grandparents demanded refunds. Organisers have promised to give people their money back.
has approached the BBC for comment.