Is The Happy Place worth going to?
If you live and Toronto and have social media, it is fair to say you’ve heard of The Happy Place. Photos of a ball pit, confetti room and giant chocolate chip cookie have likely crossed your feed. Besides all the fun photo opportunities, how could I not visit a place called “The Happy Place”. I knew I had to jump on the bandwagon and go to this pop-up. So I visited in mid-December for my birthday with a few of my besties.
If I ever go to a place like “The Happy Place” again I will seriously pay a professional photographer to just follow me around. I’m not even joking! The whole point of this place is to take interesting and ‘Instagram-worthy’ pictures in front of a cool background. I almost felt self-conscious with my smartphone as the majority of visitors had professional cameras. To get in there are timed tickets and it cost almost $40. I thought we’d be through it quickly, but with lines and our slow picture taking we were in the space for around two hours.
You walk through doors to a room with a gumball machine wall, giant shoe and a booth with yellow and white smiley face M&Ms. Of course the allergy signs said they weren’t nut-free 🙁 That did not make me happy. Then you enter the next room through a gold streamer curtain – many boomerang opportunities. The prettiest room had the worst light and and the pictures didn’t turn out very well. It was dark with a fake yellow flower garden with garlands suspended from the ceiling and you climbed a ladder into the flowerbed. It was very pretty, but the pictures came out dark.
Outfit
- Pink Sweater: Banana Republic
- Floral Skirt: Pearls & Pockets (boutique on Queen Street West)
- Ankle Boots: Sam Edelman
Boomerangs, Confetti and Giant Cookies
As you walk through there are several other rooms, the place is divided like a film set with many fake rooms with different feelings to evoke. There was a room of plastic chains from the ceiling, the rubber ducky bathtub room, a love themed room and a confetti room, with some very dirty confetti on the floor you would throw in the air to take a picture. I was a bit disappointed because I thought it was going to be a room with swirling confetti. The last room was the giant cookie room which smelled like cookies, it actually sort of made me nauseous. Then at the end they gave you mini chocolate chip cookies, which I of course couldn’t eat due to my nut allergy.
Don’t get me wrong, the experience was fun. But I thought it would be more interactive, like an adult playground. But the rooms were static and just for taking pictures. I expected it to be more of an experience, like Candytopia I visited in New York City. However, there was a ball pit you’d jump into at the very end, which was fun but hurt a bit lol. There was also a dome which you hit a button to make confetti blow, but it didn’t swirl very much like I thought it would in my imagination. But given it was still a fun two hours downtown, I would say it is worth going to. But know you’re going to take photos and goof around – so put on your cutest outfit!
