Are you a Shrek fan? Want to fully immerse yourself in the land of Far, Far, Away? We visited Shrek’s Adventure as part of our family trip to London and it was a fun addition. Today I am sharing our Shrek’s Adventure London review and guide.
If Ogre’s and a Far, Far, Away Land sound like a great thing to include in your London vacation look no further than Shrek’s Adventure London.
Shrek’s Adventure London is promoted as a “unique Shrek experience” which I will admit, before I visited I had know idea what that actually meant.
I knew there were interactive elements and is a walk-through experience. What I discovered is that it is truly immersive.
There are team members and actors around every corner making you part of the story as you have an adventure through Far, Far, Away Land.
I visited Shrek’s Adventure with my family of five. My husband and I have always loved the touristy types of attractions but I was curious how my teens would feel about it. My kids are all over ten years old and I couldn’t wait to see their perspective of the experience.
Shrek’s Adventure London Guide
Before I share my review of Shrek’s Adventure London I want to share a few details to know before you go.
Shrek’s Adventure is located in London in a very popular tourist area at the County Hall. It is located on the South Bank of the river Thames.
Shrek’s Adventure is one of many family-friendly London attractions is this area. You can also visit the London Eye, SEA LIFE London Aquarium, the London Dungeons and the Big Bus Tour.
Guests can arrive by car or the nearest tube station. We were doing our own walking tour of London so we walked there. You can read about our time in London in this post: Family Trip to London | 3 Night London Itinerary
There are options to purchase tickets for Shrek’s Adventure and more attractions as a bundle. If you are planning on experiencing all the attractions this can be a good deal.
During our visit we were limited on time so we didn’t get to experience anything other than Shrek’s Adventure.
Tickets should be purchased before you arrive to avoid long wait times or being sold out. They do offer multi-attraction, timed entry tickets where you choose a time slot, and standard tickets so be sure to find the one that fits your needs best.
The attraction can get busy, especially during school holidays and weekends. We visited in the summer and had a timed entry.
This allowed us to walk right in to start the tour.
What to Expect at Shrek’s Adventure London Experience
The whole experience lasts around 70 minutes and you are on your feet walking most of the time. You will see familiar faces like Princess Fiona, Pinocchio, and more.
There are also photo-ops where you can take your own photos with different characters from Dreamworks films. These are stationary photo-ops not meet and greets.
Shrek’s Adventure uses some special effects and it is a fully immersive experience. Guests will have a tour guide and journey to different rooms.
It is wheelchair accessible but they do not allow motorized scooters in the experience. The rooms and areas you go through are fairly small. Strollers, or buggies, are not permitted inside the tour. There is a place to store your stroller free of charge at the start of the tour.
Guests with young children may worry if the attraction is scary and we did not find it to be scary at all. If they have seen the Shrek movie’s they should be fine with the content. You know your child best so use your best judgement.
Shrek’s Adventure is recommended for those 6 and up but I think that is more because of the nature of the attraction. You will be walking room to room with actors following the story of an adventure to find Shrek. Small children and toddlers may find it too long to go through.
There were babies and children of all ages on our tour and everyone seemed very entertained. I think it is a great time for the whole family.
No one needed to leave during the tour. If you do need to exit at any point during the tour all you need to do is ask an actor and they will assist you.
There are many opportunities to talk and interact with the actors making the tour engaging for most guests. The entire tour is in English so consider this when visiting.
For the tour you are grouped with around 20 people to go on the adventure. There were a few families that didn’t speak English including a young boy who an actor called on to interact with.
During their exchange she realized he didn’t speak English and started speaking Spanish to him, which made his face light up. It was such a cool moment and I was blown away by the commitment and excellence of the actors.
Overview of Shrek’s Adventure London
Photos and videos are not permitted once you start the fairy tale attraction so I am going to do my best to explain what it is like.
Once you pass through the turnstiles you enter DreamWorks Tours. There you find photo-ops with characters from Madagascar. Then you enter an elevator to take you to the next part of your tour.
Inside the elevator you will encounter Gingy the Gingerbread Man. Then there is a spot to use the restroom if you need to followed by a photo-op. This photo-op is a green screen one that has a photographer and guests can purchase photos at the end of the tour.
The next stop is the 4D Flying Bus ride hosted by Donkey. It is a very low impact attraction. The bus moves up and down a bit with a screen around you.
The show sets the scene for why we are going on a journey through the land of Far, Far, Away to find Shrek.
From there you go through the Swamp, Rumpelstiltskin’s Carriage, Poison Apple Pub, Farquaads Dungeon, Mirror Maze of Insanity, the Bakery, and finally the Prison.
Each area has an actor and audience participation. My husband was chosen to dance with the fortune teller and he had a blast. (No photos or videos are allowed so I don’t have the proof!)
It is a fully immersive experience so be prepared to be part of the adventure.
One thing I need to mention that may bother some guests is the Mirror Maze. It is not scary and should be fairly simple. It is part of the journey and an easy maze to follow but we were with a group, and at the end of the line.
The leaders of our group got lost in the maze…and we all followed. Thankfully an actor found us fairly quickly but I did feel a bit claustrophobic. I am prone to this and it was fine but I wanted to share so you know what to expect.
After the prison seen your Shrek experience is complete and you get to meet Shrek with a photo-op. I felt this was very rushed and I only got a photo of my family, without me.
I wish it was a bit slower pace to get the photos so I could have been in it too. There is a photographer there taking pictures for purchase but I was allowed to take a photo of the family with Shrek.
After Shrek at the end of the tour there are a few more photo-ops that include popular Dreamworks characters. There are Kung Fu Panada and Light Fury from How to Train Your Dragon areas to take photos.
As you exit the Dreamworks area there is a small Shrek gift shop and a place to purchase your photos if you’d like.
Seasonal Events
A quick note about seasonal events. During Halloween they offer Scared Shrekless which includes a meeting with the witch as well as the Christmas Grotto. Shrek the Halls at meet Santa Shrek during this festive event.
Our Experience: Shrek’s Adventure London Review
We were invited to experience Shrek’s Adventure and I was excited to include it in our 3 days in London.
We love meeting Shrek at Universal Studios and are into the touristy attractions. I know they can be busy and sometimes expensive but we have so much fun! The corny jokes and silly atmosphere was a good balance for us on our trip to London.
From the start of the tour in Shrek’s Swamp guests are included in the adventure. This is an interactive experience. If you do not enjoy these types of experiences this might not be for you.
I don’t want to have any spoilers but you become part of the story and have to accomplish tasks to finish the adventure.
We had the best time. All of us were laughing and enjoying ourself throughout the adventure. I did feel a bit rushed meeting Shrek but I understand the need to keep everyone moving along and it didn’t damper our experience.
My kids enjoyed it just as much as us. No one was bored during the experience and we had fun with it.
For us it was a great way to balance the historical sites we were seeing in London with some silly fun. I would recommend it to most families as a fun addition to your London trip.
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Leah has been traveling with her family of 5 since 2012 and sharing her expertise on planning family vacations and visiting theme parks since 2016. Leah has been featured in Visit Rochester, Undercover Tourist, and Home Publications. She has worked with brands like Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, Hersheypark, Toyota, and various Tourism boards and destinations. Leah creates family travel itineraries based on real trip experiences with her family. Her guides and tips help others plan great family vacations. Learn more about Leah and Five for the Road.