Weta Workshop Reviews

Tours were so informative and interesting, far more so than I expected. Thunderbirds are go and you should go visit!

Fantastic place - well worth the visit for anyone that is a fan of their incredible work!

Awsome experience only problem is that the shop is to expensive

This will work for Hobbit and Lord of the Ring fans. Go behind the scene to understand the work needed in film making.

What an amazing place. The kids loved the Thunderbirds tour.

Good guided tour in the world of special effects. Much about the story of the ring and the Hobbit movies, but a lot of other movies.

For movie lovers the place is great. The tour doesn't add much. The price is exorbitant for the consideration.

A fantastic place to visit for fans of the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies. They do show case their work in other films and TV series like Thunderbirds are Go and the recent Ghost in the Shell movie. Plenty of keepsakes can be found for all budgets from custom sculped character busts through to Fellowship broaches.
You can take a selfie of yourself and a Troll outside and take a more extensive tour of the workshop at a reasonable price. It is very informative of the process and hard work that Weta people go through to get a character on screen.
There is a sense that there is to much emphasis on LotR and Hobbit movies, and there should be more of an up dated focus on more recent projects Weta had undertaken. Still it is an amazing place.

Great place for a tour if you're into your movies, esp Lord Of The Rings fans. Had a great tour guide who although had probably done that tour a million times did it with the excitement of a rookie. Lots of things to touch and see, really great tour. Highly recommended thing to do if you're ever in Wellington

This tour was one of the best choices I made on my trip! I was on the last tour of the day on Friday, so there were only 3 of us. You start in the Weta Cave and then get escorted to the workshop. Reece was our guide and did a fantastic job! He answered all our questions and told some great stories! He actually worked on the costumes from LOTR, so it was really cool hearing first hand what the characters were like and how much work went in to each film. Highly recommend!!

Fun, fantasy, informative.Our host was a film professional.

This weta workshop tour for me personally was definitely way overpriced and underwhelming, I wish I hadn't wasted my time

Went here with the whanau last year and loved it. Do the tour round the workshop and you'll see lots of fascinating props that are used to make the movie. As an example, the mithril armour used in the Lord of the Rings is made from a specially weaved material used to make butcher gloves. There's only one manufacturer of the product in the world. So, lots of random info like that you'll learn ;)

If you are in New Zealand and are a little interested in the Lord of the Rings then you go to Weta Workshop when you are in Wellington, this is where they made the most of the movies. But be sure to book time for a guided tour.

Amazing tour, worth visiting! Luke our tour guide was fantastic. As I'm not a huge film nerd I wasn't expecting much but left feeling very impressed. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

Absolutely loved this when I did it. Our guests that go on the workshop tour absolutely love it too. Showcases the results of the skill of the crafts involved. From a process point of view it is informative too. Fantastic guides

Fascinating, very insightful tour. The only complaint is that the gift shop was closed by the time our tour returned so we were unable to buy a souvenir. Would have appreciated being told that before we started the tour.

Shocking service. Lost my first order in transit. The second one was addressed incorrectly and took four weeks to get to me in Australia but couldn't be delivered to me and had to be picked up at a post office. Not to mention the product isn't as good as the pictures in their catalogue. Waste of time and money.

If you like movies, go there. Book tours way in advance. Tour guide was so cool, and seeing all the things and how it was made is pretty awesome. I was so happy to see the Lord of the rings things. Great fun for older kids and adults

Absolutely a fantastic place to visit! We took an hour flight from Rotorua just to see this place... Did not disappoint at all!

All the staff was super accommodating and so very knowledgeable! I highly recommend doing both tours, there's so much there to take in!

Really disappointed in the tour, as a family did the combo tour, loved the content it is as you would expect from such a great company BUT I felt as though we were just rushed through, the guide was awesome, entertaining and knowledgable but the photo opportunity at the end was just 3 minutes for all 20 people on the tour to get their photo. Then to make it worse there are only 2 toilets available at the start to the 20 people being pushed through every 1/2 hour, they did warn us at the start there were no toilets on the tour, but come on!! I guess that you wouldnt want anyone to stop the tour mill churning to accomodate peoples basic needs!

Thunderbird set very interesting for all the family.

Entertaining and informative, friendly tour. A highlight

Great place, loved the tour. A must do if you ever get the chance.

Very disappointed... The van to take us back wasn t scheduled until 2pm which is an hour after our tour had finished so we were forced to wait outside in the cold and got a $20 uber back. Would not recommend and severely overpriced.

A great tour not just for fans of their big movies like Lord of the rings and district 9 but for anyone who is interested in all aspects of movie making and movie history. Well worth the visit.

Awesome place, didn't get a chance to do the tour but just having a look around in the shop and front entry was fun.

Took the tour, which was underwhelming. Sat in a room with roughly 20 others and watched a 25 minute video, and then the actual tour consisted of being talked to in narrow rooms with props which you could not touch except for in the final 10 or so minutes. The tour guide was good however.
The shuttle from the city to the workshop was more interesting than the tour.

Exceedingly reasonably priced tours, very well done, it's a fun place to visit, done three different tours, multiple times. A must for any movie, prop, or special effects geek.

My 2nd favorite place in New Zealand! My first is Hobbiton

The workshop tour was insightful and awesome! There were so many props of all sizes from tonnes of movies made over the years. Unfortunately, we couldn't take any photos inside as it's not allowed due to copyright laws but there was a spot at the end which we could take photos and speak to some of the sculptors involved in making props. We got to see some of the machinery used to make lifesize models and larger scales too. The tour guide was very entertaining and really knew his stuff!!

Very enjoyable couple of hours but it all seemed very rushed. After a 30 min video presentation and an hour tour, there was no time to look around the gift shop and buy any collectibles. I would have liked time to wander and take photos outside and to read some of the posters etc. When I booked the "There and Back Tour", I would have liked the opportunity to have seen the Thunderbirds models as well as the workshop. Ray the driver there and back was superb as was the American guide (sorry can't remember her name).

I like it very much !!! New Zealand, its culture, its speech, its things, and everything else etc ..

Rebecca Was an awesome guide had a great tour ! Very entertaining informative answered all questions odd one's as well.
Five stars Rebecca!

Great 45 min bubble tour, felt more like a conversation and a good laugh with a friend than a prepared speech - would be cool for an expansion of more movies and props Weta have worked on, as well as more DND related + board games in the gift shop

Interesting workshop

We didn t join the guided tour as too expensive and we are not really fancy about it, just curious to make a visit it is located in the residential area

Love this place, the work they do on movies is amazing. Well worth a visit

Great visit with real props. Knowledgeable staff, Tristan was great and a good laugh. And a small sculpture tour at the end

Took our family in the weekend, cost was $240 and it was sadly underwhelming!! What a shame. We only heard about thunderbirds and Lord of the Rings and if that wasn't your thing, there was nothing else on offer. Quite boring really. Bummer!

So much to see and learn, even for the little ones. Very interactive and the staff are great with letting kids touch and hold props. Well worth the trip.

We did the Thunderbirds tour, absolutely loved it. Was the right amount of time as we took our 3 kids aged between 3 - 9 yrs old. The tour guide was great - very informative and enthusiastic.

Brilliant, great to see the props first hand from some great movies. Guide was really interesting

This is a good place to go if you're a fan of the movies such as lord of the rings and the Hobbit, however it is still good even if you're not because on the tour they talk you through the general process of how props are made etc.

This is where all the wonders you see in the movies are created. It is a must see in Wellington

A stop for the nerds! Don't cheap out and skip on the tour either.

A recommended stop for anyone passing through the area.
The staff are very friendly and keep the tour interesting and amusing at the same time.
A must visit for anyone, movie enthusiast or not.

Could have been a lot better, especially from such an iconic company and Kiwi success story.

Recommended tour. Although the second tour (Thunderbirds Are GO!) Was not quite as interesting as I did not know the series and therefore could not assign the film locations to the series. It was still nice. Nice guided tour and learned a lot!

this place is amazing, you can see the weapons and things they used in Lord of the rings and the hobbit, check it out if your in wellington

The tour is great and it is very interactive, gift shop is crazy over priced though.

Fairly pricey for what you get but quite interesting.

Went with my friend. A lord of the rings fan. Didn't buy anything too expensive. But I just had to go while I was in Wellington on holidays..

Amazing special effects studio. The tours are one of a kind!

Fascinating experience. Kids especially loved it. Workshop tour was great, wish we'd known about the ministage tour earlier... next time.

A great place to take out of towners. A good selection of film memorabilia, and if you book in advance, a tour of the Weta Workshop, giving an insight into how the magic in the films is made.

Had a great time on combo tour with son. We had been to initial tour 6-7 years ago and they have improved it further with more rooms, great examples and models with a hands on final area. Miniature tour was great and amazing details especially for fan of old Thunderbird show.

Great tour from a very knowledgeable guide. Would highly recommend!

This is a great visit if you are in Wellington.
Good for ages about 8 and up. Its shorter than you might expect but packed with movie props and enough to impress.

Being LOTR nerds we really enjoyed it. Need to do the tour thing along with thunderbirds which I also enjoyed but didn't think I would. A few spots for pictures. Can visit the store without going on tour.

Went at the end of the day so went to just the store but the staff were very helpful and informative.

Recomend this place for all, really friendly stuff. Interesting way to get into movie making industry.

Wonderful time learning about the behind the scenes of movies and a bit about how props, costumes, and other great pieces are made. Highly recommend! Especially coming from someone who has already gone a few times!

Excellent tour of the workshop by Matt whose knowledge, passion & humour elevated an already incredible experience. The tour had interactive elements showcasing how movie props and costumes are designed and created. The additional Thunderbirds tour showed how the new series was reimagined for the 21st century. It was amazing to see the miniature sets, in particular the International Rescue base and the interior of Lady Penelope's house. Well worth the time and highly recommended if visiting Wellington.

Must go place, did tour with them. Really enjoyed. Tours are bit expensive but worth it. They also have merchandise shop if you want to buy something but as usual all stuffs are very expensive. In my opinion just do combo tour.

Small place but packed with fun stuff and informative videos.

i HAVE ALREADY seen the HOBIT so THIS was USELESS!!!!!!!!!!!

Such a fun experience. Great people! We only had time for the miniatures tour so we ll definitely be returning for more on our next Wellington weekend.

To be in the presence of these awsome details and bits and pieces is awe-inspiring.

While the Weta staff were very good the whole process was let down by the lack of involvement in some of the projects and the hokey rooms you are led through. A 3D sit down mini movie showcasing things done, and how they were done, plus coverage of actual things being developed would have been nice; for instance the CNC system was dead on our tour therefore a video showing it working on something we recognize would have been appreciated & relevant.
Also parking is a big issue.
Barely worth the reasonable entry fee but nice nontheless

Interesting place and the guide was great. Enthusiastic and very knowledgeable