The doors of the pop-up experience ‘WONDR’ opened its doors in September this year. Ever since influencers shared their photos at the opening party, Instagram has been filled with marshmallow swimming pools, ball pits, and selfies with pink flamingos. 

Despite it being called the ‘Instagram Walhalla’ by many, the main aim of WONDR’s founder is for her visitors to play and live in the moment. 

As writers for Medium, we, of course, had to see for ourselves. Is this ‘experience’ an expensive excuse (€25 p.p.) for a nice Instagram snap, or a playground where you can and will forget about deadlines and responsibilities for a moment? 

In our experience, we did have our playground moments. But then again, we didn’t go there to mimic influencers and take pictures for our Instagram feeds. After the experience was over, I felt really confused. What did we actually experience? We swam in a ball pit, played with sequin fabric and got lost in a labyrinth of 40 kilometres of ribbon in different colors. We did have fun, and that is something WONDR promised us we’d have. Maybe WONDR is a combination of both statements: ‘an expensive excuse for an Instagrammable playground’. However, it is up to each visitor to assess the ‘value’ of the experience as it is highly subjective to say that it would be enjoyable for everyone. For the ones who’d like to play, take pictures, or enjoy a day with their kids WONDR may seem like a great idea. See for yourself: