Apr 23

Apr 23 Hidden Events - The Alice

I’ve been MIA for the past week because life has been very busy between school holidays and birthday party planning. C’est la vie! The good news is that I’ve got lots of fun stuff to share, and the first is an adults-only event called The Alice: An Immersive Cocktail Experience. I feel like nearly three years into life in Auckland, I’m finally able to spend more time doing fun stuff for me, and this is one example. The Alice is running through the 18th of July, so there is lots of time to grab a few friends and have a unique night out.

First, some logistics. There are two “shows” a day, at 5:30 and 7:30 along with a few family friendly matinee events on the weekends. The Alice is somewhere between a dinner theater (minus the food), a trivia night, and a creative cocktail hour. It lasts for about ninety minutes and if you don’t drink, you’ll still be able to participate and the staff will make sure you’ve got a non-alcoholic option.

I went with three girlfriends to the 7:30 showing so we could grab dinner beforehand at Prego right down the block from the location of the night’s events at the Win-Win Bar in Ponsonby. We’ve all got kids to take care of, so we were happy for this to be the end of our night, though it could easily be the beginning if you are much younger and cooler than I am. I would absolutely recommend eating something before going to the Alice as there isn’t much in the way of food and there isn’t an option to order anything while in the middle of it. Also, there were only two guys in our group of about 30, so if you’re bringing a partner, make sure he’s game for this type of event.

What makes this event so much fun is the absolute commitment the team behind it has. The event space is decorated wonderfully, complete with interactive, talking Cheshire Cat. The cast/servers are committed to their characters and bring the crowd along for the ride. The 2.5 drinks weren’t particularly my thing, but I rarely drink cocktails and even more rarely drink sweet cocktails. I had a lot of fun playing the games and solving the puzzles, though. My competitive side came out and I really, really wanted to beat the other teams there! It was fun to do something different than just going out to dinner with friends. For that reason alone, I’d recommend checking out The Alice.