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This is a place to be inspired and have your imagination and the realm of possibilities challenged. Weta has always encompassed a feeling of escapism from the real world and this new Auckland experience will truly allow your creative side to fly
Weta Workshop Unleashed
The wonderful world of Weta Workshop has unleashed on Auckland City.
This is a place to be inspired and have your imagination and the realm of possibilities challenged. Weta has always encompassed a feeling of escapism from the real world and this new Auckland experience will truly allow your creative side to fly free.
Weta Workshop Unleashed is an extension of their creative work and reflects all the talented people who work with, and are guided by, their creative leaders Sir Richard Taylor and Tania Rodgers. It was a wonderful bonus to meet with Sir Richard Taylor on our early Tour of the experience before it opened to the public. It was a great chance to get a personalised account of all the hard work that has gone into this new Weta experience.
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So what can you expect to see at Weta Workshop Unleashed?
Some of Weta’s new creations of miniatures, bigatures, sci fi environments, digital interactive games, creatures, prosthetics, animatronics and the odd bit of horror and jump scares! This will definitely get your creative side buzzing and just maybe you will leave this experience feeling empowered to become the next amazing artist or digital designer to work with the extraordinary team at Weta.
Come without any pre conceived ideas or expectations. Prepare to be wowed and totally absorbed in your surroundings. Take in as much as possible in each environment you are guided through. Weta Workshop Unleashed will be our first stop on our 14 Day Tours. In no way does it replace our Weta Workshop Wellington activities, which is totally focused on all things Lord of the Rings and Hobbit - our core passion. However, it adds a fantastic and immersive experience that any Lord of the Rings fan will appreciate and love. The retail space at Auckland Unleashed is more focused on the Weta creative aspect, whereas the Wellington Weta Cave is still our holy shrine of shopping for all things Rings and Hobbit film related.
We also visited Auckland’s new All Blacks Experience, situated in the same building as Weta Unleashed. This activity is completely based around the world famous mighty ‘All Blacks’, New Zealand’s national Rugby team. This experience includes a 45 minute guided experience, 4 interactive zones and an awesome New Zealand Haka experience, with excellent Maori and Kiwi guides. They also have a great retail space with all things All Blacks related, including the option to buy a personalised famous All Blacks representative shirt to take home. This is a fun optional activity we can arrange for you to do before or after your Red Carpet Tour with us.
What’s happening in 2021?
It’s with great excitement and relief that we see the world start to roll out their COVID-19 vaccines, which will hopefully lead to herd immunity and the return to semi-normal life. Future travel in 2021 to New Zealand is looking positive and will most likely involve a health passport for our borders to open to international tourists again. We are keeping up to date with all travel updates and information regarding border openings. Requirements will be clearly advised to our passengers as soon as our government releases them. Please check our Terms and Conditions and Frequently Asked Questions on our website for our Covid-19 policies and procedures. Your safety and comfort is paramount to us here at Red Carpet Tours.
We are really looking forward to guiding you on new adventures in 2021 and 2022, all booking dates are available on our website.
Stay safe, we can’t wait to see you here again in Middle-earth. Have a very happy New Year!
From the team at Red Carpet Tours
What people have said
This is the best and ONLY way for a LOtR/Hobbit fan to experience New Zealand. Julie and her team are fantastic, knowledgeable people who, you can tell, put so much time and effort into making sure your experience with them is an amazing one! You will not regret choosing them as your guides...
Stephanie B
My second tour through Middle Earth (New Zealand) was just as wonderful as the first, the locations you are taken to are just amazing. Best suited for people with interest in the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films, you make so many friends throughout your journey that you become your own...
Lisa S
With Julie James as our guide (Feb. 2018) on the 14 day tour... it was excellent! She always took every effort and opportunity to see to everyone's requests. The hotels we stayed in were wonderful. The meals were delicious. But the tour itself??? Awesome!!! We had big LOTR and the Hobbit...
Katherine C
Traveling New Zealand with RCT and Julie was amazing. It was the trip of a lifetime (but I hope to do it again!). It was very well put together and we got to see such amazing sites and do so many awesome things. I can't even name what my favorite part of the whole tour was because it was...
Lynn S
Just concluded my third trip with Red Carpet Tours. 5 stars for the 3rd time running! Excellent planning and attention to detail by the James Family and fabulous guiding by Julie. Once again, a very lovely, friendly ‘Fellowship’ of travellers with a common interest. You might expect...
Sue B
Amazing and so well worth it! Days in a row of just being excited for something alone was something special to me but also meeting like-minded people who were so accepting and fun was fantastic! Julie James is a treasure - handles everything with grace and was just everything you want in a tour...
Tracy E
I don’t have enough good things to say about this incredible experience. Our guide Julie is so knowledgeable and fun about everything LOTR AND New Zealand in general! My husband and I went for our belated honeymoon and I would do it all again in a heartbeat. You’re fed like Hobbits...
Taylor & Nick L
Red Carpet Tours is a fabulous company - been with them 3 times. I agree with others posted here that it is the BEST way to see New Zealand, especially if you are a "Lord of the Rings" and "Hobbit" fan - and even if you're not! From all the Magnificent New Zealand...
John N
Everything about this tour was amazing! Our tour guide Julie is a true LOTR fan, and made sure everybody was looked after. The locations were well researched and meaningful. Even after the tour ended, Julie has kept in touch as we all went our separate ways and travelled home to various parts of...
Jody R
This was a trip of a lifetime. I honestly couldn’t imagine seeing Middle Earth any other way. Julie is amazing and truly cultivated an experience that I will treasure forever. If you’re thinking about booking this trip—just do it. I promise that you will have the time of your life.
Brenna M