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\u201cIf I can dream it, then I can do it; I\u2019ve got my girls with me, there\u2019s nothing to it,\u201d Fifth Harmony sang in their official Barbie anthem, \u201cAnything Is Possible.\u201d Unfortunately, that didn\u2019t turn out to be true for attendees of Barbie Dream Fest, which is currently running in Fort Lauderdale, FL, from March 27-29. Fans are comparing the event to notorious convention disasters like the Glasgow Willy Wonka Experience, DashCon, and Fyre Fest.<\/p>\n
Mattel hyped the event as \u201cthe first festival dedicated to all things Barbie\u201d that would \u201cexplore the legacy, evolution, and boundless imagination of the Barbie brand,\u201d promising a \u201cWalk-in Interactive Dream House,\u201d an 80s disco roller rink, a marketplace, and a bike course, among other perks. Instead, fans got a cardboard cutout of just the front of a generic pink house with a sad little square of turf for a \u201clawn\u201d on a vast, bare concrete floor, a \u201c20\u00d720 pen\u201d of a roller disco hemmed in by metal concert barricades covered in some depressingly low-effort banners (again, on a bare concrete floor), random vendors, including one \u201cfrom a window and door company,\u201d and a bike course sectioned off with some cones seemingly discarded from a local elementary school\u2019s gym class and unbranded pink bunting.<\/p>\n
One attendee posted a particularly unflattering comparison of the convention\u2019s marketing versus the actual event on X, writing, \u201cAt one point I was comforting mothers who bought 3 day passes & flew from different states, booked hotels + rental cars.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was skeptical for a few months as to why there hasn’t been official photos of what the con would look like. In all the Barbie Dream Fest ads they looked like this& since its Mattel (billion dollar company) I thought they would come through. Imma use these pics for my dispute \ud83d\udc80 pic.twitter.com\/m3AaBrxlEs<\/a><\/p>\n