A life-size deep-sea diver made of gummy bears, jelly beans, gumdrops, and licorice; candy-coated unicorn pigs; a pool of 300,000 marshmallows; a towering sphinx made of 7,800 pieces of candy; and augmented reality interactive photo stations.
This whimsical scene sounds like a kid’s dream come true; and this month, they’ll all exist under one roof in Scottsdale.
Candytopia, which has attracted more than a million guests across the country, will make its debut at Scottsdale Quarter on Oct. 11 and will remain open through Dec. 29.
Clearly inspired by the playful, sugary-sweet world of Willy Wonka, Candytopia features more than one dozen carefully curated and crafted rooms and environments, brimming with sweets and boasting larger-than-life interactive art installations, like a candy aquarium with sharks, fish, and a life-size diver.
In addition to featuring the most popular attractions from past locations, Candytopia will feature new elements inspired by Scottsdale’s culture and landmarks.
And as part of the experience, Candytopia attendees will be treated to candy samples throughout, including chocolate treats, sours, gummies, and nostalgic candies, among other sweet surprises.
Hundreds of thousands of pieces of candy are used to create the 3-D models found throughout the confectionary wonderland.
The rainbow-hued mini theme park not only pays homage to “Game of Thrones” and various celebrities, like Marilyn Monroe and Cardi B, but it has also amassed a large following of celebrity fans, including Drew Barrymore, Bruce Willis, and Kevin Durant, to Christina Aguilera, James Corden, Wiz Khalifa and Usher.
Candytopia is the brainchild of candy artist and star of TLC’s “Candy Queen” Jackie Sorkin, who began creating candy art out of her garage while she was pregnant.
Sorkin teamed up with production design expert Zac Hartog of ZH Productions and retail veteran John Goodman to launch Candytopia last year in Santa Monica.
It has since traveled coast to coast, including stops in San Francisco, New York City, Atlanta, and Minneapolis-St. Paul, Houston and Philadelphia.
“It’s really just this magical place that runs on sugar and candy, and you lose your mind here,” Sorkin told CNN. “It’s just a place to have fun!”
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