We Went To An IRL Willy Wonka Factory And Here's What Happened

Here's the full scoop (LOL).

Andrew Richard / Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed

This week in NYC marks a momentous occasion: the opening of all our childhood fantasies, the Museum of Ice Cream.

Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed

FYI: Turns out, screaming will not get you into the grand opening of the Museum of Ice Cream, but paying $18 will. This NYC pop-up sits across from the Whitney and is only open through the end of August. Its official first day is Friday, July 29, but it's already sold out. We're sorry.

This museum promised real ice cream and a sprinkle pool. We obviously had to check it out for ourselves. Here is what we experienced:

1. Walking in, you're immediately met with cheery colors and an ice cream stand. EXCITING AF.

You're first greeted by a friendly face (in our case, Ginger Bear) handing you a cup of ice cream. Each week there will be a different scoop of the week. Until August 8th, the flavor will be Blue Marble & Kellogg's — an organic vanilla topped with a squirt of zesty guava lime jam and finished with a scoop of Froot Loops and marshmallows. Future scoop of the week makers include OddFellows Ice Cream Co., McConnell's Fine Ice Cream & Maman, and Black Tap.

2. Then there were edible balloon animals.

OK, so maybe they aren't animals per se, but our balloon artist told us they looked like ducks and we believed him.

This was definitely the high point of the museum. The balloons were made by mixing a variety of sugars, spinning them, and filling them with helium. They floated up FAST.

They were made of sugar, so obviously they tasted good. Plus, you could inhale helium and talk like Minnie Mouse, which is something Chelsea was REALLY good at.

Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed

Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed

3. Next: the world's largest ice cream sundae.

Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed

So it wasn't the world's largest YET, but with your help, it COULD be. Each visitor gets to add a scoop of non-meltable ice cream into a giant golden bowl and thus become a part of history. Before you ask: Yes, the ice cream is technically edible; no, you shouldn't eat it.

4. And then...the chocolate room?

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We then walked into a chocolate room, which was so disappointing we don't even want to talk about it. Let's just say a brown bean bag and a wall projection of chocolate do not a cool room make. Plus, there was a faucet spouting brown liquid that looked disturbingly like when Sarah's toilet pipes got clogged and she mistakenly thought she could fix them herself. She could not.

5. At last, we encountered the belle of the ball, the reason for coming, the candy room in Willy Wonka: the Pool Filled With Fucking Sprinkles.

This was the moment we were waiting for: to dive into a pool filled with sprinkles. When we entered we realized two things: (1) These are not yummy sprinkles, these are those Perler beads you would play with as a kid and (2) The pool is only three feet deep, so there would be no diving.

It was hard to get a good phone selfie with the weird lighting. Luckily, we had a professional photographer and space to ~model~.

But hey, we got to swim around in some beads on a Thursday.

Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed

Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed

The beads also stayed with us, long after we exited the museum. Please see Chelsea's head:

Sarah Burton / BuzzFeed

No, she does not have colorful dandruff.

6. Then we taste tripped with some lemons.

Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed

Shedding "sprinkles" with every step, we next made our way to the taste tripping station. We were given a berry tablet to melt on our tongues and confuse our taste buds. Supposedly when we ate something sour, it would taste sweet.

A hand appeared out of a wall and handed us soft serve ice cream with lemon. Like this was some serious Wonka shit right here.

Chelsea Marshall / BuzzFeed

The taste tripping did not work on Sarah, but then again, she did not follow instructions, and just swallowed it like a pill. Chelsea did the tripping correctly, but she still didn't get that sour-to-sweet sensation. She did believe that the flavor of the ice cream was bubble gum, a claim Sarah did not verify and does not believe.

7. Art. There was also lots of art that we definitely got.

Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed

(CHECK OUT ALL THOSE POKÉMON)

8. After stuffing our faces with candy and ice cream, we played like kids on the swing set and scoop-shaped seesaw. Again, like children, we soon got bad tummy aches. Sorry mom, we never learn.

Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed

Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed

The seesaw really worked!

Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed

9. Final Exhibit: Now You've Got A Tummy Ache

After stuffing our faces with two servings of ice cream and plenty of candy, we had nasty tummy aches. Plus, Chelsea is lactose intolerant. She's really brave. And farty. I guess we'll do anything for ice cream?

In the end, the trip and stomach ache was worth it for the pictures and the delicious candy, ice cream and more ice cream. It was a pretty small "museum," but that doesn't mean we didn't learn anything. Did you know that George Washington spent $200 every summer on ice cream? We have yet to verify.

Soon after, we both attempted to cure our stomach aches by eating a salad.

This NYC pop-up ice cream museum opens this Friday. Unfortunately, tickets are already sold out through its Aug. 31 closing date. If you worship at the feet of frozen milk and sugar, there's still a chance you can get in if you check back for more tickets released on the museum's Instagram for opening day.

Taylor Miller / BuzzFeed