The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience Review and Tips
Bridgerton Season 2 is now available on Netflix, and the streaming service and Fever have partnered up to give fans a chance to feel like they’re part of Regency-era London. The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience is now running until June in Los Angeles, with Chicago, Montreal and Washington DC also getting the experience. We had the chance to embark on an extravagant evening at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, a historic-cultural monument from Old Hollywood that’s been recreated as a grand ball in 19th Century London. The event included a scavenger hunt, meeting the Queen, learning dances, watching performers and actors, listening to the live string quartet, and many more.
Tickets for Los Angeles’ The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience
The Outfits
The first thing I recommend is dressing up for the event. You can shop online at places like Etsy or go to a vintage store that sells or rent Victorian-style or Regency-style clothing. If you’re in a hurry and your event is coming up, take advantage of the Regency dresses for women on Amazon with eligible Free Prime Shipping outfits. The site has a lot of selections including ones with ruffled puff sleeves and flared sleeves.
For the Regency outfits for men, there are different types of styles and colors, and to pull off a nice look, combine clothing like the dress shirt and waistcoat and tailcoat. When I went to the event, there were only three men with Regency-style outfits including me. All the other men either wore regular clothes or modern-style suits. If you dress up in a Regency-style outfit, you’ll automatically stand out from the rest and maybe even blend in with the actors.
For my outfit, I did the combo by wearing a white dress shirt from Calvin Klein, the Men’s Victorian Suit Vest on Amazon, and the Men’s Velvet Goth Steampunk Victorian Frock Coat on Amazon. The coat size is tricky, and reviews for it can be all over the place, with some saying they tend to run small. I ordered my fitted size for the frock coat, which is a size small, and it was a nice fit. (I’m 5’9′ with a trapezoid body shape.) For the suit vest, the small size was a bit too small for me.
Parking
We parked at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel’s parking structure, and we got the validation from the event that reduced our cost to just $10 tota for around 2 hours. (Mileage may vary depending on date and time.) There is parking available across the street at the Pershing Square parking structure.
The Queen’s Ball
Guests will enter the Millennium Biltmore Hotel, and when you see guests dressing up, you will know you’re in the right area. The entrance that leads to The Queen’s Ball is to the right of the front entrance of the hotel, and it’s the archway that’s lit up with lilac flowering vines. There will be two lines, one for general admission and one for VIP. When we went, there weren’t long lines for either.
After walking past the archway, look for gentlemen carrying Lady Whistledown’s Society Papers, which is your first step in starting the scavenger hunt.
The first hint for the scavenger hunt involves Philipa, so keep an eye out for the gossip paper.
The Bridgerton Experience Gift Shop
Near the entrance is a gift shop with all sorts of merchandise including the Pat McGrath Labs Makeup Kit, Bridgerton handheld fan, tiara, clothing and more.
There are costumes from the series on display including the outfits from the Duke and Daphne.
To help with the festivities, there’s a bar for getting cocktails and mocktails. Those with a VIP ticket will get one mocktail.
Cocktails include Whistledown & Dirty, Bridgerton Fashioned, and Premium Well Spirits.
Mocktails include Penelope’s Lemonade and Cucumber Gimlet. There’s also beer & wine and sodas & water.
Walking past the bar, guests will get to pose for a photo in a cylinder booth with beaded curtains. There are a few more costumes on display, and after that, things start to get more exciting.
The next room is the main photo-op attraction where a photographer will snap a photo and turn them into a realistic “painting.” Guests will then go to their corresponding screen designed as a painting easel where they can “paint” their portrait. We recommend heading to this area first because the line can get really long. After that, you can stroll around afterward to check out the costumes, bar, and gift shop.
The Queen’s Room
Near the “painting” booth is the Queen’s room where guests will get a chance to bow or curtsy in front of their majesty. She sits elegantly in her big dress and is surrounded by musicians with a giant painting behind her.
If you plan on attending the event, I suggest not reading any further so that you can experience it firsthand since the next part of the event blew away our minds.
The Queen will bring her entourage and lead guests into a new area past the double doors. When the doors open, it reveals a grand ballroom with beautiful lighting and VIP seats on the right side. The left side is the floor for dancing and watching performances.
Throughout the second half of the experience, guests will get to feel like they’re part of the ball. Dancers will come out to invite attendees to dance, and there are also dance lessons for a few styles. The majority of the time will be spent watching dancers moving across the floor with the live string quartet performing in the back. Just like the series, the musicians perform classical versions of pop songs from artists like Billie Eilish and Dua Lipa.
Attendees will spend a good chunk watching performances. Also, one lucky person will be chosen by the Queen to become the diamond of the ball. In our experience, the lady who won was wearing a very glimmery dress. Once the performances are done, pop music starts to play and guests can start to get down and boogie. This goes on until the lights go back up, and it’s closing time.
Final Reaction
The Queen’s Ball: A Bridgerton Experience is a blast from the past, and dressing up is highly recommended. It was a very immersive experience that made me feel like I was at a grand ball, and all the different activities and performances were a lovely treat. A couple of things that could have made the event better would be a longer run time and more social activities. With an hour and a half at the Bridgerton Experience, the team does try to pack a lot for the ball.
Tickets are still available for the Bridgerton Experience in Los Angeles. And here are the tickets for Chicago, Montreal and Washington D.C. The Los Angeles event is happening now until June, 2022.
