Complaints ring out about long lines, wait times at ‘disaster’ Mississauga children’s event

A children-friendly market that was held at the Mississauga Convention Centre on Sunday is drawing criticism over long lines and extensive wait times for people trying to attend.

The event was called “A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes” and hosted by Elevated Society Market; according the event’s website, it offered free face painting as well as 15 Disney characters to meet and greet.

Melissa V, an attendee Global News agreed to identify by first name and only for privacy reasons, said she was excited to go to the event with her daughter.

“We love Disney and we thought it would be a fun afternoon but it turned out to be a traumatic experience,” she said, adding she had to wait an hour and half before entering the market.

“It was pretty chaotic and disorganized and little bit scary and claustrophobic. … It was almost like the amount of booths they had they didn’t have enough capacity for the booths let alone the people who were walking through.”

Peel Police said they were called to the event to assist Mississauga Fire and Emergency Services. Event organizers said authorities were called because fire routes were obstructed.

Some people reached out to Global News saying they were unable to get into the event despite having purchased tickets ahead of time.

A social media statement from Elevated Society Market said long lines were caused by people showing up without tickets even though tickets weren’t available at the door.

She said she spent ten minutes in the market before leaving and has reached out to Elevated Society Market for a refund.

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“I just said we attended the event and it was nothing that was advertised and we would like a refund for our money that was spent,” she said. “We didn’t get what we bought, basically.”

In an Instagram post, Elevated Society Market said, “I just have to reiterate that the tickets were already nonrefundable 30 days prior to the event. Therefore, any unforeseen circumstances are out of our control.”

According to the event page, a portion of all ticket proceeds was to be donated to The Make-A-Wish Foundation, but Global News reached out to the Foundation and a spokesperson said no donation has been made yet by Elevated Society Market or the event.

“We have not yet received any donations that are earmarked as coming from this organization or event,” said Stuart Chase, director, brand marketing and communications, Make-A-Wish Canada.

“Our people did reach out or attempted to reach out when we saw that media story last week but to date, we have not been in contact with the event organizers at all and we have no opportunity to find out what their thinking was behind including us as their beneficiary.”

Global News has reached out to the Elevated Society Market for comment but has not received a response.

Social media posts from the organization allege the venue is to blame for issues that arose on Sunday. The organization said the convention centre did not have adequate staff and no one from the convention centre was keeping track of the building occupancy.

Global News has reached out to the Mississauga Convention Centre but has not received a response.

Melissa said she and her daughter were left disappointed after the event.

“It just turned out to be a disaster,” she said.

“Just in the fact that I wanted my daughter to have a fun day and it was disheartening for me. She was crying and it was the complete opposite of what we expected.”