July 14

Friends, the Experience: The One in Toronto! Wed.,July 13, 2022

Posted by BK on July 14, 2022 in celebration, COMEDY, Design, Events, Exhibition, grand opening, Open House, premiere, Showcase | Leave a comment

Written by Sally Warburton

Photographer by Sally Warburton & A.J. Lam

Finally! It’s here in Toronto as of July 14! A chance to reconnect with the characters from the hit series FRIENDS. Monica, Rachel, Joey, Chandler, Ross and Phoebe and all the memories you have of them are there! With its flagship FRIENDS Experience in NYC, there are in addition two travelling exhibits – one of which is luckily here in Toronto!

The experience is divided into 12 rooms for you to explore with set recreations of Monica and Rachel’s kitchen, Chandler and Joey’s apartment, Central Perk Coffee Shop and the hallway with the two doors to their apartments. The fountain’s there too! Waiting for you to dance in front of it!

Throughout the exhibit are lots of iconic photo Instagramable opportunities. Props and costumes from the show let you have fun as you relate to your favourite FRIENDS characters. There’s even a guitar and microphone for you to pose as Phoebe. And who can resist sitting on the couch holding one of the coffee cups! Or help move that couch up the stairs!! And of course, Pat the dog! A hand wipe dispenser called Monica’s Clean is a cute way of integrating the cleanliness protocols. All your favourite memories of the show are at the FRIENDS Experience.

To end your visit there’s The FRIENDS Experience Store with an awesome collection of FRIENDS merch – Central Perk coffee cups, pins, sweatpants, stuffed Hugsy the penguin, posters and other great FRIENDS memorabilia … keeping the memories of your FRIENDS visit intact. BTW the gift shop is open to the public too, in case you want to go back later.

The FRIENDS Experience tour takes about an hour or so depending on the time you take to watch the video clips, interact in the rooms and take memory saving photos. Where is it? Yorkdale Shopping Mall in Toronto across from the Lego store. How to get there? Easily by TTC subway or if driving, there’s lots of parking at Yorkdale. Who should go? Fans of FRIENDS, new fans, those interested in sets for TV shows and films and in seeing how a sitcom is created and everyone who’s involved – from the costume-makers, hair stylists (Rachel’s famous hairstyles in wigs are on display!) set designers, actors and props… and people who want to enjoy a great FRIENDS Experience!