Werribee Park Mansion — Attraction in Melbourne

I had the worst experience ever in the park mansion.

It is my birthday, my friends and I came to Werribee Park Mansion on Sunday the 25th of September 2022. We had a small birthday event with a party of 5 people and we celebrated this day in the form of a picnic lunch out in the grass of the park.

Since we saw a lot of people on the balcony of the mansion. The 4 of us also visited the mansion with purchased tickets around 2pm, with hopes of getting good photos inside the mansion. All 4 of us were dressed in slightly fancier sun dresses, which definitely made us stood out amongst the casually dressed individuals. We had three hand wrapped rose bouquets as photo props and cheap MILC cameras for better photo quality (than mobile phones). We thought we should dress up both for the event and up to the standards of the mansion; however, to the eyes of a certain park ranger we unfortunately stood out too much in the crowd.

While we were getting photos inside the mansion a staff member approached us with conclusions that we were doing commercial photographs and insisted that we need to purchase a commercial license. Whenever we tried to explain that we are only doing personal shoots, there’s no commercial transaction between us, and that the photos won’t be published on public internet platforms, she replied with impatience, and even rudely laughed at our explanation. She assumed that we were taking PRE-WEDDING PHOTOS (surprising news to us!), which is an obvious biased stereotype as many Asians have the culture of taking photos of that kind.

We understood that many people tried to get away with purchasing a license when doing commercial shoots, and that it is her job to make sure people abide to rules. HOWEVER, she handled the situation in an extremely condescending and rude manner, she reacted in a mocking way towards our words and is visibly irritated while listening to what we want to say.

The rude staff member was Caucasian, blonde, average height. The way she pronounced her name sounded like ‘Meg’, I didn’t ask her the spelling of the name or her last name because I felt extremely uncomfortable spending anymore time speaking to her.

The cameras we had: Olympus E-M10 iii - an entry level MILC camera Fujifilm X-T20 - a midrange MILC camera Canon EOS M50 - another entry level MILC camera

Anyone reading this review with slight camera knowledge would know that these cameras are not up to professional commercial photography standard.

The roses we had: $30 white rose from Vangogh Flowers, I hand wrapped them brown paper $30 Champagne rose also from Vangogh Flowers, which I ask hand wrapped $15 Coral rose again from Vangogh Flowers, and Again I hand wrapped them

Anyone reading this review with ‘Asian’ PRE-WEDDING photo experience would know that these flowers are purchased directly from warehouse are not PRE-WEDDING photography quality.

Last but not least the dresses all 4 of us are wearing are polyester summer dresses that doesn’t even add up to 300aud.

Anyone reading this review with ‘Asian’ PRE-WEDDING photo experience, screw it with any WEDDING PHOTO experience would know that these dresses are not photo worthy for COMMERCIAL PHOTOS.

Apologies for the obvious angry review, even long after my visit I still couldn’t contain my anger. I will be filing a formal complaint to Vic Parks and associated government...

The Mansion is a beautiful, underrated piece of history in an absolutely stunning park that is well worth the visit.

I am biased in my love for this place, as I grew up visiting yearly for the Cadbury Easter Egg Hunts, and when I outgrew those I kept coming for picnics whenever the weather is nice, to see the costumed performers and historians that are there on the Open House Melbourne days, and for our wedding in 2022. The Mansion and its surrounds have always felt utterly magical to me.

The care that's been put into the restoration and preservation of the house is so nice to see, especially when so many of Melbourne's other heritage buildings are either disregarded or near impossible to see inside. They went to the extra effort of getting fabrics and upholstery made in England to match the few remaining original patterns they were able to find, and the rooms being set up with either original or recreation furniture provides a fascinating glimpse into the past.

We were able to get some photos inside the Mansion as part of our wedding package, and they're absolutely beautiful and have such a sense of grandeur. (Shout out to The Hogans Photography for those beautiful shots.)

While the Mansion is the star of the show, there are lots of other things worth seeing while you're there. The movie that plays in the laundry building is interesting and easily missed, as is the homestead, stables, bachelors rooms and vegetable garden down at the back of the property. The grotto on the lake is another beautiful spot to visit that's a little more out of the way. I do miss when you used to be able to walk right up to the grotto entrance and on the path that wraps over the top of it, but I understand why they've gated it off and it's still a very pretty place.

The grounds are full of lovely plants, lush lawns and shady trees that are perfect for picnicking.

The rose garden on the outskirts of the Mansion grounds, and of course Werribee Zoo, are also well worth visiting while you're there. It would be great if there was better public transport for tourists, but if you live in Geelong or Melbourne or have access to a car, I highly recommend you visit Werribee Park and particularly...

DISAPPOINTING STAFF INTERACTION

Really nice mansion overall and we came to this lovely site in hope of enjoying a pleasant sunny Sunday picnic day to celebrate my friend’s birthday.

We decided to go into the mansion which turned out to be an AWFUL decision as we were approached by a park ranger who straight up started accusing us of taking commercial photos without purchasing a commercial license, asked us to leave, and insisted we were taking pre-wedding photos - never knew four people could get married to each other in Victoria but oh well!

Assumptions were made about us, accusations were thrown at us, it was unpleasant; however, the WORST part of this interaction is when we tried to explain we’re not doing anything commercial and we were just friends taking photos for each other - we were responded with EXTREME CONDESCENSION AND DISMISSIVENESS. Let’s just say - I’ve never heard the word ‘yep’ repeated by the same person at least 30 times in a 3 minute conversation. She sneered at our explanation and made it extremely clear she did not believe whatever we had to say.

She also specifically pointed out that ASIAN people have the culture of taking pre-wedding photos at fancy places, which was also one the reason she made the assumption. I am uncomfortable with this statement and to be honest I do feel a hint of racism (my friends and I are Asian). I know racism is a strong accusation from my end - but when her explanation about her accusation towards us is based on her previous experiences with asians - I think it’s quite obvious.

Yes, we like dressing up and taking pretty pictures of ourselves, and we prefer using cameras (and real amateur ones cuz we are broke uni kids) over iPhones for better textured photos (sorry Apple!), but I really DO NOT APPRECIATE that kind of condescension and dismissiveness from the staff especially when we try so hard to explain ourselves!

It was supposed to be a nice trip, a nice birthday picnic with a bunch of friends; however, it is unfortunately ruined by a very rude, condescending and arguably racist...