Yes, we went into a house, not Bilbo's house but another. It was very beautifully made and furnished. It wasn't that small as I think it was made for tourists, not as a film set.
My favourite thing was the night walk with lanterns through the village.
Geek out? The biggest geek out was seeing how the paths of the location was designed to take good pictures .
And how props were just everyday things that were personalised for the movie. For example sets of kitchenware that were all different but painted to look like a set.
Banquet staff in casual.
Not tacky. I think the people who got most out of it were deep fans.
It was super crowded. We had four geeks in costume, I sat with them for drinks and they were so nice and so very very happy to be there.
I felt a little patronised but then I have to remember most people are not super geeks
the location itself is being slowly consumed by the New Zealand tropical environment
Goodnight. May you have sweet happy dreams. 😊