Heather Peirson

Review of Old Sturbridge Village

This is an update on an old review from last year....

This is an update on an old review from last year. I still leaving 5 stars because almost every time we have gone it has been fantastic
Last night 10/24/2020 we went to Phantoms and Fires was totally disappointed .
They present it as a family event , but honestly it is an adult event . Kids ( I do not have any ) were completely bored resulting in them misbehaving running around , talking ect during performances.
They stated that they had goody bags for young an old but when we tried to retrieve ours we were told they needed our stamp sheet some game that boone explained to us and honestly you are trying to read the activity paper in the dark so that is not really fair being how they advertise as if it is a giving with your ticket , our ticket was for 6 30 we made the circle starting at the church , and it was not enough time before they closed we missed 2 or 3 performances and did not get to go into any of the open buildings . The restaurant inside the park was open with live music we did not get a chance to enjoy any food , there wasn't enough time . We were already going to miss performances and I think there were 6 so when u missed 2 or 3 u did not get your monies worth . So if u are going to stand in line at each location for a stamp , be aware they may miss performances.

I am not sure why they are doing the separate ticket sales being how those that come in earlier are not made to leave after being there for 90 minutes like those coming in at 6 30.
There is no one enforcing social distance anywhere employees should be at each performance enforcing the 6ft rule and I did not see any hand sanitizer anywhere except at entrance and exit and both were completely empty .
My advice , do not bring kids , do your ticket for at least 6 pm or sooner if u plan to eat inside .

This is not one of Sturbridge's best events so do not go with your normal Sturbridge expectations . But do remember they usually nail a fantastic event anytime so even though this was not the best they still deserve 5 stars for effort and previous events .

2019 review
I love this place , we go every Easter as our first Warm weather activity .
This year we did there Sleepy Hollow event during the month of October . Well worth it , even though I was freezing I did not want it to end . It truly was like stepping back in time .

We also decided to do the Christmas Carol evening event , what a different experience than being there during the day .

We will definitely be going back !!