Santa's Wonderland Review

It was an amazing experience,we love it,excellent as a family trip,with something for everyone

Bring a box full of money. Not enough bang for the buck

If your looking for a place to blow your childrens mind, this is the place right here!! It's absolutely filled with beautiful lights and such a great atmosphere. The food is soooo good especially the BBQ. One of the best things to do is the hayride for sure!! Also the snow slide and giant bonfire in front of the live stage is the best!! Especially if you stay long enough to catch the fresh snow falling from the balcony off the gift shop. Santa's Wonderland is totally worth it!!

Santa's Wonderland was awesome! Very kid friendly place. Good food and a huge variety to pick from. Lots of shops selling Christmas items. It was expensive, but we'll worth it.

For the last 8 years our family has never missed a year without coming to Santa's Wonderland. This year will be the last.
We manage to visit all the major Light Festivals in Houston and its surroundings annually; I've never had such upsetting experience.
Where do I start? Lines! Lines were everywhere , I mean everywhere. From getting on the shuttle, to the hayride, to the restaurants , to the restrooms and I'm not even going to get to details of the most unorganized employees who were never instructed how to assist/guide people during the blackout. Which did happen tonight!! Yes, never before; yet, how come management has never created contingency plan in case of any emergencies.
Tonight, there were hundreds of thousands of people with babies & little children in darkness, when it's cold and without any straight forward instructions on how to exit. The line to exit took an 1.5 hrs cuz people had to figure it out on their own in the complete darkness.
We had two senior citizens with us; the overall experience was very disappointing and frustrating. An hour of driving and an overpriced tickets were not worth it.

Great place for kids, good food. The snow Hill is my kids favorite part.

We had an absolutely amazing time. We went on a Tuesday, there were not any lines except to get in before it opened. Once in we watched Santa arrive in the town and my daughter was ecstatic! We waited about 10 min to see Santa and he made my daughter feel so special! We rode the horse and carriage to view the lights, the displays are amazing! They would stop any time you wanted to take pics of a display. The town is super clean( an employee was on his hands and knees scrubbing the sidewalk clean, all the restrooms smelled clean, there were even sanitizing wipes by the baby changing stations ) and all the employees were super nice and helpful! The food was great, and came out fast. I definitely think it was worth our 2 hour drive there!

Honestly this place is so beautiful, it s always has been. Only thing this year is the fact that no one was taking any safety precautions especially during a pandemic. Masks are not enforced to the extent that employees don t even bother to wear them. No 6 feet distancing at all.

I believe there is a lot of false advertising when coming here. My family drove four hours to come here it was our first and probably last time here. They state limited parking but fail to mention that you would have to wait probably a few hours to get into the park so I suggest getting there early or vip parking. Then once we got in to the entrance we had to wait several hour in a three lines to do hardly anything we paid for not mention my kids didn't even get to see Santa cause by the time we were done doing our hay ride the park was closing down, and I had to fight just to get a family photo in the snow globe cause the fail to mention in their ad that it's by reservation only. The petting zoo is very small and not worth the cost. Everything is very unorganized in my opinion on how they run their business there I saw a few fights happen cause of the way people were acting cause of the unorganization and stress people were dealing with, as well as I had my own personal break down from the stress they have going and to top it off one of the employees called my son to fat to play on the bounce house sled ride. For the price I paid and the things my children got to do was not worth the time or costs. I'm part of a family that lives on a very strict budget and for me saving my money to bring my kids here was a real disappointment and waste of time. The light were beautiful that was the only good thing bout it. In my personal opinion they need to make it were only a certain amount of people visit each day in order for everyone to get their money's worth that's the only way to make it a fun and enjoyable experience.

Lots of fun for the whole family! Downside is their extremely long wait times and poor management of carriage ride reservations. We had a carriage ride set for 8:30. Stood in line forever and didn't get a carriage until nearly 10. If they fix this, they are a five star place for great Christmas fun.

Lots n lots of lights and overpriced food! Never saw Santa though. Cept for a few paintings.

3hrs of line to get in. Ridiculous prices. Ridiculous lines. Don't waste your time or money. Is zero stars possible? In response to the owners post. We did when we were on site and after and got the run around. If your reading this review don't think they are concerned. They are not!!!!!

Its always a good time but the prices are so high its ridiculous.

This is a once in a lifetime thing, Hayride had a four and a half hour wait, we did not wait, the snow globe is 25 to go in, not included in price, online shows it is included they should update that. Snowmountain is a bouncy house, this place was overpriced, and too long of lines.

Worst parking lot transport ever experienced. Either no bus or only able to load one every five minutes for 1,000 s of people. Horrible traffic control. Very unsafe avoid with kids if possible.

The whole family (7of us) loved it! Clean restrooms, delicious food, friendly staff, beautiful atmosphere.

The prices are so expensive i hate that i cant take my grangkids

Excellent Christmas park very beautiful all the train ride is very beautiful, the food very good and texan

I am a first timer and it was wonderful! It was cloudy and in the forties so there is a long wait for hot chocolate. Also, my family and I had to wait 30 minutes for pizza. Other than that, we have had a great time here and will definitely return!

Been here twice with the kids and grandkids. Both times the place was way over crowded. This last trip 2019 it took us an hour just to get in the front gate. Everything is overpriced including parking. But in the end, the grandkids loved it and I guess that's all that really matters.

Wonderful experience with so many lights. Pretty much every ride/activity is included with the purchase of a ticket.

Always am amazing time. I have never seen so many lights in my life! My 2 year old was so excited for the hay ride through the Christmas lights. It is an expensive trip (cost to get in plus food and some attractions), but I am looking forward to go again next year.

2nd time to visit, great updates to the park. A little pricey but kids loved it.

Wasn't impressed. Tickets to get in are way to expensive. The snow machine blowed for maybe 10 minutes. To take the hay ride you had to stand in line with at least 200 people, very unorganized. Staff in the stores couldn't tell you price on most of their merchandise and could have used a good dusting.
Food way overpriced , not to good . If you're lucky you found a table to put your plate on. No chairs . Take picture with Santa is a pain. Cause they just get up to take a break and tell you to come back later and this after waiting in line for over 30 minutes. First and last time we went there

Had a great time with the grandkids and parents. They loved the lights, carriage ride and petting zoo. The best hot chocolate!!!

Sorry, didnt realize it was 4 and not 5 stars!
We had a WONDERFUL time !!! Great experience and was worth the 4 hr drive there !! My kids loved every minute and the food was great!!!

Great place for Family gatherings during the Christmas holidays. Very friendly staff! Amazing light show and hay rides!!

We visited Santa s Wonderland for the first time last night (Monday Dec 4th) and had an amazing time! They open at 6pm on Monday, so we arrived in the comet lot (free parking) about 5:50. Lots of open spaces and the shuttle was already waiting there for us to ride. It was so easy and convenient to use. When we arrived, we walked right in and almost zero wait time for anything. We were able to walk right up to all activities and attractions and join right in. The only line we had to wait in, was for santa. We waited about 15-20 mins which wasn t bad. While we were waiting, Santa s elf came around and gave the kids a special certificate. Our hayride was magical. In our trailer including my family there were 15 of us, the kids loved moving side to side being able to see everything. The lights were beautiful. We roasted marshmallows and made s mores, drank hot cocoa and enjoyed all the entertainment. It was a blast. When we were tired from all the fun we headed back to the shuttle area, waited about 2 mins and we were picked up and taken back to our car. The staff was so friendly and helpful.It was a great experience for our family. We will be back next year. Definitely go on a week day if you re able.

This is a great place for the holidays! It tends to be a little overwhelming at times, and I do miss when you could drive through with your whole family instead of having to do hay rides, but it's still a great experience and I highly recommend it to everyone!

This is the worst place I have ever worked. Kids would be forced to work 10+ hour shifts with no breaks (illegal), and would get fired if they went to the bathroom anyways. No water available to the workers (despite it being an outdoor venue in Texas... Where we are required to wear long sleeves). They also work minors over 40 hours a week, which is illegal in the state. Thelma, the manager enjoys yelling at the employees until they cry in front of guests as well.

Loved it... Totally worth the drive from Houston. One of the best Trail of Lights ever. Santa's station was amazing. The staff was great as well. We will definitely be back next year.

I loved it, going back again in January. My 4yr. Had a great time

Bad experience. They were out of electricity. Hundreds of people had to leave the park

Bring your walking shoes and pack your patience! There are A LOT of people here despite the high cost of tickets. We got ours online on sale but they were still over $45 per person which only includes the hayride, tubing and admission to a small blow up slide by Santa. The lines are outrageous- the wait to see Santa was 2.5 hours and you had to pay $25 for the picture, which was hard for us since we had to stick to the hotel shuttle that only gave us 5 hours there. Overall the kids were disappointed but they hayride lived up to its reputation and was beautiful. A word of advice, go for the $10/person fast pass on the hayride - it saved us over 4 hours in that line! I wish we had known everything else had to be paid for in addition to the tickets - it seemed really expensive and crowded to have such high tickets which are basically only entry fees . I hope they reduce the amount of people they let in at one time. I ll just say that we won t be going back..

Wonderful fun park. Keeping the Christmas Magic & fun!

Great place to take the kids. Great entertainment and great food!

Hands down the hayride was the greatest attraction! Wait until end of day to avoid the wait time!!!!Best thing we ate there was the Bratwurst pretzel dog. Full of flavor. A hand-dipped corn dog was good. The funnel cake was too thick. Blah, like one big dough ball with powdered sugar on it! Lots of fun things to do for the kiddos. Purchase the early tickets with limited entrance time, however to have paid more I thought would have been excessive. The parking was crazy lines for parking (miles ). We parked in the free parking area and was shuttled right to the front door (heads up on that one.) Payed parking with lot more lost time. Crowds of course are crazy but then thinned around closing time. We are in our 70s and found the staff to be very understanding and helpful to those with handicaps. All in all we had a great time with their grandson and family. Probably will not go back that was the one time for us, but I'm glad we have the family memory.

Great experience very very pretty you will love it is a magic experience I will go every year if I can

If I could give 0 stars I would. This place has NO consideration for handy cap people. Yes for parking and if you can get thru the trail to the hay ride line that is long and has an incline that makes it hard to walk up. Walkers wheel chairs etc are hard to get there. If you have feet issues of any kind it is just awful. This trail you want to make sure the one emt that is on premisses is close buy to help them once they get there. This is not family oriented if you cant take grandparents as well. I saw lots ditched just sittingvaround the park while the family was out around the park. Shame on the owners. This place used to be awesome and was handy cap friendly. Why not have the walk to the hay ride line in the same place as the carruage ride. Its a better walk and I see hiw it would be better that way. The train you have to constantly watch for as it runs around the park on the walk ways of which there are not even enough for all the people. Then you go and put that train in the mix. Terrible.

It was nice but right now during the pandemic there was no social distancing the hay ride line was long and everyone packed in there for at least an hour. And a lot of people with no mask. I'm so glad I paid the extra money for the horse carriage ride no line no wait and the whole carriage to yourself. Good thing i read the reviews before about the long wait.

Express passes have ruined the lines. It's fun for the kids, but parents struggle to find enjoyment now. Beer is way too expensive. It's unfortunate, but it has turned into something that most dads roll their eyes to the thought of. It was our last time. Sad because we've been 12yrs straight. Had a good run. I'm not one to post negative or even neutral reviews, but this one needed to be written.

Good place for kids with ice skating, hay rides. Parking have to be purchased ahead and online for close by parking else have to use shuttle

Super expensive. Parking sucks. Not much to do. Lights were nice

Hayrides are a nice way to view the Christmas lights and the pathways had gravel so your feet don't get soaked on the rain, food is around $10 a meal

Very cool. Kids loved it here. Bring cash. Made it snow with huge campfire, petting zoo. Try the hot chocolate on the hayride!

This is an annual tradition with our family and I couldn't imagine Christmas time without it!!

We come here every year. The ride through the light display is amazing. The village area has great live music, snow, and a shop. They have so much for kids. A large inflatable slide, petting zoo, movies, s'mores, and more is available. It is expensive but there is a lot to do and see that makes it worth it.

Very crowded. Long lines. Be early. However worth the money. Beautiful.

It's a good place to create memories for kids. You can ice-skate while also enjoying a hot cocoa visit santa and send your letter.

SANTA WANDER LINES
This place is a money pit! We went on Christmas day. LINES, LINES, LINES! Long lines to park, long lines to get on the shuttle. We got here at 6 didn't actually get in until 845. Which gave us time to do two things. We were only able to get on the hayride because half our family was already at the front and then my kids were able to play in the snow area they had. THAT'S IT! THAT'S WHAT WE WERE ABLE TO DO FOR 2HRS!! I stood in line to grab funnel cakes....no go! There's a line to pay and then a line to pick up. How dumb is that? It took me 40 mins to realize I was wasting my time and then I just asked for a refund. I missed out on my kids playing in the snow. My kids started calling it " Santa's Wonderlines" because of so many lines. It was also very unorganized and there was no communication from the employees. It was a total waste of $160. I'm not happy about that at all! We will not be returning. Oh and their calendar said this was one of their least busy day.

Took my daughter and gramdson (18 months old). The light show is the BEST! My grandson didn't know which way to look...there was so much to enjoy.

Over rated. Long lines. Mediocre hay ride. The lights have gotten dimmer and less breathtaking over the years. Took us over 1 hour to get from the parking lot to the entrance, and we arrived early. Same wait going back. Food was reasonably priced and decent.

It had a lot to do and we had a lot of fun. However we wasted money buying the early access passes because by the time we got through the huge line for security check in, which for some reason is blended with everyone instead of having a dedicated line for those that purchased the early access passes, we were not let in until everyone else was. There were several families that were angry because like us they also bought the early passes. Then when I asked if they could at least refund the early access passes we were told no refunds. So DON'T BOTHER buying them.

In the past three years that we have attended I have given a 5-star rating. There was a smaller crowd than normal yesterday. The park has changed to where it's focus is on bringing bigger crowds control rather than the atmosphere & Christmas experience. Even though there was hardly any lines you still have to walk all the way around to get on the hayrides and train rides.

I suggest when there is less crowd, to make a closer entrance. It was silly to have guests walk all the way around & go through the maze type fence when there was hardly anyone getting into the hayride. We often purchase our season passes early but when we tried, the passes were already sold out. Each year we visit several times.

The buses drop us off at a different entrance & you have to walk a lot to get to the front. When we left to the bus it was a long walk just to get to the loading unlike the past.

After yesterday we are not interested in returning. It didn't seem has intimate & family feel as it has in the past. I get that there's been so many people it gets crowded but now it seems to be more focused on bringing in now people. I loved that the movie theatre was outside with the s'mores.

I give a 3 star because the people are still incredibly friendly and caring. I also liked that we were able to walk through detectors and had our bags checked feeling more safe.

This place was awful and the crowds were ridiculous. First, be prepared to wait in line at least an hour for shuttle to even get into the park. Once in the park, there are people everywhere. Although the lights inside are pretty, the experience is just ruined by the over priced admission, lines, crowds, hard to walk loose gravel, sewage smell, along with the lack of bathrooms. The hayride line was 2 and a half hours. After waiting an hour and a half, my kids gave up and we left. Even to buy something to eat or drink had massive lines. We waited in line 15 minutes to use the bathroom, which is not convienant when you have a 4 and 6 year old. I do not suggest wasting your time or money.

Overcrowded, 2 metal detectors for at least 1000 people over priced had fun but not exactly worth there prices

Expect to wait two hours to ride the hay ride that last 10 minutes. 434 dollars for entry of 9 adults and one under 2, 20 for parking and anything else you wish to buy inside. This place is a money grab and absolutely ridiculous. Don t forget the new fast pass on the hay ride if you spend an extra 10 dollars you can pass everyone in the line (multiple) times. Sad to hear your own employee say they added this fast pass and it screwed everything up . Stop being greedy and let the average family be able to afford a good night out with their families.

Carriage ride was wonderful. Wait times were very long. Food was good. Atmosphere was country Christmas.

Very nice but would be extremely difficult for handicap children

Love what they have done to the place. So much to do.

it was our first time at Santa's Wonderland and wow we had a blast it was very fun our son loved it.

A pleasant surprise. Reminded me of childhood memories of Christmas Lights, but they were never on this scale. I wanted to participate in the hay bale maze, but forgot. I will be back with the grandkids.

Beautiful light arrangement. Definitely a place I will go back to many times with my family. Fun for all ages.

We have been for the past 2 years now and plan on going next year. Perfect for everyone in the family. Be sure to look at the website for pricing of extra things(picture packages, petting zoo, pony rides). Also, it is worth the money for the extra Christmas hours. Especially with little ones, you can get in before everyone else and do all the big things without a huge crowd.

They did not let anyone start entering until about 415pm this Friday, which was 15min past the open time. We parked in the major parking lot(Rudolph) but were still told to go to the end of the line...what's the point in parking in a VIP parking lot then? 90% of everything is 'a la carte' and very pricey, just thankful the hay ride to see all the lights was included in our ticket cost. The photos are at least $19.95 and go up from there. The gift shop is way over priced and they don't offer a Military discount, in fact, they stated they only off a Military discount during their opening weekend-that's it. Very patriotic. I spent more here in 4 hrs than I did in one full day at the Texas Renaissance Festival and saw/did more there in the day we were there than here(namely because of all the extra pricing on things). We experienced Santa's Wonderland and don't think we have a desire to return in subsequent years unfortunately.

We drove all the way from Houston (Katy) to come see this. My first time coming with my kids (2 and 6). I wanted to come on a weekday because I wanted to avoid crowds. So we came on Thursday, Nov 14.

PROS: NO LINES! The place was literally empty. We had the whole park to ourselves. I guess because it was a weekday and it had been raining all that morning and afternoon so it was pretty cold in the evening. The park is bigger than I thought. It was a lot of walking but I didn't mind. They kids got to see Santa (no extra charge). Everyone who worked there was pleasant and nice! I mean everyone! The train ride was awesome and the best part was the snow. The rode down the snow mountain multiple times in the tubes. No was there so they went a couple times and played in the snow. So cool!

CONS: Literally nothing was open. I was expecting a lot more from things advertised on their Instagram and website. No s'mores, we didn't see the mascot Marshall Frostbite. Half the food places were closed. We got to taste the hot chocolate (average nothing special) We are the BBQ. Got the combo plate the brisket was tough and chewy no one ate it. We just ate the sausage. Potato salad and beans were bland. $12 wasted we threw it in the trash, I was looking for cupcakes and was told to go to the bakery we didn't see one or couldnt find it. The St Nicks Draw Beer & Wine was closed no one there. I was kinda mad I drove all this way and it looked like half the park was closed. I'm not sure if it was due to the weather or what but I was bummed. Parking costs $25! I dont know why I paid seeing there was barely anyone there.

My kids had fun that's all that matter but I dont think I will be back seeing its a long drive and half the stuff advertised we didn't get to experience.

Way Over priced
Was fun but not worth spending over $100