Winter Wonderland at The Circuit Tickets

We really wanted to like this event but it was just okay for us. It's a long drive from Round Rock and wouldn't do it again. The lights were pretty basic. Food lines were incredibly long. They ran out of cotton candy and kettle corn in a couple of hours. Had to stand in line to order funnel cake and then had to stand in another line to wait for it to be made. Had to pay extra to ride the rides. $5.00 per person for the ferris wheel. The best part was the petty zoo, those vendors were great.

The marketing of this event was amazing, but the event itself, not so much. The planning for lines and the amount of people attending wad very poor. After you got into the venue, you had to stand in a line for 45 minutes to get wristbands to ride any rides and to get certain foods. After standing in a long line for the wristbands, the lines for the rides, ice skating, etc. were even longer. My kids were very good, but did get antsy standing in line. The ice skating was not good. They used "synthetic ice," which was nothing like real ice. The ring was unlevel, and the skates were very poor quality. I actually told them to pull the ones I wore out of rotation because they were so painful to wear. Yes, I have been ice skating many times, so this was not my first rodeo. Finally, the lights were way too spread out. Walking the track was neat, but more light displays were needed. Overall, they tried to fit too much into one event. This could be fun, if properly planned. They did have really cool "singing trees" that my kids loved. Just don't go.

Of course I expected to pay for other activities, but it was overly priced it was ridiculous . From food, drinks, carnival rides, activities for the kids. Couldn't even enjoy without spending an additional 200.00 apart from paying for the entrance and parking.

We had a great time. The circuit lights aren’t the best but the other activities were fun.

Had a fine time at the Wonderland. There were many attractions for kids and adults. Ice skating was a good feature and the Singing Trees stole the show. The actual trail of lights was just fair, it was displayed on the racetrack but since the track is so big, it felt miles away. Holiday movies on the lawn was great for kids and there were Santa and Ms Clause photo stations. The human snow globes didn't seem to be working at the time, but I would have liked to check them out.

The lines for everything were ridiculous. The Human Snowglobe wait was like 45 min... to take a picture in a plastic bubble. The wait probably wouldn't have been so long, there were 2 snowglobes but the staff was only loading one of them and the other sat empty the majority of the time. The line for the petting zoo was even longer. The line to buy the wristband was long. All the lines for rides were long and across major walkways, as there were no ropes or anything to maintain the line in any kind of order. It looked like the ferris wheel line would be well over an hour, plus the time to wait to get the wristbands... So we didn't end up doing anything that would cost additional money because that would have been an extra line. There was no signage directing which way to certain attractions, we never saw the entrance to circuit of lights/ tunnel of lights, but the rest was so frustrating so we didn't look hard at all. We parked around 7pm, all we managed to do was the human snow globe, watch the singing trees, and eat funnel cakes while watching the end of Elf. We left a little before 10 and the area of the parking lot we were in was already half empty, so I'm guessing all those people left in disappointment well before we did.

Very disappointed on the outcome of their winter wonderland theme. Not much lights to look at and the light tunnel was lame. It was WAY over priced! They need more lights more venders more tickets booths

Cost $16 for ticket to get in and that got you nothing. Everything cost extra. Be ready to spend some cash. The light display was minimal compared to trail of lights. Will not go back next year. If pictures with Santa and all the food and rides and everything has a fee then admittance should be free. At $16 per person just to get into gate to walk around a few measly light displays, they should have made a ton of money. Definitely better to brave crowds and parking hassle and do trail of lights downtown.

It was a really nice show, the kids loved it. I do have a couple ideas. The petting zoo should be spread out more. There was not enough room and the title outside is free means you stand on the outside of the gates and look at the pets. The ticket booths need to be in a different area so the lines don’t block the walkway. This is there first one and I believe it will get better with time.

The family and I were really looking forward to this event. There was tremendous build-up based on what I was reading and the amount of activities listed for the event. We thought it was a great idea that would allow for lots of things to do. First and foremost, everything looked great. Stuff was nicely decorated and the layout for everything was perfect. There was lots to do and everything we did was fun, but now the bad part(s). Why charge so much for closer parking? $20?? Oh well, we didn't pay that and just walked from the furthest (free) parking lot and took the shuttle back to our vehicle. Just took a little bit of extra time, but not worth the $20 it would have saved to park in the closer lots. Now the biggest issue I had....I didn't understand after already paying $16 per person to enter, why it was necessary to then have to pay for all the rides/events inside. We were able to take a advantage of a discount for a 4 pack (buy 3, get 1 free). So, we only had to pay $48, but then we spent another $60 on rides and food. The food was overpriced...$5 for a hotdog, $5 for fries, and $5 for a vitamin water. So, by the time it was said and done, we spent a little over $100 for 3 hours of walking around and doing a few things. We were able to do most of the things we wanted to early on, as we arrived before they opened, but after an hour of being there, the lines were so long (at least 30-45 wait times), it wasn't worth paying the $3-$5/person fees to do the stuff. In my opinion, I would say go just so you can say you've done it, but be prepared to spend lots of money and wait in long lines. It was cool to do something new and different, but we won't be back again. Just wasn't worth the $100+ we spent and the 45 minute drive to get there.

For the price, I expected a lot more lights. It was very disappointing. The kids didn't care for the lights, there are much better displays, and were only interested in going on some carnival rides and leaving. The lines to buy the wristbands were very long. The ride lines were very long because there were only around nine rides. Overall it seemed likely a cheaply put together event with high costs. I will not go back.

Event was not as expected. Even with prepaid premium parking, it took an hour to get a parking spot. You have to pay $2 for a bracelet to put ride money on. Then the ride lines are extremely long. We ended up not doing any rides. If you just plan to do the lights and get there early it is an okay event.

we went here bc trail of lights at zilker was closed. the "trail' here had great music but the experience was not that cool. the snow globe idea was cool but heres the snow ? fake ice skating turned me off too. my favorite part was watching Elf on the grass. Im 37 so its hard to find things to do the don't involve alcohol. I looked forward to it ! I hope its better next year

We went to this event for the first time this year and brought 8 kids ages 9-13 and found the whole thing very underwhelming and disappointing. You have to buy a wristband once you there to do most of the attractions, so I waited in a long line and spent so much money on writstbands because we figured we drove all the way there, we might as well enjoy all the fun things. Then we started walking around and realized that everything advertised turned out to be a sad version of what we expected. The skating rink is plastic tiles, not ice. The light trail is just a walk along part of the race track with some 2-dimensional lighted characters far off on either side attached to the fences. The "tunnel" was some multi-colored changing lights covering a pedestrian walkway. I was excited about the human snowglobe until it turned out to be a small inflatable item (that seemed to keep deflating and workers had to get it going again) that you crawl in through the back and basically stand inside a little bounce house with plastic on the front. I'm sure if you're 5 years old or below that might be fun, but older kids and adults would not stand in line to do that. The older girls with us almost did the hot air balloon float (climb in basket and go up about 20 feet) but decided not to use their tickets on it. Same for the camel ride - long line and just a loop through a little tent. The kids eventually did the "ice" skating which was incredibly slick and no traction on the fake skates. It was hilarious to watch but there were a few bumps and bruises. Basically we walked around wondering if this was really all there was and feeling sick that we'd spent so much money.

It's a mini limited carnival inside a nice venue. We spent an additional $40 in a camel ride and junk food. There was nothing more for my toddler to do.

Blah Humbug! Just your ordinary Winter festival, but at 4 times the cost. Be prepared to spend all of your money to see the lights, ride some rides, and eat waffles. Lights, BTW, were not all so impressive. (The green and blue forests were the best, IMO.) The staff were very helpful and friendly, and the facilities were very clean and well laid out. Recommend you go early and stay late, as there are long lines during at the 7-9pm rush. We enjoyed the walking and getting some exercise and the pre-K enjoyed the rides.

It was okay. I think the event description/website oversold it. The setup was similar to a Christmas carnival/fair. It was fine if that's what you're wanting. Our expectations were maybe too high. I don't think it is worth doing again.

The light show could’ve been more and better, cheaper entrance fee, food, ride cost if you want a bigger crowd ... more free stuff to do with the children’s interest. Def. y’alls first year ... do it better next year! We will come back !

It was ok. I understand this was COTA’s first time hosting this event, but it left something to be desired. Back to the trail of lights for us.

Won’t be back again. Rather go to local Christmas event in town.