That one time we went to Santa's Wonderland....

Most people know how I feel about Santa's Wonderland.  WAYYYYY overpriced.  I could think of so may things my family could do (or a bill I could pay, buy the boys new clothes, groceries...) for just the price of admittance into Santa's Wonderland. It also makes me sad to think about the families that would love to go and have a good time but just cannot afford it.  We were thinking about going to the Lights of Tejas this year since it seems way more family/price friendly.  They also have a "pay what you can" night and I think that is very generous since it is Christmas and everyone is already broke.

I told Bryan the ONLY way I would ever go is if we got free tickets somehow.  Well, we actually did.  We have a very close friend's dad who works for Appel Ford in Brenham that donates all the trucks for the hayride so he was able to get us tickets.

I thought if we got free tickets we can pay to park, so we spent $15 to park. Which you have to do online in advance and have to pick your time slot.  Lots of folks driving up did not know this and they had to turn around.  
We walked into Santa's Wonderland at 5pm.  It was crazy.  SOOOO many people.  I do not do well in crowds so I was already starting to feel itchy.  Logan wanted top ride the train (and it was free) so we did that first.  Then we found out how long the wait for Santa would be (3 hours...holy moly) so we decided to skip that.  Cue meltdown from Logan.  This will be a reoccurring theme as the night goes on. 
I thought that we better stand in line for the hayride before it gets late.  Good thing we did.  We waited in line about 20 minutes (that was already too long for Logan) and by the time we were at the front it had circled all the way around (my guess would be about 45 minutes to an hour wait).  I just cannot imagine waiting that long with little ones.
We went on the hayride and yes, the lights were beautiful.  However, if you go every year, they have the same lights.  I mean, maybe they add things but I am pretty sure they are the same lights.  And the weather was ok for us but what if it is cold or rainy?  That would be terrible for people.  It was more fun to drive through with your family and look at the lights.  No getting out of the car to stand and wait in line. BUT they did away with that option to make more money because the frontage road would get backed up.
After the hayride we got off close to the bouncy houses and slides and Logan said he wanted to do that.  Great, it was free.  Slide and bounce to your heart's content.  That lasted about 15 minutes and he was done.  Off to the pony rides and petting zoo (which are not free) $5 for a 2 minute pony ride and $4 to feed animals that most of them did not want food because kids had been shoving food in their face all night. I digress. It is for the kids right? Ha.
After that, people were literally everywhere.  It was a madhouse. I just wanted to leave.  Logan saw the roasting pit where you could roast marshmallows and after I found out how much marshmallows were, I would have brought a bag of marshmallows and stuffed them in my purse.  Cue meltdown. Nope, next.
We saw the big snow globe and Logan wanted to take a picture.  We stood in line and found out you have to reserve a space and the next one was after 10pm. Sure I will be here with 2 kids on a Sunday night after 10pm.  Cue meltdown. Really?! Nope, next.
We made our way back to the front and we got to see the snow and Logan thought that was so fun.
It was getting late and with so many people, lines, whiny/hungry baby and 4 year old, we decided to head out.
All in all, I was so grateful for the free tickets.  Would I ever go back?  Not unless we got free tickets again.  If we would have paid $80 (Bryan, Logan and I--baby was free) to get in, I would have been VERY disappointed.  Not worth it at all.  We spent 4 hours there and most of it was in lines or finding out wait times were too long. But people pay it.  People go every year. We heard this couple behind us taking about that they had a 3 hour drive home. That blows my mind.

I really am not trying to sound like the Grinch here, but it would be nice if Santa's Wonderland did some sort of half price night or paired up with a charitable organization (Toys for Tots) and gave discounted tickets.  I know they need to make money since they are only open for about a month, but to me Christmas is about family.  It is about giving.  It all seems so commercialized to me.
Logan had fun, but would have been just as happy if we piled in the car, drank hot chocolate, listened to Christmas music and drove the neighborhood around looking at lights.

Santa's Wonderland, A Texas Christmas Experience. It was an experience, that is for sure.