I really wanted to love FoodieLand, especially with all the hype I'd heard going in, but…read moreunfortunately, my first experience was pretty disappointing. Across most of the vendors I tried, the food just didn't match the price point. Many stalls were charging premium prices, but the quality didn't reflect it. Portions were often inconsistent, and in some cases, there was more fat than actual meat. On top of that, wait times were long, which might've been understandable if the food came out fresh--but instead, a lot of it tasted like it had been prepared in bulk and left sitting. The result? Dry, overcooked dishes that lacked the flavor you'd expect at a festival like this. After a while, it honestly started to feel like I could've gone to a regular food court and gotten better quality for a fraction of the price. That's not what you hope for when you're attending something that's supposed to highlight great food and unique vendors. To be fair, there were a couple of standout stalls that were genuinely delicious, but they were few and far between, maybe 2% of what I tried. If I had one suggestion for the future, it would be for organizers to focus more on quality over quantity. Smaller portion options would also make a huge difference. For example, instead of committing to a $25 plate of 8 wings, it would be great to have the option to try one or two wings at a lower price. That way, people can try more vendors without spending a fortune. Overall, I left feeling underwhelmed and wishing the experience had lived up to its reputation. I'm hopeful for next year being an improvement.

FoodieLand definitely delivers a fun, high-energy, carnival-style experience that's perfect for a…read morenight out with friends or family. From the moment you walk in, there's a lively vibe with music, lights, and crowds that make it feel like a full-on festival. The entry fee is pretty affordable, which makes it easy to justify going--but be prepared for the parking situation. Parking was $30, which felt a bit steep and is something to factor into your overall cost. Where FoodieLand really shines is the variety of food. There's a huge selection of trendy and unique options--from Korean corn dogs and Bone Marrow to massive fried squid, Sushi Pizza and creative desserts. It's a great place if you like trying a little bit of everything or sharing bites with your group. That said, the popularity does come with a downside: long lines. Some of the most popular vendors had pretty long waits, especially during peak hours, so patience is definitely needed (or plan to go earlier if you can). Overall, FoodieLand is a great experience for the atmosphere and food variety, just be ready for crowds, lines, and higher parking costs.

I resisted writing a review because I hate crowds. But that is exactly why I loved the Winter…read moreWonderland. No crowds!! I went twice (with family, but no children) on a Friday and Saturday night after 9 pm, walked around looking at lights, enjoying the music and drinking hot chocolate. There was a good variety of beer available and treats which were expensive but good quality. Loved the singing trees. Didn't try the ice skating rink but it looked fun, I forgot my gloves and didn't want to scratch my hands if I fell. The downside was the high price of admission, the Trail of Lights is much closer and cheaper. It would be nice if the tower tour was free or lower priced and open also. I saw disappointed visitors turn around after searching for it and finding it costed money and/or it was closed. And warming stations out of the wind would be a good idea too. Parking was free and easy to get in and out of and there were shuttles waiting each time to promptly take us to the entrance. I did not visit the carnival section. Next time I will probably come on a warm night and get the carnival wristband.

We came here with some of our friends age 2-10 and everyone had lots of fun. We purchased our…read moretickets online and got a little discount. They were 1-2$ cheaper than at the gate. And 4 and under were free! Since some of the adults and kids went gokarting we parked over there but they provided with free shuttles to the main gate and they can quite frequently. So the wait was not too long. The lights were pretty impressive. To see cota transformed into an amusement park was quite interesting as we y come here either to watch a race or gokarting. The light show was one of the highlight for some of our friends and children and also taking pictures with some of their favorite Disney characters! The 9$ ride wristband was totally worth it as the kids went on rides over and over again. No long waits and they were all well maintained and open! The kids absolutely loved it and asked if we can come back again!

This year (2025) was a HUGE improvement from last year, I'm so glad they revamped it!…read more Admission on a weekday was $10 and it was not crowded at all when we went. I loved the long tunnel of lights at the beginning, and there are lots of fun lights throughout. TONS of photo opps with the lights and with the characters for Christmas - gingerbread man, Elsa and Anna, Santa, etc. When you drive out, make sure you follow the signs to exit and NOT your GPS. I took a side road all the way out but hit a closed gate right before the main road. Overall, come with low expectations and walk slowly through the parkway!

This was terrible and a waste of $15…read more It was a bunch of small holiday themed shacks with activities like ornament making, face painting, rock sifting, etc. Each activity required tickets which was about $5 and up. The activities were not worth $2. Mind you this is on top of the $15 entrance fee. There's typical overpriced carnival food, like funnel cakes, corn dogs, hot dogs, Mexican, and pizza. Not a lot of variety of food. The rides were kids carnival rides best for children under 6. Each ride required tickets which would cost about $5. There were maybe 5 rides, and they were not great. Don't buy the $25 wristband to ride unlimited rides. It is not worth it. Your kids won't want to ride more than 1 or 2 rides max. Skip this.

Visited COTA Karting in Austin -- a fun spot for high-speed go-kart racing…read more Great for both casual visitors looking for a thrill and competitive racers wanting to push their limits. Definitely a must-try for adrenaline seekers in the Austin area. Safety video is ~2 minutes and the race comes with a helmet rental (but you can bring your own). It is rather pricey for one 10-minute race. The cars are gas and it MATTERS how heavy you are. You will be on track with experienced and inexperienced drivers.

It was overall a fun experience! 10 minutes is a good amount of time especially if you have little…read moreto no experience with karting. Although finished last, I had a blast! There's also mini golf with 2 different courses available for additional price. The gift shop has plenty of options but almost no price tags. Took a star off for two reasons: 1. Still overpriced for the amount of time you get on track. The novelty of the location is great, but price to value ratio is still not quite there. 2. An employee, for some reason, seemed to take an offense that I asked for a green helmet instead of the one she picked out. I was going to grab a green one anyway after we'd finish watching the intro video, because another staff member told us to pick our helmets. God forbid a girl wants to wear her favorite color lol

Flew to Austin to go to the MotoGP motorcycle races this year at Circuit Of the Americas (COTA) as…read moreit is one of the newer tracks in the U.S. and MotoGP no longer comes to Laguna Seca in California. Comparing the tracks and the area surrounding it, I can understand why the race moved. The track is obviously fantastic as the host F1, Indy, NASCAR along with a ton of other events, but there is a ton of space around the track to watch races; from a variety of grandstands to areas on the lawn, there is a place for everyone. There are a ton of vendors with a variety of foods, merch, and other race specific merch to purchase (Ie. Motorcycle accessories, parts, etc for motorcycle races, etc). They are also building on to the venue with various amusement park rides and to suit family members who may not be as interested in racing. The investment in the venue is awesome! Recommendations: the venue is pretty big so getting familiar with it before hand is a good idea. The is a COTA app you can download which has your tickets, tack maps etc. You can walk around most of the track (not the whole thing) or use the trolley which can save allot of time if you want to get some place in a hurry. There is also an underpass which can cut walking time from one side of the track to another. We will defiantly return to COTA in the future for future races and recommend it to you as well!

Cold, windy, but still so worth it. Spent hours here walking around. Checking out all the 250+ food…read moretrucks. Crazy insane, nothing I've ever experienced. The weather got a little yucky. Started sprinkling, then slowly turned to rain. By the time it was lightly raining, I had seen everything. Took a ton of pictures. Grabbed some food and just enjoyed everyone walking around with either a huge turkey leg, big baby bottles, buckets of food, 3 foot long meat on skewers. It was pretty insane to watch. The whole place was mapped out really well. Easy flow walking pattern. Water stations and bathrooms marked with huge flags. Lots of tables and chair for seating while you eat. Also an area of tables and chairs that was covered and also with a big DJ stage. Parking was easy. They charged $15.00 to park. There was a tram that would pick you up. I actually walked in, but took the tram back to my car. Leaving was confusing. You're just following cones out. So I followed the cones, and I was only able to make a right turn, whereas I came in, I should have made a left. But ok, let's just follow where the cones tell me to go. Next thing I know I'm only able to go into another parking lot. And this lot charged $30.00 so I lucked out being at the other lot, but okay, so here I am in another lot when I'm trying to drive out of here. I ran over a cone and made my own lane. Finally I exited out. All in all, security was nice when I came in. I had a small clear bag and my empty Yeti. I never filled my Yeti with the water they provided. If I was in dire need of water I would have gotten water. But I was good and it definitely wasn't hot. I would do this again. Some better planning in my part. Head phones. Would have liked to have listened to my own music and been in my own world. Small to go containers with leak proof lids. The food was large portions. So once you have 1 meal, you're kind of full to try other things. Hopefully I know the next time this happens, and I'll be better prepared. Really fun and a cool experience.

Thinkery, dickory, dock, the Lil kiddos ran around the block! This place was such a treat. Highly…read morerecommend for anyone with kids under 5 (maybe 6). It's a nice facility with plenty of activities for the little ones. A majority of the space is outdoors, but they installed several sun shades which helps keep the kids out of direct sunlight. Keep in mind, Del Valle only offers general admission hours on Friday from 5:30 - 7:30 PM and Saturday from 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM.

This is Thinkery's new location on the Del Valle School campus…read more Currently, only one area is open to the public and you can reserve 2-hour slots through their website. They have different play scapes for toddlers and young kids as well as small bikes, trikes, water toys and painting supplies. It's a nice way for kids to spend a couple of hours here doing various activities but it's nowhere near as big or engaging as the original Thinkery at Mueller.

Absolutely incredible experience at the Concert Dome in Austin! We saw the Taylor Swift Strings…read moreshow, and it completely blew us away. The atmosphere was immersive and unique, unlike any concert setup we've been to before. One thing that really stood out was how easy everything was logistically. Parking was smooth and convenient (a huge plus), and the dome itself is fully air-conditioned, which made the whole experience comfortable even with a big crowd. The only heads-up: if you're someone who struggles with motion sickness, you might want to take precautions. The immersive visuals and environment can be a bit intense at times. Overall, it was a 10/10 experience and we'd absolutely go back again!

We went to the ConcertDome for the Love-themed music over Valentine's Day weekend, and it was such…read morea fun experience. The musicians, sound, visuals, chairs, etc., were all great. As we arrived, we were given a couple of drink tickets to use at Austin Beerworks - Sprinkle Valley (they share a parking lot) and after grabbing drinks we went to our seats, which were comfy recliners that go all of the way to a lie flat position. They also gave each person a pack of chocolates to go with the theme. We will definitely go back for more shows.

I can't speak to the qualities of COTA as an auto racing venue (I have zero interest in that), but…read morelast night I went to the B-52's/Devo/Lene Lovich concert at the amphitheater and although the bands were great, this venue is a horrible place to see a show. Even under ideal conditions, COTA is a huge place and getting from the parking lot to the show is a genuine hassle. There were thunderstorms and lightning flashes in the early part of the evening, which delayed the show for two hours, and Lene Lovich's set ended up being cut -- I know nobody can control the weather, but the staff on the ground wasn't helpful at all with providing updates on the show's status. Would it be canceled? Should we wait? We rode a tram bus from the parking lot to just outside the venue, and waited and waited for the gates to open. Nobody was telling the crowd anything. It was chaos. At one point we were herded down a hill into a parking garage to escape the rain (it was a garage, but nobody there was rockin', though cars filled with people bailing on the show and leaving were constantly coming through). I resorted to the B-52's Instagram account to get updates on the situation. Finally, at some point after 8 p.m. the gates opened, we entered the venue, wiped down our seats, and waited. After the show, we walked to the tram station (it was close to midnight by then) and waited, and waited for a tram to take us back to Lot F. There was some sort of "issue." People had been waiting up to 40 minutes for a tram. Nobody from the staff came over to tell us anything. We finally gave up and hoofed it over half a mile to our car. The COTA staff appear to be extremely disorganized and have very little idea how to keep a crowd of some 5,000 people informed about what's going on. They seem more interested in extracting money from people's wallets (besides the extortionate ticket prices, it's the land of $14 beers, $9 ice cream sandwiches, $45 T-shirts, etc. -- COTA makes airport shops seem like a bargain) than taking care of their customers. They don't seem to care about their patrons' welfare at all. I will not be returning to this venue under any circumstances.

I went to a show here for the first time on the 4th of July for Willie Nelson's 4th of July picnic…read more Acts included Willie Nelson & family, Tami Nielson, Asleep at the Wheel, The Avett Brothers, The Mavericks, and Bob Dylan. The first part of my review is about the show. It was incredible! I've seen Willie a few times but never for the 4th of July picnic so this was definitely a bucket list item. Each band gave a stellar performance. I was blown away! Now for the next part of my review. The part where I talk about the venue itself. Let me tell you I was so worried because I read so many horror stories online. The gates were to open at three but got delayed about thirty minutes because of rain. My pet peeve is that it wasn't updated on the website. Minor issue. We took an Uber there and back. Upon arrival, our driver was confused (even though there were cones and guides) but we made it through without a hitch. We arrived at 2:20 which would have been perfect timing if not for the rain. We managed to find a dry spot to sit and chat with other folks. Once the gates opened we got through smoothly and quickly. Getting there when we did was actually perfect timing because as we went through the gates we could see the entry line stretching for at least 1/4 mile. We were able to get food and drinks straight away because we were one of the first people in. Bathroom, no lines. Fast forward a couple of hours and bathroom lines, food lines, and drink lines were stretched for what seemed an eternity. It was a big show, sold out. Lots and lots of people, lines are going to happen. I would just suggest getting food and drinks immediately to avoid the crazy lines or maybe throw some snack bars in your bag. All in all we had a good experience.

My friend and I came here Thursday night the first night of the Xgames. We scored free tickets to…read morethe motocross and harley flat track racing. When we arrived we had to get on a shuttle bus that trucked us a few miles to the tracks. It was a little confusing since I thought everything was at Circuit of the America. When we got to the tracks it was a little confusing. It appears we didn't need to print out our tickets online before coming here. No tickets were collected or checked and the fans could sit anywhere within in the stands. Well unless you were VIP located within the rope area in the top rows. Overall we had a great time and it was very entertaining. The beer was overpriced as expected and we didn't eat at the food trucks but smelled amazing.

Having been to both the Summer and Winter X-Games, I have to say that I prefer the Winter version…read more Not that the Summer wasn't cool- well, to be honest, that's a reason for subtracting a star; put up some damn shade, ESPN. None of the bleachers had shade, in either the music venue, or the grandstands overlooking competition. Food vendors were kind of lackluster as well, in my opinion. In a town that is known for its culinary inspirations and plethora of food trucks, you'd think you could have better options than an $8 grilled cheese. Another subtracted star for your music- Nicki Minaj, really?!? That's not all that conducive to the this sport or crowd. Kudos for Metallica, though. Plus, why put the main stage a literal mile walk away from the competitive field?? There was so much open area passed on that long, pointless walk. Also, the timing of the daytime musical acts was very poor- why not schedule acts to perform during competitive breaks, not during actual completion; you're forced to make a choice. You did do a good job with ample portos, and having a fair amount of actual pottys available. Also with water stations. You offered plenty of meet-n-greets with athletes, which was great for attendees. There was also a good amount of sponsors and swag for people to enjoy. So, it wasn't all bad.