We took our 11 and 14 year old nephews here. The little one was def kind of scared, but we all had…read moreso much fun. There are 2 haunted houses and the second was scary as hell! Totally worth it. The actors were really good and make a solid effort to make it worth your while. It is kind of short so skip paying for the VIP ticket - it'll feel like a slight rip off. We paid for regular tickets - 20 bucks for both haunted houses. There were no lines on a Sunday night - glad we skipped paying for "VIP."

Lines were long but they managed the crowds well. Sets were really cool and the actors did amazing…read morespooky work. Was a bit hard to find, but the logo and spooky faces on the wall, line outside and lights out front made it obvious. Glad they are back after not being around in 2024! If you struggle to find it, just drive the eastridge loop and you will find them!

10/10 -- Worth Every Penny (Parlor/Dome Car Experience)…read more If you're considering the Niles Canyon Train of Lights, do yourself a favor and splurge on the Parlor Car or Dome car. It completely transforms the experience. From the moment you board, you're treated like a VIP: dedicated seating in a fully enclosed caboose, attentive service throughout the ride, and complimentary warm drinks and sweets that are perfect for a cold, wet winter night. Being waited on while rolling through a glowing canyon? Yes, please. One of the biggest perks is having your own reserved space, while still being free to explore the rest of the train--knowing your seat is secure and shared only with fellow Parlor Car Riders. It strikes the perfect balance between comfort and adventure. I've done both the 4:30 pm and 7:30 pm departures, and while both are enjoyable, 4:30 pm is the clear winner for me. You get to take in the scenery before the sun fully sets, which adds a magical transition from daylight to twinkling lights. The 7:30 pm ride feels more social and cozy--great for lingering conversations with family and friends--but the earlier ride lets you truly appreciate your surroundings. As for the cost, it's important to note that this railway is 100% donation-funded and entirely volunteer-operated. Knowing that every dollar goes directly toward preserving the historic railway, maintaining the trains, and supporting the volunteers who make this experience possible makes the price feel even more justified. You're not just paying for a ride--you're supporting a piece of living history. Bottom line: Cozy Thoughtfully curated For a great cause Perfect for winter evenings If you're on the fence about the Parlor Car or Dome Car upgrade--it's absolutely worth it.

All aboard! If you…read moreare looking for a low key outing that's suitable for all ages then consider booking a ride on Niles Canyon Railway. Enjoy a slow ride Sunol to downtown Niles and back, approx 1.5 hours. A docent will share tid bits of history during the ride. There are snacks for purchase and you can bring your own. I prepared a simple charcuterie for me and mom, gotta have something to nosh on as we enjoy the view. It's June and the hills are brown already but oh well it's still pretty. I was a little worried about whether my mom would struggle boarding the train as I didn't book ADA as she is not in wheelchair. The steps are slightly deeper than ours at home but she made it up without difficulty, there is a railing for support. Conductor did offer us to go to the car with the lift if we wanted. My next anxiety was holding up the boarding as mom navigated the stairs slowly and there quite a few people behind us. Everyone was patient thankfully and no one scoffed. Would love to do their holidays lights ride sometime but I haven't been successful in last few years to get tickets, they go fast.

I visited Winterfest last weekend and had a great time with my family. Many other families and kids…read morevisited as well, it was traffic entering the parking lot. As a Gold Pass member, I was really happy to get free parking + park entry for Winterfest. Winterfest ran from 4pm-10pm and we stayed nearly the entire time. We mostly visited just to take pictures with the decorations, tree, and the lights, and we were not disappointed. Seeing as there aren't many Christmas activities in the South Bay (outside of Christmas in the Park in DTSJ and Santana Row), I recommend visiting for the holidays! Since I didn't have to pay for park entry, I splurged a little on the holiday foods. The beignets were my favorites of the holiday foods, but pretty pricey at $6 each. The hot chocolate was hit or miss, depending on where you bought it. The funnel cake was good, but too sweet after a while. (Highly recommend splitting that with as many ppl as possible bc of how sweet it is haha) Dress warmly and have fun!

To be honest, I wasn't expecting much as I've been to Great America back when it was THRIVING like…read moreParamount's Great America. When we had Top Gun, Vortex, and a working IMAX theater. Well we had family coming and they were interested in coming and luckily they took advantage of the Black Friday sale. So for about $20 a ticket plus $20 parking it was a bargain. So make sure you buy tickets when it's Black Friday! Parking is organized. Just be wary that if you come right at opening, it's a long line to get in but there's plenty of parking. There are areas for folks who just want to be dropped off. After getting scanned for your tickets, you're basically on your way. There's a gigantic ice rink in the front, of course you have to pay extra, but all the rides are free. We just kind of went to the first ride right away and I guess everyone does this. I forgot how rickety wooden rollercoasters are. Yeah I was not doing so well after that one. But I rallied. It was a little long wait but it wasn't atrocious (there's another ride which was). Demon is as great as it was how I remembered. There's just so much variety in that ride. It has great ride to thrill payoff. Now we went to Flying Eagles which...took forever like...the niece really really wanted to ride it so we waited. Unluckily for us, someone had an accident as we approached the front of the line and that delayed us even more. I think we ended up waiting like 1.5 hours? Yeah. Not worth it. So go here first if you want to ride it without the wait. It did get a bit cold, so make sure you bring jackets. There are a lot of non-rides to enjoy like pretty lights and singers/dancers on different stages as well as themed food for Winterfest. It was quite expensive for food. The funnel cake I believe almost cost $20. But hey...gotta get delicious funnel cake and it fed 5 people so not too shabby. The lines are a little crazy, food prices are a little extravagant, but as long as you know what you're getting into, it's actually much more fun than I thought it would be especially for the Black Friday price which was well worth it. I would totally go again but I hear they're shutting down Great America soon. So I got lucky to at least experience this once. But if it is open still this year, I'd totally go again.

This was my first time attending, and I attended with my son. We will not be back. First the…read moreConvention Center staff told us to get in the wrong line for the wrong event, and only by pure luck were we alerted that check-in was already happening inside. Checking in was fine, except I was asked to fill out a paper version of something I already filled out online. I had pre-ordered shirts for us, and they had my son's no problem. My shirt couldn't be found, and after having me wait for 30 minutes while they organized the shirt pile I had to demand one of the "same day sale" shirts because they were about to sell out and no one else thought of that solution. We finally get into the event and its dark. Its hot. We aren't allowed any outside drinks, not even water. Every game that wasn't broken (a lot were) seemed to have a line, and no one was in a hurry to let others play. There was no communication that there was a 2nd room with driving/flying games, we stumbled on that ourselves. We gave it 4 hours, and at the end we just left. I was told by staff that they weren't expecting this many people so they were completely in chaos. It really showed.

They work hard to bring it all together, but this year may very well be my last…read more I consider there to be three major Pinball Tournaments in Northern California. They are held at California Extreme in Santa Clara, Golden Gate Pinball Festival in Lodi and Pin-a-Go-Go in Dixon. California Extreme is not exclusive with Pinball Machines. There are also tons of arcade games for those who enjoy them. We have enjoyed attending these events whenever we're able to. In the past, our work schedules often got in the way. Now that we're retired, our vacation schedules often cause conflicts. The people who run this event have always done a tremendous job of getting others to bring their beloved machines, set on free play, for the masses to play. In return, they get free admission. A substantial number of volunteers are also needed to load-in, load-out, wipe down, perform minor repairs, scorekeepers, registration, check-in, etc., etc. We attend to see Pinball Machines that we've never seen before, to play with machines that are hard to find, to play new machines, but mostly to play in the tournament. Yes, there are cash purses and trophies or plaques to be one. Bragging rights galore! But for players at my level, it's mostly about WPPR Points that affect your International Flipper Pinball Association Ranking. As I write this review, I am 8640 out of 103,576 players in the world. Does it mean anything? Only to my ego. At one time, I was sub-3000. I simply don't play in enough tournaments to keep my ranking. This year's tournament entry fee was $2 per game. That is not particularly expensive BUT there was no limit to the number of entries that one could purchase. This changes that tournament of skill and luck to one of skill, luck and DEEP POCKETS. In my opinion, there should be a single buy-in. Everyone plays the same number of games on the games that are available. Yes, this will reduce the prize money but so what? Whatever happens, happens. If you have a great day, congratulations. If you have a lousy day, better luck next year. But under the unlimited buy-in, you just keep putting out money until you have a few good games to tie together for your final score. What? The tournaments almost over but you're in 11th place and only the first 10 places are in the money. Well, play some more and hope to improve your score and win! Anyway, without the tournament to play in, I will either only attend California Extreme one day only or skip it all together moving forward. Additionally, this year, for the first time, the Hyatt is now charging $40 to park overnight. This was either not disclosed at the time of booking or I somehow missed it. When I complained, it was discounted $20 because I was staying there for California Extreme and another $10 because I'm a Hyatt member. I was told that, "all the other area hotels are charging more for parking and the Hyatt is just trying to catch up." There was a 49ers exhibition game on Saturday, August 19th, and parking was expected to be at a premium and traffic would be a zoo. To counter that, we arrived way early to get a space. We arrived at 8:30 for a 10:00 opening. Because we left the house so early, we didn't have time to eat breakfast, but we had plenty of down time in the hotel (check-in was at 3:00pm), so we opted for breakfast in the hotel (see our review for Evolution). Breakfast Buffet at $28 per person vs Continental Breakfast at $22 per person. So, while California Extreme is still lots of fun, between the costs and the crowds and a Deep Pocket Tournament, it may be time for us to move on.

Everything! We had a blast! We really enjoyed the show. Really well put together. My only concern…read morewould be the rickety seating on the general seating area. We saw a kid fell over and landed on his head, which needless to say, he was startled and thankfully was okay. We'll be back next year!

It's been years and years since we checked out this circus and loved the trip, it was fun to check…read moreout, super casual, family friendly spot, they were all really good!! We definitely plan on coming back

The experience was awesome. First time trying VR and it was better than expected. So fun we went…read moreback a second time before we left Reno.

Great ride at Great America to go on hot days, you get a real good breeze on this ride!!…read more This is not a thrill ride, so the line here is usually pretty short and goes pretty quickly. If you want to cool off, or dry off from one of the water rides, this is for you. And it really doesn't get that high, this is what I call a no fear ride, just all enjoyment!!

My wife & myself both got a good dose of motion sickness! I felt nauseous for about 45 minutes, and…read moremost of the day for her. Overall, we wouldn't do this again, as it kinda ruined our experience at Great America.

Located at the Moreland Pumpkin Patch next to Easterbrook Discovery School in SJ, we attended the…read morescary version of Grimm's Hollow: The Oubliette. The ticket purchase process for the "scary hour" was far from ideal. Only same day puchases, with very specific sales times?!? Soooo inconvenient!!! ..... But in the end, it was worth it. The attraction itself was better than expected. The props were pretty amazing, lots of great sets, and the actors were beyond frightening. You'll come face to face with the creatures of your scariest nightmares brought to life, and chased slowly through this "maze of madness"... and when they say "maze," they really mean it. Beware, if you get lost in this freak circus, you will not be able to stop screaming. Once you escape one monster, there's already another one creeping up on you. I certainly lost my voice, and that was just our first haunt of the night. This isn't highly advertised like some other haunts in the south bay, and buying tickets feels unnecessarily complicated, but don't be fooled by its cryptic nature or the family-friendly atmosphere (cute outdoor setup with kids' activities, carnival snacks, even a screen showing movies)... This haunt is SCARY, and fun at the same time, definitely top value for what you get (and I've been to a LOT of haunted houses over the years to compare it to). Well done!

Holy cow that was super cool!!! our first time at this pumpkin patch it's all about the family…read moreHalloween walk! It was extremely fun and well done. I'm going to try the scary walk next year!!