My son and I have started a tradition in December. We started going to Great America's Winterfest December in 2017.
We stayed at the nearby Hilton because it starts at 5 pm and closes at 10 pm. The first time we went, it wasn't that crowded at all. Although there were a lot of people in such a tiny space (we only stayed at Planet Snoopy) since he is too young for the bigger rides, we were able to enjoy the rides that he wanted. What I didn't like though was that it felt like parents were cutting into the line. I know, not a good example. We were able to take pictures and we went back the next day for the same fun experience.
December 2018 was also a great experience for us. As usual, we stayed at the Hilton. We were planning to do the ice skating but it was closed due to some issue. It wasn't horribly crowded too.
Fast forward to December 2019! Oh, wow. First there were crowds everywhere! He was able to do a few rides before it got really crowded! Like extremely crowded. We always went Friday and Saturday and maybe next year, we won't go during those days. We paid for the cookie decorating activity. I bought the tickets online ahead of time and just printed them out. Lesson learned from that, do it last because you will be holding a big box with 4 cookies. I did like it. The cookies were pretty big and we didn't feel like we were being pressured to finish things right away. We just took our time. I think we were there for more than 30 minutes. Mrs. Claus was there and sang a song with my son. That was sweet. After dinner, we tried going into the rides again but the lines were just soooo long. So we headed back to our hotel and put our feet up.
Saturday night was worse. We did ice skating first because I wanted to make sure that if it was going to be cancelled later on, at least we had the opportunity to try it. As usual, I bought tickets ahead of time and printed them out. You do need to sign a waiver for everyone and we got our skates. Make sure to wear socks! Then we went to the skating rink. It was full of people but we were able to get in. At some point, they didn't allow some people to go in because probably the capacity was reached which was good. I have to say that I am no good at skating but since my son is little, I had to be on the ice. I was busy hanging the sidelines. The people watching the entrance and exit were very helpful to make sure that I don't embarrass myself. My son on the other hand was happy to go on his own. He fell a couple of times but he enjoyed it. I think we were there for about an hour and a half until they had to close the rink. I think they needed to do something with the ice so it's great to skate again. But my son and I were done for the day. He had a blister but he was happy. My feet were just tired.
We tried going in the rides but again, it was crowded. I think we just ate dinner and walked around. Took some pictures and then went home.
These are the lessons I learned:
1. Go on a weekday.
2. Buy tickets ahead of time.
3. Do the cookie decoration activity last so you won't have to lug around a big box of cookies around the park.
4. Do the ice skating activity first.
Now that I have written this here, I can look back at it when we go in 2020. This is one tradition that we enjoy doing.
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