This review is for the Jurassic Quest event held at Santa Clara Fairgrounds, not the fairgrounds…read moreitself. I was really excited to take my toddler based on the website, promo videos, YouTube clips, and all the hype and media mentions. Unfortunately, the event was very underwhelming. It was held inside an expo hall and the space felt much smaller than expected. The dinosaur exhibit itself consisted of maybe five or six displays total, which was far less than what the videos and marketing led us to believe. There were a few additional activities, one dinosaur meet-and-greet, some LEGO stations, and a couple small activities, but overall it felt very minimal. My son is only two, so he was still excited to see the dinosaurs, but as a parent, I expected a lot more based on how this event is advertised. If you're managing expectations and just want a short outing for a very young child, it may be fine. But if you're expecting a large, immersive experience like what's shown online, this didn't live up to it.

IMHO I used to come…read morehere decades ago when the fairgrounds hosted the huge summer county fair. In the day, the county fair lasted for at least two weeks and was a big deal. These days, the county fair is back but only for three or four days... The fairgrounds still host events but on a smaller scale. Lately I've only attended the San Jose Harvest Festival, which moved from downtown San Jose to the fairground a few years ago. I like the fact that it is closer to my home, but the venue's parking fee of $20 is outrageous! When speaking to some of the vendors at the Harvest Festival, they were wondering if the lower attendance was due to the hefty parking fee, amongst other financial reasons. Plus, we are still paying an admission fee to the event... I still attend some fairground events but usually when there is free or low-cost admission fee. Continuing to pay $20 just to park will definitely give me pause to re-think my need to attend such events in the future.

We were in San Jose for Labor Day weekend 2026 and looking for something to do. I googled what to…read moredo in San Jose and the only thing that came up was the Winchester Mystery House beside shopping. They have some good shopping the Westfield Mall and Santana Row. We're good on clothing and other goods so we weren't really looking to go shopping. I've heard of the Winchester Mystery House, but have never been. This seemed like my best chance. My husband has been twice. When he has 12 and then again when he was 42 so it wasn't new to him. I looked them up on their website and was shocked to see how expensive it was to make a single 1 hour tour, but it's really the only thing to do in San Jose besides eating and shopping so we took the plunge and decided to go. I looked and there was plenty of tickets on Friday so we figured we could just show up and go. For some reason I was inspired to look Sunday night to recheck the ticket prices and ensure they were going to be open Labor Day. To my shock the 10am slot was sold out and so were most of the morning slots. There were tickets at the 10:05am tour time. I didn't want to commit so soon at the same time I didn't want to miss our opportunity to see the house. In the end I took the gamble that we'd be up and ready to go by 9am to ensure we would make it to the 10:05 tour time. It cost $92.22 for 2 people including taxes and fees. Wow!!! Steep. I'm glad there were tickets left and I was able to snag 2 for the early time as we needed to make the journey home afterwards. We arrived at around 9am and thankfully found parking. On their website they said they were under construction and parking was limited and you may have to park at Santana Row. I didn't want to have to walk that far so we my husband humored me and we arrived extra early and were first in the parking lot. Good for us. We hung out in the car till 9:40am and then headed to the gate to get in line. There was a crowd forming, but no actual line. They opened the gates at around 9:45am to get everyone through security. They inquired if we had any weapons including pepper spray and inspected our purses. Good thing I left the pepper spray in the car lol. After entering in the court yard we were directed to the gift shop. We were informed that the most important room of the house, the bathroom was though the glass doors and through the inner courtyard. Also look for the green and red sign as that is where you go for your tour. At 10am sharp they called the first group in. They scanned your ticket and then took your picture agains the side of the house and give you a card to look at your picture after your tour. In addition after your tour they email you a link to your picture in addition to being able to look up your picture via the QR code on the card they gave you. I didn't look at the pictures till I got home as I took a really good one of us in the garden. When I got home I used the QR code to look at our pictures and I was shocked that they looked so good. They superimposed a picture of the house behind us. It was a super fun pose and my husband actually smiled in the pictures. They are only $35 for the set of digital prints. I'm not sure how it works if you get the printed copy at the gift shop, if they also give you access to the digital prints as well. I sure hope they would as these days everyone wants it digitally so they can post it on social media and send it to friends and family via email or text. I'm still tempted to buy the picture set. We'll see how long they leave it up. We just look so good in the pictures. I'm a total picture person and a real sucker for photo ops, especially photo booths. To add to it they did have a Photo Booth in the gift shop that looked fun, but as I said we did take some really cool selfies so we really don't need more pictures. The first cool thing you see is the door with the stairway that goes nowhere. So cool. Excitement from the very start. I got a cool picture of the staircase. The house is huge, but the room inside are tiny and I mean tiny. It's like you're walking into a closet. You are walking in and out of a room before you realize it. We visited I belive 110 rooms in 1 hour. After the tour we took a tour of the gardens. I am so glad that we did as you can walk around to the front of the house and grab a. Great pic in-front of the house. A totally instagram worthy shot. The grounds are beautiful. With lawns, hedges, and flowers. In addition in back was one of the workers quarters, a really nice house out back. When you walked by it talks to you and tells you a bit about life working for Sarah. There is also a fruit cellar where they dried fruit and that talked to you too about the process.

Had been wanting to go visit ever since I was in 3rd grade. Was so excited to go, even though it's…read more$50, but was deeply put off by a gift shop full of junk that has nothing to do with the beautiful house and the shooting game attraction. Signed on for the optional self guided attic and basement tour and I'm so happy I did. Got to speak with a guy named JT who works there and he was so full of knowledge regarding Sarah and the house. He really gave such a new perspective to the designs I had never thought of before. I understand the tour guides have a script and they like to lean into the paranormal but Sarah is such a character, just like her house. It almost felt disrespectful walking through and hearing they had 'ghost' noises playing in part of the basement. This woman was highly intelligent and did so many great things just to be painted as a crazy woman. Winchester needs to do better. Major shout out to JT, if he ran that place I just know it would be spectacular.

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

I didn't expect to find a circus in Redwood City! Performance is good and this seems very…read morekids-friendly. This circus is honestly a decent size. I actually expected to be smaller. My friend and I got the ticket for 4-7 pm, but it somehow ended before 6pm with one intermission. I wonder if something happened to the performer that day or maybe an emergency. Still worth $20 dollar per person for ticket tho.

Looking for an awesome time in the park then you've found it as this festival has a bit of…read moreeverything for everyone food beer and sound wise! Coming to this festival I wasn't sure what to expect other than a good time in the park as well as a bunch of delicious eats! Of the eats it was all about the corn on the cob and the tombstone slider as they were just super scrumptious and all around yummy! The pulled Pork bun was decent but it totally needed some more BBQ sauce to make it alright but not to be forgotten was the Apple Pie bacon cheddar whipped cream combination like wow what a crazy combination of flavors that was just super delicious so much so we thought about getting another one! The one I really wasn't a fan of though was the chicken hearts wrapped in bacon on a stick yeah I'm just not all that into things like that and didn't really care for the taste too much! Don't forget to get a brew tasting card as well because there's a ton of delicious beers around for all to enjoy! There is only one more weekend left to check out this festival I highly recommend you do and get one of the tasting cards as it's totally worth it and just all around yummy! Overall this is a good eating time and it's cool to see other Cedar Fair parks doing festivals like this because it's a good time for everyone and a great way to get some good food and drinks wile in the park!

Great America has really stepped it up with this festival! 2018 was the second year of the Red,…read moreWhite & Brews Festival and it was way better than last year. It's held in the Hometown Square area of the park and they have everything decked out in Red, White and Blue colors and decorations as this festival is supposed to be like your all American type of festival. There are several booths serving beer, wine and of course yummy food. Since it is a "brew" fest they offered a wide variety of craft beers (32 varieties to be exact). You could either buy them separately or buy the tasting card for $25. If beer isn't your thing and you prefer wine they also have a wide variety of wines and a tasting card for $25 as well for that. If you're feeling a little adventurous they have the San Jose Brew Bike available, why not bike around the park while drinking some beer (sounds like a good time to me lol). Now to the food, the first year of the festival the food offerings were a bit "out of the ordinary" and the items offered just didn't fit in with the theme but this year they revamped and stepped their game up thanks to Chef Ponce and his amazing culinary skills. There was plenty of barbecue and hearty sliders to fill you up this time around and some down home yummy desserts as well. While they offered a tasting card the previous year it was less items and they items were already chosen for you. This time around the tasting card was 8 tastings for $30 or $25 for season passholders. You could use the tabs for any of the items. I tried to taste everything but I ended up only using 6 out of the 8 tabs and I'm kicking myself for that. I loved the Sticky BBQ Pork Ribs, they were tender and falling off of the bone. The sauce had a great balance of sweet and savory, one of my favorite items. The Smoked Brisket & Mash was interesting, I liked it although I wish the brisket was cut up into pieces and maybe they could have used smashed red potatoes instead of potatoes that tasted like they came from a box. The brisket was good and tender, the sauce was nice and tangy and the fried onions on top gave it a nice crunch. But hands down the item that did it for me and was my favorite was the Pork Belly Slider!! The slider was loaded with some amazing and perfectly cooked pork belly, that was so tender, meaty and fatty. It was cooked just right. Placed on a pretzel bun with an apple slaw and spicy relish, all of those flavors went great together. Probably the best pork belly I've ever had! Of course the Roasted Corn was good, kinda hard to mess that up lol. The desserts were hit and miss, while I loved the Pineapple Upside Down Cake which was super moist and delicious I did not like the "Banana Cream Pie Parfait". This was in no way a parfait it was more like banana pudding stuffed into some hard cone thing, this was not properly executed and I was not a fan. Aside from the food and drinks they did have plenty of entertainment as well. On the American Stage they had 4 different bands that would perform each day as well as the Dueling Pianos on the Gazebo Stage and each night ended with a fireworks nightcap. This is a very nice festival to attend while at the parks. Good food, good drinks and great entertainment.

IMHO Since my last…read morereview, the Harvest Festival has moved from downtown San Jose to the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds on Tully Road. But first! The fairgrounds parking lot charges $20!!! Credit card only. If you don't want to pay, I suppose street parking is an option, but you'd probably be walking farther than the convenience of the lot. My tip for you, carpool with a bunch of friends and split the parking fee! Thankfully I had a mailer that saved me $2 off my senior admission so I only paid $5. Be prepared to have your bags searched and your body wanded before you enter the premises. This show boasted 135 vendors along 13 aisles in the large Exhibition Hall. There were definitely enough booths to entertain me, but I'm pretty sure at the downtown convention center, there were more vendors in a much larger space. They tried to make it holiday festive, and there was a great live musician playing. At the fairgrounds, they only offered a small concession food area, with a limited menu of hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, pre-wrapped sandwiches, cookies, etc. I got the hot dog because it came with a bag of chips, $9. LOL Another tip, bring your own water. Out of the 135 vendors, I purchased from five of them. I spent about 4 hours cruising through the festival. Got some Christmas gifts and something for myself. It's an annual tradition for me and my friend. Yeah, we'll probably keep coming.

I've heard of this event before, but never attended. I was finally able to attend this event thanks…read moreto Yelp - so a special shout out & thank you to Yelp :) I think this is a great hand-made crafts fair. There are hundreds of stalls with people's creations and it's awesome to see it all(though... quite honestly some stalls did not seem very "hand made" type of goods. Like that knife stall...). There's a lot of soap, jewelry, handmade bags, balsamic vinaigrette and oils. I ended up buying a cheeseboard and an apple-cinnamon wreath. Generally speaking, I would say the items aren't exactly cheap; but given that almost all items are handmade, i think it's worth the extra price. The biggest minus to this event was the food. Almost all entrees were a minimum $10 and there was only a very limited selection. I personally did not think the food I got was worth $10 (apple brie chicken sandwich). My friend also got a measly handful of stale lukewarm garlic fries for $6. If the organizers got better food vendors, they could not only make more money but also probably attract and keep more people at the event. Overall, I would definitely recommend that everyone go to this event at least once. Maaay come back next year. ONE TIP for future attendees; because this was at downtown SJ and the food sucked, if this event is usually held at downtown SJ, I would say park at a public parking lot and get food afterwards outside at a participating parking validation place so you won't end up paying for parking (and get better food too!).

This was my first time at this particular stage company, and we saw "Waiting for Godot!"…read more Wow- the voices of both the two main characters were simply marvelous!! I have never heard of this play before, yet my dad and brother knew it very well within the psychologically realm. Lol, As I listened to the play, there were a number of quotes I had actually heard when I was studying different theories within existentialism so it brought me back to my old college days! Lol A very small cast, but so well acted, especially the amazing rant that the character, lucky does was almost like a wrap! I honestly wish I had tape recorded or at least the audio of that because he said so many amazing quotes and Mantras of life. I wish I could've repeated any of them! My brain could not process everything so quickly but goodness well played!! The seats were a bit rickety, but they were still comfortable, and the play itself was not too cold luckily for me since I'm always freezing! Lol I also had a jacket handy, just in case. It was a cold overcast day, and the wind picked up, but everything inside the theater was pleasant. I wouldn't mind coming back and seeing a couple other plays especially the musical number ! This particular was about 2 1/2 hours long so at the last 30 minutes of the play, sadly my dad's phone rang since we were late for our dinner reservation! Lol, so I wish we knew how long the play was going to be before we made dinner plans. Lol.

Super amateur and uncomfortable…read more Dropped by here on a lark because I saw a sign advertising their production of "Cabaret" at a local restaurant and I've been meaning to see the Robert Altman film. 95% of the audience were Boomers who are probably bored out of their minds and desperate for any diversion from waiting for the sweet release of death. The other 5% were presumably friends of the cast. Basically all the actors were failure-to-launch white guys in their 30s, along with a few plus-sized Hispanic and Asian actresses. One actress was an attractive white girl, which confused me so badly that I assume she must have been somehow blackmailed into being part of the play. Nobody seemed to be having any fun, the laughter felt forced, the costumes and make-up were garish, and the playbill lacked any context for the story. I feel vaguely like I was rubbernecking the end of Western civilization, where young whites (who are a minority of young Americans) put on a half-hearted charade for their grandparents to try and maintain the illusion that the world they lived in still exists. As the Boomers pass away over the next decade, I expect all these local theater companies to shut down. The aforementioned attractive white girl and an acrobatic gay white guy seemed to actually be trying, which I appreciated, but their efforts weren't enough to salvage the play from all the others phoning it in. I'm glad I walked out a half-hour in. I wish I could get my money back. This may have permanently put me off from live theater lol.

Although I can't speak for the plays and musicals, I love Broadway San Jose's film concerts! So…read morefar, I've seen the film concert productions for Across the Spiderverse Spiderverse and Avatar: The Last Airbender. They were both FANTASTIC. The audience is always very enthusiastic, cheering on their favorite characters and scenes. The orchestras are also very passionate about the films as well, earning their standing ovation at the end of the show. My favorite seats are in the orchestra section. Only issue would be parking, but there's a garage about a 5-min walk from the venue that I usually go to. I'll definitely be back again!

Show: MJ The Musical Venue: San Jose Center for the…read morePerforming Arts, a.k.a. Broadway San Jose 08/02/25 Matinee Performance 2pm Breakdown: The Musical (SPOILER ALERT?) The choreography, imagery, mutimedia, lighting, sound, costumes & visual effects were wonderful. The performance did not start exactly on time. Many of Michael & the Jackson 5's hits are featured, but due to show length, the songs are shortened. The songs are stitched together with a narrative, and there were a few parts of this that were a little draggy. I almost would've preferred just the full-lenth music selections alone. The play--while upbeat & exciting overall-- portrays Michael as somewhat a victim: A victim of his global success, victim of his handlers who were profit-motivated, and victim especially of his father Joe Jackson who is cast pretty much in the villain role. There is a brief 15-20 minute intermission in the approximate 2 1/2 hr. show. The Venue First time visit for me and the Center did a fine job. The workers--ticketing folks, ushers, merchandise folks--who I interacted with were great. The matinee show was packed to it's 2,600+ seat capacity. And of course with that many patrons, you're unfortunately going to see a handful of clueless one's with no theather ettiquette. Such as, but certainly not limited to, arriving on time, not silencing their mobile devices, holding conversations and blocking entrances & exits to the theater (pre & post show + intermissions), getting up multiple times during the performance, etc. Can't blame the venue or performers for this of course. Add the usual cluster mess when a good portion of 2,600 patrons need to all use the restroom during intermission. But the latter is pretty much standard procedure at most performances such as this. Ticketing & Parking Tips Smart theater enthusiasts would be very wise to look into 2 very favorable ticketing options offered by this venue: Digital Lottery & Rush Tickets. For digital lottery, download Broadway San Jose's mobile app to start. From there, you can enter a day-before lottery to score a pair of tickets at greatly reduced rates (they were $35ea for this musical). The digital lottery option is typically only for evening performances though. For the Rush ticketing option that I used, covering both matinee & evening performances, show up at the box office day of show 2 hrs. before the scheduled start time. When I got there around 11:45am, there were less than 5 people in line and I was able to score a single Orchestra ticket for $40 (inclusive of fees). Same ticket that Ticketmaster was trying to sell on their site for $445! lol. Parking can be a little bit of a challenge here. The closest major garage that most patrons seem to gravitate to is the Ernst & Young or "303 Garage" @ 303 S. Almaden Blvd. It's maybe 150-200 yds. to the main entrance of the theater. It's got some accessibility quirks, and is a $20 flat rate as of this review. This will typically cover you for several hrs. time for the show + exiting. In my case, the rate covered me 7 hrs. from 12pm to 7pm. I puchased this pass thru mobile parking app SpotHero, which charges a small processing fee, but tends to allow for an easier entrance & exit process. You can also pay directly at the garage. Driving in San Jose is akin to driving in Los Angeles for those familiar. So, be prepared for congestion, rude drivers and the frustration overload + ugliness that typically accompanies this. Not the theater's fault again, but just a word to the wise. Also, San Jose is usually known as a great restaurant destination, but there didn't seem to be a plethora of these options within comfortable walking distance to the theater sadly. Conclusion If you missed the relatively short run of MJ The Musical here in San Jose, don't worry. As it's returing in early 2026 to both San Francisco & Sacramento. Check it, it's a winner!

Outstanding performance of Two Gentlemen of Verona at Willow Street Frank Bramhall Park , San Jose,…read moreCalifornia. This Shakespeare company has occasional free Shakespeare in the Park events. However, donations are highly appreciated and help extend the number performances and help them cover the costs of the show.

Unfortunately too difficult to hear the words in a brewery atmosphere. Huge fan was running and the…read moreacoustics with a 40 foot ceiling were challenging. It's really too bad. The actors were putting alot of energy into the scenes. Could have been fun