This is my 4th time in a row and I have made it a Holiday Tradition! I would def add it to your list of things to do with your family. Whether young or old, it is an easy activity where you drive for at least 20 minutes or so and experience all the different lights. It is truly a spectacular spectacle! The holiday cheer will be apparent where you can see other cars and their passengers having so much fun. You'll get to see Sasquatch! yep the infamous Sasquatch! and boats, rainbows, jaguars and several fun lights during this trip. A must on the list. read more

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Sadly this review is overdue as Fantasy Lights is only during the holiday season, but I can't believe I didn't write about it after I experienced it my first year! This is a drive thru lights show that is incredibly affordable for families and large groups (or anyone, really). For a car full of people, you're getting in for under $20 to experience about a 40 minute holiday lights display (which, imo, is pretty solid). Is it the best light show I've ever seen? Did it blow my mind? No... But it's really cute and my kids (aged 7 months, 3, and 5) absolutely ADORED it and that's all that mattered to me. Very cute light displays with different themes throughout the whole drive and they are ALL over. No long pauses without any lights/displays. What makes it even more special is that the pace you're driving is literally like 5 mph, so every single car (believe me, look around!) has kids hanging out the windows, sun roofs, or in the trunks of SUVs with snacks, hot cocoa, and jammies, just vibing enjoying the lights. We've done this two years in a row now and plan to keep it going until our kids tell us they really don't want to anymore... Even then, I'll probably force them. We love this family outing and can't wait for the 2024 display! read more

This was so cute! Since my coworkers and I live, on an average, 20 minutes away from the lights, we decided to drive through on a Friday night. We made online reservations ($20/vehicle), met in a common area, and piled into one car to check it out. The entrance was on Military Road and there was a long line of cars to get in, but Fantasy Lights workers organized the flow of cars well. The attendant instructed us to turn the radio station to AM1500 for Christmas music to accompany the light show. I thought that the lights were synced to the music, but apparently not... they were really pretty regardless though! Along the two-mile route were light displays of various animals, buildings, mountains, etc, as well as a light tunnel. Take the family and/or friends through a drive here and see the magic for yourself! read more

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I was soo surprised when I saw the lights!! They were beautiful and I had cool glasses that makes the lights look like Santa Claus read more

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What a great way to see some Christmas lights in the warmth of your car! We just had a newborn so this was the perfect way for us to take our toddler out to see some lights. It's a long enough display that it makes it worth it to drive down, but just short enough that our toddler doesn't lose interest. My husband and I usually grab a coffee and turn on our Christmas playlist (or you can tune into their recommended station) and enjoy ourselves. A nice activity to add to your Christmas traditions. read more

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Great Christmas light show! Drive thru of course! $20 and if you come early, like 5:45 there was only a 10 min wait. 30 minutes to drive thru. Fun show with creative lights, UFO, Santa on a pirate ship, ect! read more

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Very entertaining. They tell you to tune your radio to a all Christmas station. Plenty of people making sure you go the correct way. read more

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The lights were the brightest and biggest they've been!! Highly recommend! We had a great time driving through. Arrived at 524p and we were able to get in early, no wait, no line.! read more

I come here every year with my daughter and enjoy seeing the lights every time. It's very beautiful and I highly recommend it, but make sure bring entertainment for the kid, have patience, and bring food/drink. .......Anyway, Since I had some time to kill...... I was looking at the map and realized I could have come from the opposite direction by taking spanaway loop/ military rd.. The benefits of this is you won't have to deal crossing multiple lanes of traffic and only have to take a right turn at the entrance. For the most part we didn't move much once we turned on to 152nd from Pacific. It felt like we sat infront of jack in the box forever. If you go, make sure everybody is able to wait for an hour in traffic. we still had a lot of fun and enjoyed very much that we'd gladly return next year. read more

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This was our first year at this Holiday light show. The lines were long to get into even at 9pm at night. However it was worth the wait. I believe we paid $20 per car. It was well organized, attendants at the entrance were nice and friendly. Lights were well thought out, placed no decorated. Some were very unique Our 9yr loved the dinosaur lights. Will definitely visit this place next Christmas. read more

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This was my first time attending Fantasy Lights so I definitely underestimated how busy this event could be. We had tickets for a Saturday visit and arrived within 2 blocks of the entry around 6:15 pm and were stuck in traffic for a little over an hour before entering the park so be prepared. I'm not sure if weekdays are any different but I imagine weekends might be a little more popular. We also purchased the 3D glasses that are supposed to make the light show a little more fun. With the glasses you either see a snowman or snow flakes when you look at a light source. It was fun for a few minutes but we all ended up taking our glasses off because the lights would look distorted. Save your money and just enjoy the lights as they are. The lights were so amazing. The drive is about 2 miles but will last about 40 minutes or so. Every direction we looked we saw different designs with lots of movement. We also saw a couple of limousines and I thought that was a good idea to put a big group of family and friends together and enjoy the lights. The entry fee is very reasonable and they charge per car and not per person. It was an enjoyable activity for this time of the year. read more

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We have come to this lights since 2012. My daughter used to love it,she was 6 back then, now she just likes it hehe it is enjoyable enough for the entire family. Some of the displays have remained and others have been added or removed. This year they had lanterns hanging from the trees and I loved it, specially looking at it from the sun roof. We went yesterday the 26th at 7ish, there was barely any line. Everyone was nice and on Christmas spirit enjoying the lights from their cars. Unfortunately for us started raining so my daughter couldn't seat on the car top, but maybe next time. I love seeing the kiddos faces off the windows looking at the lights, it just makes one smile regardless. Specially when the parents or grandparents are just as excited. read more

Fantasy Lights Spanaway Lake - Dinosaurs for Christmas! - Parks Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

This review is long over due, but me and my family did the walk version of this event in 2021 so keep in mind since my experience will be different from everyone who did this in their vehicles. For 4 people and the parking ticket we ended up paying around $25 to walk and view the lights. There was 2 different timed entry slots and we went with the 4pm time. Beautiful lights during the entire walk which I believe was almost 2 miles. A few people selling light up sticks, balloons, etc. Food vendors/trucks once you got about a mile inside with a little seating area. I didn't partake in any food, etc but just noting this. I would definitely do this again. The walk event is a 2 day only option and the rest of the time is just the drive thru option. I don't think I would ever do the drive thru option because I've drove past the traffic and it gets pretty insane. I am also a huge fan of movement so I am glad the walk option is there for 2 days. Definitely buy tickets ahead if you want to do the walk because it does sell out fast! read more

Fantasy Lights gives you a nice and cheap way to enjoy some Christmas spirit from the comfort of your car with their Christmas light drive-thru. The full tour is about 10-20 minutes, and you're moving in a slow line so you have time to enjoy without feeling rushed. At around $20 per car, this is a really convenient way to enjoy some Christmas lights. Definitely make sure to come EARLY! I came around 5:30PM on a peak night (Christmas Eve) and my wait was maybe 10 minutes. As I was leaving though, the lines were ridiculous! I can't imagine how long the lines would be if you came on a peak night during peak hours (7PM-8PM?). This is all because it's a first come first served type of schedule. I also found that the signal in the park was not so great. This means you need to have your ticket code ready to scan before you come. Don't expect to be able to pull up your email and find your code in line, because I tried do to this and really held up the line due to poor cellular signal (they eventually just let me in). read more

I saw this event on Tik Tok! Horrible experience. Not worth the wait in traffic and waste of time. There should be better planning on there part. Don't come here.. read more

Nice idea, but extremely poorly run. We bought tickets last year through their website and waited 2 hours in line before finally giving up. If we lived close by maybe we would have tried again because the tickets were good anytime (no timed tickets), but we didn't, so we left. We lost our money and will never return again. Lines as long as Disneyland. Don't go. read more

We use to take the kids years ago and stopped. It is not our new tradition again. We filled our rig with 7 people and drove that hour drive there to take that tour. Loved it. It is so beautiful and fun. It's a good 1 hour to 1.5 hour drive around that park. Such great family fun!!! Thank you! read more

Fantasy Lights Spanaway Lake - Parks Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

Even though I've lived in Tacoma for years and even lived in Parkland, I have never been to Fantasy Lights on Spanaway Lake. We decided to go last night to get in the holiday spirit and for our 5-year-old daughter. The cost per car is $14, but there was a coupon online for $3 off on the Pierce County Recreation website. It was beautiful! They also give you a radio station to turn to so you can listen to Christmas music specific to the light show. I will definitely be going every year from now on. The only thing I would change would be going on a Saturday night. The traffic to get in to the event was so very long. I'm thinking a weekday would be ideal. Happy Holidays! read more

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Come with a lot of patience - people can be such jerks! They need to hire traffic enforcement!!!! People can really be a**holes. It is Christmas time and our family was totally in the Christmas spirit as we drove up from Olympia to see the lights. We were listening to Christmas music - totally feeling the Christmas love. We went up on a Sunday evening around 7. We sat in line for an hour and a half - NO EXAGGERATION. Why? Because people cut the line and would drive up the road, do a u turn and then cut the line, or drive up past the long line, take a side road and turn right into the line from C Street. It was really unbelievable that humans can suck so bad. Your kids are more important than ours? Your time is more important than ours? The line would have taken 20 minutes at most if it weren't for these low lifes who couldn't wait their turn. My favorite part of the night was when a woman yelled at a worker "Ima gonna punch yo mother effin face in if you done dont let us go next". Wow. Keep it classy Tacoma. For as much as Spanaway parks charges for admission, THEY REALLY NEED TO HIRE SOME LAW ENFORCEMENT TO REINFORCE TRAFFIC LAWS AND KEEP THINGS MOVING SMOOTHLY OUTSIDE OF THE PARK. I can't believe there wasn't a shooting based on how people were acting. It was horrid. By the time we got into the park, my kids had to use the bathroom. While we were in the last area before paying we got out to use the ONE PORTA POTTY they had for hundreds of people. Seriously????????? The lights were great, my 5 year old was clearly enchanted with it all. Would we come back? No. Not unless they pay for law enforcement outside the park. Merry Christmas. read more

I brought the grandkids here I Haven't went since my children were young. So definitely brought back so many memories. A lot of improvements so many more lights. Definitely a lot of improvements over the years. And a lot longer drive than what I do remember. So you definitely get your moneys worth. Lots of fun!! And I like that they have the Christmas music on a particular radio station That you could listen to as you drive. I definitely will bring the babies back every year. read more

Fantasy Lights Spanaway Lake - Parks Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

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Well, I work here. The show is a source of pride. A lot of work and creativity have gone into this unique attraction for 24 years. read more

Fantasy Lights Spanaway Lake - Parks Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

Traffic gets crazy even on "walk through" nights. It's a cheap form of entertainment for the holidays though, so worth the money especially for kids! Lots of snack/drink vendors on the way in and portapotties at the entrance, a grand total of two, complete with long lines. Bring the camera! read more

Fantasy Lights Spanaway Lake - Jack in the box! - Parks Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

Well, it's been a long time since we been out. Found out the hard way you now have to buy tickets online. The lights are OK. They need more X-mas themed displays that actually move. The price has not changed much. The lines can become very long during the end of the week. They also seemed to open earlier than the site lists. Now for the biggest and most unsafe complaint yet. They do not enforce the parking light request. People driving through with lights on, and the worst is people driving with no lights on at all. This is a huge safety concern and should be addressed ASAP. read more

2/10, did not make me regret my life decisions up to that point, but at least my ears liked it so much that they're red and green from the Christmas spirit read more

The lights are really cool and I recommend if you have sunroof in car, having kids look out from there is cool. Getting into park is bit of traffic with line of cars but it moves fast. You can stay nice in warm in the car while you drive through. Definitely cool and will bring my kids next year. read more

This was probably the best Drive Thru Christmas Light display I have ever seen. Cost is only 14 dollars a car. The entire Spanaway Park is lit up with tons of different light displays by different businesses. You drive at 5 miles an hour or less while tuning into their station for Christmas Music and announcements! Will be making this a yearly event! Loved it! read more

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Such a fun thing to do for the holidays. Super cheap to get in and it takes about 20 to 30 min to go through the whole thing. I recommend going during the week because on the weekend the lines can be crazy. They even have their own holiday music channel!! Fun times! read more

If you want to spend more than an hour in traffic to get there then this is the place for you. For us sane people, this event is beyond dumb. If you have a child that needs to go to the bathroom while waiting in the backups that stretch a mile in every direction then you are in trouble. Definitely not worth waiting for! Save yourself time and money and check out some of the amazing neighborhood shows. read more

Extremely long waits and no one directing traffic. Definitely not worth the wait. Would be Just ok even without the 3 hour plus wait

The lines of stopped traffic was at least 2 miles long through traffic lights that you couldn't even get thru due to overcrowding and people taking their right hand turns but then stopping traffic to merge (cut in line) to the left lane that was backed up already. Spanaway Fantasy lights should sell tickets that are either good to use once for entire season or sell tickets with staggered entrance times or allow a refund if you don't have time to wait in traffic for over two hours to drive thru more traffic and see a few lights. Sickly redicilous and absolutely no fun at all, esp since we didn't even make it to park entrance. read more

We paid $17 online to get in, then spent an hour waiting in traffic before eventually giving up and going home before we got within a half mile of the park. Horrible planning on their part and a huge waste of tine and money on our part. read more

The normal fee to experience Fantasy Lights is $14 as of December 2015. Apparently there is a small, very limited time when you can see the lights at half price so we timed it and went in for $7 per car. The light show is spectacular and has a variety of lighted concepts from different scenarios with Santa Claus to Space Aliens and lighted insects. There are arched displays of lights that you drive under which is especially fun! The drive takes about 30 minutes to go through and the lines from what I am told are almost always quite long to get in. Going off of these older Yelp pictures and talking to people who have been here in years past the theme and the lighted attractions stay about the same. Not that it isn't worth going back to see the lights again but what you see sounds like it pretty much stays the same. We definitely felt we got our money's worth with the half price fee but it would still be worth while at full price too! read more

Decided to go last minute last night to get half off of admission (only $7!). I recommend going on a weekday if you can. The lines weren't very long and it wasn't crowded at all. I've had friends go on the weekend telling me about the long wait. Lots to look and a fun experience for the kids as well as adults. read more

This was our second year going to the Fantasy Lights at Spanaway Lake. My entire family enjoyed seeing all the different light displays. I felt like they had more displays last year but regardless, it was enjoyable. My 6 year old son's favorite were the dinosaur lights. I personally loved the lanterns hanging from the trees. They were beautiful! The costs to drive thru to see the lights is $14 per car. They do offer half off on a few nights as well. I think those nights land during the week, but not 100% sure. Lights are open from 530-9pm. I like to arrive closer towards when they first open so there aren't too many cars. We got there at 6pm and there weren't too many cars, which was great. I'm sure the closer it gets to Christmas and the later in the evening the more traffic you will get. So I suggest getting there early. But all in all, I think Fantasy Lights is a great way to get into the holiday spirit with your family. We plan on going yearly, especially since we live down the street from the lake. Fun entertainment for the entire family. read more

The light themselves I'd actually give them 4 or 5 stars, but it was dragged down to 1 star because it took us literally 3+ hours to get there from Renton... the last .3 miles took 2+ hours. City of Spanaway need to be better, but they probably won't since they are making so much money... they did stay open past 10pm because everybody was stuck in traffic read more

Waited over 2 hours in line and barely moved. By 8 pm we were 1.5 miles away and knew it would still be another 2-3 hour wait so we turned around and went home. Very poorly planning on their part to sell so many tickets and not be able to accommodate that many costumers. read more

The word is Christmas, that is Christ in the word like it or not. The lights are nice to view but, not a single tribute to the birth of Christ Jesus. There was a giant rainbow (not real sure of intentions there), Santa's, Snowmen, Penquins, and others. So, apparently the political correct thought police still think it's ok to leave out the Christ in Christmas! read more

This is a favorite Christmas activity of ours. We enjoy all the beautiful lights. It is amazing what can happen when a city, Schools, and businesses can do when they work together. We look forward to next year. read more

Fantasy Lights Spanaway Lake - Parks Near Me - Tacoma, Washington

One hour twenty two minutes from highway 7 to the admission booth! Well worth every penny, every minute read more

The lights were wonderful and the first time I went I had a great experience the next time a few workers were extremely rude and pushy. Yelling at me about my lights and forcing me to be so close to the person ahead of me that I couldn't even see there bumper. Extremely disappointed. As they raise the prices they should be more considerate and kind. read more