A few improvements made to the Christmas event this year, but a few negatives as well over last year.
It was much busier this weekend than when I visited over the same period last year. I suspect the obscene snow over the top of the hills may have put people off coming last year on that weekend, but the much larger crowd levels were noticeable. There were 15-minute queues for Octonauts and Spinball and a slightly longer one for GG. Didn't get a chance to see the Hex queue, but there was a good stream of people continuously entering through the doors.
Woodcutters was also fairly full mid-afternoon, but it seemed like staff had forgotten how to greet people and show them to tables. The service was also a tad on the slow side, but no complaints other than that.
As posted above, the Christmas trees throughout the park mostly seemed pretty sparse. At night they are much better with the lighting on, but it does feel half-arsed in the day.
The majority of stalls no longer flank the bottom of Towers Street; but were placed quite tidily opposite each other at the bottom of the lawns, with any unused stalls containing benches. There was a quaint little musical duet as well that gathered a bit of a crowd.
The entrance for Lightopia seemed like a bizarre decision. The pathway down to Mutiny Bay from Towers Street is blocked off, so you have to go on the market area of the lawns and then through a tight section of temporary fencing to access it. Why not just have the full pathway open?
Lightopia itself was much busier than expected. Whereas last year we were able to stop at every feature and spend a good amount of time getting photos uninterrupted, there must have been hundreds of people milling through this time round. It's certainly making its money worth. However, given the theme is on Winter and Christmas, much of the set pieces from last year have been reused including a number of tropical installations. People with pushchairs might struggle in the latter end of the Gardens as there is no alternative non-step access.
There's a musical / lighting section taking place in the valley of the gardens that can be seen from at the top, and the water show on the lake worked much better this year. It would be fantastic to see this become a permanent addition year-round, and I know this has been explored before. Get on with it please.
A few improvements for next year perhaps:
RMT or Wicker Man on one train. Certainly seems like an option that could be explored given the crowd levels and also the extra pull it would have. RMT might not be feasible due to its entrance being in the Lightopia route, so it would essentially be an upcharge extra, but perhaps there's another way.
Decorate the damn trees. Sure, they look lovely with the lighting at night, but first impressions in the day count.
Do something more with the Towers. Some projection mapping wouldn't go amiss.
Step-free Lightopia accessibility. 95 per cent of the route doesn't require any steps, but this falls on the final hurdle. A lot of parents struggling with prams on the steps by the conservatories. Putting down a temporary sloped grip ramp could alleviate this problem, and also some signage towards the end when observing the Gardens light show so people know to walk back on themselves and not have to go up the small amount of steps.
