illumi Toronto: A Dazzling World of Lights, by Cavalia — Attraction in Mississauga

Short story: Terrible experience.

Long story: We bought 3 adult tickets ($103.62 total) for Thursday 9pm. It was a 40min drive from our place. We were at the gate at 9:05. Guess what, the gates were closed. Only the exit was open. We went in. There was already one couple arguing with the security because they denied the entry saying they are closed. Eventually after some arguments, they allowed us in at 9:10.

There are no clear directions to walk. You have to keep walking and figure out the way yourself.

On the website, they say you need 60-90 minutes. For the 9pm slot, we should be allowed until 10:30. But at 9:45, the security guard came to us and asked us to walk faster because they were closing in 15 minutes (he said 2 minutes - lied). Then he kept following us to the exit. He was in rush because he said he had to drive 1.5hours to home (not our problem). He did click a picture of us with one light feature, so thanks for that!!!

To management - DO NOT SELL 9PM TICKETS IF YOU DON'T HAVE CAPACITY TO HANDLE CUSTOMERS NICELY.

To potential customers - DO NOT BUY 9PM SLOT TO AVOID TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE. The only good thing was that there was no crowd.

Some staff were rude, but some were nice, too. There are food trucks available but we didn't have time for that and most of them were closed. There are PAID ($3.50) rides such as carousel 🎠 for extra entertainment. Lights are good, but not worth the money. Regular price is...

I went to Illumi with my son (9), my best friend and her son (6). It was gorgeous. Let's start with all the good stuff.

Pros There was free parking and it was ample. It was quick and easy to order tickets online and if you were unable to ourchase your tickets beforehand you could do so on location. There were at least 10 unique and uniquely beautiful themes with their own large displays and customized music. Plenty of opportunities for photos There was a structure halfway through the walk where you could pop in to warm up, have a seat or get some food. The price of admission was worth it as it took at more than an hour to walk through all the sections. Both kids and adults in my party thoroughly enjoyed the experience

Cons There was a ball area and a carousel that were not included in the price of admission. It would have been nice to have those things included There was a type of rubber flooring laid across the entire walkway which I am sure was intended to provide a more even walking surface but the bumps and elevations could prove a tripping Hazzard for older people or those who are differently abled. My son and godson both tripped.

Otherwise, it...

My kids are 10,4 and 1.5 years old and love seeing houses decorated with Christmas lights . I took them to see the illumi lights display in Toronto with my parents and we all loved it . Each section had music to go with the theme and our favorites were the country farm and the artic. It felt like you were transported to a magical land . Thanks to the timed tickets there wasn't a lot of people on the paths and you were able to walk around freely and touch displays . It was drizzling that night but they thoughtfully had plastic grated paths to walk on , so mud and water puddles weren't an issue.. we loved it so much we debated walking through the course again , but because it took a little over an hour and half and it was cold and rainy we decided not to because of the kids . Adults could walk through in probably an hour at a slow enjoyable pace .. we took longer taking pictures and kids stopping and touching certain displays . There was a washroom center placed halfway through the walk . And at the start/end there is a beach ball pit indoors for kids to play in for an extra...