Interlochen Christmas Lights — Attraction in Arlington

Took us almost two hours to get in. The BIGGEST problem with the logistics of this event, is that if you are a responsible attendee and follow the explicit instructions on the website, you are screwed. You are asked to go down to Fielder, then turn westbound onto W Randol Mill Rd from there. I was immediately in line at that point, almost 2 miles from the event. Over an hour later, once I got to the intersection of Westwood Dr and W Randol Mill Rd, I realized why it was taking so long. Hundreds of cars were coming south on W Randol Mill and turning west onto Westwood. Meaning that when everyone who was in line on Randol Mill had a red light, those coming from the wrong direction had free reign to cut (right on red) any time there was room. Meaning that by the time the correct line had a green light again, there was nowhere for them to go because the incorrect line had filled up the gap. And if the correct line took initiative and crossed so as to not have a dozen cars cut in front of them, then they're blocking an entire intersection and are clearly in the wrong.

So tl;dr unless they put a cop at Westwood and Randol Mill to prevent Southbound Lanes from turning West onto Westview, then the mile of cars sitting on Randol Mill between Westview and Fielder only get about 1 car...

First: the traffic is awful. We waited for 2hrs and 45min. People were turning from lanes that weren’t turn lanes and were wedging their way in between cars. There was a guy that jumped out of the car. The traffic rules didn’t apply and it got worse the closer you were to the neighborhood. For an annual event there needs to be more traffic control because that was mayhem. Block off one lane so people won’t use it as a way to wedge themselves in because they feel too entitled to wait and then they hold everyone else up. The upside is that they have officers in the neighborhood guiding people so that’s helpful. Second: The lights. They were subpar I have seen better in neighborhoods that are free as well and don’t take forever to get to. This was upsetting since we drove a way to see this since it’s “must see” Christmas lights but, going through, I felt lied to. There were some houses that were good but majority not so much. But, if you do go out here, bring some snacks or eat before-hand. Also, bring an activity for the kids to keep them occupied during the ridiculous wait. Again, I’m disappointed with the experience. I love seeing Christmas lights and I love Christmas, one of my favorite holidays but this wasn’t it. Quote from my mom from tonight, “The Nightmare Before...

If you’re visiting this attraction from anywhere other than Arlington, start your trip at 5:00p. We left our home at 7:15, drove the 40 minutes to get there, and officially got into line at 8:12. We didn’t actually get into the neighborhood until 10:22. Gotta say with all the line jumpers and poorly directed traffic it was 5 hours I’ll never get back and at least half of the homes weren’t lit up. Maybe they decided to covid boycott or just shut the lights at 10:00p but it was a very very disappointing trip, especially with an adult on the autism spectrum who just wanted some Texas Christmas cheer. Next year we’ll drive to Ardmore Oklahoma and see better displays in 3 hours instead of marginal displays in 5 hours. I think what clinched it for us were the cars stopping to take snaps, holding up traffic. We alllll waited to get in there and we weren’t super patient waiting for “Peter Parker” to snap every home. Won’t be back and won’t recommend to anyone in Collin County to...