Garden d’Lights — Attraction in Bellevue

This is our 3rd year attending and it was WAY different than in the past. The lights were just as gorgeous (and I appreciate the fact they move the displays around a little so they’re not in the same spots), but it was PACKED SOLID. We’ve gone on weeknights before at 6:30 and there’s hardly a crowd. Last year we went a week before Xmas, and the year before we went a few days before. The entire experience was so crowded, I don’t know that we’ll go back.

Even the drive there took over an hour from Redmond (normally a 20 min drive), thanks to Snowflake Lane traffic. When we finally arrived, the parking lot was at a standstill. Took us 13 mins to get through the line and into a spot (and we had it easy because we had a disability placard). Once we got in, they had arrows and people directing you which way to go. The crowd moved at a snail’s pace, which frustrated my 4 year old. People took up the entire lane, or crowded the walkway taking numerous group photos. There was lots of waiting to move forward.

The handbells were a nice touch this year. Loved the live music (and a break from the chaos). Even the coffee room was packed and people were standing in line for a long time. The bathrooms, however, were empty.

Will we go back? Not sure. If we do, it’ll be an early time slot to avoid bellevue...

Such a lovely activity for any families, couples, or individuals! The lights are lovely, and whimsical, the direction of travel is clearly marked,.and the number of people on the trails, were reasonable.

Parking on site filled before we got there ($5) but there was plenty of parking off sight. If you needed to, there was drop of at the entrance but extra parking was only about 2 blocks away.

The bathrooms were at the entrance. They were clean, spacious and at the time I went, not crowded at all, though the gardens were 'sold out'

This is a garden, so there were some gentle slopes, and the pathway was finely packed gravel.

Interestingly, the theme was Garden D'Lights, so it was culturally neutral for what many would consider the "holiday season'. We saw Lady bugs, White rabbits, frogs, fountains and rivers, all in lights, as will as flowers, plants and vegetable gardens, all in lights. There wasn't a Santa, nativity, star or menorah.

Half way through the walk was a latte stand, in a nice warm building, Not surprising, there was a modest line, for hot beverages.

Going the speed of the crowd, it took us about 30 minutes to walk the gardens, though we could have stopped more without inconveniencing the ones behind us. We felt that the ticket prices were a...

Very mid, looks dated and kind of run down. The scenes don’t really make any sense, like the sea dragon in the middle of the grass surrounded by flowers as a standalone display, why, what does that have to do with anything much less the holidays or even the other displays? It feels like not much thought went into the scenes, theme or layout and there’s no real overarching theme, just lots of repetitive flowers which are like 75% of the whole thing and a lot of it is just ugly, like the peacock and “bee” that’s more like a murder hornet. The Astra Lumina light shows are a thousand times better, modern, well planned, themed and beautiful, they need to move their display towards that style otherwise there’s no reason to go to this in the future, it’s already very dated and will only get worse. Decent trip for young kids or easily entertained old people but would not go to this again or recommend it as is, needs SERIOUS updating and someone new in charge of planning who understands there needs to be a theme and the displays need to make sense together or at least flow not just be randomly thrown wherever...