Cape Fear Botanical Garden — Attraction in Fayetteville

My family and I love spending quality time here. It's a wonderful place to walk around, have a picnic, learn about nature, take photos, and sit down and read books. Their membership fees are not too expensive, and their employees and volunteers are always so kind and willing to assist you with any questions you may have.

The only reason I didn't rate them 5 stars is because of the very rude incident we had with the employees for the train vendor they hired during their Christmas event. We had both sides of our family come visit from out of state, just under 20 people, for the Holiday Lights in the Garden. Employees for the train ride rudely sized up one of my family members and told him he was not allowed to ride the train with his wife and son. Upon further questioning, one of the employees said it was due to his height. I proceeded to ask why they allowed other customers that are much taller than him ride with their families and then they said he was too big, weight wise to ride the ride. Understandably, we were upset because there was nothing in the event details that indicated there was a height or weight limit, nor was there any real way for them to even measure ones weight to determine if they exceeded this made up limit. When asked what the weight limit was, they came back with 180. I was pregnant at that time and definitely exceeded that limit, yet they let me on with no issues. Truthfully, many of my own family members would have exceeded that weight limit given their height, as well as customers who have ridden the ride and those waiting to ride it with their children. I do think that the event team/coordinator should have included the restrictions online or at the ticket counter so customers do not feel humiliated being turned away in front of their family and friends. That is the only fault I see in regards to the Cape Fear Botanical Garden staff themselves. Furthermore, I believe they should have notified customers waiting for the ride about this restriction once the first person made a complaint about this issue (I was told there were several people who were unhappy about this by an employee or volunteer at the time) since the wait was well over 1 hour. Additionally, many of the light displays for the event were not lit due to the issues caused by the rain. It would have been nice to know about these issues prior to purchasing tickets at the counter so we could have made our own mind if it was worth the (very long) wait.

Although we experienced those issues during the event, it would not be fair of me to rate them poorly for something that most likely was beyond their control. As a coordinator of previous events myself, I can understand the many moving parts and the failure of contingency plans that may occur. I do believe they should thoroughly vet their vendors and their employees, though, so a repeat of what transpired last year does not happen again.

I encourage people to visit the Cape Fear Botanical Garden at least once while you're living or visiting this area. It is very beautiful and well kept and a very nice place to be...

Let me say the venue is beautiful. The people seem nice and are but when it’s time for them to actually work. No. I communicated with Jessica about my nieces wedding. She’s the person who did all the booking. All was well. When I dropped my items off on Friday. She gave me a cart. Said here’s the room to store it. Just lock the door after and leave the cart. Ummmmm. I didn’t see her anywhere after that. That’s not customer service at its best. I was by myself and no help was offered. She then said the coordinator on sight tomorrow will let you in etc. why was the coordinator who booked it not going to be there? Why was a coordinator assigned and they weren’t going to be there???? So The florist arrived Saturday at 11:45. The room was bare except for tables. No linens. No napkins nothing. When the florist called me I was confused because the room was to be set up and ready for us to decorate by 11 or so. I called the venue. Was told the coordinator on site would call me. Never heard back from the coordinator on site but the florist spoke to him. He said we didn’t order linens. WRONG WRONG WRONG . He was looking at the wrong invoice. I was on the phone when they chose the colors for the linens!!! Then he told the florist they( staff at botanical ) were supposed to set up the room the night before after the prom. Nobody did. All the money that was given to this establishment and this is what we had to deal with on the day of the wedding???? Very disappointed. Get your money then spit in your eye. I’m Giving two stars because at least the time before the the weekend was good but it was the actual weekend that mattered. See it...

I purchased tickets in advance for my family and friends to watch the Christmas lights. My elderly parents drove more than hour to see the garden and my best friend and I are both in law enforcement. Due to the crazy schedule, the 14th was the only day that we were all off before the 21st. I clicked on the link for the 14th and rushed to purchase tickets.

Once we all arrived to the event, there was a private wedding. The garden was closed and bought out entirely for the event. I noticed several people had purchased tickets online on that day as well and was encouraged to leave. I was heartbroken that all the representative could to do compromise for the inconvenience was write down my name, email, and number. As of yet of me posting this review, I still did not get a phone call or email back. I was unable to get a refund because I did not purchase the additional $8 for the insurance of the tickets.

Please call in the morning of to ensure that the garden is not unexpectedly closed for a private event and take extra precautions before purchasing the tickets! There will be no warning if you click on the link for a specific day and it forces you to purchase tickets for another day. DOUBLE CHECK THE DATE ON YOUR TICKET!! I hope your family will have the opportunity to enjoy the lights when...