Castle Noel — Attraction in Medina

PLEASE READ BEFORE BUYING TICKETS: We were a group of 5 adults and we thoroughly enjoyed the guided tour. But I want to honestly and fairly address issues brought up by other reviewers. Note: we did not have reservations but came on a Wed. in early Nov, so no long line outdoors, in fact no wait at all, but we were lucky as a bus load of ppl had just left. If coming in Nov. or Dec. or on a weekend in any month, if you don’t have a reservation, you may have a long wait or the day may be sold out (the last tour is at 7:00PM). These are all guided tours, and they only have so many tour guides, so often sell out. So be sure to call ahead and if going around the holidays, please dress appropriately for a potentially long wait OUTSIDE. This is a very popular attraction bringing in bus loads of people weekdays and weekends around the holidays. In fact, they told us reservations are now sold out for Saturdays for the rest of 2024! And as for the age of the memorabilia: a good portion of the movie items are from B movies from the 50’s-90’s with a few newer x-mas-themed movies as well as NYC Christmas department store window displays.

I know people complained that it is strictly a guided tour, but with so many items in small spaces, someone needs to highlight the most significant items, plus most of the displays require lights & animatronics to be turned on as well as related videos. This is a mom and pop owned “museum“ and there are no automatic motion sensors that would do this for you. The museum itself is a lot of narrow walkways, somewhat dark that have been added onto over the years so without a tour guide you could easily get lost. The 1.5-2 hour tour length has no bathroom or water breaks and may be too long for most young children and anyone with a disability; the tour is 90% walking/watching and 10% sitting. With the exception of a single short slide at the end, there are no toys to play with and children cannot run or play! There are rooms with stairs, ramps, blinking lights, narrow hallways, moving or mirrored walls and the route is windy or circular and not always well lit; it’s not at all conducive to people and children walking freely. A guided tour is the safer and more personal option for you and your family. For those that feel this is not what you want, you will have a better time elsewhere. There was a room that all the adults loved which had toys from the 50’s—70s, but your children are unlikely to recognize a single item. If they easily get cranky and bored or will need a bathroom break every hour, don’t blame the venue when you are not happy with the results. The animatronics of the x-mas characters with their hand-painted faces and handcrafted clothes, with beautiful detailed embellishments all meticulously, restored, were fascinating to all of the adults. As was behind the scenes stories provided by our knowledgeable and patient guide. But you are the best judge if this would be enough entertainment for your child or a total borefest. At ticket prices ranging from $24-30 opt for something else if your family will not like this. As adults in our 60s however, we were amazed and delighted by such a large and diverse collection from our childhood or beyond. PS- Many ppl commented that they did not enjoy Mark singing “Let it Go”. This may have been removed from the tour as it was not done when we visited.

Note to owner: It would be great if you could provide a label by each department store window display containing store name, year displayed & theme name. There were so many displays and so many different years and themes, and was sometimes hard to hear the guide, so that would be a welcome addition. Thank you for your dedication to this beautiful holiday and its movies, memorabilia, and unique vintage...

The Pros: Castle Noel delivers on the Christmas Spirit. Definitely the most Christmas-themed film memorabilia per square foot outside of Hollywood itself. Lots of authentic props and costumes on display. A clear labor of love. A big part of this collection consists of Christmas window displays from New York department stores. The gift shop features many unique sculptures created by the owner.

The Cons: A major detractor of this attraction is how time is managed for guests in line and on the tour. We walked up at 4:45 PM and got out at 9:30 PM.

A walk up will cost you: 1.5 hours in line outside 1 hour in line inside the gift shop There are no benches available, but if it is raining they do hand out umbrellas.

There does not appear to be a clearly established guest ratio when admitting reservation guests vs. walk-up guests. The staff/owner clearly want to accommodate everyone, but their admission system seems quite off-the-cuff with no apparent rationale for balancing reservations vs. walk ups. This means the walk up line is painfully, painfully, painfully slow. You will see this echoed in many other reviewers' commentaries. By the time you are admitted to the tour, you are copletely tired from standing for nearly three hours.

The tour system is strictly chaperoned and takes at least two hours. There is no option for a self-guided tour, something Castle Noel should seriously consider adopting into their scheduling. There was one restroom and water fountain at the very beginning of the tour, but it was not announced to visitors. Be warned that there are no restrooms along the tour after the photo gallery (so far as guests were informed).

Some reviewers have complained about the pacing through the galleries, or the recorded video presentations about the history of the exhibits. I think this could be alleviated by doing a couple of things: Place descriptive label panels in with the props. There is so much context to outfits and objects that would be better read rather than broadcast from a television. I think playing snippets from the films is good atmosphere, but shouldn't be the main focus as it detracts from the objects. Don't make video presentations a mandatory part of each exhibit, but rather a kiosk that people can read or watch if they are interested. After waiting 3 hours in a slow line, it is frustrating to not be allowed to freely explore an area. The whole night was 5 hours of standing and waiting to be let in somewhere, or being hurried past things that you wanted more time to enjoy.

Recommendation: it is totally worth seeing, but get a reservation first. Be prepared to wait, wait, wait. The staff are enthusiastic and friendly, and you will definitely leave with some fun photos...

My family and I were excited about visiting Castle Noel, but what was supposed to be a fun experience ended up being disappointing fir the entire family.

While riding the slide with my child, I was injured because proper instructions weren’t followed by the staff at the top of the slide. I repeatedly asked if it was safe to proceed without my feet fully in the sack, explaining and her visually seeing that my feet wouldn’t reach because I was riding with my child. The staff at the top assured me it was okay, but unfortunately, my leg got caught on the side of the slide. During the ride, I was yelling, “My leg, my leg,” but the young gentleman at the bottom of the slide simply stared at me instead of assisting or showing any concern.

Afterward, one staff member did offer ice for my injury, which I appreciated. However, she left me standing for quite a while as she went to retrieve my photos and, I assume, spoke to the staff about what happened. Considering I had just hurt my leg, it would have been thoughtful to offer me a chair while I waited.

Additionally, this attraction is not kid-friendly at all. Most of the experience consisted of watching TV screens and walking through displays of Christmas movie costumes and props. It lacked engagement or activities for children for the most part, and we found it to be quite boring overall and overpriced for what they offer.

For those planning a visit, I recommend ensuring that you and your child’s feet are completely in the sack before going down the slide, regardless of what staff may say. While I understand there is a waiver, guests trust that the staff will follow and enforce proper safety protocols. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case in our experience, and it turned what should have been an enjoyable outing into something far...