Renaissance Park — Local services in Harveysburg

I will never be going back here. No internet, so good luck getting in contact with anyone once you’re there or finding your friends. I arrived separate from my friends and spent an entire hour wandering around to find them, unable to get any service and having an anxiety attack because I had no way to contact them until I accidentally spotted one of them in line ONLY because of a very distinct costume piece. If you’re wondering why everything is cash only, the internet here is why! There’s so little internet that even the vendors can’t accept card, and their website does not mention the need for cash here.

Parking was abysmal- I somehow managed to get in and park in only 10 minutes because I took the right hand lane to the front where it merges, but leaving was a different scenario. I sat in unmoving traffic for TWO AND A HALF HOURS until police finally showed up to move the line along. Of course, there’s no internet, so you can’t even contact people or look online to see if something happened or if there was an emergency. The traffic was also making other patrons extremely angry, and they were flooring it to sneak in front of people in line or getting out of their cars to go try to argue with anyone who looked like a worker.

This is also to be blamed on the crowds. I had never been here before and already underestimated the busyness, but inside it was atrocious. 30 minute lines for everything from the ATM to food to bathrooms. Far too many people to be enjoyable and so many had no idea how to walk in a small store or what side of the path to walk down, and oftentimes other people shoved right through entire crowds of patrons which would cause a domino effect. They absolutely need to limit ticket sales and not allow tickets to be bought day-off.

We spent most of our time looking at the vendors, and there were a few booths full of things that were legitimately handmade, such as the jeweler with his own press and the pottery store with handmade items. However, SO MANY of the vendors sold identical items, all of which had clearly been bought online for cheap in massive quantities and now were being sold for upwards of $30. Booth after booth had identical rings and necklaces and bracelets that I had seen on websites like Shein or Amazon, and they were charging exorbitant prices for things they clearly hadn’t made. These identical booths took up so much space and every one you went into had the...

Look, I was interested in this kind of thing in the beginning because I hear nothing but people raving on about how "cool" this place really is and how nice it is to "dress up". I thought "Okay maybe this place would be pretty cool because I"m into the swords and role playing games and such, but I want to go as myself" I went as myself casually, as all git out. First of all, I was unimpressed that it cost at least $23 per person to enter the event and for what? Almost every other place was a financial drain to your bank account and what's worse? Many of them are not debit card friendlyy and that is not even the start of my complaint.

Bathrooms were okay, they were there.

What did I run into? An excuse to dress raunchy and trashy and call it cool

I felt sorry for those who were running the food booths, especially the dessert booths. They were so severely understaffed for reasons known to them. It took someone forever to get a simple Crepe dessert to me. The Huzzah thing was cute in the beginning, but it got old really fast.

I was never even noticed or greeted by anybody in that place. Just because I was all dressed casual. My friend went dressed as some steam punk freak and they all loved him to pieces ALL BECAUSE HE WAS DRESSED UP AS SOMETHING! I call that discrimination at its finest and superficial judgement. I was depressed and disappointed by the time I left the festival and will not be going back!

Why the heck am I going to waste money on a costume I will eventually throw in the trash can or fireplace? You would think there would be people there who would greet you as is. I get better luck with that at The Blended Church in Indianapolis (beside the point).

I only went for the sake of unity with my friends and that another friend of mine had complementary tickets to the Renaissance Festival

All in all, this place is a financial trap. If you 're okay with wasting at least $300 then this place is for you. It is another money grab with not much to offer. You can get more enjoyments...

We attended Yuletide Village at Renaissance Park for the first time. My family has loved this venue for many years, however, we stopped coming to the Ren Fest because of the price and the inefficiencies in crowd control. We wanted to give this place another chance so here are the pros and cons of our recent experience.

Pros Ticket price is reasonable and parking is free. Lights are well done and absolutely beautiful. Get there early to be able to enjoy shopping and to avoid lines. Krampus is a fun alternative to the season's sweetheart, Santa. Relatively friendly and festive staff.

Cons Would have been nice to have had more food and drink choices. A detailed map would have been helpful especially since you are there mostly in the dark. Portable restrooms are not lit so using them after dark is an adventure all in itself. Would have been nice to have more vendors there as well (not much variety). And last but certainly not least...crowd control. If you get there early, you practically have the run of the place, but (understandably) as the sun goes down, more and more people descend upon the village and the staff is not equipped to handle it. Long lines for practically everything and they do not move fast. Shops are jam packed so you have challenges moving about (and if you are in a wheelchair, forget it). Half of the venue is closed off so you are cramming large crowds in a limited space. I am not sure how they thought this would work. With the short hours of operation, how disappointing it would be to spend most of that time just waiting to buy a beer. And food is very pricey for what you get (e.g., $15 for a store pack of Ramen in a bowl of broth with a smattering of veg and a quail egg...seriously?) And as a sidebar...is this supposed to be Christmas in Renaissance times or in realtime? The reason for the question...some attendees/vendors were in period dress and character while others were not. Not a criticism, just a confusing vibe.

Overall...