Love the concept of the Enchanted Forest where one can decorate a tree on display. Christmas in the Park provides one string of 100 LED lights. There are lots of themed and memorial ones. It's nice to see each tree in the forest decorated and dedicated to something special. They also partner with Habit for Humanity for their playhouse build competition. Whoever wins gets the Cocoa Cup! Interesting to see what these participating employees are coming up with these days. There are also free performances and photos with Santa. It's a wonderful free event that runs from after Thanksgiving to New Year's Day so the dates are easy to remember. If I have time during the holiday season, I sometimes pop by but it is not a must-see each year. I would definitely recommend going once. The animated exhibits remind me of Disneyland and their imagineers. They revamped some over the years and there are now new ones as well! They have all of them listed on their website with photos. Let me see... I liked the Mrs. Claus's Tailor Shop and the San Jose Earthquake's soccer shoe. ⚽️ Honorable Mentions: the fuzzy singing frog choir, the build-a-stuffed-toy exhibit, and the creepy dolls that go around like a merry-go-round. There are street vendors selling interesting knick knacks, food, and the iconic snowman hot chocolate. They also started having a bar inside an inflatable structure two years ago. At an extra cost, you can do the drive-through light show or go ice skating in front of the SJ MOMA where it is picturesque and there are tall palm trees strung with lights. I did the ice skating once (free company event) during the daytime and I actually liked it better than at night. Apparently the website says dogs are not allowed in the Cesar Chavez park but I always see dogs there. Parking is a nightmare. There are paid parking structures if you don't want to try your luck.

I came to Christmas in the Park on New Year's Eve. It was crowded, but not super crowded (I'm sure it's more crowded before Christmas and a lot of people had other New Year's plans). All in all, I had a good time. I think the displays could use some updating, though. Some looked really old (like from the 50s). The Christmas trees (which they had a lot of) looked really pretty, though, especially at night. We had the hot chocolate with the cute snowman decoration. It was really good and would definitely get it again. Pretty pricey though ($6 for a small). Also had a hot apple cider from the same booth, which was very good, but $7 for a small. The only thing else we had was a Belgian waffle from one of the booths, which was good, but very filling. I believe it was almost $6 for a plain one with cinnamon sugar. I wish I could have tried more vendors, but it was getting late. There were also a lot of vendors selling hotdogs and (clearly) bootleg Sanrio/anime items. They were on the sides of the park and I don't think they were part of the event. They kind of clogged up the side streets and were playing very loud Mexican music, which killed the whole vibe and was kind of obnoxious. Some areas also had a bad smell and there quite a few homeless people wandering around in certain areas (downtown is honestly not the greatest area). I would definitely come back before Christmas and not after the next time. I think they were winding things down. There was no Christmas music playing and the vibe just wasn't as festive since Christmas was over when I visited. But it was less crowded, which was nice.

I come here every year to explore around the Christmas Park and really enjoy my time here. This park is 100% free, but you may have to pay for parking if you commute. Here you can see Christmas trees made by other community members and other organizations. They also have food vendors, mini outdoor theater, ice rink, mini amusement park, and varieties of places. It's also famous for having gourmet hot chocolate from one of its vendors. I haven't have those for a while due to it being overpriced. It tastes good, but not really worth buying tbh I feel like this park should play Christmas songs and there are some of the Christmas trees with no ornaments. There is still some space to add Christmas trees and other stuff. There is no snow machine anymore where the kids can play around with. However, I still enjoy my time there. I'll probably come back here again. Don't worry, this park opens from around late November and closes at January 1st.

Pricing for the rides was really high a long with everything else. They do have rides for different ages but some of the kiddie rides sounded clunky and scared the kids. Love that there are so many street vendors along the outskirts. Your typical carnival staples in terms of food in the park, with the addition of some holiday stuff like hot chocolate (which is a favorite every year). Be prepared with cash otherwise you will be needing to hit the atm for their hot chocolate. The Christmas trees are always one of my favorite things from this annual event, with trees coming in from various organizations across the city as well as families remembering loved ones lost. The animatronic characters are pretty dated and creepy, feeling more like an 80s Christmas with a splash of 80s horror movie dolls. Navigation and parking pretty easy as long as you're willing to pay.

This is a must visit for folks in the south bay area during Christmas. The main tree, the many small trees and the lighting is beautiful. Lots of people visiting with festive energy. Some of the animatronic shows are old and broken though. The fair rides nearby are not managed by this entity. Those tickets are expensive given the poor quality of the rides which look rickety. There used to be a beautiful carousel before covid. Now there's just a carousel that looks sad. The shops which allow kids to throw darts should be avoided too, the toys they give are tiny and of poor quality. Avoid this and just enjoy the main park venue.

Checked out Christmas in the Park in San Jose and it’s got some really nice touches. Loved seeing all the Christmas trees decorated by local schools – they did a great job. But, man, it was crowded! Couldn’t even get near the shops to try anything. And about the street food – some of it smelled weird and looked pretty dirty. I might be a bit picky, but cleanliness counts, right? The place was packed, and honestly, it felt a bit too much. Cool to see the effort, but the crowd and the food situation were kind of a letdown.

This was our first time in Christmas in the Park. It was a joyous experience. We definitely felt the festive atmosphere in this place. Many Christmas trees decorated by the children. Each had a unique characteristic. The only minus point was the food & drink vendors. Too crowded but not enough lights. People pushing each other. My husband lost something here but it was impossible to find because it was too dark and too many people passing by. The popular Hot cocoa here was not up to par. It was too sweet to be enjoyed.

Christmas in the park is the magic wonderland experience with several exhibits of scenes in action using small toys, several christmas trees decked up by local San Jose school students, some on-stage performances as well as a large variety of rides and food options to enjoy. The entry to the walk through is free and you pay for the amusement rides. There is also a drive through experience to see Christmas lights around lake Cunningham which is a paid experience and not worth the price of $35 per car.

Loads of Fun, plenty to look at. There were real carnival rides this time for children and adults. Most food was very holiday themed, but on both sides theres plenty of dirty dogs, street tacos, churros, corn for sale. A medium alcohol tent with beers and wine. Very fun and well thought out. Foot and car traffic gets a bit cray but nothing unmanageable for DT SJ. Also there was live singing and performances on the Saturday I went. Spent a little less than 2 hrs here. Deff recommend!

The same as it always is. Cute and good for just getting out and walking around. It is very crowded though, so I wouldn't recommend if you're not ok with a lot of people. The street vendors have settled in during this time as well. All along one street, or maybe more (I'm not sure), there is a huge variety of different vendors. They offer anything from street hot dogs to tacos and fresh churros. It was a good night.

Good place for kids to go in rides, THANKFULLY, this year they’ve open new rides like the Hammer, and the Wheel, and open rides that there has never been before, rides are free from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM on November 24 2023, yes you heard me, there is also Great transportation around, like the Light Rail and VTA buses, so you can come from San Francisco! I live nearby so I walk with my kids, we are so excited!

As a San Jose resident, I used to enjoy this Christmas park with decorations in holiday season. But it is no longer attractive due no creativity, same old decorations many years, adding more food vendors but also more trashy and dirtier. Walking around this Christmas park in the daylight, the park looks bad than it used to be. The City should do better job to serve it citizens!

Y'all should go. It's so cute. You can get a couple little toys for the kiddos (or not) but the trees are so pretty lit up at night. Some days when it's not too late, you can see kids perform. Ice skating is across the street and a few children's rides as well. Parking costs. There is semi close lot that's a bit more affordable. It's about a 5 min walk

Visiting the park with friends/family is a great holiday tradition to get into the Christmas mood. Weekend nights are super crowded, which makes it hard to enjoy the displays. I recommend parking at the Market & San Pedro Square Parking Garage if you can't find street parking.

Free community event! You get to see a lot of trees decorated by the community. Parking and traffic are bad so I recommend taking transit or biking. It’s pretty crowded all the time though. Try their drive through light show as well which helps fund this event.

Lots of same height real live trees, go at night, free, but donate to your fave or your org or school you admire or volunteer to. Worth the trip, park in parking garages. Food vendors-pricey, especially popcorn and Carmel corn and hot chocolate..

Kinda boring during the day. Only spent 10 minutes there. Free to enter, but rides are pricey and not worth it. It might be pretty at night with the lights but I don’t think I would go. I guess this would be nice as a quieter family activity.

FREE!! Walk the whole park and see all the individually decorated Xmas trees! Food Vendors Activities surrounding the park: ice skating, carnival rides, and ferris wheel! Such a fun time! Recommend to come dressed very warm!

Great fun. Handful of rides and carnival games for both adults and kids. Various vendors of stuff and food. Also an ice skating rink. Go earlier in the day because it gets a heck of a lot more crowded later on.

Christmas in the park is the yearly Christmas celebration holiday park. They have wide range of displays, rides and food stalls to enjoy. Do visit and enjoy. Attaching some Lego sets which are displayed here