Santa Clara County is eliminating cars from Fantasy of Lights this December, ending a 27-year drive-through tradition at Vasona Lake County Park and replacing it with just four walk-only evenings. The move has triggered an outpouring of frustration from longtime attendees, including Los Gatos Mayor Rob Moore, who has gone to the event every year since childhood and has asked county parks officials to reconsider.
The holiday display, which features more than 50 large illuminated figures ranging from Santas to dinosaurs and penguins along a 0.9-mile route, has drawn thousands of visitors each December since it began. According to The Mercury News, the event ran for 23 days in December 2025, with only two of those days offered as walker-only options. This year, the entire celebration shrinks to four nights — December 5, 6, 12 and 13 — run exclusively for pedestrians at Vasona Lake County Park in Los Gatos.
County Parks Director Todd Lofgren said the changes are meant to save money, telling the paper that the event should come close to breaking even going forward. Fantasy of Lights lost $948,537 in 2025, $792,160 in 2024, and $796,818 in 2023, per Lofgren, and county officials point to the walk-only format and fewer event days as a way to cut staffing costs and shrink the event's overall footprint.
Ticket Prices Climb as Capacity Shrinks
The county will sell 40,000 tickets for the four walk-only days, separate from the 4,000 free tickets it will give away, with ticket sales opening in three phases: November 1 at 8 a.m., November 6 at 6 p.m., and November 9 at noon, per Santa Clara County Parks. Every attendee, including infants age 3 and under, now needs a reserved ticket to get in.
Prices are also rising. Admission runs $25 per adult and $10 per child in 2026, up from $17 and $8 last year, pushing a family of four's admission from $50 to $70. The county previously charged $30 per car for drive-through access, an option that no longer exists for general attendees during event hours.
The county says it will give away 4,000 free tickets to low-income families, who can apply through a county social services lottery. Parking and drive-in access directly at Vasona Park have been eliminated for most visitors; instead, ticket holders can park for free at Netflix's corporate headquarters at 121 Albright Way in Los Gatos and ride a shuttle to the park, according to county parks officials.
Drone Shows and New Attractions Added
To offset the loss of drive-through nights, the county is adding drone light displays on each of the four operating nights, along with expanded family engagement zones, live entertainment and additional food vendors throughout the park, per Santa Clara County Parks. The walk-through format isn't new — it first debuted in 2013 as a single-night feature for the show's 15th anniversary before expanding into two annual nights that routinely sold out with crowds of 19,000 visitors, according to the Gummow Brothers. Both walk-through nights in December 2025 sold out in advance, the blog notes, raising questions about whether 40,000 tickets will be enough to meet demand this year with drive-through access gone entirely.
Families looking for more holiday activity nearby can catch the holiday train and carousel rides at the neighboring Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad in Oak Meadow Park, which borders Vasona Lake County Park along Blossom Hill Road; winter rides are offered on Saturdays and Sundays.
Residents Push Back on Facebook and Nextdoor
After Santa Clara County Parks posted the new rules online the week before the Mercury News story published, county residents flooded Facebook, Nextdoor and other community sites with hundreds of comments. Lynda Mack Wootan said the change excludes people unable to walk because of age or disability, while Jill Crook McElvy said her 93-year-old mother-in-law cannot walk the route and cannot tolerate the cold. Alisa Howell Barry said her family will skip the 2026 event entirely because they can no longer drive through together.
Mark Snoeberger raised a separate concern: with an El Niño year potentially bringing more rain, outdoor walking conditions could become difficult for visitors stuck with only four scheduled nights and no rain-date flexibility. Marsie Sweetland urged residents to contact Parks Director Lofgren and Supervisor Margaret Abe-Koga directly, suggesting the county instead seek sponsors or raise the per-car ticket price rather than eliminate drive-through nights altogether.
County Officials Point to Budget Pressures
Supervisor Abe-Koga, who represents District 5 covering Los Gatos and the surrounding West Valley communities, said she understands residents' disappointment and that the county could readjust the event next year. She has attended Fantasy of Lights dressed as Santa in years past, according to the Mercury News account.
Abe-Koga also said federal cuts tied to the Trump administration's legislation contributed to the county's difficult budget, cutting health and medical funding the county had relied on. That fiscal strain is severe: Santa Clara County announced a $787 million budget deficit in May, prompting proposed staff cuts and behavioral health clinic closures amid reduced state and federal funding, according to KQED. County Executive James Williams has called the magnitude of the budget gap one of the largest the county had faced in decades.
County parks officials say they are seeking ways to accommodate elderly visitors and people with disabilities within the new walk-only format, and visitors with special needs are asked to contact the parks department by email at [email protected] before attending. Santa Clara County previously covered the event's 25th anniversary milestone, a celebration Hoodline reported on back in 2023, when the drive-through tradition was still intact.
Vasona Lake County Park itself spans 152 acres, including a 57-acre reservoir formed behind the 1935 Vasona Dam along Los Gatos Creek, connecting to trail networks that stretch across Los Gatos, Campbell and San Jose.
