My wife and I were there on 11/27, and we thought the event was great. What, the dealbreaker for some people is a free photo?!? That's crazy. To us, the opportunity to be in the park with a much smaller, more pleasant and enthusiastic crowd, with the special decorations and shows was well worth the price of admission. We were able to see every show with minimal fuss, and also walked onto every ride/attraction we wanted. The photos they offered had great set-ups with the castle and tree in the background, rather than some lame printed backdrop. We had them take several and will probably pick one to have printed.