Christmas light news

Magical drive-thru Light Park adds 3rd Dallas location for 2025 holidays

The Light Park is coming to Little Elm, along with Arlington and Frisco, for 2025 holidays.

Photo courtesy of The Light Park

The Light Park, a dazzling Christmas light drive-thru attraction that's been electrifying Dallas-Fort Worth for the past few seasons, is adding a third location for 2025: Little Elm.

The Light Park will open at Little Elm Park, 701 W Eldorado Pkwy., on November 7 and run through January 4, 2026. Popular locations at Hurricane Harbor in Arlington and Riders Field in Frisco will also return for the season.

There are also Light Parks in the Texas cities of Round Rock, Spring, Katy, Houston, San Antonio, and Selma.

The Light Park is a described in a release as "a mile-long drive-thru spectacular" during which guests "witness millions of LED lights synchronized to an electric mix of music by DJ Polar Ice from the North Pole’s #1 Hit Radio station, K-GLO."

Visitors can tune in on their car radios and drive through a "symphony of color and sound" — complete with towering displays, glowing tunnels, and twinkling trees that move to the beat. The highlight of the experience is driving through "the longest light tunnel in the world," they tout.

“This year’s expansion to Little Elm means even more families can experience the magic close to home,” says Matt Johnson, co-creator of The Light Park, in a release. “It’s become a North Texas tradition where families laugh, sing, and create memories from the comfort of their own cars.”

All parks will be open nightly (5:30-10 pm most Sundays-Thursdays and 5:30-11 pm most Fridays-Saturdays), from November 7 to January 4, 2026. Special holiday hours (5:30-11 pm) will run November 27, 28, 29 and December 19, 2025-Jan 3, 2026.

Admission starts at $29.99 per vehicle (not per person), and pets are allowed inside cars. Tickets should be purchased online, in advance, with a reserved entry time. Admission varies per showtime.

Visitors are encouraged to buy tickets early, as weekend dates traditionally sell out, they say.

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Hottest Haunts

North Texas haunted attraction ranks among America's 5 scariest for 2026

Facebook/Thrillvania

Thrillvania in Terrell ranked No. 5 scariest haunted attraction in the United States.

Since spooky season ends in just a couple weeks, it's time for Dallas daredevils facing tons of scary options to make some tough choices. Those in the know have a tip: Thrillvania, located 30-40 minutes east of Dallas in Terrell, is a no-brainer, experts say.

America Haunts, a national association that tracks haunted attraction industry trends, ranked the Top 5 Scariest Haunted Attractions in the United States and “recognized five mega-haunts that have mastered very different approaches to creating the kind of fear” for which thrill-seekers actively search.

Thrillvania creeped in at No. 5 in the national list, earning praise for its staying power and storytelling.

“The sprawling setting and continual updates have shaped its reputation for decades,” America Haunts adds in a press release. “Don’t expect refuge just because the space is big. When the scarecast seeks, it knows how to find its target.”

Thrillvania has three haunted houses spread across 50 acres. Fear at the Terrell property is rooted in narrative, the haunted attraction analysts say.

Central to Thrillvania is Verdun Manor, Verdun Manor, where the dead, undead, and creatures more beast than man await.

Baron Verdun and Lady Cassandra, a vampire and werewolf, were once inhabitants of the mansion, the legend goes. Through the haunted manor, cemetery, and Voodoo Bayou, their gruesome story unfolds.

On the busiest nights it might take an hour or two to access the main attractions; however, guests enter the fantasy world before reaching the mansion itself, making the journey part of the narrative.

In Cassandra’s House of Clowns, a giant brain connected to a mysterious apparatus has transformed the attraction’s clown world into something even more sinister and surreal.

Sam Hain’s Trail of Torment adds a final leg to the tour and challenges those who make it so far to determine what is real and what is delusion, according to the review.

The rest of America Haunts' top five scariest haunted attractions are:

No. 1: The Dent Schoolhouse in Cincinnati, Ohio
No. 2: Nightmare New England in Litchfield, New Hampshire near Boston
No. 3: The 13th Gate in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
No. 4: Bennett’s Curse Haunted House in Dundalk, just outside of Baltimore, Maryland

What those who made the list have in common is not a particular monster, effect, room, or scare technique, America Haunts reports: “It is the ability to create an immersive world that keeps guests wondering what will happen next while relentlessly layering scares upon scares.”

Thrillvania Haunted House Park is located at 2330 Co Rd 138, Terrell, Texas. It is open Friday-Sunday through October 25 and October 29-Halloween night. Tickets run $29.99 on Thursday, $39.99 on Sundays, and $44.99 Fridays and Saturdays and can be purchased on Thrillvania's website.

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