Play St. Louis: Jingle at Carshield Field, O'Fallon

Location: 900 TR Hughes Blvd., O'Fallon, MO 63366

Website: https://www.jingleholiday.com/stl

We went to opening night on 11/29/24. They were supposed to open a week earlier but pushed it back due to "wind damage" but I suspect it's because they weren't ready, as evidenced by everything that we saw that night.

The promo video that they made this event look amazing and we were all really excited to see it. It was a disappointing experience, to say the least. From the minute we got there no one knew what was going on. We received conflicting info from every single employee we encountered. We had free media tickets and in return are supposed to plug them but I don't know what to say that is positive. We arrived at 5:15 and I showed a man my VIP parking pass. He was confused and thought I was working there and had no idea where VIP parking was. He waved me on and I encountered another man who had no idea where the VIP parking was but said just find anywhere to park. The lot was full but people were parking against the curb so I did that. Many people paid for VIP parking but there was none left so that is a problem. We encountered a tent and I asked where the VIP box office was and showed the lady my email. She gave us a lanyard but then took them back and said we had to go down a ways to the regular entrance and get wristbands. So we walked down there and those people had no idea what I was talking about and sent us back to the other people. Those people started walkie talking with someone trying to figure out the deal and we stood there for a while until they told us they were going to walk us back down there. We finally got our lanyards and purple bracelets and I asked what was the purpose of the bracelets. They said so we didn't have to wait in any lines for snow tubing and ice skating. We finally could go in and it was hard to figure out where anything was, they really should have maps or signs. The girls decided they wanted to ice skate. The ice rink was super small and packed with people, and finding skates in the sizes that the girls needed was tricky and took time because they didn't have enough skates. My daughter said the ice was lumpy. They did that for a bit and then we decided to walk through the light displays. Some of it was pretty but it looked like stuff was just thrown onto a parking lot and a bunch of lights were out, which is strange cause it was opening night. The flooring was super slippery with all this ice covering it, Maddie fell but was fine and I was nervous about falling myself. I heard later that many people did fall and I suspect there will be lawsuits. We never saw anyone trying to clean it, dry it, or fix it. It was a really cold night, the temp was 27 degrees and they had hardly any fire pits or heaters around. They advertised 3 pop-ups but only 1 was decorated and they had 2 piano players in there, which was fun for the kids who were down in front dancing. We then decided to try snow tubing but didn't know where to go, this man told us to go a certain way but that was going to take us to the parking lot so we came back and told him that was wrong and eventually figured out it was on the other side by the bleachers. Went over there and a worker took us to the front of the very long line. We felt awkward and bad about cutting in front of everyone but I didn't see anyone glaring at us so we just went up the hill with our tubes. I was kind of scared to go down cause it looked lumpy but even with the big drop I was ok and thankfully didn't get hurt. I thought we got free Santa photos but they were going to cost at least $45 and the set wasn't even cute. Overall it was OK for us due to not having to pay, but this event was very expensive and not at all what they promised in the advertising. People are feeling ripped off and complaining on their website that they want refunds but are being told no. It's so bad it's getting national news coverage. I really hope people can get their money back, this is fraudulent and a money grab. It's being compared to the Fyre Festival with good reason, it's the same exact vibe. I read online that several men who were hired as contractors to build the sets were alarmed at the shoddy designs/blueprints and when they offered to do it better they were told to be quiet and do it their way or leave. They didn't agree with cutting corners so they left without getting paid. I would fight the charges with your credit card company and that seems to be working for people to get refunds. We were walking around incredulous, like is this really happening? It's so crazy! Someone should investigate this company (Enchant Christmas) and make sure they don't do this again, cause I saw reviews for their other locations in Springfield and Kansas City and it seems like it's the same down there.

The bear is cute but the background is not desirable.

They were supposed to have a half-mile skating trail but it was apparently delayed at the border in Canada. What we got was a teeny tiny rink full of skaters, and if you needed skates they hardly had any left so you had to stand there and wait for people to return skates in the size you needed. They probably shouldn't have opened it instead of putting this out there.

Entertainment stage

Hard to see but a bunch of lights were out on this globe.

This is the photo of their drinks on the website, this is what we actually got.

You could pay extra to have your drink in a cute light bulb but I wasn't interested in that.

It was 27 degrees that night and they had hardly any fire pits or heaters out.

This was the one cute pop-up they had, with 2 pianos playing holiday songs.

You can see how icy and slippery the plastic floor was. There was no snow or rain before Friday 11/29 so we have no idea why the ground was all icy, like if it was from them bringing in snow for the snow tubing and water for the ice skating and it just went all over? I just don't understand why the floor was all wet and iced over and why everyone there seemed to ignore it even after people were falling. Hopefully they can fix that.

The only "nice" restroom they had that wasn't a porta potty, but it's not accessible to many people because of the stairs.

Empty vendor spot

This pop-up just looks so sad, thrown together.

You can see here the exposed wood, the big drop, and the lumpy ice. Several people were thrown around on this snow tubing hill and were hurt, and one lady broke her leg on it. Someone online said the workers were given no training.

They wanted $45 and up for these Santa photos. I'm sorry but look at this set, he looks like he's in a shed and the covering for the couch is ugly and has a hole in it.

This is the craft area for kids but we only saw coloring sheets.

The place where you can buy merch.

They sent my friend this letter after she asked for a refund. They are keeping everyone's money cause it helps them "prioritize the safety and enjoyment of everyone"? That literally makes no sense. It doesn't seem like they care about anyone's safety, the whole place was an ice sheet and lots of people got hurt on the unsafe snow tube. Employees were quoted as saying they were given no training and subcontractors were talking about how they were telling them to cut corners on construction. The main issue is that they did not deliver the product that was promised and they're not listening to their upset patrons who have legitimate concerns. We didn't have a terrible time, no one was hurt luckily, it just wasn't what was promised and fell short in many areas. I don't want anyone to waste their money since this isn't a cheap event. I'm sure some people went and had an okay time which is great, but there is obviously a problem here or else all the major TV stations wouldn't be doing stories about it.