Is the Imaginarium affordable? What you’ll pay for tickets, rides, food and more
The Imaginarium, known as California’s largest holiday light festival, is back in full swing with beautiful interactive displays, spectacular shows and plenty of entertainment for all ages.
The festival runs through Sunday, Jan. 4, at Cal Expo, 1600 Exposition Blvd., in Sacramento.
I visited the Imaginarium in search of affordable fun. I went on rides, tasted warm and delicious foods and explored the holiday winter wonderland.
Here’s what I discovered.
How much do tickets cost in 2025?
The Imaginarium is offering discounted admission tickets at $15 for children 3 to 12, military and senior citizens weekdays, according to the official website. Adult weekday admission costs $19. Costs increase on weekends with admission at $22 for adults and $17 for children, military and senior citizens.
Weekday tickets are Monday through Thursday. Weekend tickets are Friday through Sunday.
What are the prices for carnival rides and ice skating?
Ride wristbands can be purchased for $30 per person weekdays and $35 weekends. The cost of the ice rink is $15 throughout the week and weekend.
The ice rink requires you reserve a spot in advance — but each ticket comes with a free skate rental. All skaters are required to sign a waiver.
What are deals and discounts for admission and rides?
There are two main deals for rides and tickets.
All-In-One Fun Pass: Pass includes a general admission and an unlimited rides’ wristband for $38 on the weekday and $42 for a weekend pass.
Family Pack-4: The admission bundle includes four tickets for a four-person family. It costs $74 for weekdays and $80 for weekends.
Need a hot chocolate? See prices for water, beer and more
Looking to stay warm in this icy fog? Or simply looking to hydrate after all the walking? Well Cal Expo had hot cider, hot chocolate, water, soda, beer and other cocktails to warm visitors.
Hot chocolate and hot apple cider costs $6. Water and sodas cost between $4 and $6 depending on the vendor visited.
Attendees can expect to pay $10 to $17 for craft beer or a cocktail.
What are prices for food at the Imaginarium?
A variety of food vendors offer everything from hot dogs and cotton candy to falafel pitas and hot savory ramen.
On average, you can expect to pay $15 to $20 per meal. Many specialty items are priced higher.
Among the many food trucks is a giant Chinese takeout box, decorated with large flags advertising ramen and blown out photos of boba tea and mango sticky rice.
At Oriental Express, I got a sample platter of ramen, vegan stir-fry and mango sticky rice.
The food was warm, well-seasoned and absolutely delicious. The mango sticky rice was a favorite of mine with fresh mangos and sweet coconut milk on top of the wonderfully sticky rice.
Oriental Express’s sizable menu includes egg rolls, four kinds of ramen, six different rice bowls and three different kinds of noodles.
Here is the price for each full sized food item I received:
Veggie Chow Mein: $12
Ramen: $19
Mango Sticky Rice: $13
Looking for something sweet? You can find funnel cakes, mini doughnuts and hot fudge sundaes at the Imaginarium.
One stand offered mini doughnuts for $10 to $20, depending on the amount. The vendor also sold brownie-layered sundaes for $12 and ice cream sandwiches for $12.
Overall, the Imagainarium has a variety of classic and filling menus to choose from.
What can you do for free at California’s largest light show?
The Imaginarium’s greatest gem is its free entertainment, more specifically the Sensational Murcia Production’s family circus. It’s free with every ticket.
With three shows every weekend evening and two shows weekdays, the circus captures the full awe and attention of every guest.
The Friday evening show did just that.
It kicked off with an aerial hoop performance by a woman dressed as an elf. She was suspended several feet in the air as she executed impressively graceful poses, spins and drops.
Next was a balancing act, where a man stacked glowing chairs on top of each other, slowly lifting himself in the air as the stack grew. He showed off his poise and strength with his impressive hand stands.
The final act included, in a surprising twist, the show’s host tackling the Wheel of Destiny, a high-risk circus acrobatic apparatus. A frame spins around a center axis and, on one end of the frame, is a large, independently rotating wheel.
On the wheel, the host dazzled the crowd with jumps, sprints, jump rope and other extreme tricks about 30 feet in the air.
The Murcia family put heart into every show and delighted the crowd to warm up everyone’s energy in the cold fog.
Guests of the Imaginarium can enjoy other free shows including an Aquatic Acrobatic Show with impressive tricks over and on water. And there are beautifully decorated infinity rooms to experience. I was awed by the room with glowing sunflower lights.
But the most important free form of entertainment had to be the actual lights. California’s Imaginarium is truly a stand-out when it comes to their light festival. There were a variety of light exhibits from horoscope themed lights to icy kingdoms and romantic picturesque hearts and roses for couples to enjoy.
Is the Imaginarium affordable?
The food and attractions are relatively expensive, which doesn’t make the Imaginarium an incredibly affordable experience.
General admission runs about $19 to $22. And people can expect to drop $30 on rides, about $20 for a meal and about $10 to $15 on any dessert.
Beyond the cost of admission visitors can expect to pay $50 to $70 for food and additional attractions such as rides and ice rinks.
Regardless, I found several opportunities to save.
From circus shows to infinity rooms, free attractions were the most memorable part of the Imaginarium.
I highly recommend that every visitor take the time to see the free attractions and shows that happen nightly and enjoy the true feeling of awe.
