Illumination; Coca-Cola Park - Allentown, PA

Well readers, I did something shocking this weekend. The most unheard of thing for a pumpkin princess such as myself to do. I went to see Christmas lights.....and it's not even Thanksgiving. GASP

In my defense, Thanksgiving is extremely late in the month this year (2024). So really in past years I would have been holly jolly much earlier in the month, right? Right?! This Lady wanted peppermint hot cocoa and twinkly lights, don't judge me.

As we all know, I am a pretty big baseball girl (go check out my review of The Baseball Hall of Fame if ya haven't already!) so I am known to frequent our local minor league's stadium during the spring and summer seasons. Imagine my suprise when during the late summer, the IronPigs announced that Coca-Cola Park was to house a holiday light's spectacular this year! I was already on board, and it wasn't even September yet (which...did anybody ever wake up that dude from Green Day yet?). Of course holly jolly activities are best shared with family and friends, so I felt loved and included when I was invited to join one of my best friends, Lady Cyan, to see Illumination!

One of the plus sides of celebrating holly jolly season before Thanksgiving was it hadn't hit the bitter cold weather time of Pennsylvania yet. Oh believe me, it was still chilly, but thankfully the 'Pigs planned accordingly and had portable heaters spaced throughout the stadium. This was one of the nice things about attending this particular outdoor event - there were plenty of places to stop and warm up! Food and alcohol venders were pretty evenly spread around the entire stadium, offering a warm (or cold if you choose!) pick-me-up. I offer my review of some of these yummy treats later in this review (spoiler alert - I was not disappointed!).

Where do I begin on the lights? It was so beautifully done, and really set the mood for the upcoming holidays. Each section of the stadium seats were wrapped in their own stands of lights, and throughout the night would "dance" with music. It was amazing and really brought on some holiday spirit to watch as I sipped on my hot cocoa surrounded by good friends. A truly happy moment that made this Lady's heart grow three sizes that day (teehee Mama Needs-to-Sit loves this Grinchy movie!). And now that we all had that happy content moment, a negative factor needs to be pointed out.

Offered as one of the potential amenities was the option rent a plastic igloo on the baseball field itself. The igloos were grouped near home plate, and gave a front row seat to more of the light displays that were set around the field. Included in the igloo package was hot cocoa and cookies (as well as a comfy space heater). Let me just say, even to split the cost as a group, this was pricey amenity option. Let's keep in mind that they had different "levels" of tickets for the event to begin with. What was included in what level depending on how much moola you wanted to pay. The second side eye-ing moment of the night goes along with one of the general ticket displays. A "Christmas tree forest" where local businesses and organizations could decorate a tree for promotional awareness of their cause. This Lady has the inside scoop that these trees cost in the low hundreds of dollars for the businesses/organizations just to decorate one! You heard that right. Somebody call Scrooge on the 'Pigs!

All in all - I had an extremely fun night. One of the best experiences by far was being able to walk all the way down to the actual baseball field itself and see what the players see when they play each game! The lights and displays were breathtaking, the atmosphere magical, and some pretty great memories were made. I am so glad I was able to attend Illumination at Coca-Cola Park, but now let's get down to the nitty gritty portion of this review.

Lady Needs-To-Sit's Starfish Guide

Restroom Rundown

This was a hard one for me to rate. While the restroom available was clean, large, and really rather empty for the amount of visitors at the event - the biggest problem was the singular form of the word "restroom". The only available, unlocked and open restroom was located near home plate. Keeping in mind that the only entrance to the Park open was the main gate - all the way in right field. If you had to use the bathroom in a hurry upon arriving to Illumination, you had to RUN to get to one. That became a problem throughout the night, and was quite annoying when you would walk past potential restrooms that were locked to visitors.

Seating Situation

Here was my issue, there were select areas for group seating located around the park. However trying to get a spot at one was a bit difficult. The fire pits were full and claimed, as well as the sets of table and chairs. There were outfield seats available to rest in while you went around the stadium, which were thankfully completely empty. Keep this in mind if you were waiting to rest until the chance to warm up around a fire pit - you may not be able to find a spot to do so. The downside to this was the outfield area was quite chillier, but at least it was also a beautiful spot to watch the lights "dance"! Once you walked down to the field level of Illumination (where the pricey igloos were set up) there was not one seat available to be found. And I mean there were no chairs, benches, nothing. Which as a girl who needs frequent stops to rest, was nerve racking. In my humble opinion, seats needed to be spaced out better throughout the Park, and definitely more space heaters in that outfield stretch!

Railing, Ramps & Elevators (Oh My!)

Remember when I mentioned there were no seats to be found on the field level? There was also no way to get to the field level without walking down the steps of the stadium. There was an inside area for the igloo-dwellers to navigate through, but it didn't appear an option for someone who didn't pay the extra pice or was in a wheel chair. This to me was hard to deal with; walking down with the fear of falling and back up again with the exertion on my hip. It was worth it for the experience I had on the field level, but it wore me out for the rest of the night. Ah readers I forgot to mention! This was my first social outing that I brought my cane to. I'm always self conscious of using it, so this was a huge step for me. Thankfully I did bring it, because boy did I need her to get back up those stands!

Parking Lot Party

It must be understood while reading this part of the review, that I'm rating this for the Illumination event only. I usually would give the IronPig's organization a higher rating for their Parking Lot Party situation. But this was not the case for the Illumination event at Coca-Cola park. Only the top lot section was open for parking, creating quite a trek if you were parked in the way back of lot. The only entrance to the event was the main gate in right field, making some of those farther parking spots that were near other gates, even more of a trek. I think this could have been done better to be honest, or even their normal golf carts to help ease the flow of pedestrians to their vehicles.

Will I Return?

Maybe. This was the first year for the Illumination event at Coca-Cola Park, therefore it had some of its hiccups and learning curves I'm sure. Despite feeling a bit Scrooge-like on sponsers and ticket prices, who knows what corporate made profit wise versus the expenses from the event. If next year Illumination is bigger and even better? Then perhaps I'll make my way back to the Park during the winter months once more.

Swimmingly yours,

LNTS

Local Coffee Cove

I was super excited to try some of the scrumptious treats that were promoted for Illumination! I chose to go with a hot cocoa in the souvenir mug and the chocolate lava s'mores cake. Oh my goodness the cake was yummy! Moist with the warm liquid chocolate lava center, not as flavorful on the outer edge though. The top was marshmallow with a drizzle of caramel - also delicious! The hot cocoa toppings I chose were marshmallows and peppermint bits, and it was a perfect choice for me! The cocoa itself was SCALDING hot, but at least a nice hand warmer for part of the night. I definitely think checking out some of the treats was worthwhile, however keep an eye on the pricing of some of those s'mores kits (Scrooge has done it again!).