Visited during Festival of Lights. Was beautiful! Really enjoyed the walk through. Took 4yo and 7yo, they enjoyed the displays. Not going to lie, got a bit cold at times but the warming centers definitely helped us keep going. Waited about 20-30 mins to see Santa. I recommend going with 2 adults, one can stand in line while the other takes kid[s] inside the children's center where it's warm and they can write their letter to Santa. Might make this a yearly trip!

Beautiful... very peaceful... very big! Kids loved the "Fortopia" area. The employees are friendly, knowledgeable, helpful.. and patient & kind - I had to leave my backpack purse outside of the Butterfly House for the sake of the butterflies, and they made sure nobody bothered it or ran off with it. The bathrooms were cool, clean, and we'll maintained. It was a very hot day and there were water stations and water-fans scattered around to help cool us off. We had a great time. Tiring, but nice. :)

Beautiful gardens! My coworker suggested the place when I asked about gardens to surprise my fiancé with after work for her birthday. We enjoyed our visit! Lots of many different mini gardens to see and a path that guides to you all of them!

After having lived here for thirty years, I finally bought a membership last year. I try to go twice a month during blooming season. It's just a beautiful, relaxing walk. Even on hot days, there are plenty of benches and tree cover to keep us cool. The garden isn't dog-friendly, but they do allow ESAs (with proper documentation). It's fun to chat with locals and visitors from all over, too. A little piece of heaven in our corner of the world. We're lucky to have this attraction.

These gardens are amazing. I really like all the different areas, and there's so many cute bridges that are perfect places to take photos. There's a fort event going on right now that's also a lot of fun for kids.

Beautiful and fun adventure. You'll need more than 3 hours if you want to enjoy and go through each site. I also have to shout out to Gary, thanks for showing up right on time!! The shuttle back to the my car was much appreciated and we enjoyed a bit of sight seeing and story telling!!

Wear comfortable walking shoes. Bring a jacket forsure as it cooled off quite a bit. It's a fun venue in the woods. The hot apple cider was very good. Nachos looked yummy. Quite a few different things on the menu. A good selection of beer and wine as well. Loved the Firepits they a nice touch. Great views from the tower overlooking the Gardens. As far as the Dark Forest it was really well done. It's an immersive light show with a few characters in the path dancing. My wife struggled with the mile long walk. She would of liked to of had a bench somewhere to rest. She toughed it out though. It was a little confusing figuring how to get out of that place. Not enough signage or attendant's helping with that. Overall it was a fun experience. A little pricey but the propane alone probably cost them a thousand a night. Worth the visit.

Beautiful botanical garden! My husband surprised me with tickets to the butterfly festival for our anniversary and we weren't disappointed. They had a tropical butterflies 🦋 walk through area, and a moth cave which we both enjoyed. Then we strolled the grounds and enjoyed the beautiful displays. We spent over 3 hours there walking and enjoying all the different trails and garden areas and still didn't see everything. 100% recommend you visit, even the kiddos will love it with the splash fountains and playgrounds!

If you’re reading reviews on Powell Gardens, I question whether you have had a proper visit because the property truly speaks for itself. Powell Gardens is one of those spots where you fall in love with the place. When my husband & I toured the Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel, I felt chills just walking the path TO the chapel - let alone being inside the chapel itself. Once guests saw the property and chapel themselves, there wasn’t a single question as to why we decided to get married 40 minutes outside of downtown Kansas City. To me, the drive is always worth it. The staff is kind & as knowledgeable as they are passionate about the gardens. We had only our wedding ceremony at Marjorie Powell Allen Chapel & our wedding reception in downtown KC - out of a concern for guests drinking as well as proximity to more hotels. Due to limited October availability, we landed on a Friday evening. Powell allowed us access to the study (getting ready building) from 2-6pm and the chapel from 4-6pm. We decided to have our ceremony at 4:30pm, giving us 30 minutes for sound check and guest arrival. We did not do any additional decor because (1) we didn’t want to deal with the set-up and clean-up and (2) the chapel doesn’t need it! The chapel fits 90 guests comfortably, and 110 with chairs set-up in the back. We were very nervous about the amount of guests who would show up and, therefore, did not invite all of our reception guests out to Powell for the ceremony. On the day-of, the chapel felt full but no one was left standing outside. We had a handful of ushers (friends) place reserve signs on the front pews, hand payment to the musicians, assist people from the bus and their cars to the chapel, direct them to the restrooms and hand out programs. One challenge we had was when guests arrived, they saw the restroom sign for the study and infiltrated our (private) getting ready suite. We suggest having an usher (friend) stationed near the study at least 40 minutes prior to the ceremony start time to direct guests to the restroom at the rear of the chapel if needed. Unfortunately, due to the drive out to Powell, guests will likely need to use the restroom upon arrival. As ethereal as the chapel is, we highly recommend hiring live music to really elevate your ceremony. We hired a string duo, Forte Quartet, who set-up and played in the rear corner of the chapel. The sound of both the musicians and officiant was incredible, crystal clear, no guests' complaints. We hired a Showtime Transportation limo for the wedding party and an executive bus for guests who traveled (and didn’t have a car). The bus went from the hotel to Powell to our downtown reception venue. After the reception, guests were on their own and it worked out fine. All in all, Powell Gardens is well worth it and truly made our wedding day the most magical day of our lives.

My 2& 4 yr old loved this! It was such a nice change for them instead if sitting down in a car! The warming stations are wonderful and the experience was wonderful . I will pay more attention to the festivals they do now!

Powell gardens is an iconic place in Kansas City. Incredible gardens and lots of offerings throughout the year. A favorite place of mine to visit and it never disappoints. Worth the drive.

Always something new and exciting to see. From the summertime blooms to the festival of lights, this place is a welcome retreat from the screentime world we live in. Update: Orchids. Amazing. This was the first time I have visited in the early spring and wow the gardens are empty!

Absolutely beautiful! Take the kiddos, there's a ton of stuff for them to do there, the orientation is VERY reasonable (10.00 for adults) and the grounds are stunning. There is a gift shop that has things reasonably priced. You can even buy sandwiches,drinks, cookies, and more in the gift shop. Definitely a must!

A great place to walk & take in the beauty of nature. Sidewalks throughout so it's easy to navigate strollers or wheelchairs. Snacks & boxed lunches available, beer, wine & other beverages sold. A great kids play area! Plenty of restroom stops if you are bringing kids. And a great gift shop! We loved it.

Absolutely beautiful place! I just happened to visit on the last day of the Butterfly Festival so it was really busy. But it was my 1st time visiting so I do not know if it's usually that busy. I absolutely loved the green space and the lake. The church was really pretty, as well as all the flowers! I will definitely visit again!

This is such a great Botanical Garden, they always have wonderful festivals and exhibitions here as well. A couple of my favorites are Dark Forest in the fall and Festival of Lights for Christmas. Most of the paths here are wide, mostly flat, concrete. It's very handicap accessible with nice indoor facilities and fireplaces give it great ambience. It's also a great value.

Was not happy. Went for christams lights...total mess.. no help parking...no directions...furnaces out of propane at stations...muddy mess..lights out. And last trail was gravel and mud and i saw a lady with a walker stuck....i would no go back to this

Traveling through Missouri and we happened upon this absolute gem. Well manicured, huge diversity, and visually stunning. This garden has plenty of interactive spaces for children. Highly accessible to everyone while boasting a vast area to enjoy. As beautifully managed as the garden is, its also welcoming to native critters. We saw a snapping turtle, many skinks, a variety of butterflies, frogs, and my first sighting of a hummingbird moth.

The Dark Forest at Powell Gardens was such a unique haunting experience. The creatures did an awesome job of being scary without having to try to scare you wish was great. We got early tickets to early show at 730, wish I would have grabbed a mug of mead for the line which I thought was long. This line was not long compared to later shows. The maze, trail was well lit, which I heard in past not much light. The visual effects were outstanding, had mead after sitting around the fire toasting smores. Plenty of venders to get tarot read, pick up some crystals, candles, cbd, you name it! Bathrooms great, even had a few in the trail. 5 star in my book, will return next year

Very enjoyable Christmas visit to the site. The time to enter from 50 highway was lengthy, as were the lines into the gardens. I guess it is the season, but I think it could have been more efficient.

Great Christmas show!

Love visiting this place. Very pretty and relaxing

They had wheelchair access but there was a long walk through that was not wheelchair accessible or safe

Went to the Christmas Light display (third season). Always a fun was to enjoy the kick off Christmas Season. The staff is always super friendly. Plenty of parking.

The Festival of Lights was a fun, family experience. We had great weather and enjoyed our hot chocolate and apple ciders while we walked the trail and looked at the beautiful light displays.

Powell Gardens are great, especially if you are looking for landscaping ideas already put in practice. While not as polished as say, the gardens in Denver, CO. The atmosphere is more relaxed, making it enjoyable. We very much like the tiered water features, and see many photo opportunities for amateur photos and for things like wedding, graduation and prom. One curious thing though, are all of the carpenter bees that are busily eating the wood structures. The air was thick with them and I was even hit in the face twice by an errant bumble bee. Perhaps the management is afraid to use chemicals but I am afraid if they don't do something soon, they won't have a pavilion - The bees seem to have infested all of their splendid redwood structures.

There are some pretty gardens, and a lot of open space with paths for walking. They really like waterfalls here! There are a number of them all over the gardens. Most of the garden areas are on the west side, and the island area over the lake. After crossing the lake, the path to the north goes to the chapel, which was not open when we visited. There isn't much to see there besides the building. To the south after crossing the lake is the woodland garden with shady paths and more waterfalls.

If you appreciate gothic science fiction art like we do then Powell Gardens - Dark Forest event is for you. We were in the forest for around 45 mins it was nothing short of spectacular. The experience for me was like walking through the perfect music video tailored to my specific soul. Very American Horror Story with Sleep token vibes feeling like you were in a PG-13 astral projection world. No jump scares, no one running up on you. Very relaxed environment that still kept you wanting more with the music and projectors beaming through the trees, it was a masterpiece. If you can’t tell, im still very blown away. We will definitely be going back again this month. The line is definitely worth waiting in.

Very much enjoyed the Festival of Lights. This happens every December so, don't miss out. Tickets get sold out fast. I advice to order tickets online for this kind of event. I think the only thing that would make the trail of lights much more festive is if there's xmas music all throughout, but other than that it was a joyous event for family and kids. P.S. their hot cocoa is a must try 😉

I think this place should be just for adults. There was WAY TOO MANY kids for my wife and I to enjoy ourselves. We went for the festival of lights. 95% Of people are trying to take pics and everyone is in each other's way... smh it's crazy! Kids were walking in areas they shouldn't have been in, pulling on lights that were dangling from trees, the parents weren't saying anything to them.... The place itself, was set up really nice. My only problem is that it was way too crowded.

Beautiful Festival of Lights by Evergy. Gorgeous and fun for the entire family. It turned into an amazing winter wonderland with the help of the snow. The lights were very pretty the snow added to the festivities. If you get the chance, it is well worth the time and fee. There is so much more to see. Take time you won't be sorry.

We go to Powell gardens with the kids 4-5 times per year and have a blast every time! It is beautiful to visit year round and they are always changing and improving to make it a new experience every time. Is it VERY kid friendly with lots of places for the kids to play and explore. The festivals are all very impressive and fun to attend. You can't find a better walk-through, botanical holiday lights experience with adult beverages, a Tiki bar, fire side chats and stunning light displays.

Reasonably priced. They have different events and random themes through our the year. Always well kept and clean. Friendly staff. Very large park with lots to see and do. Fun for the whole family. They also do weddings with probably one of the best locations for scenery around. Highly recommend.

I have been a member for years. It is always beautiful and there is always something fun going on like Fortopia which is currently under way. The gift shop is lovely and you can buy items for a picnic lunch.

Their festival of Lights is awesome! They have a life-size snow globe that made a perfect setting for a young man to formally propose to his woman. The image of him on one knee with ring in hand, surrounded by a visual of spectacular Christmas light displays was captured by renowned photographer, Scott Parrish of Prolook Studio. Captured on December 11th in 2021 at 6:30 pm. The spectators who got to witness this occasion gave a round of applause after she said "yes". 😊

Ok....great for families, picnics, and that sort of thing. Spread out, not as much to view as I would have like to have had. I would still recommend, there are some unique plants/trees that are home to Missouri

It was an amazing experience for our grandson, daughter and I. Getting away from the hustle and bustle of the city was l definitely necessary. We were able to kick back relax and enjoy the peaceful surreal environment that is offered at Powell Gardens. We felt so much peace. The air quality was magnificent for our grandson had a slight cough before we got there. Amazingly we noticed it had subsided about halfway through the trails. The interaction with others visiting the Gardens was impressive as well as welcoming. They have availabilities for hosting weddings and other social events. We had such a wonderful afternoon. Yes, we intend on visiting Powell Gardens again soon. We definitely believe it is a place where folks can relax, feel safe, and gather themselves.

Dark Forest is wonderful!! Perfect full moon first evening! Amazing production, great set up around the barn for gathering. Only draw back was food line a mile long, slow going. I suggest food trucks next time around!

One of my favorite places to shoot. 📸 We’ve come here for years. The holiday light displays, the nature. Their outdoor events, kid friendly & they always have great things going on, with great food. A wonderful hidden gem with everything midwest nature has to offer, with wonderful people running it.

Powell Gardens is a kid friendly, beautiful and extensive garden. They have maps readily available at the front desk. There are plenty of areas available for seating to enjoy the view at any point of the walking areas. You hear streams and birds all throughout as well. Around June there are many butterflies 🦋 out and about. Overall it was a pleasant experience!