Shade
10-08-2007, 04:59 PM
We took our kids up to Anderson Farm's self-described "a-MAIZE-ing" Fall Festival yesterday. This is the same venue where Terror in the Corn takes place.
Overall, the experience was expensive and disappointing. Here's the story:
We arrive at the ticket booth. From the parking lot, we can already see the climbing wall, a bungee-cord trampoline, and a bouncy castle. The website has advertised that adults are $10, and kids are $8, so we're expecting a total cost of $36. (2 adults, 2 children, and a 1-year old who is free.)
At the ticket window, however, we are informed that the cost applies only to farm admission. The climbing wall, trampoline, and bouncy castle are part of something called "Kids Alley" that costs an additional $12 -- per person! The explanation given by the ticket lady is that "it's a separate attraction by a separate vendor." That is apparently supposed to placate me and make everything better. We're helpfully informed, though, that our baby is still free, though, so we fork over another $24.
Inside, we get to Kids Alley. Immediately inside the entrance is a ticket table. The lady at this table informs us that the baby is not, in fact, free. The "Free Under 3" rule applies only to -- you guessed it -- farm admission.
Furthermore, the price for babies is the same as for big kids. Nevermind the fact that a baby can't go on the Climbing Wall, Trampoline, Giant Slide, Obstacle Course, or pretty much anything except the Bouncy Castle. The lady at the table tells me, "Sorry, it's our vendor's rule, not ours." The vendor excuse is becoming very familiar, and a little too convenient. I find myself wondering if somehow the Andersons have no control over which vendors they allow into their farm. Doubtful.
I fork over another $12 so the baby can jump in the Bouncy Castle. While she's jumping, my four-year old gets stuck on his way up the steps to the Giant Slide. I ask the attendant if I can help him. He agrees. When I get down, I'm informed by the ticket-table lady that "the $12 fee applies to ANYONE who is going to go on any of the ride, parents included." She's busily taping down to the table a freshly-printed sign explaining this new rule. She seems annoyed when I point this out to her, and informs me that "Kids Alley has been like this for four years," as if that, too, should mean something to me.
So I drop another $12 so I can now wear an armband in case my kids get stuck again. We're now up to a running total of $84, and we've only been here about 15 minutes.
The kids play for about half an hour. We're told that if we leave Kids Alley, we can still come back in as long as we save our wristbands. The whole place is going to be open until 6pm.
We go out and get some lunch from the restaurant. The food is good and costs $38 for the five of us. Not cheap, but not unreasonable for an event like this. We each get a bottled water at $1.50 each, totaling another $7.50.
After lunch, we decide to go out to the cornmaze. A restaurant employee warns us that it can take an hour or more to complete each maze, so we decide to fill up our water bottles beforehand.
I ask for directions to the drinking fountain and am told there is none. That doesn't surprise me, given the fact that this is a farm, but I think that surely there must be one of those big, round water jug things that always have ice water or crappy lemonade when you go to corporate picnics. She informs me that they don't have these, either. "Where can I fill up our water bottles, then?" I ask. She suggests the sink in the bathroom. I venture inside, and from the smashed food on the ground, the overflowing trash can, and the waste-splattered toilet, I determine that any water I'm going to find in this bathroom isn't safe to drink.
Back to the restaurant I go for another round of waters, dropping another $7.50.
We do the corn maze and get out at about 2:45pm.
We catch a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch. I'm dismayed to learn that medium pumpkins are $8 and large pumpkins are $10 (compared to nearby Rock Creek Farms, where we paid a flat rate of $4 per pumpkin, regardless of size). I am also told, however, that gourds are 5 for $1 -- a great price! We pick gourds enthusiastically.
When we get back from the wagon ride, the pumpkin cashier informs me that four of the gourds we've selected are not in fact gourds, but some bizarre species of pumpkin that just happen to be gourd-sized, dark green, and warty like a gourd. We pay $1.20 for the other 6 gourds and then $4 each for the four gourds that turned out to be pumpkins. Total cost at this station: $17.20.
It's now almost 4pm. We decide to go back to Kids Alley.
We are dismayed to learn that Kids Alley has decided to close early, because the wind has picked up a bit and it looks like it might rain. "We can't stay open," a panicked employee tells me as he folds up the deflated Bouncy Castle. "Our vendor says we have to close down if it might rain."
The vendor. Of course.
I ask the lady from the table about refunds as she packs up her cash register. She points to another sign that has magically materialized since we last came into Kids Alley. It says, "Hours subject to weather. NO REFUNDS."
Dejectedly, we trudge off to the car before we get roped into spending any more money than we already have.
So, to recap, here are our expenses for the day:
$36.00 - Farm Admission
$24.00 - Kids Alley Admission
$12.00 - Kids Alley Admission for the baby
$12.00 - Kids Alley Admission for me
$38.00 - Lunch
$7.50 - Water
$7.50 - Water again
$17.20 - 4 pumpkins and 6 gourds
Total cost for the day: $154.20
Total hours spent on the grounds: 4
I don't know that there was anything "a-MAIZE-ing" except for how much we spent.
Overall, the experience was expensive and disappointing. Here's the story:
We arrive at the ticket booth. From the parking lot, we can already see the climbing wall, a bungee-cord trampoline, and a bouncy castle. The website has advertised that adults are $10, and kids are $8, so we're expecting a total cost of $36. (2 adults, 2 children, and a 1-year old who is free.)
At the ticket window, however, we are informed that the cost applies only to farm admission. The climbing wall, trampoline, and bouncy castle are part of something called "Kids Alley" that costs an additional $12 -- per person! The explanation given by the ticket lady is that "it's a separate attraction by a separate vendor." That is apparently supposed to placate me and make everything better. We're helpfully informed, though, that our baby is still free, though, so we fork over another $24.
Inside, we get to Kids Alley. Immediately inside the entrance is a ticket table. The lady at this table informs us that the baby is not, in fact, free. The "Free Under 3" rule applies only to -- you guessed it -- farm admission.
Furthermore, the price for babies is the same as for big kids. Nevermind the fact that a baby can't go on the Climbing Wall, Trampoline, Giant Slide, Obstacle Course, or pretty much anything except the Bouncy Castle. The lady at the table tells me, "Sorry, it's our vendor's rule, not ours." The vendor excuse is becoming very familiar, and a little too convenient. I find myself wondering if somehow the Andersons have no control over which vendors they allow into their farm. Doubtful.
I fork over another $12 so the baby can jump in the Bouncy Castle. While she's jumping, my four-year old gets stuck on his way up the steps to the Giant Slide. I ask the attendant if I can help him. He agrees. When I get down, I'm informed by the ticket-table lady that "the $12 fee applies to ANYONE who is going to go on any of the ride, parents included." She's busily taping down to the table a freshly-printed sign explaining this new rule. She seems annoyed when I point this out to her, and informs me that "Kids Alley has been like this for four years," as if that, too, should mean something to me.
So I drop another $12 so I can now wear an armband in case my kids get stuck again. We're now up to a running total of $84, and we've only been here about 15 minutes.
The kids play for about half an hour. We're told that if we leave Kids Alley, we can still come back in as long as we save our wristbands. The whole place is going to be open until 6pm.
We go out and get some lunch from the restaurant. The food is good and costs $38 for the five of us. Not cheap, but not unreasonable for an event like this. We each get a bottled water at $1.50 each, totaling another $7.50.
After lunch, we decide to go out to the cornmaze. A restaurant employee warns us that it can take an hour or more to complete each maze, so we decide to fill up our water bottles beforehand.
I ask for directions to the drinking fountain and am told there is none. That doesn't surprise me, given the fact that this is a farm, but I think that surely there must be one of those big, round water jug things that always have ice water or crappy lemonade when you go to corporate picnics. She informs me that they don't have these, either. "Where can I fill up our water bottles, then?" I ask. She suggests the sink in the bathroom. I venture inside, and from the smashed food on the ground, the overflowing trash can, and the waste-splattered toilet, I determine that any water I'm going to find in this bathroom isn't safe to drink.
Back to the restaurant I go for another round of waters, dropping another $7.50.
We do the corn maze and get out at about 2:45pm.
We catch a wagon ride out to the pumpkin patch. I'm dismayed to learn that medium pumpkins are $8 and large pumpkins are $10 (compared to nearby Rock Creek Farms, where we paid a flat rate of $4 per pumpkin, regardless of size). I am also told, however, that gourds are 5 for $1 -- a great price! We pick gourds enthusiastically.
When we get back from the wagon ride, the pumpkin cashier informs me that four of the gourds we've selected are not in fact gourds, but some bizarre species of pumpkin that just happen to be gourd-sized, dark green, and warty like a gourd. We pay $1.20 for the other 6 gourds and then $4 each for the four gourds that turned out to be pumpkins. Total cost at this station: $17.20.
It's now almost 4pm. We decide to go back to Kids Alley.
We are dismayed to learn that Kids Alley has decided to close early, because the wind has picked up a bit and it looks like it might rain. "We can't stay open," a panicked employee tells me as he folds up the deflated Bouncy Castle. "Our vendor says we have to close down if it might rain."
The vendor. Of course.
I ask the lady from the table about refunds as she packs up her cash register. She points to another sign that has magically materialized since we last came into Kids Alley. It says, "Hours subject to weather. NO REFUNDS."
Dejectedly, we trudge off to the car before we get roped into spending any more money than we already have.
So, to recap, here are our expenses for the day:
$36.00 - Farm Admission
$24.00 - Kids Alley Admission
$12.00 - Kids Alley Admission for the baby
$12.00 - Kids Alley Admission for me
$38.00 - Lunch
$7.50 - Water
$7.50 - Water again
$17.20 - 4 pumpkins and 6 gourds
Total cost for the day: $154.20
Total hours spent on the grounds: 4
I don't know that there was anything "a-MAIZE-ing" except for how much we spent.