Fall Pumpkin Festival at Burger Farm and Garden Center – Cincinnati, Ohio

We have lived in the Cincinnati area for years and we had never been to the Fall Pumpkin Festival at Burger Farm and Garden Center. We had read a few posts online talking about it being one of the best and wanted to check it out since this is our last year in this area. We heard afterward that they had made some major changes in the last year or two so maybe some of the issues are from growing pains.

We went at the beginning of the month and I have been trying to figure out how to write this. I have very mixed feelings about this place. They charge a $10 admission fee per person but it doesn’t include almost half of the things there or a pumpkin. Many of the pumpkin patches we have been to includes a pumpkin with admission or the majority of activities. Farm Haven is our favorite. They don’t include a pumpkin but they do include everything except pony rides. Burger Farms does have a lot more options of things to do than most other places but they lack the overall farm vibe.

I’m going to discuss what we did while we were there starting with parking. They have a large parking area and it was quite busy. We walked up and paid our admission to a lovely lady in costume. An announcement came over the speaker that a puppet show was getting ready to start. We decided to head that way. The show was a little awkward but cute. Farmer Burger stood in front of the puppets for most of it. The little girls went on stage when they invited the kids at the end to sing. There were large stuffed animals in the corner that looked familiar. Ivy commented that they were the old animatronics from Chuckie Cheese after the show was over. We saw one later that they had redone as a pumpkin head. They had a creepy FNAF feel.

We walked through Pumpkin Land which was very odd. We did the scavenger hunt. Isabella liked looking for the things but Octavia found it scary.

Next, we went to the challenge course. Ivy helped Octavia to do it. It’s so sweet seeing them together. Isabella loved the mini “zip-line” and went on it a couple of times. The little girls loved the giant jumping pillow too.

After playing for a while, they were thirsty. We went to the food stall for frozen apple cider. This was the highlight of our trip! This was our first time trying this. It was delicious and so refreshing. There are playsets and a straw play area in the covered area. The girls played while Michael and I listened to the live music.

There were games and various paid booths inside too. There were a few big rides in the back. We let the girls pick one paid thing to do. Ivy and Isabella chose to hold a baby chick. Octavia is three and not careful enough to hold a baby chick. She held a bunny with her Dad’s help.

We rode the hayride to the pumpkin patch. It was a grassy patch on top of a hill with pumpkins arranged on it. I’m not sure where they grow their pumpkins but this didn’t appear to be it. It was a different experience than walking through a field. It was easier and much tidier if you’re into that but it didn’t feel like a farm to me. We chose not to get a pumpkin.

After the hayride back, the little girls rode the Cow Train. The peddle carts were up next. Michael took Octavia on a ride and Isabella took one of the child-sized carts. Octavia played in the corn area for a bit with some other small kids.

The girls checked out the animals. We liked the donkey. He liked to be petted. Octavia asked one of the guys working there what his name was. He said he didn’t know. A little advice to anybody working somewhere with small children: If you don’t know what an animal’s name is, make something up. You can even say “I call him Bob” if you’re uncomfortable giving a name. As long as you call him Bob once, you didn’t lie.

We were disappointed by the lack of a corn maze, the way pricing is set-up, and the feeling of it being more of a festival than a farm. We liked the active activities like the giant jumping pillow, the playsets, and the frozen apple cider. We were sad that this ended up being our only farm outing this year because we had so much other stuff going on. None of us felt like we got a true farm experience but we did have a good day.

Happy Travels!