Steph C.
Yelp
We went to the pumpkin patch at Underwood Family Farms this October, and it was a welcome change from the makeshift Halloween-themed parking lots of Los Angeles. It was also quite far and a bit of a rip-off, definitely a moneymaker for the multimillionaire Underwood family that went to war with Huy Fong Foods and now bottles and sells their own sriracha.
I didn't know this when I bought tickets for my family, even paying the full $30 for my two-year-old. Kids under two get in free, but I didn't want to cheat the family farm. As it turns out, I was worrying about mega-rich farmers trying to put the original rooster sauce company out of business. Oh, the Asian shame, it stings.
Not only were the tickets $30 each, they didn't even include access to most of the pumpkin patch's attractions. You had to buy tickets to do pretty much anything that wasn't just walking around looking at pumpkins. We lucked out when a dad saw me with my kids and offered us his leftover tickets on his way out.
The pumpkin patch was definitely worth a visit, though. It was a huge operation, very impressive, with lots to do four our two little boys. We went on a Saturday morning and met up with our friends and their toddler, who also had a good time. Parking was easy, in an enormous lot designed to accommodate tons of visitors, including busloads of schoolchildren. I have vague memories of going to a farm on a field trip when I was a kid, and odds are good that it was this one.
All three boys in our party enjoyed running around various stretches filled with hay and pumpkins and scarecrows. My two-year-old kept telling me about all the pumpkins he saw--"Look, a pumpkin," or "Two pumpkins!"--like I should also be surprised and delighted to see them. My four-year-old was impressed by a juggling cowboy on stilts, who was very sweet to him.
The kids liked playing inside a giant metal jack-o-lantern, and both of my sons went up the John Deere tractor slide only to come back down the stairs when it proved too intimidating. They also looked at several farm animals. These attractions were free.
We made good use of our windfall tickets. The bumblebee tractor ride was fun and pleasantly scenic, taking us all around the farm in tiny cars just big enough for one parent and one lap child. There was also a small train ride that the kids rode on their own. We ended our day with a visit to the baby goat enclosure, where our boys got to pet and brush some adorable baby goats.
Somewhere in there, we made the mistake of wandering into the gift shop, where our older child had a meltdown when he was denied a John Deere tractor toy. Other than that, though, this was a successful pumpkin patch outing. I doubt that we'll go every year, but we had a good time at Underwood Family Farms.