Howells Farm — Attraction in Thorold

We decided to visited the farm today after many years and to my surprise it was not busy. Walking around the farm it was littered with garbage such as pop cans and empty food bags. Not in one area but in many different areas. A tractor dropped skids of water and pop in the entrance of the food market so you could not enter that way and when backing up the tractor the man didn't even look behind him, almost hitting my husband. Absolutely not much to do there. No pumpkin sling shot, haunted barn or duck races (which is rubber ducks in filthy water and of course broken) or face painting as we were told these do not start until after 5pm. WHY! Kids are there in the day. I read a review 5 days before our visit that stated some of the attractions are broken and your response was "Thank you for your feedback and for visiting us. All of our attractions were open today, and we aim to ensure they are in top condition." Why is it 5 days later specifically the duck race (all 3 pumps - not just 1) is still broken? No tractor ride was running only the little train which only ran once the whole time we were there (which was a few hours.) It was a huge disappointment! It truly looks like no money or care is put into this farm. Very neglected! The animatronics were o.k. and the buildings look like no money was ever put into them. The food is way overpriced. We saw no staff walking around, usually you see someone walking around helping guests or picking up garbage that people leave around. Also, most of the staff looked like high school kids and were quite unfriendly. You certainly did not feel welcome at all. I didn't see any cleaning or wiping down the entire time we where there and the bathrooms are the most disgusting I have ever seen. We will definitely not return.

TO ADDRESS THE RESPONSE FROM HOWELL'S:

I am sorry but when we purchased the tickets online the website was not updated to state that the $5.00 attractions were after 5pm AND the girl who we checked in with also acknowledged that the website was not updated and did refund us the $15.00. I could show the email to prove this! All 3 duck races are broken and were broken the last time we were there and prior to us being there this month according to other complaints, so I have no idea when you "constantly" maintain them. As for the staff - if you go on Tripadvisor and the reviews from google you will see that there are other complaints regarding your staff being unfriendly and cold to...

We did one of the firepit rentals here from 5pm-9pm on Saturday. It is a fair trek from Toronto, about an hour and a half each way. We rented one of the premium pits for $100. While I understand the length of time for the rental is great, I do still feel it is a bit overpriced. The premium pits were semi-private, having an almost-hip-height blockade around you, but you could still clearly hear many other conversations from nearby pits, especially the more rowdy groups.

Unfortunately some people from one group close to us were smoking pot and I do not think this should be allowed as it ruins the experience a little having to smell that. I understand it is legal, but it's just too close to others who may not want to smell that during a private firepit experience. There were also tons of kids around.

The number one most bothersome thing, however, were the extremely loud bangs and screaming coming from the kids' basketball activity just a short walk down the road. It was just constant banging almost until the time we left at 9pm. So all the hours we were there, we had to listen to the banging of balls. It was quite invasive.

For whatever reason, the flames of our firepit were never turned up and we were absolutely freezing. We only noticed once a lot of the other firepits started going that their flames were much higher. So if you notice your flames are low, ask one of the stuff members to turn it up for you. Lesson learned!

If you want hot beverages, you have to walk all the way back to the entrance of the farm. But otherwise you can order food or s'mores kits to be brought to you.

All in all, I'd say I might go back because this firepit is much nicer than some of the others we've been to and does offer at least a bit of privacy. But if you're sensitive to noise or not okay with hearing screaming kids the entire time you're there, finding a firepit more private might be required. The premium pits are not clearly identified when booking (nor do they have numbers on them when you get there), so I would advise to perhaps get some assistance if trying to book a premium pit far away from the...

Was super excited initially to be going to Howell’s. My girlfriend and I try to come here every year for Halloween for the corn maze and to pick pumpkins to carve. This trip started rough when trying to park. We had some lady getting stuck in the mud for 20 minutes making us late for our 7PM tickets. After entering we found out the corn maze was closed and weren’t told why. Most of the attractions are in a state of disrepair and don’t reflect the almost 20 dollar ticket price PER PERSON. Despite all this we tried our best to have a good trip with what features of the patch were open. A hayride in the dark later and we decided to get food. BIG MISTAKE!!! We wanted a candy apple and were told they had just sold out but they might have some at the market (luckily they did have a handful left) but when we ordered our food (brownie, regular poutine, and funnel cake) it took ages. It took us over an hour just to place our order because the line was so big and moving so slow. They girl working placed a brownie on our tray and we watched countless order go out before ours. After 20 minutes I asked how much longer and was told “not much longer”… not very specific but okay. Another 20 minutes goes by and I see her throw our receipt out and put the brownie back. I asked a short bit later if we would be getting our food. Pretty much the whole line was gone by this point.. my funnel cake and brownie were handed to me and another ten minutes goes by before they asked if I had a poutine too… YES! So they keep handing out food, poutines included to others while I’m standing there like a fool. The man working went to hand a poutine to someone else and I took it and said no I’ve waited long enough. By this time the patch is closed and from start to finish the food took over 2 hours. My funnel cake was cold by the time the poutine arrived. This place used to be so good a few years ago. I’m not sure what happened. The food workers didn’t even seem the least bit apologetic. Won’t be coming back here unless things change or this...