Charmingfare Farm — Attraction in Candia

We had purchased tickets from travelzoo so we got a great deal from there. Upon our arrival, the farm looked utterly amazing, beautiful, and looked liked we were going to have a great time. When we stopped in at the ticket office, the girl behind the counter took our tickets from travelzoo and stated we did not have a reservation for the day, we had booked the zoo and the horseback riding trail ride. Luckily I had all the paperwork, just in case as I always do. We proved to her that we had a reservation NOT only from travelzoo but ALSO a confirmed email from Charmingfare Farm!!! for 1130am (trail ride).

We arrived at 930 so that we could visit the zoo first and then go on to the trail ride. The zoo was nice, and the area was clean as a whistle. We began to ask some questions to the workers, but they were not very friendly, except for one young man. They have no postings about the animals and some (a cow from Asia, a ZuZu) but they want and push you to buy seed (at 4.00 per 5oz) to feed them. I was taken back that noone wanted to be bothered to answer any questions - especially about the camel and lynx.

There are no signs as to tell you where to continue to go for the zoo, only "do not enter" signs are posted along the way so you have to double back on a couple of sections.

All in all the zoo was okay - clean which to me is important

In regards to the trail ride - we were booked for 1130 and were to meet at the paddock by 1115am. To which we did, but no one was there to greet us. We stood around for about 20 minutes (5 minutes past our reservation time) when we went to ask the girl at the counter (yes same one) if we were at the right location - she said "ya but we sent the first group out really late so you'll have to wait" When asked how long as we had reservations, she was quite rude and said "when they get back". Well, (1) we paid for reservations (2) we were confirmed for the reservation (3) it states on the receipt if your late we do not wait for you....when I brought up these points she said "well cant tell ya anything have no idea when they left or when they will return just wait till to see the horses coming back". Are you kidding me? What about my time? What ever happened to someone talking back to you in a polite way? ' The party that was before us was about 1/2 to 40 minutes late returning. We were then at that point just sitting on the ground, as there are NO benches or places to sit and wait at this location, there are no drinks to purchase so we waited for all to leave.

The two guides came over and said to grab helmets, no help in making sure they fit us correctly and then we were on our merry way 40 minutes late and the two guides talking about the last bunch who had no idea how to ride and caused them to be late. We were told to stay in a single line and we were going to only walk at a slow speed (and I mean slow) as these horses had to work all day!!! Seriously? So during our guided tour, to which the guides did not talk, unless we spoke to them and it was not about the area. We asked to stop to take some photos and we could not (although we were told to bring our camera and yes, a $5.00 tip for each guide was MANDATORY! we were told we could not stop for photos but.....we had to stop when each horse took a dump. We did not trot we only walked at a slllllooooowww pace. We did not see what the website had to offer we did see some green land but we were guided into the woods for the remainder of the ride.

Had I paid full price for this (77.00 per person) It would have been a total waste of money. Overall, I give it a two as the one guide was nice and the one gentleman (young man) was nice other then that I really would not recommend...

Charmingfare Farm is split roughly into two sections, the farm/petting area and the "zoo" portion. The prices are pretty high at $19pp, $10 for the small container of animal feed, and items in the store are marked up quite a bit.

Overall, the farm area is pretty well kept and the animals seem pretty happy. There were numerous employees wandering around the farm, tending to the animals. The "petting area" had sheep, goats, mini horses, a cow, donkeys, and alpacas. The farm also included horses, potbellied pigs, a few chickens, baby chicks, and some rabbits. All of the above animals had decent enclosures, and although I'm sure they wouldn't mind more room they had similar space to other farms.

Onto the "zoo" portion of things. It's kind of a nightmare, but has potential if they just spread things out a bit. The animals do not have adequate room IMO. I'm sure they meet minimum regulations, but I would think that is in regard to temporary enclosures. But these wild animals LIVE in these small environments. They are surrounded by woods, I honestly don't understand why the enclosures are so small. All of the animals they keep are used to hunting and walking in large areas and they don't get that here. Leaving them to pace about anxiously. Additionally, the zoo area is only appeared to have mild upkeep, if that. The ponds were full of scum and super thick with debris. Trees were overgrown into the paths. The grass was super tall. Water troughs were full of debris and hardly any water (on a nearly 90 degree, super humid day). You will need bugspray as the mosquitos and horse flies were intense and put for blood (not odd since you're walking through woods attached to a farm, but just a tip).

Its honestly just sad and not worth the trip, money, or heartache. It they resumed the wild animals, they would really have something here since the petting zoo and farm are pretty nice. And they could be nice if the employees didn't have to attempt to make the zoo area passable. ...

If I had written a review about 5 minutes after leaving it would be much more scathing than the one I am writing because we had a terrible time. In fairness it was a kind of a cold day so things like a long line can be a whole lot more annoying so I will step back and try to be a little more fair. I purchased tickets for the Easter egg hunt, which was not a hunt but more of a collection or handing of eggs. The chocolate was Lindt and very good. We still had to wait for quite awhile despite pre-paying and finally some guy who didn't cut it for a Disney employee handed us the tickets. The marketing for this event was EXACTLY how it was advertised but not a stitch more and done in the least efficient manner possible. In terms of value I guess we paid for what you would pay to see the Easter Bunny at the mall, but with a petting zoo attached. Little things like being nearly trampled after getting in line for the tractor for a long time (the people next to us actually were in line the second time because they got cut off on the first round) just to have someone hand us in egg that we had to wait in line to exchange for some coupons and four more pieces of candy, to having not having any signage for restrooms (we found one--just one super filthy porta potty). Not this places fault that my kid fell in the mud but if there was some sort of baby changing station around I wasn't made aware of it. There were three parking lot attendants but they did nothing to help or warn people of the giant pile of lumber randomly sitting in the parking lot we were assigned to which made it hard to navigate. These are just a few of the mild annoyances that we encountered. Needless to say I had contemplated a season pass but opted to just pass. I would rather have spent twice as much to have had the same experience done right. Bottomline: it just...