Pumpkin & Polar Palooza — Attraction in Carlsbad

Showed up for opening day and walked in as we always have for years and was called back and told that we needed to pay three bucks a person to come in and look at pumpkins. I was surprised considering I've never had pay when coming in. I've always just walked in, waved at the people in front and they always smiled and waved back and we just went in and bought pumpkins and paid for bounce houses and bought popcorn and rode the train. But this time I was being told I had a good run and I was sneaking in in the past. When I literally have gone in the same way I always have. To be told I've been sneaking in this whole time was kind of insulting considering how much money I've spent at that place. Best was when I said I'm surprised I have to pay $3 to look at pumpkins, she replied that there are free games for kids to play too. Umm there was cornhole and a $15 extra large connect four game. Other than that I need to pay for every single activity from jumping on the pumpkin or the petting zoo, to even digging in a sandbox. To be told that there were free kids games was basically a lie. Once again insulting because I've been coming there for years and I know what's available in there and what's not.

This place is fun if you have a lot of extra money. But to act the way they did when I came in and honestly to charge me $3 a person to look at pumpkins is kind of ridiculous. Just bake the cover charge into the pricing of the events like every other pumpkin patch so people can just come in and decide what they want to do and enjoy themselves. This isn't Disneyland. I was planning on spending a lot more than $9 that night but the staff really ruined that. Just took our business to the Carlsbad Mall pop up Street fair and had fun in the bounce houses there.

And lastly please look at reviews of the pumpkin palooza pumpkin patch and see how many people say it's free and how many people say they've paid. There seems to be some kind of inconsistency on how they handle the front gate. They should probably stop nickel and diming us at the front gate so they can make more...

I too have been coming here for years. We started coming here when our oldest was born, she’s now 6. I have never been asked to pay to enter. One year I specifically asked and was told no go right in. We always made sure to buy a pumpkin. We felt that was fair for using the space for family photos. Well this year I looked around and could not find a sign that said there was an entrance fee. To make matters worse the bounce zone has a different fee than the giant slide and tractor ride. Why? Sucks listening to parents explain to kids why they can’t ride this or that. There are also no signs stating the big slide was for kids only. I saw some people on dates walking away with unused tickets because they weren’t told when buying the tickets. Yes the space has a few fun things for the right age group. My daughter loved the giant slide. Sucks everything is a money grab. Even my daughter figured out riding the slide 4 times was a better deal than one ride on the tractor. Will be looking for another...

Maybe not this year? It didn’t open until 11 on Sunday. I’m sorry, small kids are up early and we, along with many other families, want to go at 9 or 10 at the latest. Before nap-time and before the sun is blazing. Also, there was no food or beverages available. The caterer said they were starting to cook aiming for 12:30 even though they weren’t supposed to open till 1. That’s crazy! A kid and family event with no food or drinks for hours? Bring in a trailer of vending machines at a minimum. Everyone was crazy hungry and tired so we left without. The ‘rides’ were about 5 different bouncy slides. It’s fun but that’s it. No tractor ride or animals or anything else Halloween-y. Maybe it’s a covid related cutback but I was super disappointed as it felt like there was very little planning for families involved...