Spooky Ranch at Rockin R Ranch — Attraction in Columbia Township

We visited Spooky Ranch during the daytime hours with our three year old. Our daughter generally had a good time during the daytime event. We went on the wagon ride which was slow; however offered for a nice 15 minute ride. A few other reviews reference the slowness of the ride which I suspect is more tightly aligned to issues with the evening rides. After the ride, our daughter took a ride on the ponies. I would classify this as in line with other pony rides where she got to take a couple trips around in a circle and then was done. From the pony ride, we then went onto visiting the other animals. Up to this point I would say we were at a four or five star. However the animals did not appear well. Much of this may have been due to the excessive handling and touching by all the visitors. However every animal was sneezing and had goopy eyes. Generally speaking in animal husbandry, something is wrong with as much sneezing as the animals were doing. Luckily having a 3 year old we had sanitizing wipes to clean up after contact with the animals. We then worked our way back to the other attractions. Here is where we felt a little nickle and dimed. Although only a couple dollars, the rest of the activities cost additional money. It wasnt a deal breaker, but is frustrating when you look at an $11 entrance fee plus extra on top of the all-inclusive entry fee. We decided to eat lunch while waiting for the next show. Again, the food wasn't a deal breaker, but I would say it is just a little below the quality of other festival foods when it comes to hot dogs, nachos, etc. We didn't see anything unique and the prices weren't horrible, but I probably would have skipped the meal due to the quality. Finally, we saw the show prior to leaving. Our daughter paid attention to the show, but it felt a bit underwhelming. The cast visibly did not appear to want to be there. Once again, not a deal breaker, but added to the other items it left a sour taste in my mouth. Given the opportunity, I would probably pass on going back for the daytime activities. Our daughter is too young for the evening haunted attractions, but maybe those are a little different. For the cost, I think we would have been better served spending the afternoon at other...

We went to the night time event because it was also supposed to be good for kids. They were extremely over priced, had long lines to get tickets & they were unorganized. The line that we waited in for 20 minutes ended up being a line for debit/credit card only. We only realized that we were in wrong line for cash only because a worker walked around yelling into the crowds of people that people with cash could step into the other line. This place offered very little for the cost & the 1.5 hour drive there. It's o.k for younger kids, but it's not if your child scares easily or will have nightmares over clowns. The haunted house for the kids was a little too scary for my 7 & 9 year olds, but to each their own. It did state that it was "kid friendly" on the website, but there were a couple of the costumed workers who got up my 7 year olds face even though she was crying from being afraid. The "haunted" hayride was definitely kid friendly, but I was not impressed. One of the workers who were in costume on one of the stops actually made fun of a larger man's size & you could see the embarrassment & hurt on his face...even my 7 & 9 year olds were shocked. The hayride was very uncomfortable because they squeezed as many people as they could on one trip. The trailer had hay bails that made the floor which is also the sitting area. There were not actual seats & for some adults it's difficult to sit in the floor. My husband has tight joints and cannot sit crisscross applesauce (Indian style) and he was extremely uncomfortable...like I said we were squeezed on with very limited space. It really didn't help that we were thrown in the middle section with no back support either! I told my kids after the hay ride I would get them cotton candy. The line for the hayride was pretty long (as expected) but once we got off of the hayride the cotton candy stand was closed, for some reason they closed early. We left disappointed but that happens occasionally & now I can save other people...

Were this review based solely upon the quality of the exhibits, the actors and the fun contained within, this would be an enthusiastic 5 star review. My date and I have never been to a better Halloween haunted house. So to anyone looking for a great haunted house, look no further. I recommend it.

That being said, my reason for this being a two star review instead (I couldn't in good conscience give a one star review based upon the excellent entertainment that was provided) is to hopefully highlight to the management how much our experience that night was tarnished by a series of completely unprovoked, inappropriate and insulting statements directed at my date and me by a certain employee while we were having our tickets checked upon entering an exhibit.

A certain employee was checking tickets at the entrance to a certain exhibit at a certain time Friday night. She had a prominent scowl on her face and looked to be angry or annoyed. Immediately upon checking our tickets, out of the blue she starting explaining to us how Spooky Ranch was ripping us off. My date and I just shrugged and said we didn't feel as though we were being ripped off.

My date and I turned to talk to each other but she interrupted us and went into this completely out of the blue and unprovoked rant about how Joe Biden is scarier than anything at the Spooky Ranch, Joe Biden is not her president, etc. She went on and on. I for one do not go to a haunted house to hear the political views of its employees. I go there to escape the unpleasant things in life, such as political turmoil.

As her rant continued I just rolled my eyes and turned away. My date mentioned that she's Canadian and stays out of U.S. politics. My date was then scolded by the employee not to "bring that Canadian Socialism up here to our country". Geographical ignorance aside, this is beyond inappropriate, it's just plain insulting.

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