Blazin' M Ranch — Attraction in Cottonwood

After reading the reviews, I was not left with high hopes for our experience there. I purchased vip tickets for my husband and I. $99 a piece plus fees and taxes. Ended up being $230ish. So we went with low expectations and you know what we had the best time. We arrived at 5pm and was there for gate opening. We got our dining table and drink voucher at the ticket booth and were able to roam around and take part in the before dinner activities. We started with the escape room. It was basic and short. Entertaining enough, maybe alittle too easy with all the extra help from the attendant. But it's clearly made so you can get through it quickly and enjoy other activities on site. Mini golf was next.. Simple 9 holes but had is laughing and having a good time. We skipped bull riding but people were clearly having fun. Did some axe throwing.. I sucked at it..but for a first time I didn't feel judged and got plenty of tips from the person running the event. We signed up for old time photos the called me when it was my turn and we had a great time picking out outfits and took 3 photos. This was the best value. With the vip package it included one free photo each and the third to purchase was only $ 10 additional. My husband hates doing these things.. But the staff made it fun and we ended up getting the third photo. They deliver them to your table during dinner. Great one thing I didn't have to carry around! Next we shot some bb guns and found out I'm a much better shot than my husband. With the vip package we also got two drinks for free. Reading the reviews I knew to use them for the more expensive drinks we wanted to try. Beer was cold and the cocktails went down smoothly. They also had some warm drinks which was great cause it was in the 40's. We took our drinks out to the firepit, they had nice amount seating around the firepit. There was 2 firepits and some outdoor heaters to warm up at which was a nice touch. We had a great time getting to know some other visitors at the ranch at the firepit. Dinner bell was rung at 630 as expected and we took our seats. This was the part from the reviews I was most worried about. Many reviews about not enough food and food quality... Let me tell you I'm a bigger girl I like my meat and potatoes and I couldn't finish all my food. Dinner was served buffet assembly line/ school lunch line style. Tables were called up one at the time. You went down the lane and were offered alittle of everything. While you were getting food they dropped off water, lemonade, and iced tea pitchers at the tables. If you don't go expecting Michelin star restaurant the food was tasty and very filling. They did come out and throw rolls but it was only too those who wanted another roll not like they were winding up and chucking snowballs at peoples heads. They opened the line for seconds after everyone was served so if you really were hungry you could get more food. Next was the show which was so bad it was amazing. It was some country and rock and roll singing by the talented staff and alot of bad dad jokes. But let me tell you we laughed and laughed and were engaged through out the whole show. I'm happy to say I am glad I spent every penny for the vip package. It's definitely not for everyone. If you are looking for golden globe worthy performances and amazing Michelin star dining... Save your money... If you want to laugh and have a good time being silly.. 5...

What a spectacle the Blazin M Ranch was!

They advertise “the Western experience” but this is false advertising! It is more like a sad, somewhat painful to watch, disjointed western cosplay run by wanna be broadway actor hacks and their high school aged “wrangler” employees who looked and acted like they hated their lives. I would too if I had to wear a weird cowboy shirt from party city over my regular clothes, for the love of god just get them some pearl snaps and keep it moving! The working cowboy and his son were nice and informative/helpful but about the only ones who seemed to be authentic in any way.

The petting zoo was disappointing, it was actually just 4 goats and a couple of turkeys. There were horses but guests are not allowed to interact with them. The activities were fun but a little weird to enjoy as you get the impression that the wranglers would rather be anywhere else than on the ranch helping tourists throw axes and shoot bb guns. When you get your Western picture taken you got to choose if you wanted to be an outlaw, cowboy, saloon girl, or southern belle but you didn’t get to choose the actual garments you wore, that was all chosen by the wranglers. There was a wagon ride around the ranch but it was very short. The ranch itself was a little hodge podge and diy, not a bad thing but some things could definitely use updating like new wood for the axe throwing, it has seen better days. There also wasn’t any lassoing even though that was advertised in the brochure. Thank god there was a bar and we did enjoy our drinks even though the kid working it was kind of abrasive.

And thank goodness the food was good and you are allowed to get seconds because the after dinner show was wildddddd. Not sure what i really expected but this was not it. Only one of the singers was decent, he was also the cook, and everyone else was straight up bad! And I just could not look away from Tex Wesleys boots that were about three sizes too big. It was very much giving diy theater kid shoe string budget performance… if you want to see people do bad covers of country western songs just hit up your local honky tonk on karaoke night and save your money!

Overall I would say I did not regret visiting the Blazin M ranch, I actually really enjoyed it but in the way where you’re so fascinated with a train crash that it’s hard to look away. I do think this would be really fun if you had young kids with you, it was definitely family friendly but for us this was a caricature and false advertising.

I want to say that if you want “the very best of the old west” experience then go elsewhere, but perhaps this was the most wild wild western of all— snake oil salesman and...

I have now seen the dinner show twice. Before the show you can visit their little town/game area. We took the tractor ride and the person who operated that was kind and spoke about the area and the plans to expand. They have other things you can do while you wait for the dinner show. We felt as if the employees didn’t really care if we were there or not. They have ax throwing, bull ride, shooting game, escape room, etc. Almost all the employees are teenagers except for a few. Those who work the games and little town area also work the dinners. Both times now we were not in a good seating area. You do not get to pick where you want to sit. The first time we went, we were by an exit door and it was a constant flow of people going in and out the the bathroom! It was packed! It was also on the side of the stage all the way to the front and you could hardly see over the piano. The second time we were on the opposite side against the wall again. People who sit across from you turn their chairs around and block most of the view. Especially if someone is wearing a hat. They pack as many people in the one big room and I don’t think they think about the view that people are trying to see. It was not pack the second time we went. When we asked if we could move so we could see better, they told us no. Do not go when it’s hot. No AC in the building. Or if it is, it did not work. The best part of the show is at the end! I wish they would do more of that during the middle to off set what the singing plot is about. It would be nice to see some changes in what the show is. Some parts to what they are saying was hard to hear or know what was going on. I don’t think we will be going back any time soon. They talked about changes coming, but they also talked about that last year when we went for the first time. If you can not pick where you sit, then they should make it open seating and whoever makes it in the door first can...