Pastorino's Pumpkin Farm — Attraction in Half Moon Bay

Best pumpkin patch in the Bay for kids! This is our second year in a row coming here for the pumpkin festivities and we loved every moment.

Weekday vs Weekend: We came here on a weekday and everything was running except for hay rides, face painting, the haunted house, and concession stand for snacks (although pumpkin pie and It's It ice cream sandwiches can be purchased in the gift barn).

Those open up on weekends, but we still had a blast without it. The advantage of coming on a weekday is that there are much less people and almost no wait times for any of the activities. We actually had the petting zoo, train ride, and pony rides to ourselves completely. The commute getting into and out of Half Moon Bay was much, much shorter than the weekend as well.

When we were here last year on the weekend, we showed up at opening time and more people didn't start showing up until around the lunch hour.

Tickets: You need tickets for each attraction available for purchase inside the gift barn. You pay per attraction. Each one was $5 or $10. I believe access to the jumpy house/inflatable slide area was $15. Overall, it still ends up being cheaper than Lemos Farm. I felt we got our money's worth 100% and the staff were so friendly.

Amenities: Free and ample space for parking. Lots of seating and tables throughout the farm to sit and eat. Bathrooms are porta potties with hand washing station.

Gift Barn: Gift barn has the coolest figurines and home decor for sale. They carry Jim Shore figurines and I walked out with a wood carved/hand painted Day of the...

The petting zoo and "Pony rides" were very unsafe.

The petting zoo was staffed by a single 13 year old kid who was trying his best, but they needed more staff there to be able to watch all the people interacting with the animals. There was an aggressive llama nearly stepping on children since there was not adequate staff involved. Also they were charging for kids AND adults to get into the petting zoo, leading to an even worse kid to adult ratio than was safe when adults would choose to skip to save money.

The pony rides were borderline animal abuse. As I was waiting in line, I could hear the staff complaining that the animals were all overworked but they had to keep going. The main staff person was repeatedly telling the other staff members to make sure to keep the animals heads away from people since they'd been biting (and they seemed confused by this, so clearly they were not well trained)

Train ride + bounce equipment was the only thing worth the money.

Don't encourage animal abuse and dangerous situations by trying the pony ride and petting zoo. "Pony rides" like that are...

We just celebrated my daughter's 3rd birthday at Pastorino's. For a flat fee, we had a bouncy house, petting zoo, pony ride, train and hay rides for all of our guests (36 kids). They also have a huge party room to serve lunch/cake. This is a great deal compared to some of the nearby competitors. I had 70+ people attending, including the adults. There was plenty of space for everyone and it was so nice having all the activities included. I also found it much easier than hosting a party at the park. Scott and team were very accommodating! They have the room setup already and decorated in a very cute farm theme, with table clothes, etc. (although you’re welcomed to use your own also.) They also take care of the trash. Many of my guests raved about the amazing party we hosted! We will...