Happy Day Farm — Attraction in Manalapan Township

We took our 3 year old and 1 year old granddaughters to Happy Day Farm Pumpkin Festival today and they loved it. There was so much to see and do that I wish we had arrived earlier. We came at noon and there were still things we all wanted to do when they closed at 5:00 PM.

The place is HUGE with 3 main venues connected by convenient tractor/hay ride wagons that run frequently and let you get on and off as needed. The longest we had to wait for a tractor pickup was about 15 minutes during peak volume time, but at the zoo we only waited about 5 minutes and at the pumpkin patch there was basically no wait at all. We got in line and boarded within 2 minutes.

I recommend that you park as far back as possible because that's where the admissions office and main play areas are located. There is so much to do in the main area that you could spend the whole day there playing and eating. My 3 year old squealed with delight at the baby pig races. Both girls climbed and jumped and ran and played on too many things to describe but 1 item they particularly enjoyed was the corn pit. It's a take off in the plastic ball pits I've seen at various playgrounds but this one was filled with dried corn. The novelty of playing in corn and the unusual texture added to their fun.

The 1st stop on the hay wagon ride was the mini zoo. They had fun looking at and feeding a variety of animals - pigs, goats, chickens, alpacas, etc. They were also amazed at the gigantic pig (700 lbs) that was a retired piglet racer from several years ago. It was the biggest I've ever seen. I didn't know they could get that huge. The real highlight of this area, however, was the pony ride. There was an extra $6 charge for the ponies, but our 3 year old's over the top delight made it worth every penny. They even had a tiny mini pony for the really young kids. Our 1 year old tried that but was a little frightened by a real horse. Her big sister, though, couldn't stop talking about it. That somple 3 minute walk on a pony gave her so much pleasure that it alone made the whole day worth while.

The 2nd stop was down at the pumpkin patch. There were a few interesting spots for photos, like the pumpkin house, but the main attraction here is walking through the field and finding your child's perfect pumpkin. As we watched the kids playing both my daughter and I recalled the Charlie Brown episode about the pumpkin patch. The only problem here was no bags or any way to carry your purchases back if you bought several, but they did have a special pumpkin loading zone for those who wanted to stop here on their way out.

Stop 3 was back at the main play area where we all found some delicious "junk food" that reminded me a bit of Jersey Shore boardwalk food. Then it was play till closing and like I said, 5 hours wasn't enough time for our family. Next year we will plan to arrive as soon as they open.

A few extra observations: Several items had additional fees attached. Some seemed reasonable while others seemed a bit over priced. Overall, it was a lot cheaper than an amusement park like Sesame Place, but if you spend a whole day it won't be cheap and they only take cash. There are a few ATMs available for people who didn't know about the cash only policy. The food prices were a little high, but FAR more reasonable than any amusement park I've ever been to and the quality was excellent. It was great "junk food" but I didn't see anything for the vegans or health nuts. There was ample parking for well over 1000 cars and that was included in the admission, no extra charge here. I also liked the fact that they painted lines on the grass to facilitate parking and protect from crowding. If you stay to the end, as we did, be ready for a huge traffic jam. It's a little country 2 lane road and backs up pretty badly when so many people try to leave at once. The park/farm was very clean and well maintained considering how many people were there. They also had a lot of portable restrooms and clean-up stations scattered around in convenient locations throughout...

Their website mentions service pets are allowed however the manager on duty which as mentioned manager to a farm not a service animal trainer denied access to my pet as she was being held and that made my pet not capable to assist me with my medical condition. She was extremely rude and denied her name she had a disgusting attitude as the situation could’ve been comprehended should she have allowed the documentation to be provided to her she based her ignorant opinion on my service pet access due to her being held which has never been an issue as she is my pet after all. My pet is legally registered under the ADA and even after calling to confirm she was very uncooperative with the situation. If you want to take your service pet to this place I would recommend to look over another place they will judge your dog as if they’re trainers when this lady all she was is a farm manager. Wish google allowed me to give it 0 stars.

To reply to your response- you are not service animal trainers and my pet who was never handed off to anyone was denied entry. I confirmed my documentation for my service animal and she is registered to aid with my condition no one reviewed my documentation and your ignorant employee based it off of my pet not “working”. My service who was “rolling” around was being a pet not rounded to command since you know so much about service animals when last time I checked this was a farm. I saw people went through this as well with your incapable ignorant employees. I have taken action to make up for this your manager is nothing but a farm manager not a service animal trainer. You do not respect ADA registered rules you make up your own decision if they are service pets or not when you are simply a farm not professionals. Farm full of incompetent animals themselves. Your little manager was nothing but a joke of how rude she was. I am allowed as the handler to hold my pet to command them to aid you are not in a position to classify a service animal as capable...

Had tickets for 10/5 . When you buy the tickets online , there are so many rules and regulations and continuous mention of only a certain amount of tickets are sold for the day , no exchanging of days , no refunds . Very strict - which I get - you don’t want to over sell and cause complete chaos - except that is exactly what went on today . We arrived early afternoon and were greeted with about a 2 hour wait - to get into the farm . We finally get to the ticket booth and everyone is cranky at this point- we are making our way in and they won’t let you in until you put the wristband on . Why I have no idea bc not one person checked or looked at a wrist band . There is now a backlog of people scrambling to put the wrist bands on and we are being told - it’s a nice day out we are trying to do our best . If there are only a certain amount of tickets sold for each day - what does the weather matter ? They obviously, over extended themselves . 5:00 comes and a woman on a golf cart starts making her way through the crowd screaming that they are closed and to leave . I actually saw her grab a ball from a child mid throw. Very nasty attitude towards everyone and acting like she was the jail warden and everyone was prisoners . We were completely taken back how she was speaking to everyone . Being that they had this complete craziness of a line to get in , maybe extend some niceness to your customers . You’re asking that we be patient with you - but be patient with us . Everyone spent a lot of money to be there I am not cheap and am always happy to support small , local business's. Tickets are almost $30 each for ages 2 and up!!! Its one thing to be supportive of a small business and it’s another to be completely taken advantage of by them. They were more than happy to have everyone pay , but not to have us there . I will never ,ever spend another...