Montpelier Farms — Attraction in Maryland

Major safety + service concerns.

My review is for the festival private bonfire experience. To precede, it is being left after several attempts at contacting the establishment via email & phone which came with in-person advance notice that I had concerns on the day of my visit. (I do try to reconcile issues prior to public reviews.)

I booked a Winter Fest private bonfire after getting rained out during Fall Fest. Booking correspondence was a bit slow, but fine enough considering the busy season. Nothing left me skeptical that I'd be met with safety hazards or I wouldn't have bothered.

I can't review any Winter Fest activities because the bonfire was too far away + too dark for guests to visit. Which brings me to:

A) no advance notice of distance - combined with terrain + lack of lighting, it'd be a challenge for anyone not relatively fit & fully aware to travel back and forth from activities. The trek is neither a straight nor paved/flat. Tree lines make it more challenging. One guest noted going back to the checkin due to confusion. Concerning for anyone walking alone.

B) My group was the only bonfire booked this evening, making it extra dark/deserted. No additional lighting on the trail and they refused to let us park closer, forcing folks to walk (seemed to be so they could monitor guests paying the entry fee). Not disregarding that rules can be rules for a reason, I called upon arrival expressing concern and asking if there could be an exception or assistance since we were literally the only ones there. Response: "our staff is trained to direct guests" + "there's a liability with vehicles because of potential animals." Ok... one staff member shined a flashlight to direct a guest towards the bonfire area and said "oh, it's dark. You probably can't see it" and still allowed them to walk themselves. Is this the training?? Vehicle liability is more important that human health/injury liability??

C) I set up my own lantern in an attempt to assist guests. They acknowledged it helped which makes it hard to understand why the Farm hasn't set up additional light source. Bonfire reservation times begin AFTER sunset for winter fest.

D) Bonfire service is marketed to include attendance to keep the fire going. Ours went almost fully out twice -- only kept alive by guests finding sticks to try and keep it going. I sent a text (unanswered) and called to get them to send someone. Did I mention we were the only fire?!

E) All aside, my group was having fun b/c of camaraderie. We did not receive a heads up our time was ending, but when it was over, the manager drove down and started yelling the host's [me] name. Someone pointed and I was standing beside a friend. She began speaking unprofessionally to the friend that "time was up and all of these people need to go!" before walking off. I called after her. She yells back over and once I explain I had no intention to yell back and forth past the group, she comes over and I explain she badgered the wrong person. (I checked in face-to-face, but regardless, it would be professional to make sure you're addressing the proper person.)

F) Of approx. 10+ staff I saw that evening, I am concerned that only 1 (the manager), maybe 2 is over 18. When I went to find someone to express concern (and had to explain to the teen at the gate that they weren't closed yet so I should be let in), there was a gallery on teens observing. I didn't feel they deserved to be present and wasn't offered privacy, so I said I would call instead... attempted and here we are. Additionally, if there was an emergency, what training or maturity is present?

1 start because my friends are great and prior planning helped make it a nice time. (I supplied all of my own roasting sticks, appetizers, decor, etc.) With Covid especially, this Farm has the potential to be an AMAZING outdoor occasion. I do things like this often but this fell concerningly short. There are other MD farms I've frequented and I would drive hours further for better. Not worth the $ or...

This review is for the Christmas event only. This year was such a disappointment. Do not waste your time. There were barely any Christmas lights throughout the farm. The hay ride was the most entertaining but there were no animals out whatsoever and a lot of the ride didn't have any Christmas figures. Santa was not there when I arrived and there was no one standing at the gate, I had to go find someone to talk to and the people who I found that worked there had just told me 5mins ago that Santa doesn't leave until about 930 and when I went back to those same people they said they "guess he packed up and left" this was at 830. I was so disappointed that I wanted to cry for my kids. Thank God we stayed to take pictures of where Santa should have been because he walked up a few minutes later and my kids did get their time with Santa. But the fact that the staff didn't even know that Santa took a break was so unprofessional and unorganized. The marshmallows for the smores were hard as a rock, I couldn't even pierce the marshmallows with the $1.00 stick I had to buy in order to roast my marshmallows. The hot chocolate was clearly from a packet which is why everyone kept handing me their free hot chocolate tickets. There was no organization whatsoever.

I would have loved to organize this myself. Here are my suggestions, for the hay ride there could/should have been a Santa driving the ride and playing Christmas music, or singing with the kids. For the hot chocolate there should have been a recipe specifically for this event so after using free tickets people would want to purchase more. As far as the animals being missing, its a farm kids are so disappointed to come to a farm with no animals. There should have been animals, even if there were figurines of the nativity scene outside of the gates of the animals, that would have been awesome to see. You could have also sold flashlights so people can walk down and see the animals. The bonfire, you could have had your staff come out every few hours with candle sticks to sing Christmas carols to the kids and there should have been fresh marshmallows and free sticks. For Santa, there could have been two people dressed as elves to direct people of what to do or where to go and to take pictures with the children, also there was no tip jar for Santa or the hay ride. In the end we were left to provide our own entertainment. I felt bad for kids who have boring parents but also for parents who had to try to hype up the event so their kids wouldn't be bored. I would love to plan and coordinate for next year. This huge farm had so much potential to be a let down for the kids and parents who...

So disappointed in my experience at Montpelier Farms not only was the staff rude but the food was horrible. I wanted to love it so bad based on reviews that I’ve seen before going, but my experience just wasn’t good at all, my son enjoyed seeing the animals and going on the hayride that’s the only good part in our overall experience there unfortunately, definitely would NOT recommend. A little more in-depth; my tickets were placed on the counter which ended up flying away due to the weather. I was told by the cashier to “go and find the flying tickets” I was there with my child who was sitting in a stroller at the time, the last thing that I am going to be doing is looking for a flying ticket. I’m not even sure why the cashier thought it was a bright idea to place the tickets on the counter to begin with, especially in that kind of weather. After refusing to replace my ticket I asked to speak with upper management I was instructed on how to get to the office, where management was. I then waited outside in the cold with my child for 15 additional minutes for a replacement ticket, after discussing my experience with the rude cashier to management I was told “I could be enjoying the activities instead of standing here complaining about a ticket” a ticket that I paid my hard earned money for, but it’s honestly not about the ticket, it was the lack of customer service from the staff, by then I was even more upset. I had asked for a refund and was told that they don’t give out refunds, even under those circumstances. I notified management that I would be leaving a review based on my experience and she just brushed it off as if she didn’t care….This should’ve been my sign to leave immediately, but my son saw the surrounding activities and wanted to participate, not to mention we drove almost an hour to get there! The food was horrible, we went to feed the animals and they were complaining about ppl standing around the entire gate, even though there were no signs that said we couldn’t, and way too crowded for everyone to be on one side of the gate trying to feed the animals. Staff at almost every activity appeared to have an attitude and just was not friendly at all, maybe we came on a bad day but overall this was a HORRIBLE experience and not what I thought it would be at all! Definitely will not...