Hardy's Reindeer Ranch — Attraction in Rantoul

Four of us went and it was $24 for the Reindeer Tour. That gave us a handful of oats and a couple little pieces of graham crackers. We had so much fun and got beautiful pictures!! If you put the cracker in your lips the very gentle "reindeer" will give you a gentle kiss to remove the cracker from your mouth! They are so adorable! The kids had a blast riding the old time pedal cars, even though they didn't last very long due to the physical activity, but they had fun. We were sad the corn maze was already down and they have paintballs as well, but we weren't able to do that. We would love to go back earlier in the fall to play paintballs, go through the maze, and ride the hay wagon!! They are open from August to December. I think October would be the best time to go. It's not too far into Rantoul. GPS stopped just a bit shy, but we kept driving until we saw the big red barn. Staff and owners are all friendly, amazing people. It was chilly out and we had hot cocoa that was fantastic. I wish it was a one price for all activities, but each thing is separate, such as the pedal cars were $4 for each big kid, cocoa was $2 per cup, so the charges really added up for the day. But we had a great time and enjoyed our time together as a family. I know they're upkeep is very...

We have been coming to hardys for many many years! The trees are very expensive but we could justify their prices for the experience with the reindeers! On 2 separate occasions we have been informed by the owners that we have to pay a group rate to shop and spend money at their business! I have a daycare is why they told me to pay a group rate in advance. . When I had my 3 own children and 1 daycare child. My friends were with us and had their own children! When I was asked if I had daycare I said yes. But by no means was it a daycare field trip! They were very rude about it. The second occasion was just a few weeks ago. The sign in front said open... the sign on store door said closed. We walked out to their trees for a picture and the owner was not very happy and informed us that we needed to pay to take a picture! Really?? We spend over 150.00 for tree and ornaments and they want paid for a photograph? Not great Christmas cheer people! We just purchased our tree at sunset tree farm in Mansfield! What a wonderful experience! Free cookies and hot chocolate! Trees were alot cheaper and when we went to pay .... they don't take credit. They had us take the tree and just asked us to mail a check! That's amazing ! Totally different Christmas...

Hardy’s was a family tradition when I was a kid, and we’ve brought our own kids every winter for the past 5 years. Today, we arrived at 4:30pm, and I went in the gift shop to ask if there were any more tours. The cashier snapped, “Yes, there’s one at 5, but it’s sold out. You should come during the week when we aren’t so busy.” She didn’t even make eye contact with me. I would have understood the tour being sold out, but being told flatly to come again - without thanking us for coming in the first place - and taking such an ugly tone with a mom with two young kids was certainly unnecessary. We went outside to just look at the reindeer, and didn’t feel like we missed much having not done the tour. The cashier came outside to do the tour, and barked instructions at everyone standing in line. If she doesn’t like working there, why doesn’t she find somewhere else to work? If Hardy’s doesn’t want customers, why open up their farm to the public? This is the last year we will bring our family. The farm is small and nice, and there are fun activities for the whole family, but we got the feeling we weren’t wanted. So, no worries, we won’t bother them anymore in the future.

(And by the way, we work for a living during the week. That’s why we came over...