Dressel Farms — Attraction in Town of New Paltz

This is a review from October 2022 that I forgot to post.

Dressel Farms is NOT what it used to be. Now, you have to pay $5/person just to get in. Frankly, there are not enough activities to make it worth it since the cost of apple picking is extra. (Not that we even went there for apples anyway.)

I had gone here since I attended SUNY NP from 2006-2010. It was a tradition I started with friends, then my parents when they would come visit, then extended family, and as of 2014, the guy who would become my fiancé. It was a tradition to walk to where the rocks overlooked the valley across to the Gunks and take a few pictures every fall. We don’t even pick apples and never have. (In fact, I hate apples and spent my childhood telling people I was allergic so no one would give me any.) But we would buy pumpkins, donuts, veggies, etc. every time we came.

We parked at the farmstand on Sat. 10/22/22 and intended to walk over and take our picture before buying pumpkins, gourds, donuts, etc. My fiancé and I did this same thing on Sun. 10/2/22 and also mid-October 2021 without issue. We weren’t sneaky about it or trying to be and no one stopped us. We had no idea we did something “wrong” as we were planning to buy things in the farmstand like we always did after taking our picture.

However, on 10/22 as we passed by the booth, the woman inside came out yelling and stopped us. She was very rude while telling us that we needed to pay to get in. We explained we were going to spend money at the farmstand, but wanted to walk over there just for a minute to take some pictures and would come right back. We were shocked to be told we’d need to pay $5 per person to do that ($20 total) especially since it literally just would have been 5 minutes for pictures sitting on the rocks.

We told her that we had walked over on 10/2 and in 2021 and that no one had stopped us. The woman in the booth then angrily implied that we snuck past her while she was busy, when we did no such thing. I was shocked at her tone and implication which was angry and accusatory.

When my fiancé and I were there on 10/2, we parked at the farmstand and walked hand in hand right next to the booth, talking, not hiding or trying to be sneaky or anything. We didn’t know we did anything wrong. In fact, there were no cars waiting to enter and 2 attendants in the booth whom we were in full view of. Neither stopped us. We did not try to “sneak past” anyone as she so angrily implied. We walked over for 5 minutes, took our pictures and enjoyed the view, walked back again to the farm stand, and made purchases before leaving. If I knew that’d be the last time we’d have been allowed to do that, I would have sat on those rocks for an hour. We planned to walk over and do the same the next time with my parents.

It took only a moment to ruin a long-standing tradition, but it would also have taken only a minute to be kind instead. They could have let us just walk over to take the picture for less than 5 minutes remaining in view of the booth (even if it was the last time they made such an exception), but both the woman in the booth and the owner she called over were exceptionally rude. We had no malicious or dishonest intent, and the situation could have been handled with much greater kindness. (They eventually let us walk to a different area, but it was NOT the same and not the same spot where we’re taken our traditional picture for 16 years.) The entire experience was also accompanied by immense rudeness.

I’m devastated that what was a long-standing tradition has been ruined forever, but the blow might have been taken a little easier to take if the employee and owner were at least nice about the whole thing and spoke to us calmly rather than treating us so rudely and approaching us in anger. We did not have bad intentions or try to "pull one over" on anyone but we were treated terribly. If the policy changed, it could at least be conveyed to customers in a polite manner. It could have been a conversation and not a verbal attack and accusation.

We did not attempt to...

If you are a person of color this isn’t the place for you! I drove my folks all the way to this place for apple picking and a good family time. Since the time we got there one of the workers (a young white male) kept a special eye on me and 8 family members. I want to mention that I’m from a South Indian decent, my mom and aunt were wearing the head scarf. We were picking apples and having a good laugh like everyone else. However this man thought something else. He kept looking at us, following us around, and gave me an attitude when I approached him and cursed me out when I tried to defend myself. Behavior like this might be tolerable to others, but not me! I believe in equality for ALL. A place like this where they have AMAZING cider, DELICIOUS apple delicacies, and a beautiful view SHOULD NOT TOLERATE ANY SORT OF RACISM! I brought this to two coworkers attention, but no action was taken. My skin color and what I wear might look “foreign”, but we deserve equal rights, especially since we were bahaving like everyone else, not chaotic. Apple picking shouldn’t bring forth so much tension and desrecpect. It’s a fun, family event. We spoke with two other families who left right after due to facing the same racism issues. I’ve been apple picking at so many places, never have I ever faced such repulsive behavior and treatment. I know this will be read, instead of replying back harshung like you guys did with the other bad reviews, please do something and stop racism! Before hiring, make sure to hire non racists! We were disrespected and...

We've been going to Dressel Farms for almost 15 years. The previous owners (I'm assuming Mom and Dad) were friendly and welcoming. But the new owner and some of the staff are the complete opposite. Two days ago we spend about $150 on entrance fees and apples but didn't get to take our traditional family photo or pick pumpkins since it was closing time. So we decided to return today. We were shocked today when the owner told us we had to pay an entrance fee of $25 to take a photo which would've probably taken 5mins. I'm not sure if that was greed or if the owner is just that uptight. After speaking to a different employee and explaining the situation, the employee told us she's the owner and she didn't think the rule would change for us but that she'd speak with the owner. After waiting for probably 3mins for the employee to convince the owner we just decided to leave. What ashame! That's not the way to treat loyal customers. Definitely will be exploring some...