Houston Pumpkin Fest — Local services in Houston

First, the positives: The ticket is "timed", so you purchase a start time for your arrival. We chose 11 am on a Friday and arrived about 15 minutes late, so I'm not entirely sure they would have enforced this had we arrived earlier way later than 11. This is great for photo ops (social media, birthdays, engagement, fall family photos, etc.). There are lots of pumpkins of varying colors, sizes, appearances, which makes for really pretty photos. There's also prop-areas like a golden Cinderella-type carriage and a self-propelled merry-go-round swing. You can leave and return as needed without having to re-scan or be stamped. This is useful for leaving to the bathroom or get food. There's lots of seating for older adults and generally anyone who needs a break, and some of the seats had great shade. It's best suited for ages 10 and under. My 8-year old daughter had a great time.

Now, the negatives: This was severely overpriced at $26 per ticket. For 2 adults and 2 kids (ages 13 and 8) I paid $104 +tax, total $114.60. The area is quite narrow, from the red/blue/white abstract sculpture to McKinney, which is a narrow stretch for a "festival" where people are bringing in strollers. It got a bit crowded. It was lacking in actual value of the activities. There was a tractor train but no operator. There was no face painting, balloon vendors, arts/crafts, carnival games, carnival food, etc. The "bouncy" pumpkin was technically an inflatable but very little bounce. As previously mentioned, the merry-go-round swing was self-propelled which was underwhelming.

ATTRACTIONS Train Ride - wasn't working, no operator Steer Roping - NO Corn Pit - yes, young kids loved this Live Music - NO; there was country music playing over speakers Water Activities - NO; only the kayaks LED Clear Kayaks - yes, though we didn't do this activity Rocket Pumpkin - NO Instagrammable Moments - yes, plenty Bouncy Pumpkin - yes, but it's not a bounce-house-type, like a big pillow Pumpkin Houses - misleading...house structures for photos only, nothing to walk inside of Painted Pumpkins - yes, orange, white, and pink Toddler Bull Rides - NO, not real bulls, just a riding game Piggly Wiggles - NO Human Hamster Wheel - NO Tree of Life - yes, this was the self-propelled swing

Overall, whether you would enjoy this depends very much on why you're going and who you're going with. For photo ops and family pics, absolutely a must. For actual festival-type enjoyment, it was not worth the price and I wouldn't...

LIES! First of all you don’t even get a pumpkin. I repeat YOU DONT EVEN GET A PUMPKIN. Its located on a narrow strip by the pond. Crowded crowded crowded. Shoulder to shoulder with other folks. It geared mostly towards tiny children. Cute places to take pictures if you wanna wait 20 minutes and have 100 people in the background. The kayaks, again a 45 minute wait. No snacks. Hot cans of coke. $30 parking. A complete let down and waste of time and money. I left and went to a local pumpkin patch in Pasadena. Super cute. Not expensive not crowded cute photo spots face painting and actual food. The hyped up pumpkin fest is a total bust. Go to a local place and save your money and sanity. I am never going back to this god awful “pumpkin fest”. You don’t even get a...

I saw the ad for this pumpkin fest and I love the Discovery Green area so I trekked my way from Mocity to check it out! It was mostly good with some definite room for improvement. On a good note, my kids had fun - great activities - and the crowd was nice and patient. Good photo opportunities with a pumpkin church. Pumpkins were not for sale, kind of strange for a pumpkin fest and surprising since they are missing out on a stream of revenue. Parking was tough, there needs to be festival parking or at least a recommendation. No drinks for sale and it was hot as hell, had to leave the festival to get a drink, and tons of activities for the kids where they got thirsty! Lastly NO BATHROOMS! you had to leave the festival to go to...