Ellms Family Farms

We have been visiting this farm for years. It wasn’t until this year that they started using Groupons so this was the first year that the farm was just chaos. We usually like this farm because it offers a nice relaxing day. This past weekend was not our normal experience there but we thought we would share it with other families so they might not make the same mistake as we did in going if there is a Groupon running.
I do understand that they want to drive attendance but that also requires a degree of organization that they were not prepared to handle. For example, our groupon (as we saw most patrons standing in line for) entailed 2 free apple cider donuts. On a Saturday, they had ONE attendant working the register. The line was over 20 people long and each order was averaging three minutes. It took us 28 minutes in line (and it was cold out) with kids, to get $ 1.90 worth of donuts. They should have had either more than one person working the register, or a line that was separate for people to cash in their groupon vouchers.
We also usually like the corn maze. This year it was littered with trash. If you are going to have that many people, there should be either A. no food /​beverages allowed or B. Trash cans set up intermittently throughout the fields. We shouldn’t be stepping on water bottles and dunkin donuts cups.
On the plus side, I do like some of the activities that they had set up that were newer from last year such as the baseball /​football stations. They did have Jungle Jumparoos there (we saw them on Shark tank so we were excited to try them) but they were so deflated we couldn’t use them. As in all of them — all five were deflated to the point of not being usable for the kids.
I would really like this farm to go back to the way it was, or get organized to handle the capacity. Not the best experience for our family and doubtful we would return if they have another promotion.

Autumn trips to Ellms Farm have become a family staple. My family of five loves everything about this place, especially their enormous jumping pillow and the annually redesigned corn maze, «The Amazing Maize Maze». We didn’t make it to Ellms last year, so we were excited to return.
This year, only three of us made the trip, mostly for budgetary reasons. In fact, the only reason I dock a star from this review is the price of admission. It’s $ 14/​person ($ 15 if you do the corn maze). It’s $ 75 for us just to walk through the entrance. We’re up over $ 100 if we get something to eat and drink (which we usually do).
My son (13), daughter (9) and I arrived just before 11:00, and the place was absolutely packed. There’s ample parking though, and they had some employees there in the parking lot, directing traffic. We got a good spot in the shade, right in front of a row of pines.
In years past, there’s only been one person receiving payments and giving out wristbands. This year, they had three or four people with Square readers, moving people through at a pretty good clip. Even so, there was a major line, and a wait of about 15 – 20 minutes before we got in.
Once inside, we headed right for the corn maze, our favorite. We were bummed to discover that they now restrict access, and only allow entry to the maze on the half hour. Understandable though, especially with the number of people that were there. We had about 20 minutes to kill before 11:30, so we decided to check out the new attractions.
They’ve added a lot since the last time we were there, and they seem to have focused a lot of their efforts on entertainment for little kids and toddlers. They’ve installed a second jumping pillow for littler kids, a smaller corn maze, a «moo-​moo» wagon ride, a tricycle track, lots of custom-​built playground equipment, as well as an animatronic Chucky Cheese-​style «singing chickens» show.
We all went down one of the giant slides, and then the kids climbed on a pile of giant tractor tires, messed around at one of the tetherball stations, and took a couple of laps on the cool pedal-​cart track (they’ve got solo and tandem carts).
We headed back over to the maze, and just made it in at 11:30. An employee was actually putting the chain back across the entrance when we got there!
That same employee then lead us to a little area with benches, where he explained to the group how the process works. The goal of the maze is to find all twelve of the hidden mailboxes. Inside each mailbox is a puzzle piece, which you tape to a game sheet that you carry with you. Each puzzle piece reveals a little bit more of the map of the maze. Super-​fun!
There are a couple of employees in a tower in the middle of the maze, and they’ll help you if you need to get out, or if you’re desperate for help. You’re required to carry a flag through the maze, so they can see you better. If you’re planning on completing the maze in its entirety, block out about 90 minutes.
After completing the maze, we headed to the refreshment stand for some celebratory cider and donuts. The line was long, but it was worth it. That cider hit the spot.
I was ready to call it a day, but the kids wanted to hit the jumping pillow.
It’s much more orderly than the last time we were here. It used to be a free-​for-​all, with people jumping around for as long as they wanted to. But now they have timed sessions for each group — about five minutes, I’d say. The rules state that you need to be «physically fit», and there IS a height requirement, but again, little kids now have their own jumping pillow, right nearby. After a few minutes of leaping around, the kids were ready to head home.
This really is a fantastic place to spend a fall day, and even though there were SO many people there on this particular Sunday, it didn’t really feel all that crowded. It’s a huge, expansive property, so there’s room to breathe, and plenty to do.