I saw a posting on a parenting group on FB that Art Knapp was having a Hallowe'en event and put it on our list of things to do this weekend. Luckily the weather was awesome today, tshirt weather!
The drive to Art Knapp wasn't too long, about 1/2 hr. I took the Barnet all the way there and coincidentally drove past the turn off (it's not an intersection but a split in the hwy to turn left. Once you see the sign that the street is approaching! Turn left). If you miss it like I did, you can still get to AK by turning left at the next intersection and left at Dominion.
The parking was pretty full but we found a space (no charge). The main entrance doors weren't working (and none of the staff seemed to notice me pacing in front of the door trying to get it to open). Finally I went through the 'out doors' and meandered towards the back.
I had never visited this location before and besides plants and trees, they had a ton of stuff for sale. Women's clothing, scarves, lotions, kitchen items, kids toys, Christmas decor and of course Hallowe'en items.
Once we were at the back outside, I could see the different areas of 'fun'. The layout was a bit all over the place and it took me a few minutes to scan the grounds to figure out what was free, what wasn't and what the process was to get access.
Finally, a sign.
There were 13 stations:
- Haunted Tunnel Ride - 6 tickets
- Carousel Ride & 9 Hole Miniature Golf - 4 tix
- Caterpillar, Octopus, Bear ride - 3 tix
- Pumpkin Patch Train Ride - 3 tix
- Zip line, tire swing, climber, jungle gym & sandbox excavator - free
The booth to pay was off to the left side in the middle. I stood in line and saw a food station to the right of it. Asked if they had veggie dogs (no). Hot dogs were $3.00 each.
So the tickets aren't free. Individual tickets are $1.00 + Gst or you can buy 30 tickets for $24.99 + Gst.
I figured Mason would want to go on the haunted ride, the bouncey castle and the Pumpkin patch ride. 11 tickets.
We headed to the line up for the haunted tunnel but could only see one line up for the pumpkin train and it was quite long. So then we went to the bouncey castle. There was a note taped up stating that it was 2 tickets and each child needed a hand stamp. Frustrated, we wandered over to the jungle gym area where Mason promptly ditches his shoes and went in for about 5 minutes. He didn't wan to try the zip line (probably good since his Cousin Cainen recently broke his arm on one of those things). So we went back to the ticket booth where I complained about the confusing layout, the lack of attendants (there were *tons* of staff wandering about). The girl at the counter agreed with me but offered no apologies. I then asked about the tickets and she informed me that the parents had to buy tickets TOO! seriously!? Ridiculous. Do the math...$12.00 for a 5 minute train ride.
While Mason went into the bouncy castle, I sat on a pile of hay trying to figure out what we could do for the remaining 9 tickets that I had. Just then one of the employees who overheard my conversation at the booth came over to me to apologize for the inconvenience and offered me 6 free tickets ($6.00!). So that would allow Mason and I both to go on the haunted train ride. That was nice. So back in the line for the ride and we were warned a few times that it was 'gory' and maybe not suitable for small children. The disclaimer sign also warned 'no refunds under any circumstance'. That should have been my first clue.
The ride went around the grounds, through the pumpkin 'patch' which is a bit of a joke considering they charge you $3.00 a piece to drive there to select a pumpkin off the ground. If seniors didn't want to walk, I could see this of being a value but aside from that, it's a rip off.
Finally the ride goes through an automated skinny 'barn' of sorts. We were the last seat on the three section 'train' and missed most of the scary stuff as once we got through that section, the scary 'thing' already retreated back into its hiding place. There was nothing scary or gory. Mason jumped a bit twice but didn't make a peep. The whole experience lasted less than 6 or 7 minutes. The ride looped around and that was it. No refunds, clearly.
We had 3 tickets left and I wasn't about to leave without getting my full money's worth. So Mason hopped on a kiddie ride which was probably suitable for a 2 year old and the bored parents watched it go around and around.
$12.00 wasted.
We didn't bother to go around to any of the other stations. The mini golf was deserted, the tire swings as well. I dragged my Son in through the store and bought a few things which were relatively reasonably priced.
So do I recommend going to this 'Funland'?. No, especially if you live outside of PoCo. The gas money + the cost of the rides is simply not worth it. Sorry for the lack of pictures, wasn't inclined to spend more time there than I needed to.
If you go, here are the details. http://www.artknapps.ca/#!funland/c1q04