When I visited in late October, they were already picked out for the season. However, there are plenty of fun activities for the family to do. They have a petting farm with a good variety of animals, cow milking, and pony rides. I definitely recommend dropping by the market and bakery and picking up a few fried pies! Absolutely delicious! read more

Stopped in today for the first time. The employees are super friendly and helpful. The owner even took a few minutes to speak with us. A great selection of products and yummy baked goods. We first stopped up the road at Hillcrest. No one spoke to us or acknowledged we were in the building. These two are only a mile apart but BJ Reece is light years better! We will be back. read more

Excellent apples and other items including baked goods are for sale. But make sure to head across the street to check out the cider, which in my opinion, is the highlight. I'll definitely be back when I return to Elijay. read more

Apple picking, a corn maze, petting zoo, and fried apple pies! We had so much fun. We went to the Orchards October 1st. It was a beautiful day! There were package tickets or individual tickets. With a child under 1 it was less expensive to purchase individual experiences. We went with: a 1/2 peck of apples, petting zoo, and corn maze. We started with a snack at the market. I got the burger and fries, the hubs got chicken tenders. They were high school concession stand quality, but it served its purpose for about $5. Then my son threw up on me so we had to change and clean up before we could do anything else. The bathroom was small, but there was a changing table. Then we headed over to the petting zoo. Our little one loves our dog so we thought he'd enjoy the petting zoo. Haha, he was not a fan. Well, he liked looking but he didn't like anything looking at him or coming towards him. We attempted to pet a kid(baby goat), piglet, calf, and chick. The calves were very friendly and walked right up to us. The turkeys bullied the goats. I think when he's a little older he'll like it more. Next it was finally time to pick some apples. We looked, and looked, and looked. It was waaay more work than I thought it would be. We did eventually hit a hot spot with some beautiful red delicious, Granny Smith, and golden delicious. We were able to get a full bag of apples. We grabbed a snack before hitting the corn maze. I got a fried apple pie. The crust was light, flaky, and slightly sweet. The apples were tender. The perfect lil pocket of tasty before getting in the maze. We walked back towards the parking area to catch a tractor ride to the maze. This is when I learned there was another's side to the orchard. If you go late In The season like we did I think you'll have more apples to choose from on the maze side of the orchard. The maze was intimidating. It was only my 2nd corn maze and my last one included a map and a lookout deck so you couldn't get lost. This one included a scavenger hunt. My LO laughed the entire time, he wasn't concerned about getting lost. I was just glad I was with my husband and friends that have a good sense of direction. I would have been lost on my own. Like the kids we ran into looking for a way out. Overall a really fun experience. I definitely plan to come back, earlier in the season! read more

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We visited today for the second year in a row. Almost skipped due to recent reviews, but the other orchard didn't allow apple picking on Mondays. The price depends on the activities you want to do, so if you're just apple picking it's not terribly expensive. We had to walk a bit for good apples but we found them. The weather was nice, and it wasn't too crowded. Sure there was a long line at the store for fried pies, but it's so worth it. Yum! Would've been five stars except the bags for apples were flimsy and the handles kept snapping. Other than that, it was a perfect visit. read more

i wanted so much to enjoy this experience. Our family was traveling with grandparents and children in strollers. The parking almost required a 4-wheel drive, if you were not lucky enough for a limited close space. Once we entered, we were excited to Apple pick. We purchased our tickets which included a petting zoo (very crowded) and some other random activities. We just wanted to pick so we had to pay extra for a bag to fill. we soon realized that there were NO APPLES close by left. You would have to hike another 40 mins to the very back to find maybe a couple. Not happening for toddlers in a stroller or for the elderly with extremely steep inclines. So we left, we got nothing for the money and felt cheated. I was told on the exit No refunds. Not even a credit for inside use. You would be better off to just walk in the store and purchase them. read more

Fun apple picking spots. Lots to do. Gets very busy in the afternoon. The market was way too busy when we went in so we were able to snag some food to take home but couldn't get near the apple pie. I wish there were some food options inside but all in all, it was fun. read more

It has potential but it's very poorly run. Lines a mile long everywhere due to poor staffing. A few of the "attractions" were broken or not available as advertised. The "mega slide" was randomly shut for an employee break - despite paying $26/pp for a ticket to get in - and we just had to wait 20 minutes despite employees being all over the place and there not being any information about it being closed at particular times. Worse, one of the areas open for apple picking was so far from the entrance and had such huge hills you had to get up and down that we saw a couple of people nearly passed out lying on the ground from the heat and exertion. Not an employee in sight to help them. It's only getting two stars instead of one because the kids did have fun on some of the activities. read more

Today was our first experience picking apples, and it was amazing. There were lots of varieties to choose from. I wish we had gone to the store area across from where we had pick. Will do that the next time. We will be back. read more

Crowded but a fun time walking around. The trees were over picked, but enjoyed the animals,

We went here to go apple picking. This place is huge and has multiple types of apples growing on both sides of the road. **Please note** I recommend that you eat before you head up this way because you will be driving for a while and will not pass that many places to grab a snack. They have traffic directors which is very helpful considering this is a 1 lane highway. I also recommend that you go earlier in the day to beat the crowds and traffic. It is $5 per person to go apple picking and on the hayride. You can pay extra per person to do a bunch of other stuff (like bounce on a blow up thing) or you can just pay for a bag to put apples in. They have three different bag sizes. We purchased two medium size bags. Now I have a TON of apples. They also have things like watching a pig race, where kids are involved and it is fun, a corn maze, an apple shooter, petting zoo, and cow milking. The staff here is wonderful and super helpful. They also have a market with bagged apples, other produce like the LARGEST HEAD OF CABBAGE that I have ever seen, sauces and jams, and freshly made pies (YUMMY!) We bought 3 fried pies: Cherry, Apple, and Chocolate. They had about 10 flavors to choose from. I only tried the apple and it was yummy. Things to remember: 1) Wear closed toes shoes. The apple orchard includes apples that have fallen and started to naturally rot. Their are also ants and bugs. Totally fine, just don't wear flip flops and/or white shoes and expect to have clean feet/shoes. 2) There are some hills to walk on, so be prepared to get some exercise. 3) Eat before you go and bring snacks with you. 4)Don't be tricked by the bag size for apples. a Medium bag holds about 30+ apples. Yes it is fun to pick them, but what do you do with all of them? 5) If you are not scared, try the zipline. It looked awesome! (I am scared!) 6) Go soon since the season is almost through! read more

Not only the best orchard in the area, but the best people too! John, the owner, fixed my wife's car when it wouldn't start so we could get back home to Atlanta. We headed up there to pick some apples - the orchards are really amazing. We had been up before when we were dating. We picked a ton, took in the view and shot the apple cannon for funzies. This time was our first trip back as a married couple. Wondering around in the market, my wife and I just happened to meet the owner. We realized we were a couple weeks early to find our favorite apple, but John and his lovely family helped us find some crimson reds that were so crisp and juicy that we were really happy to have made the trip. When we went to leave, our car wouldn't start. Not being mechanically inclined and about 75 minutes from home, we both got a little worried that our day may have just been shot. We decided to ask John for help. He brought about 8 guys out with him. Within five minutes we were back on the road - grateful and looking forward to our next trip back! read more

BJ Reece Orchards - Actual view in the apple orchard. I feel like someone might call this "god's county ". - Fruits & Veggies Near Me - Ellijay, Georgia

My daughter went to the orchard and to her surprise no apples on the trees, but the 13pp was still in effect! She will never go back!

It has a great atmosphere but the ciders were not our speed. Great place to meet a group of friends but it's not someplace I would frequent by myself. read more

Not a good experience at all. The people who work there are so rude. We paid a ton of money to do all the activities and weren't told that some of them weren't even open that day. Plus they closed early and started kicking everyone out after we had paid so much money. It was really disappointing and sad. Please consider going somewhere else. read more

So let me get this right...You're going to charge me a minimum of $13 pp to pick your non-organic apples, then you're going to charge me for the apples themselves??!! This is the definition of GREED!! We left. read more

We went for a family outing. They had a huge crowd ( beautiful day, end of summer). They were totally unprepared for the crowg. Parking was awful and unsupervised. Inside the gift shop was like a mosh pit. Food was a long line to order, then a long wait, a total of 75 minutes to order and eat. I will look for a better option. read more

Hum. I've been to orchards In Henderson sc I love them. Reece not so much. Had to pay for activities as parents we were not going to do. In NC free to pick apples you just pay for apples , your given a free wagon. This place was dirty. Activities were not really accessible. We took kids in one. Have to run across street to do most if the others . It's a bit if a rip off in my opinion. The pies were really good. Icees too, not to sweet ! read more

Appreciated being able to sample peaches prior to purchase. The friend apple pie and peach slushie were nice treats. We purchased fresh peaches and preserves to take back home. Workers were friendly. read more

Visited on our first day in town. Unfortunately they were done for the season picking apples. We missed it by a few days. However the place was nice and we got some delicious apple and sweet potatoe pies as well as a creme pumpkin roll. read more

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What a rip! $5/ head PLUS Buy bags before you see that they''re picked out. Most people were scavenging on fallen fruit. Don't waste your time or money! We get that it nearing the end of their busiest season in years - but selling what you don't have stinks. If I read more

This place is huge! The orchard spans both sides of the road. There's apple picking, pig racing, a petting zoo, pumpkin cannons, a shop with cider and donuts, a hay ride, and a zipline. This place has a lot to offer. They offer weekend packages that bundle pony rides, apple picking, the petting zoo, etc. so you don't have to pay for them a la carte. When you first drive up, there are people directing traffic and shuttling you to the activities. There is plenty of parking -- all on a gravel driveway. There are things to do on both sides of the street. The pig races only happen at certain times of the day though, so if you want to do that, plan around that. It's a kid-friendly place for sure. If you want good apples, go early in the season. Lines are long on the weekends, so arrive early. The store has pre-picked apples, cider, donuts, and other goodies. It's a good spot. I'd go back again next fall! read more

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I'm giving them a one star because of how poorly the animals are kept. The petting zoo was pitiful, muddy and had a horrible smell to it. You could tell the animals were in so much distress. The pony rides were just as pitiful. If you want a good, clean petting zoo where the animals look to be well kept and happy visit Washington Farms or Southern Belle Farms. This place does not care about their animals!!! read more

What an amazing place. This is one our families favorite places to visit and it is a family tradition now. John and Rachel Reece have made this a great place to bring your family and spend the afternoon picking apples or playing or having a great lunch. The pig races are great. Their apple cider donuts and fritter's are amazing. I love them on a brisk fall morning heated up with a cup of pecan coffee. Great hint (heat the apple fritter up in an iron skillet with lots of butter). Today we bought three bushels of apples and a giant cabbage. Two weeks ago we bought apples and pears and a case of sweet potatoes. We also buy peaches in the summer from them. Their apple cider is amazing as well. Please take the time to make a day to visit with you family and then head over to Burts Farm this fall when you are done. read more

BJ Reece Orchards - This is the Reece family - Fruits & Veggies Near Me - Ellijay, Georgia

After spending a couple of hours at the Georgia Apple Festival, we turned to B J Reece Orchards in the hopes of getting to pick perfectly ripe, juicy, flawless apples. Perhaps I set the bar a bit too high. Many an apple lay rotting on the ground around the endless rows of apple trees. Many of the trees in the first several rows were already heavily picked over - only under-ripe or hard to reach apples remained. It also took us a while to ascertain what kinds of apple trees we were standing next to (later we discovered that the labels were at the very end of each row - perhaps a good 50 yards away from the entrance into the orchard). Eventually, several rows down, we found Rome and Golden Delicious apples aplenty. There, we were easily able to fill our pre-purchased half-peck bag. This place was certainly a tourist trap, with a long lines, heavy traffic, a Boudreaux Taste of Louisiana tent near the entrance, cow milking, pig races, a zip line that runs over the orchard, etc. For the price of admission and the pre-purchased bag for apples, I don't feel like I got my money's worth. That said, if you have children, this place would be a fun and entertaining experience for them. read more

BJ Reece Orchards - Though the first several rows of apple trees were heavily picked over, we finally found a row of trees laden with Rome apples. - Fruits & Veggies Near Me - Ellijay, Georgia

There's a ton of orchards around this area. I came here because my friends told me they had the best apple pie ever. Boy they were right! The whole experience was good. Great selection. Super nice staff. And yummy pie! Come here and stock up! read more

OMG!!! I am sooo disappointed in this orchard. My first experience is what led to my second one. I told so many of my coworkers about the orchard, but my recent (3rd) experience led me to retract and inform them of the changes :(. I am 62, what do I want to pay for the whole weekend experience for? There should be a different price for non-participants. I don't pet ANYTHING, I don't want to ride ANYTHING that will cause later discomfort and so on...WHY am I having to pay $13 for activities that I will not participate in. Now had I bought my grandbabies, I would have understood. I paid $13 for an entrance fee and $40 for a bag that they probably hope you can't fill to capacity...but I do EVERY TIME because that's a lot of money to pay to walk the orchard with half of the field gated off :(. Go back to the old bags that opened up with a flat bottom (shaking my head and sighing) BJ Reece, you really broke my heart this trip. I have to find me another orchard as one of my coworkers informed me that she found one without an entrance fee (deep sigh). I really loved walking the orchard. It's great exercise and fond memories, especially the scenery. I don't want to pay to get in, pay for a bag and then go across the street to pay for bags of apples that's in the orchard but not accessible. It's not the paying for the apples I promise, I enjoyed the overall experience of walking the orchard. It's the change in the size of the bushel bag and the entrance fee that I find unfair. It's been fun while it lasted. It was a 1 1/2 hour ride I looked forward to. I wish you no bad luck or anything, just consider your prices for ALL, everyone does not come for the CHILDREN activities ;). God Bless. read more

The location is gorgeous! The kids loved the slide, petting zoo and slushees. And it's expensive but I feel like all the other Orchards are too. They do have a la cart so you can pick what you want to do. Where it goes downhill for me is the staff and customer service. Many of the cashiers and "farm hands" are in terrible moods. I'm sure they work long days but no one seemed happy. And both the petting zoo, pig races and cow milking were run by teenagers. I felt really bad for the animals. The teenagers seemed nice to the animals but weren't protecting the animals from customers. Especially in the petting zoo I felt really bad for these animals that were sometimes being mistreated and we had to step up and say something. There were kids in there without adults. No one from the farm in there or paying attention. There definitely needs to be some adults monitoring that area. I've been to other farms where the kids can still pet the animals and see them but the animals can get away or take a break that's not an option here! read more

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Because I was at Amicalola Falls, I had to head out to BJ Reece Orchards to get me some freshly picked yummy apples. OMG, the line was so long. I mean 2 miles and waited an hour? Seriously? Yes. No kidding. On top of that, when arrived, the line to go apple picking was forever. I traveled this far. I will go get me some apples. They only had Rome apples. I didn't care I want me some apples. BJ Reece Orchards have two locations, directly across from each other. Each side has orchards. I just happen to be on the side that had only Rome, the other had more but I didn't care. Each side also have different activities. I was fortunate to be on the side of the petting zoo cause that's what we wanted to see. Across the street had pig racing, stuff like that. More activities you wanted to see, it cost more. So while picking apples, most of them were on top and hard to get. Would I have to climb? Luckily a group of people were done apple picking and gave us their wooden stick. There were so many apples that were on the ground. I felt bad. So much waste! When using the wooden stick to knock the apple, you better watch where that apple roll! I had water with me so I washed one apple and bit into it, it was soooo good. I love fresh apples! The petting zoo was small but it was good experience for those who love animals, very kid friendly. Some of the goats and calves just laid there and let you pet them. It wasn't the best but good enough. I mean $3/person isn't too bad, you know. Since my favorite apples, Pink Ladies are not for picking, I went inside the store to get me a bag. It was soooo packed inside! Luckily the lines moved fast. This isn't the first time coming here and won't be the last. It is the first time to actually go apple picking and would do it again. read more

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The place was very busy by 10 am on Saturday and the line to get in was very long - only 2 people working the registers for the apple picking and events. They didn't have any information about pricing for tickets for the different experiences until you got to the register so that slowed down the process. You have to buy a ticket for everything; petting zoo, hay rides, etc... The employees were not very friendly and seemed kind of annoyed. It just wasn't very personable. Especially the employees in the store... it really seemed like they just wanted to get people in and out but made sure they got your money. The apple orchard was covered in fallen apples (easy to trip on) and it was kind of messy when they were getting smashed. Thought it would have been a little more cleaned up. The apple fritters and pies were very good though! I will definitely try another place! read more

Coming from Chicago, Apple Orchards are a "fall season" must. From north Chicago to the whole state of Michigan, apple orchard picking is a yearly event for many local people and we were not disappointed with Reece's Apple Orchard. There not a ton of choices for apples, but the orchard was big and had good apples even though the variety was small. You can pick your own apples or they have pre-picked apples that you can buy in bushels. They also have pumpkins and gourds outside the store for fall decorations. Inside the store, they have ciders, jams, donuts smoothies and much more. For the u-pick, you have the option to buy 3 different sized bags. $4 for 1/2 peck, $8 for a peck or $14 for a 1/2 bushel. Whatever bag you buy, you can fill it as much as you can and it will be that flat rate for the bag cost. Well worth the deal. We will go back but we may try other orchards as well. read more

BJ Reece Orchards - Fruits & Veggies Near Me - Ellijay, Georgia

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While driving through Northern Georgia we found this little farm that had all kinds of activities for fall! Everything from apple picking, milking a cow, petting farms, pig racing and more lol. It was Definitely an amazing experience! read more

Very disappointing! None of the staff except the indoor staff( some of them) were wearing masks during a pandemic. No one working outside was following Covid protocols. Very disorganized. They are allowing way too many people in areas. The bathrooms were Extremely dirty. There was so much trash in the trails near the Apple trees very sad that the BJ Reece farm doesn't care more about the environment and encouraging people to throw aware their garbage or having garbage cans available or having staff pick up the trash. I for sure will recommend this farm. I hope they read this review and make some good changes. read more

What an AWESOME place to purchase your fresh picked apples! We've made 2 trips this season and love their apples and FRIED PIES! You won't be disappointed!! read more

This was a beautiful orchard, and the apple picking was tons of fun! The only thing is we weren't expecting a 20 minute wait in line before entering, or a $5 per person cost to enter (on top of the $8 for the smallest size apple bag). Then we found out that that didn't include the animal farm, which we were so excited for. Once we got in though, it was so much fun to pick all the apples and try them fresh off the tree. We also got to ride the slide and check out the store. The store was gorgeous and we couldn't resist getting a bunch of goods. We picked up dried apple slices, an apple cider sipper, a loaf of apple bread, and their AMAZING fried pies. It was a great experience. read more

We have gone apple picking in October every year for the past 4 years. However, we usually go to Mercier Orchards in Blue Ridge, but this year we decided to change it up and check out BJ Reece Orchards, so this review will be a bit of a comparison to Mercier Orcchards which we are more familiar with. I thought BJ Reece would be closer and faster to get to for a day trip than Mercier's, however since it's more off the main road, and waze took us on a lot of back mountain roads, time in the car was about the same as driving to Blue Ridge (further north). There is almost nothing around BJ Reece, you are driving around and then BAM, it's a mountain traffic jam with parking in dirt lots on both sides of the road. The Orchards for picking were on both sides of the road as well as the activities. We pulled off and parked as soon as we could, however I think the vets knew to park closer to the "hill" for Upick 2. Picking on the south side of Highway 52 offered a lot more varieties of apples, and the only place to pick my favorite apples, the PINK LADIES! They were offering UPick of Golden Delicious, Red ROME, and a few others. The Fuji's had been picked earlier in the season as they are an earlier riping apple. Pink Ladies are usually some of the last to ripen so I tend to wait for them to be ready when I go. Last year Mercier cut off Upick before the Pink Ladies were ready and you could only buy them in their store, which is half the reason we decided to hit BJ Reece this year. BJ Reece has a lot more to offer young active kids, but is also much more spread out, across the property with pony rides, cow milking and petting zoo on one side of the property, and then across the property is the zipline, the bouncy Jumping Pillow thing, hay rides, pig races, and a corn maze. There isn't any kind of tractor or hay ride that will connect them all for you either, you have to walk, and some of the walking is up some steep hills of gravel, which is fine for a young active family, but if you bring elderly grandparents, I can see this being a problem. Wear close toed tennis shoes or hiking boots, you will get your steps in here. The "store" where the bakery, ciders, and produce are north of HW 52, is much much smaller than Merciers. We got some fried pies and a whole pie, and they were good, we thought that Mercier's bakery might be slightly better, but it's not enough pick one over the other. BJ Reece doesn't seem to have a full time restaurant like Mercier's does, but they had set up a tent outside and some picnic tables and were grilling hamburgers, hotdogs and a few others. The line was a mile long so we passed and hit Chick-Fil-A on 515 on our way home. Overall, I got to pick my pink ladies apples and the staff were very friendly and helpful. I felt like even with the map they give you, it was overwhelming and kind of a chaotic layout. Mercier is a well oiled machine that runs efficiently, but Mercier's doesn't have nearly the amount of activities outside of apple picking that BJ Reece does. So I think for young active kids, BJ Reece may be a better choice. If you are bringing elderly grandparents or have someone who doesn't want to walk all over creation, Mercier's might be a better fit, as they put you in a tractor wagon ride and take you to the Upick orchard, and it's a much physically easier process. Overall I think BJ Reece is a great winner, although I don't necessarily recommend going on Apple Festival weekend in Ellijay, it's extra crazy! read more

We went to pick apples the Tuesday after the Apple Festival in Ellijay and that was probably part of the reason it wasn't a good experience. The majority of the trees had been picked clean unless you're 8+ feet tall and can reach the tree tops. It'd be nice if they would take you to an area that actually has apples to pick, instead you start at the booth where you get your bag, scan a QR code for a map of the orchard and then walk around trying to find apples that are actually reachable and are ready to be picked. Of course the rows closest are all picked clean but we walked as far back as the corn maze and there were some apples but I didn't know if they were ripe for picking. The Pink Lady apples that were left weren't fully pink and mostly green, which had me thinking they weren't ripe. Tried to Google but it was more trouble than it was worth to find an answer. Very glad I bought the smallest bag but once the season starts they need to charge you for what you actually pick. I definitely didn't pick $10 worth of apples. But I guess that's how they get their money read more

Traffic on a busy weekend takes forever and no one seems to be directing the drivers. Parking sucks. $5 admission to pick your own apples, then $8 for a half peck makes for an expensive event. By mid October, there nearly no apples on the trees and just two varieties. Store is too disorganized to bother. Not a fun day. read more

We could not believe how huge this place was. We estimated we'd stay a few hours, but we ended up staying about 5 1/2. We went last Sunday, during the first October weekend. It was our family's first time apple picking and we enjoyed ourselves and made great family memories. There are orchards and activities on both sides of the highway, you'll want to do both. Our sons, 5 and 9, had a blast doing all the activities, especially the apple cannons, huge slide, and jumping pillow. We'd recommend it, but maybe not during the first weekend of October. It was PACKED! There were really long lines for everything, especially for purchasing tickets and food. While it was a fun day and we're glad we went, I suggest that they make some improvements: 1- offer online pre-purchased tickets and create a more efficient in person ticket purchase process. We wasted probably 45 minutes just waiting to check in! 2- make a more efficient and bigger food tent. It was a 30 minute wait to place the order, and then another 25 minute wait to get our food. They also had started running out of lots of items, and it was just about 3:00. Not great when people and kids are hungry and just want to get back to enjoying the orchard and activities! 3- it was frustrating trying to find where to pick apples. They should give you a weekly updated map indicating what varieties are where and which are ready for picking. A lot of areas were completely picked out and the signs at the end of each row telling you what variety the row is do no good when you're going through the middle just trying to find trees with apples. 4- In the store they had descriptions of the apple varieties and what they were best used for. Why not have something online with pictures of each variety and descriptions, as well as including the currently ready variety descriptions on the weekly map I suggested above? Thinking next year we'll go earlier in the season so we avoid the crazy crowds we experienced, and hoping they'll find ways to make things run more smoothly. read more

Not for us. There were hordes of people there who must love it, but waiting in a 30-minute line to buy tickets to go to a petting zoo and pick our own apples did not look like our idea of a good time. We didn't plan to pick our own anyway--we just thought a petting zoo and the other activities might be fun for our four-year-old--but the lines inside to check out or to purchase fried pies and such were at least as long as the ticket line. We opted to go elsewhere and were so glad we did! Panorama is much more our idea of a great Ellijay apple stop. read more