What a fabulous experience my family and I had this past weekend (Columbus Day) at Paulus Orchard. We arrived a little bit early, and we are glad that we did!! It was such a beautiful weekend, it seemed like everyone had the same idea we did. Below is a pretty comprehensive review of our time here:
Apple Orchard: This was by far one of the top reasons why we came. My daughter had never picked apples prior to this experience. Overall, the Jonathan apples were... hands-down ...the best. The orchard itself was relatively well mowed and maintained, and there was a wide variety of apples that were ripe for the pickin. We bought a large bag for about 15.95. I think for the quantity of apples you can stuff into this bag, that it is a fair price for a great experience. You have to remember, you are paying for the apples, and for the experience. This was a waaaay better way to spend my Sunday with my daughter than going to some other activity of equal cost -- like a movie...(4/5)
Pumpkin Patch: Daaaaamn. How about those pumpkins...some were freakin' huge, and shaped perfectly for carving. I got one of the largest pumpkins I have ever bought for an incredibly fair price. It was a great deal. I have bought $30 pumpkins before that weren't half as nice in Central NY. I think that the monstrosities (pictured) were like $12 each. That is amazing. (5/5)
Corn Maze/Kid area: We opted to do the orchard and patch first. When we were finished, the other activities were over-run with people / kids. As such, we opted to skip this, but I wanted to write about it anyway. From what we saw, there was a really cool play are for kids. I wish it wasn't so busy ... so keep this in mind if you go. You may want to do these activities first (4/5)
General Store: Within their store they have a pretty fair selection of homemade items and products. From apple cider that is produced locally with their apples, to canned jams, jellies, and pickled items, to some pre made baked good like apple dumplings and pies. Additionally, they even have a little section of produce. We almost bought the entire lot of jalapenos because they looked great. Unfortunately, we had just stopped at Karn's the day before. Bummer for us. (4/5)
Price: For what I got, I feel like the experience was well worth it. From the humongous pumpkins, to the quaint orchard, we all had a great family experience. (5 / 5)
Service: The service was varied. It bordered on unhelpful at times given that we had never been there, but then another worker was extremely pleasant and helpful. So I got a pretty good mix of people. Overall (3/5)
Final Thoughts: This is definitely a place I will be back at next year. I was really happy with the vast array of activities and things to do for a fair price. This is a great adventure for your whole family. read more