critz farms

We visited the Syracuse area in October for a college reunion. Living in Florida now we miss Fall dearly and were excited to hear about this place. We took our kids and they had a great time. It was during the week so not all the attractions were open however our boys loved the playgrounds/play areas, petting zoo and walking around the pumpkin patch. The adults enjoyed the cider sampling. Delicious! There was an entrance fee of $3/person which we found reasonable.

My husband and I visited during the week. We did the cider tasting then shopped in the barn for a few mini pumpkins. We paid $2.50 for 3. You pay for the tasting...The cider was delicious and we got to keep the wine glass with logo.

We are two seniors who took our two grandchildren here to pick out pumpkins. We were shocked to be charged $26 to enter. This is what further made us realize they are bilking people. Our "sample" of their cider would fill a thimble. Are they serious? And we had to give them a token to get it. We left that room with a very bad taste indeed. The cow train that requires another token was a one minute ride around a dirt track. The petting zoo were some animals behind enclosures. They have some playground slides, etc. but so do our local parks. Save your money. We bought our pumpkins and cider elsewhere. They had enough of our money.

This was our second visit and we liked it just as much. The kids had a ball running around, climbing, riding, and picking apples.Each year, as they grow,, the kids seem to like different features of the place and always like the food and cider. The adults enjoy a trip to the tasting room with a large assortment of fermented ciders.The animals are always fun and a drive to the "country" is always relaxing and the kids come home exhausted.

After experiencing the fun and tastings of Beak & Skiff Apple Orchard, we decided to drive to Cazenovia on this beautiful fall day and visit Critz Farms and Awera Winery. (See my other reviews for these fine places). There is a corn maze, pumpkin picking and a cider and wine tasting room so we were planning on doing it all as we did back a few years ago. We entered the drive and at the end were surprised to find people with money aprons. 4 of us in the car and we were told the cost is $30!!! No wonder there was no line to get in. This is just to park and enter, then you pay for the pumpkin and wine tastings. Needless to say we left and headed to Dave's Diner in town for some eats. On to my next review.

Always fun to go to Critz Farms to get our Christmas tree. They have a great selection pre-cut as well as hundreds still growing out in their many fields. Careful employees assist with attaching the tree to the car for the ride home. Fun shop to spend some time to see all the other things they make or sell. We no longer ride/hike out to cut our own tree, but purchase one in the barn. Good quality but they are not the cheapest around.

We came to Critz to pick apples because it is near our house. We thought, why drive a distance when Critz is so close. Well, lesson learned. Even though the apples were red and looked ripe on the outside they were tasteless and green on the inside. After a couple of weeks most of the apples were rotten. We picked over 40 pounds as we do every year and have never had our apples rot. After several months we'd have an occasional rotten apple but not within a couple weeks and never most of them. Many couldn't even be salvaged for apple sauce. Wish the apples were better because it is a convenient location.

Took my Godson (20 months) and there was a lot of fun things for kids to do. We loved the animals and he really loved the cow train ride and the wagon rides. The price of admission was inexpensive & included most of the activities. Plenty of apples & pumpkins. The homemade apple fritters were delicious.

When I came with my family in Fall of 2010, there was no admission price and you got one free cow train token per child and one free apple cider per person. Now it's $7.50 per person and the cow train token. Gift shop had nothing to sell really and the few things that were there were Christmas ornaments. Apples and pumpkins are by the pound. Apple cider is VERY pricey. Watch for bees and wasps since they love apples and they are always by their garbage cans. The bathrooms have 3 stalls and is ALWAYS a long wait for the women's and men's room. There was a young child friendly haunted house but there was a cauldron outside waiting with a few people asking for donations since they put it together and no offense, it cost us $30 to get in and I am not paying for something supposedly free when I already paid too much in the beginning. It cost us about $18 for 4 childrens hotdogs, 2 fries, and 2 bottles of water.Apple fritters were $2.75 for three slices plus tax. There were apple and pumpkin "sippers" that were $1.50 each plus tax or $2.50 each plus tax and filled with cider. They were filled 2/3 of the way and the sippers were only about 8 ounces. Come to find out you can buy a 16 ounce pint of cider for a dollar and we paid for 5 ounces of cider for that same dollar. You see animals that you can pay to feed. Corn maze costs extra. Pumpkins and apples cost extra.There is a hill with like 6 different sized slides for the kids, a wooden train, a wooden boat, a mini hay bale maze for kids, sandbox, wooden play fort and the cow train. You are paying for the kids to play outside on playground and see 7 different animals. You get free rides out to the pumpkin field and to pick apples (of course! they are heavy to carry back) You are PAYING to pick apples that you yet again pay by the pound. See where this is going? I think this place is a rip off. Go to Pumpkin Junction in Sauquoit. Or Dyn's Cider Mill in Richfield Springs. Not wheelchair accessible.

We took the kids and grandkids (two and four) and had a great time playing, riding, and picking apples.Lot's of things to do (almost all included in admission) and we particularly liked the animals and the apple picking. I think the kids liked the various slides and forts the best.The cider is great, both plain and alcoholic, don't miss the tastings!

Found out about this place online thinking it would be a good spot for hard cider and apple picking. I have been to actual orchards vs the farm and this place does the family fall harvest right. I was not lookong for that but if there are young ones it will keep them busy. The hard cider is some of the best I have had. Limited selection of apple varieties and small trees. Not sure if i would make the trip back they make you pay before you are in the lot for admission. Apples by the pound????? I have seen just price by the bag.

They have a free tour which explains the maple syrup process from tree to bottle. Great syrup and a pancake breakfast. They also have a taproom for the areas best local cider, many flavors and a very inexpensive tasting that will make your day a long one, in a good way.

Fun place to visit. Learned lots about maple syrup. Very fun to taste their different hard ciders. Wish I could buy them out of state!

Came here to take a tractor ride and see the scenery. It was a lot of fun! Very pretty place with great views and helpful folks. Ended up buying some hard cider and honey (great deal). Anyone would love it!

Cute, kids enjoyed it. Alot of fun stuff do to there. Plan on being there for more than a couple of hours. More like a day trip. Corn maze is fun and gift shops have cute stuff.