Tolmachoff Farms
Rating
Family of 4
Farm admission is charged per person for Pumpkin Days, with recent seasons listed by event guides in the mid-teens to about $20 a head and the youngest children free, so a family of four is generally looking at four admissions as the base.
Duration
Two to three hours for a family that works through the corn maze, the petting zoo, the play areas and the jumping pillow, plus a pumpkin hunt on the way out. Families with toddlers who stick to the mini maze and the animals are usually done in about 90 minutes. If you add a train ride, food vendors and the tomato cannon on a weekend, plan closer to three and a half hours.
Best Ages
Roughly 2 to 11 for the daytime Pumpkin Days experience, with the widest appeal between 4 and 9. Admission has historically covered the mini maze, the petting zoo, the play areas and the jumping pillow, and that bundle is built for kids who want to run. Toddlers get the corn box, the animals and the mini maze. Little kids and big kids get the 6-acre family maze, the hay pyramid and the pedal cart track. Tweens hold interest through the big maze and the tomato cannon. Teens are the honest gap here: the attraction aimed at them is AZ Field of Screams, a separate after-dark haunted attraction on the same property, which is not part of the family daytime visit and is not appropriate for young kids. Infants can come in a carrier but the dust and the heat make it a lot of work for no return.
About
Tolmachoff Farms is a fourth-generation working farm on 75th Avenue in Glendale, about 20 minutes from downtown Phoenix, and it is really two very different businesses sharing one address. For most of October it is Pumpkin Days, a daytime family festival built around a 6-acre corn maze that gets a new theme every year. After dark it becomes AZ Field of Screams, a haunted attraction aimed at teens and adults.
Sorting out which one you are buying a ticket for is the first thing to do, because bringing a five year old at the wrong hour is the mistake parents regret here.
The family side is well designed for kids who need to move. Admission has covered the family maze and a mini maze scaled for little kids, plus the petting zoo, the play areas and a jumping pillow. Around that, the farm adds a hay pyramid, a corn box, a pedal cart track for both adults and children, a train ride, and a tomato cannon that has run on Saturdays and Sundays only.
The mini maze deserves special mention: it lets a three year old have the same triumphant I-found-the-way-out moment that their older sibling gets in the big maze, which is the kind of detail that keeps a family from splitting up.
Season and hours are the operational catch. Pumpkin Days has run October 1 through October 31, and outside of that window the farm is closed for the season, aside from Christmas on the Farm, u-pick produce, the farm stand, field trips and birthday parties. October hours have been closed Monday and Tuesday, 1 p.
m. to 8 p. m.
Wednesday and Thursday, 1 p. m. to 10 p.
m. Friday, 10 a. m.
to 10 p. m. Saturday and 10 a.
m. to 8 p. m.
Sunday. A Wednesday or Thursday right at the 1 p. m.
opening is by far the calmest way to do this. The last two weekends before Halloween are the busiest days of the year.
A useful piece of fine print: online ticket sales have been non-refundable but redeemable on any open day through October 31. That means a 95-degree afternoon or a surprise storm does not cost you the tickets, and you can just come back. Save the confirmation.
With 1,300-plus reviews sitting at 4. 4, the pattern in the feedback is predictable. Families who come on a weekday afternoon, bring a wagon, set a pumpkin budget in the car and eat off site have a great time.
Families who arrive on a Saturday evening in late October with a toddler and no water find it crowded, dusty and expensive. Plan it like the first group. Bring the wagon, not the stroller, and wear shoes you do not mind ruining.
Age Suitability
Parent Logistics
Stroller-Friendly
Limited
Nursing / Changing
Unknown
Kid Meals
Limited
Setting
Outdoor
Rainy Day
Not ideal
Plan Your Visit
Best Time to Visit
Weekday afternoons in early October. The season has historically run October 1 through October 31 with the farm closed Mondays and Tuesdays, opening at 1 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and at 10 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday. That makes a Wednesday or Thursday opening at 1 p.m. the calmest window of the whole season, while Saturdays and the last two weekends before Halloween are the most crowded and the hottest in the parking lot. If you have young kids, go early in the month and early in the day on a weekend so you are out before the evening haunt crowd arrives. The farm is closed for most of the year and has posted an October 1 reopening, so check tolmachoff-farms.com before making any plan.
Wait Times
Expect a real line at the entrance and at the food vendors on October weekend afternoons and evenings, and shorter waits at the train ride and the tomato cannon. On a weekday right at the 1 p.m. opening, most attractions have little or no wait. The maze itself never has a queue once you are inside, which is why it is the best place to be when the crowd peaks.
Nearby Food
During Pumpkin Days the farm brings in food vendors, which are festival-style snacks rather than a meal you would plan around, and the offerings change through the season. Off site you are on 75th Avenue in Glendale with a dense retail corridor within about 5 to 10 minutes in most directions, including the Glendale Avenue and Bethany Home Road cross streets, and the Westgate Entertainment District a short drive west with a full run of family sit-down restaurants and fast casual. That makes the practical plan simple: snack at the farm, real meal off site. Confirm hours before you promise your kids a specific place.
Why Kids Love It
The 6-acre corn maze gets a new theme every year and is big enough to feel genuinely lost in, while the mini maze next to it gives little kids the same win at toddler scale. Between the jumping pillow, the hay pyramid, the corn box and the pedal cart track, there is almost nowhere your kids are told not to climb, which is the opposite of most outings. Add a train ride, a petting zoo and a tomato cannon on weekends, and the hard part becomes convincing anyone to leave before the pumpkins get picked over.
Pro Tips from Parents
- This farm is closed most of the year. Pumpkin Days has run October 1 through October 31, with Christmas on the Farm and u-pick produce seasons at other times, so check tolmachoff-farms.com before you drive out rather than assuming it is open.
- Know the two identities before you book. AZ Field of Screams is a separate after-dark haunted attraction on the same property and is not part of the family Pumpkin Days visit. Buying the wrong ticket or staying too late with a five year old is the classic mistake here.
- Closed Mondays and Tuesdays, with a 1 p.m. opening Wednesday through Friday and a 10 a.m. opening on weekends. A Wednesday or Thursday at opening is the quietest and cheapest-feeling version of the same day.
- Online tickets have been non-refundable but redeemable any open day through October 31, so a rained-out or too-hot afternoon does not cost you the ticket. Save the confirmation.
- Bring a wagon rather than a stroller. This is a working farm with dirt rows, and a wagon carries both the toddler and the pumpkins, which is the actual problem you will have on the walk back to the car.
- The tomato cannon has run on Saturdays and Sundays only. If that is the thing your big kid is excited about, go on a weekend and confirm it is running that day.
What to Bring
- A wagon for hauling small kids and pumpkins back to the car
- Closed-toe shoes for everyone that can get dusty
- Cash in small bills for add-ons like the train ride, the tomato cannon and vendors, in case card service is slow
- Water bottles for each person, since October afternoons in Glendale still run hot
- Sunscreen and hats, plus a light jacket if you are staying into the evening
- Wipes and hand sanitizer for after the petting zoo and the corn box
Cost Info
Estimated Cost (Family of 4)
Farm admission is charged per person for Pumpkin Days, with recent seasons listed by event guides in the mid-teens to about $20 a head and the youngest children free, so a family of four is generally looking at four admissions as the base.
Admission has included the family maze, the mini maze, the petting zoo, the play areas and the jumping pillow.
Add-ons are where the total climbs: pumpkins are priced separately by size, the train ride and the weekend tomato cannon have each been a few dollars per turn, and food vendors are their own line item.
A realistic plan is admission plus one pumpkin per kid plus one snack round.
Current pricing and the add-on list are posted at tolmachoff-farms.
com, so pull the numbers for your visit date.
Tips to Save
- Buy tickets online ahead of your visit, and note the policy that online sales have been non-refundable but redeemable on any open day through the end of October, which protects you if the weather turns.
- Eat before you come, because the food vendors are festival-priced and there is a full retail corridor 10 minutes away.
- Set a pumpkin rule in the car, one per kid and a size limit, before anyone sees the field.
- Skip the paid add-ons that duplicate what admission already covers, since the jumping pillow, the mazes, the petting zoo and the play areas are included and are what kids actually spend their time on.
- Go on a weekday, when the same admission buys a far better experience without the crowd.
- And if you have a preschooler, ask whether a school or group field trip rate applies to your co-op or class, which is usually the cheapest way in.
Hours & Contact
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