Creating Spooktacular Memories at the Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch

We visited as a guest of the IPR

The Irvine Park Railroad has always been one of our favorite places to create special family memories together during the holiday season. No matter how old my children get, they still love coming to visit the Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch.

With my younger son being kept busy with football almost every day of the week, I visited the park this year alone with my two older children. We started out our visit with my kids guessing the weight of the giant pumpkin. They love trying to lift the massive pumpkin and estimating its weight for a chance to win a special prize.

Once we had our tickets…it was time for the fun to begin.

Our first stop was at the pumpkin ring toss. The best part about the games at Irvine Park Railroad is that every kid is a winner. My kids tossed their rings onto the top of a pumpkin and then got to pick out a giant blow-up dinosaur to bring home as a souvenir.

Then it was on to my favorite activity – cookie decorating. I love watching my children create culinary masterpieces with unlimited frosting and sprinkles galore. While my older son was in the Christmas spirit and decorated his cookie with red and green colors, my daughter transformed her cookie into a jack-o-lantern.

Then it was time for some “spooky” fun as we walked through the haunted house. The “not so scary” haunted house is one of the best in Orange County, and it is free for families to go through as many times as they wish.

My heart broke when I realized that this was the first year that my kids were all too big for the John Deere trucks, but that didn’t stop us from continuing to have fun panning for gold. I learned that we would be millionaires if we lived during the gold rush era because my kids seemed to have some serious panning for gold skills.

Before exploring the rest of the fall fun, we stopped to have a snack break. There is a small snack shack in the middle of the park offering cotton candy, popcorn, and drinks. Then there is a larger snack shack that has burgers and fries at the front of the park near the entrance to the train ride.

Once we were fueled with tasty food, we ran around the hay maze a ton of times. We were giggling together while trying to find our way out of the large maze. (The maze is free for families to experience)

Our visit would not be complete without some face painting. My daughter got a sparkly pumpkin on her cheek to wear for the rest of the day. While my daughter was getting her face painted, my son was searching the park for the largest pumpkin he could find.

Finally, we ended our day with a hayride on the tractor and a train ride around Irvine Park. The Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch is open daily until Halloween and is guaranteed to be your favorite place to celebrate the fall season together as a family. The Irvine Park Railroad Pumpkin Patch is located at 1 Irvine Park Road in Orange. Admission to the park is $5 per vehicle on the weekends, and $3 on the weekdays. Some activities require tickets at an additional charge.