Went on a Sunday. Less than an hour away from Minneapolis. My 2 year old daughter loved the corn pit and the playground. Their cider is delicious. read more

Apple Jack Orchards - Apple Jack orchards playground - Fruits & Veggies Near Me - Delano, Minnesota

This orchard offers similar activites and ambiance as many other orchards - but for a ton of money. They offer no discounts for disabled children. When I asked if they offer different pricing for the disabled (as many places do), the woman looked at me like I had 6 heads (so disrespectful and exhausting to see looks of shock and derision just for asking about disability). It's one thing to politely say "no," it's another to be snarky to a mom asking a legitimate question. It may be worth it for some families as it's a fun place. However, unless you're willing to be dishonest, you will come away with $40 worth of apples because your cognitively disabled child (or even just young child in many instances!) picked extra. Apples are expensive at $4.50/lb so it doesn't take a lot to add up fast. I was honest, brought them to the woman, explained one of my children is disabled (she could see her next to me!) and I don't want to purchase these (just leaving them on the ground seemed dishonest). Her response - hands on hips and all - was "you pick 'em, you buy them, sweetheart." The "sweetheart" made my skin crawl. When I pressed her further she said "That's just farming sweetie." This employee referred to me as "sweetie" or "sweetheart" multiple times in the most condiscending, gross way. As a business, don't do that. At best it is inappropriate, pejorative, condescending language - at worst she's was intentionally using that kind of language in a discriminatory manner after I clearly explained my child is disabled. I was not asking for free apples. When I tried to explain again about the unintentional picking (I mean, we could have just dropped the apples, left them under the trees and saved myself the headache!), I was told emphatically no one ever picks apples they don't pay for (ya right) and all the apples on the ground naturally fall. I mean, at this point I'm just pissed at the obviously unfactual information. You're telling me with a straight face that no child ever picks an apple and throws it on the ground? Seriously? (Btw the employee argued adamantly "no one ever picks apples and leaves them on the ground. That does not happen." This person was adamant that every picked apple is always paid for in full.) I was asking for accommodation and understanding while being honest and upfront. I wanted to pay for apples - I intended to purchase most of them! I was clearly not asking to take the extra apples with me or "trying to get something for free." I paid for all the apples (the "extra" apples and the apples we intended to pick), apologized for being honest, and left. Also, note that it costs $10 just to enter the orchard - then it costs $4.50/lb for apples. I had already paid $40 to this same employee just to enter with my family! And she absolutely refused to show any compassion or understanding even with a significant entry fee. As a parent of a disabled child, you know the good places and the less good places. In my experience, this was one of the less good places. We will go back to Minnetonka Orchard or Providence Orchard next year. read more

We have been going to Apple Jack Orchards for over 20 years and have seen it change from a nice family environment to a more commercial feel. The kids are a lot older now, so it is less about the experience for us and more about just getting some fresh apples. I will say that the olden days with less "business" seemed more fun than the "need to get a ticket for each activity" approach. All in all this is not a big deal as we don't go for the "king of the hay pile" or petting zoo anymore. The reason for this review is to share the poor "business" experience we had. We bought some apples and caramel for a total of $44. After leaving and driving for 10 minutes, my wife happened to get a notice on her phone from her credit card that a large purchase was just made. She reviewed the transaction and saw a $440 charge was just made at Apple Jack. A small (not so small) oops on their part? Since they did not ask for a signature on the receipt, my wife could not have even caught this error when processed at the store. We returned to the orchard and my wife went in to get this corrected. The response was not what you would expect following a $396 error on their part. In summary: * When they realized it would take some time to figure out how to correct this on their new system, one person made the comment that "she (as in my wife) won't mind waiting". How do they know she won't mind waiting? * When we asked for a receipt to show the credit, they said it was a new system and they didn't know how to print a receipt. Really? This has to be the most basic function since it is done at all other retail environments. After some prodding, someone finally said "oh, there is a print receipt" button. Imagine that? * I would think you would be overly apologetic following a $396 error. Not really for the staff that addressed this. Not even an offer for a free apple pie for our troubles. * On a side note, the young lad running the apple cannon could use a little customer service lesson too. I write this not to get a free bag of apples, but in hopes that Apple Jack Orchards recognizes how the impression their staff and the indifference they show can negatively impact their customers. Even those customers that are 20 plus years in the making. read more

This orchard has lost my family for good. They changed the ticket purchasing process and now have all tickets being sold in one spot with only 2 people selling the tickets. The line easily took 45+ minutes just to get activity tickets. There were massive groups of people standing around without any support staff to help manage the line and keep people in line. Packs of unsupervised teens crowding the lines... This is all before entering the lines for the activities. Inside the building they had run out of half the things we always purchase. This orchard needs to reevaluate how they are running things. Until then my family will not return. read more

Family fun with plenty of Fall activities. Their pastries, apples, jelly, jam, preserves, and especially the pies are worth the trip.

I guess I'm from the school of thought where apple picking is supposed to be a relaxing family activity. This was not the case at Apple Jack Orchards. While I realize that every business is supposed to make money, I feel like you basically hand over your wallet when you walk through the gate to this place. They nickle and dime you for......well everything. We were surprised they didn't charge for the port-a-potty. Seriously. Starting with the parking lot....oh my goodness. While there were 3 teenage boys "directing" traffic this became a road-rage situation and I was thankful I was not driving because trust someone would have been hurt. And by directing traffic, I mean these boys were texting on their phone and chatting with one another. The driveway to exit and enter is so narrow that it does NOT fit an SUV and another car. I mean, it was a ZOO!!! People swearing, beeping their horns, backing up an inch, going forward and inch.......this is more like a nightmare than a fun family day. They were not even present when we left which was around 3pm and proved to be even busier than when we got there around noon. To top it all off, you have pedestrians walking through the traffic trying to get to the orchard. All in all, a horrible system that needs serious help or someone is gonna get hurt. For real. So, there is a handful of things to do with the kids, all ranging from $2-$5 a pop. The pony ride my nephew took was $4 for about 2 minutes- no joke. What a rip. The apples? We didn't even buy then starting at almost $13 for a 1/2 a peck. The pumpkins? At 40 cents a pound, you could spend a small fortune getting pumpkins for the whole family. We chose to get them at the farmer down the street at a much better price and not all the hustle and bussel. The cafe/store? A mad house. Not well organized and super cramped. I know that the trend is to turn the local apple orchard into an amusement park and call me old fashioned but I still like to go to the small apple family owned-run orchard, pick my apples, sip of an apple cider and some popcorn and not fight the crowds. Kids need to learn the joy in picking apples and being out in nature. Life is all enjoying the simple things. (Not gross germy bouncey houses!) read more

This used to be out go to Apple Orchard. It seems like prices on everything have skyrocketed, and now, just to go pick apples they charge a $5 per person admission fee? In good, won't be coming back next year. We also stood in line at the food counter for easily 25 minutes. I understand it's good to let teenagers work, but give them some guidance or supervision. I placed my order, and had to wait almost 10 minutes just for the cashier to grab my 3 items. Took this long because another worker spilled some apple cider and didn't clean it up, so my cashier took it upon herself to clean it up. Get a system going, someone take my order, someone fills the order. Extremely inefficient. read more

This is a great orchard. Beautiful place to spend a fall day. Very busy though and long lines are frustrating in a very hot room.

Didn't take more then two steps onto Apple Jacks Orchard before being asked to leave because our dog was a health concern. I'm sorry but i beg to differ. Dogs are required to have shots, whereas their farm animals are not, so petting their farm animals are more of a health risk then any house dog would be. This place is over crowded and the drive is not worth it. More of an amusement park feel then apple orchard. 10/10 would not recommend. read more

The focus here is less about apple picking than it is on "family fall fun". We've been coming here for years, since our boys were babies, and seen it change from a homey orchard with a few fall activities, to a full-fledged (and somewhat expensive) fall amusement park of sorts. There's a lot of good here, but some problems. Good: For starters, it's relatively close to the Metro. We're from the west edge of Plymouth so it's an easy drive for us. It's a beautiful setting, on the Crow River with an old barn and farmstead. There are plenty of activities to do, mostly geared toward the 12-and-under set. A few of them are free, but most of them cost extra (more on that below). There is a small petting zoo which is free, and a small play area catering to kids probably 8 and under. Less-good: This place tends to get crowded, so it's definitely not the "down home the farm" feel that you might expect. The activities are on both sides of 2 different county roads (including the parking area), so it's always a little unnerving having kids cross them. We went with some new friends this year and they were disappointed that there was no "self pick" option on the day we came. They were confused as they thought that was the whole point of going to an orchard. "If I wanted to just buy apples I would have went to the grocery store" said the dad. A few years back they had a wristband that you could buy that basically let the kids do whatever they wanted. The dropped that option a few years ago and now you pay for almost everything. This year's prices were $6 for the Corn Maze. $2 each for the corn pit, cow train, wagon ride, apple canon... I believe the "jumping pillow" was $4 as was the pony rides. As you can see, even with only 2 boys we could spend a LOT of money here, and that's before eating a single apple goodie in the cafe. The Jumping Pillow is something our boys really love, and on the positive, the times we've been there, there has been no enforced time limit (although the 'monitor' did have a stopwatch, I didn't see it being used). So the kids can get quite a bit of time for their $4 each. The Corn Maze is ok... it's less of a maze than a design carved out of the corn... there's many ways you could 'solve' the maze and unfortunately patrons will barge through where they're not supposed to and make 'shortcuts' and it's not clear whether they're an official path or not. Other area orchards have some of these activities for free, or at least a "pay one price to get in". Our kids always want to do the corn pit but it's hard to pay another $4 after you spend all the money doing the maze, jumping pillow, etc. The $2 wagon ride would cost us $8 for the family and is essentially a 5-10 minute ride around the perimeter of a few fields. If the owners are reading this - we love what you are trying to do, but PLEASE consider bringing back some sort of punch card, wrist band, multi-ticket bonus for those of us on a budget. This year we spent over $50, did only a fraction of the activities, and came home with nary an apple or pumpkin. read more

While this orchard was nice, we have it 4 stars because it's a haul from the twin cities. My toddler boys loved the place, especially the rubber jump contraption and the "train" ride. If you have little ones be sure to bring a stroller. The rides were affordable. Mostly everything was 1 ticket ($3). We would probably opt for something closer to the twin cities for our next outing. read more

Turnover was good. Apple crisp was good but overly sweet in my opinion. No pick your own apples this year which was a bummer and the reason we went. Maybe next year. read more

The start of summer is always a joyous time for me as I begin making lists of all the great place I HAVE to visit during summer and coming fall months. One of the absolute musts for me is Apple Jacks Orchards. I love perusing the orchards enjoying the glowing fall harvest, followed by a trip to the cafe and gift shop for a treat. The shop is full of typical orchard fair and a gigantic walk-in cooler full of apples. I usually sample my weight in apple slices (some of which I coat in the complimentary caramel sauce!) and have to make a stop at the counter for an apple donut or pastry for later. Apple Jack's is a great place to enjoy a beautiful fall afternoon. A must for everyone! read more

Great environment. Good food! I got the chicken and wild rice soup and it was worth every penny. We also got a cider wurst and that was also tastey, it came with a relish that was a little on the strange side but still good. It'd sure get the people talkin. Wish there was less unattended kids though. read more

Great place to spend a day in autumn! Nice little restaurant with great apple donuts and other freshly baked apple goodies - not the healthiest of food, but still good! Friendly staff, always clean bathrooms, and a beautiful location. read more

This is a great apple orchard. It used to be a lot better. We have been taking our grandkids here for about 6 years. This visit turned me off by how much they have changed this visit into a commercial event that should be downtown Minneapolis instead. I will give you a couple of examples. The pony ride used to be a dollar and the kids would hop on the pony and get walked through the woods for about five minutes. It is now $4 and about a minute ride. The wagon ride through the apple orchard used to be a dollar for adults and kids free. The wagon was full and while you waited in line for the next John Deere tractor to pull in (there were only two), you dropped your money in the box and then piled in for a ride that was narrated by the driver over the speaker. Now, you buy tickets ahead of time, the ride is double the price ($2/adult and children under 4 free) and the narration is a commercial for all of the other events that you can spend your money on - apple guns, corn maze at $4 per person, some jumping air bag that just reminded me of little dollar bills jumping up into the air, and another ride called the cow ride for little children. The pumpkins are by the pound and are double the price of the honor pay system off the wagon that you see at the farm down the road. I don't know where the other reviewer is buying their apples, but $12 for a 1/2 peck of apples is about double the price that I paid a about 3-4 years ago, the last time that I went. They also used to have taste tables in front of all of the different kinds of apples - that is gone. It is not the same experience. I did like the music being played in the tent - free. They do have a lot of other things for kids - face painting, animals, and a hay mound with a slide. The big attraction for my grandkids was the river in the back where they picked up a snake and passed it around. Visiting the farm, even an apple farm, is still about the simple pleasures. Leave the circus in the city. read more

we've gone to this orchard for several years now and this year were very disappointed to find out that to even walk through the orchards and play on the play ground they are charging $5 a person and if you so choose to pick apples as well then that will cost you even more, at that rate its cheaper to buy the apples at the grocery store verse paying the $8.50 per pound of apples there. read more

I just went to Apple Jacks today for the first time and I don't think I'll ever go anywhere else again! It's the perfect orchard. Tons of stuff to do! It's massive, but it has a mellow vibe at the same time. I loved it!!!!!!! read more

I go to Apple Jacks every year with my kids, two other moms, and their kids. Apple Jacks has a great selection of apple types and their bakery items are delicious. That being said, there are other orchards I like much, much better. Apple Jacks is expensive, you need to cross the street to get to the apples, there's always a super long line for the wagon ride, and parking is horrible. We go here at our friend's request but if it's a homey, simple, get in touch with nature orchard experience you're looking for, look elsewhere. read more

We've gone to this place for many years because it's a fun location and they have THE BEST apples we've ever eaten. I love the pies and the food they sell too, cute shop. Lots to do for the family, but the apples are EXPENSIVE! I guess you pay for the quality, but we've decided to go somewhere else that's more affordable. Aside from that, it's a great visit. read more