I took 4 kids to Tweite's on an MEA day. It was fairly crowded but not terribly so. The kid's ages ranged from 10-12. There were lots of things to do...nothing super exciting. But still a place to get some fresh air and exercise. I would think it would be more fun to kids under 10. We have been to something in Texas that was similar that was much more fun.
Before we went, I checked their website and saw they had a whole food court with lots of different options. Perfect! I planned our outing to include lunch in the middle for a break. However, when we arrived and paid (way too much for what you get) two of the 4 kids were starving. So I sent the other two off to explore while I headed towards the food court. It was closed. The only food offerings was a "snack shack" with a bit of a line, but not too bad. So we got in line. The only lunch offerings were hot dogs and nachos. Ok...fine.
35 minutes. That line took 35 minutes to get 2 hot dogs and nachos. It was just absurd. The hot dogs were taking the longest because a young woman was (without gloves on) having to pick up each hot dog and inserting a thermometer in. Then putting it back and picking up another one and doing it again...over and over until she found one hot enough. All while the other food is cooling off. What were they thinking?
Then...you have to go into a different line to get drinks, chips and to pay. *Sigh*
45 minutes later me and the kids sit down to put some food in our bellies. The nachos...chili and cheese were inedible. I had a couple because I was just that hungry. But I have never had anything quite as disgusting. But the kids were ok with their hot dogs and chips.
We headed off to see if we could find the other 2 kids. We thought the tractor-wagon ride was the best option. I think this is a good idea. It has 3 stops around the farm to cut down on walking. We were waiting for about 20 minutes by the chickens. Suddenly everyone there started getting eaten alive by some tiny bugs. Everyone was doing the bug dance. The worker there was completely disinterested. I even told her. One of the kids with me was getting big welts, but all three of us have them today. I have like 20.
So we found the older two kids coming out of the corn maze. They said it "sucked" and wasn't fun so they just cut through. They have both liked them in the past so I think the lack of a map and the poor state of the corn stocks made it more frustrating then fun.
But at that point these kids started talking about being STARVING. I was hearing people talking about how it was taking even longer to get food (one lady said she gave up after an hour) and sure enough, the line was longer and people looked more upset. At that point we decided to leave and get a real lunch and go to Oxbow (where we actually had a good time).
The way Tweite's handled this was inexcusable. If they knew they would get a crowd (Of course on MEA days they would, they even opened for it specifically), they should have either been prepared to feed them, or put out a sign outside the drive in saying food offerings were limited and suspended their food policy about bringing your own in. I would have ran and grabbed lunch for the kids and we would have then come back and enjoyed the slightly enjoyable farm. read more