When is the Schnepf Farms Pumpkin & Chili Party in 2026?

The 2026 party runs October 1–31, Wednesday through Sunday (closed Mondays and Tuesdays). Hours: Wednesdays 4–9 p.m., Thursdays noon–9 p.m., Fridays noon–10 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m.–10 p.m., Sundays 10 a.m.–9 p.m. The final days are Wednesday Oct 28 through Saturday Oct 31: Halloween night is the last night.

How much is admission to the Pumpkin & Chili Party?

General admission is $28.95 per person, and children 2 and under are free. A season pass is $99 per person. Admission covers 35+ rides and attractions; food, pumpkins, train rides and a few extras (spooky train, paintball, mining) cost extra.

What is included with Schnepf Farms Pumpkin & Chili Party admission?

Hayrides, the petting zoo, the 10-acre corn maze, jumping pillows, two vintage carousels, the Giant Slide, the Miler roller coaster, carnival rides like the Kamikaze and the Ferris wheel, Hillbilly Bob's pig races, the stunt dog show, live music and bonfires. Not included: food and chili dinners, pumpkins, train rides (the after-dark Spooky Train is $10), pony rides, paintball and gem mining.

What ages is the Pumpkin & Chili Party best for?

All of them, which is rare. Little kids get the petting pen, play yards and the Honeybee Adventure bee ride; bigger kids and teens get the Kamikaze, the coaster and the Giant Slide; the Spooky Train after dark is the one genuinely spooky beat, and it is more playful than terrifying.

How long should you allow for the Pumpkin & Chili Party?

At least 3–4 hours, and a full evening is better. The farm changes character after dark: the slide lights up, the Spooky Train runs and fireworks close the big nights, so arriving in the golden hour and staying through the finale is the move. The farm is big; bring a stroller or wagon for little legs.

THE WAGON SYSTEM

How a Veer Cruiser became the command center for baseball weekends, beach days, and every family outing in between

Somebody asks us about this wagon almost every weekend. Sometimes it is a parent at the baseball fields. Sometimes it is a friend who saw it in Jess’s stories and wants the link. It happened again this week, so we are writing the whole thing down once: what the wagon is, what rides in it, and why it changed our outings more than any stroller ever did.

Jess runs the system. Her own review, posted over a photo of the boys mid-outing: “I can’t believe my life has come down to a whole wagon system and setup for outings, and meal and snack planning constantly for our busy schedules, but here we are. Kinda thriving tho.” She is right, and her photo is at the bottom of this page. The wagon did not just haul the kids. It reorganized the day around it.

Meet the legendary, game stopping, breaking necks at the ballpark Veer Cruiser XL, $799, and you can buy it right on Veer’s website. The long version is below.

The essentials

What	Details
The wagon	Veer All-Terrain Cruiser XL, four seats, $799. The two-seat Cruiser runs $699.
Where to buy	On Veer’s website, goveer.com. That is also where the full accessory lineup lives.
What it hauls	A full-size cooler, a clip-on fan, storage baskets front and back, a rack for the chairs, towels, and a crew of kids with room to sprawl.
Best for	Baseball tournaments, beach days, zoos, festivals, farmers markets, and long travel days.
Wheels	Big all-terrain tires that roll over sand, gravel, and grass, where stroller wheels give up.
Fold	Folds down for the trunk. Ours rides assembled in the back the rest of the week.

Nothing here is sponsored. We bought our wagon at full price, and we would buy it again tomorrow.

What actually rides in it

Jess's story photo of the boys in the loaded Veer wagon, with her caption about the wagon system and meal planning

Start with the cooler, Veer’s Day Cooler, because the cooler is the point. It rides at the front with the whole day inside it: meals, snacks, and cold drinks, planned the night before around game times and nap math. Jess plans food for an outing the way other people plan a road trip, and the wagon is why that is possible with the kids in tow.

Clipped to the frame is a battery fan, blowing straight at the boys. In Arizona that is not an accessory, it is insurance. The rear storage basket takes towels, blankets, and a change of clothes for everybody. A second basket rides on the front, next to a hanger rack that takes the chairs and tall gear. Hooks on the sides carry bags and hats, and leather sleeves zip over the push handles, because the person pushing logs as many miles as the kids riding. Cup holders and a snack tray sit up front where small hands can reach them.

It looks like a lot because it is a lot. It is also one trip from the car instead of four, and that math is the whole review.

Baseball weekends

Tournament days are the test. Gates at seven in the morning, the last game at dusk, and a hundred degrees by the second game. The wagon turns into basecamp: our food instead of the snack bar line, our shade gear, a real seat for the little brother that is not the dirt, and a rolling couch the boys climb back into between games.

Everything the day needs is already in it, loaded once at home. No cooler forgotten, no second trip to the parking lot in the heat, no kid melting down because lunch is a bag of chips from a concession stand. Other parents ask about it every single weekend. That is how this post happened.

Travel and the beach

The Veer Cruiser from the side on a clean studio background, showing the push handle, cup holders, snack tray, and all-terrain wheels. Product photo from Veer.

Strollers die in sand. The Cruiser’s big tires do not. The same goes for gravel lots, grass fields, and the long paths at the zoo. Push it like a stroller on the pavement, pull it like a wagon when the ground turns, and it just keeps rolling.

The attachments are how it shapeshifts. Basket on for the beach. Cooler rig for tournaments. The retractable canopy goes up when the sun is the opponent. On travel days it swallows the airport schlep and the rental car shuffle, then folds down and disappears into the trunk. One piece of gear, four different jobs, and the kids ride like it is the best seat of the trip. Some days it is.

A Veer Cruiser on beach wheels crossing soft sand with a kid riding inside, surfers walking past. Photo from Veer.

Soft sand is the one surface that fights back, and it has a dedicated answer: the Beach Wheel Kit ($299). Two oversized inflatable tires and two swivel wheels swap onto the frame with the push of a button, no tools, and the wagon floats over sand that stops everything else cold. One rule comes with them: beach wheels are pull mode only, so the handle drops and the wagon trails behind you like it was born there. That is the rig in this photo.

The honest part

Every Field Notes post gets one friction point, and this one has two. First, a system takes setup: five minutes of loading Tetris at home so the day runs easy later. Second, at $799 the XL is a real purchase, not an impulse buy, and it is a big piece of gear in the garage.

It earns it back the first time a tournament day runs on your food, your shade, and your schedule. But go in with eyes open: you are becoming wagon people. There is no going back, and based on the texts we get, you will be explaining your setup to strangers by the second weekend.

If you want one

The Veer Cruiser from above on a clean studio background, showing the two seats with harnesses and the snack tray between them. Product photo from Veer.

Buy it on Veer’s website: the four-seat Cruiser XL at $799, which is the one in our garage, or the two-seat Cruiser at $699. If your weekends look like ours, start with the XL and the foldable storage basket ($99). The retractable canopy ($69 for the XL) is the second add-on worth grabbing. The cooler up front is that Day Cooler ($249), and it comes in six colors if tan is not your thing. The rest of our rig: the Cruiser Rack ($129), the hook rack that carries chairs, boards, and duffels upright, and the Napa leather grips ($59 for the XL) on the push handles. For sand, add the Beach Wheel Kit ($299). The fan you will have to source yourself, and in Arizona it is not optional.

Send this page to the person who keeps asking. That is what it is for.

Studio and beach photos from Veer’s product pages.