The Orange County Fair

Tuesday, August 10, 2010


This is it!  The final week of the Orange County Fair!
This Wednesday, August 11 through Sunday, August 15 is your last chance to experience all the fair has to offer.
My family and I ended up going twice last week because there was so much to see and do, not to mention all the different kinds of foods to try this year.

So what does the Fair have to offer you ask? Let me show you some of the stuff my family and I enjoyed.

First we had to go visit all the farm animals. There are baby chicks for you to touch, and of course goats, sheep, cows with two calves, and a llama. Then there are all the baby pigs to see. This year, there are two mamas with babies.





It wouldn't be a Fair without some rides and games right? On Wednesday and Thursday games are $1 until 8 p.m., and on Friday rides and games are both $1 until 7 p.m. This is actually a great deal if you plan to do either because we noticed a lot of the games were 7 tickets, and on dollar days it's only 2 tickets. You have to buy a ticket card to do either, that they scan for each game or ride. You can imagine those tickets would go pretty fast for full price.  They have ticket booths all around the games and rides for your convenience. 







Another great deal on Friday is $1 food tastings at participating booths. Basically it's a mini version of a particular food. We thought this was a great deal and idea especially for small appetites.

This year the fair has an Ice Museum. They offer you blanket jackets to wear inside, but I personally don't think it is needed. The museum is pretty small, and you don't spend too much time inside, but it is worth a look. It's a good way to cool off for a couple minutes.
Everything inside is ice including the walls you walk along, which they carved to look like brick. At the end they have the "Thinking Man" statue for you to pose with and get a picture for a $5 fee.






As  soon as you leave the Ice Museum, you can visit the bread sculptures. At first glance I didn't even realize they were all made of bread, in fact some are hard to believe.




Al's Brain in 3D makes another appearance this year, and you can catch Weird Al performing live at the Pacific Amphitheatre this Friday and Saturday. Just remember there is a separate fee for this, however Al's Brain is included in the fair admission.


Our favorite thing at the fair this year is the Fun Zone.  The theme is Circus Fun for Everyone, and my son sure had a lot of fun. I think that is probably why we loved it so much. There are games, exhibits, play areas, and a stage set up for shows. Right in the middle of the circus tent is a huge sandbox set up for the kids with lots of sand buckets, tools, dump trucks, and a crawl tunnel. We actually spent a lot of time near that sand box. All the kids were having a blast building and interacting with other kids. It was a very friendly atmosphere. There are benches set up along the sides for the parents to watch.





These stilt walkers hang out in front of the Fun Zone.

Across the way from the Fun Zone tent you can ride an actual elephant. You can also hop on a ski lift chair, and get a birds eye view, while ending up on the other side of the fair.


There is much more to see including the Alaskan Pig Races, the Russell Brothers Circus, the Peking Acrobats, Hypnotist Mark Yuziuk, to name a few.

My favorite fried food this year is the Klondike bar. I was amazed that some of the ice cream was still frozen in the middle, but that didn't last once I started to dig in. It reminded me of eating hot apple pie with ice cream on top, subtract the apple and add chocolate. Yum!

Tomorrow Wednesday August 11, if you bring a new school item valued $3.00 or more you get one free fair admission and carnival ride per person.
Offer only from noon-6 p.m.

Thursday kids 12 and under are free all day

The Orange County Fair is located at:
88 Fair Drive Costa Mesa, Ca 92626
General parking is $7.00
Admission:
General (13-59) $10
Children (6-12) $5
Children under 6 Free
Seniors (60+) $7

The fair is open everyday noon-midnight
Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. -midnight

For more information including daily schedules visit:


1 comment:

Lacey said...

That's it! Your blog sucks! Ok, it totally doesn't. Just joking. But seriously, every new entry makes me incredibly jealous! I wish we had fairs nearby that we could attend. They are so much fun. I haven't been in years. I'm googling 'Louisiana State Fairs' right now to see what I find. I will travel far and wide after seeing this fun post.