By 1. Pa’s Pumpkin Patch
Location: 500 Lakewood Center Mall, Lakewood, CA 90712
Distance from CSULB campus – 6.6 miles or a 13-minute drive
Cost: Adults – $5
Kids 4-12 – $2.50
Kids 3 & under – Free
Hours: Monday – Friday: 3 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Various visitors walk past the rows of pumpkins and take photos/selfies among the various photo ops and backdrops available at Pa’s Pumpkin Patch on Oct. 17. The pumpkin house seen in the background was completed that day by location workers. Photo Credit: Delfino Camacho
For 50 years, Pa’s Pumpkin Patch was a local institution.
Dave and Gail Thacker first began Pa’s in 1973. In five decades, they moved three times but always stayed within the Long Beach city limits.
Until this year.
Current owner, Dave and Gail’s daughter-in-law, Claudia Thacker said it was due to construction that they had to leave their previous home of 18 years.
“It was pretty sad for us to move, we asked the city but there was nowhere for them to relocate us,” Thacker said. “We wanted to continue the legacy.”
They had trouble securing a new location until a neighboring city official sought them out.
For their 51st Halloween, Pa’s Pumpkin Patch has sprouted in Lakewood.
Located in Lakewood Center’s parking lot, Pa’s Pumpkin Patch offers visitors a variety of games, food, snacks, a fun house, carousel and, of course, the titular pumpkins.
The new space is almost double the size of the old, with new features including a pet-friendly patch featuring a mini dog park area, a stage where start-up bands play on the weekends and new backdrops for photos.
A little girl wearing a jack-o’-lantern shirt poses among the jumbo pumpkins while her parents take photos of her at Pa’s Pumpkin Patch on Oct. 17. Location owner Claudia Thacker said although they offer rides, games and food, the most popular activities among her guests seem to be taking themed photos. Photo Credit: Delfino Camacho
Due to the substantial amount of parents and couples coming to take photos this year, Pa’s Pumpkin Patch unveiled a new feature– special photo backdrops that require tickets, which include both disco and rainbow pumpkin rooms.
“So, it’s a different city, but it doesn’t matter, we are the same,” Thacker said. “We are Pa’s Pumpkin Patch and we haven’t changed, we just got better.”
Pumpkin prices vary at Pa’s as they use an old-fashioned farmers chart to range individual pumpkin prices by size.
2. Fallstivities Pumpkin Patch
Location: 3545 The City Way E, Orange, CA 92868
Distance from CSULB campus – 14 miles or a 16-minute drive
Cost: Free – Visitors must fill out a QR code waiver before entering
Hours: Monday – Friday: 4 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Saturday – Sunday: 11 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Anthony, who manages Fallstivities Pumpkin Patch holds a large regular pumpkin on Oct. 16. Day, who manages the pumpkin patch with his mother, said that they offer a wider variety of pumpkins compared to other locations. Photo Credit: Delfino Camacho
For the past two years, the owner who has asked to remain anonymous and her son Anthony have operated their pumpkin patch out of the Los Cerritos Center.
This year, conflicting events left the business without a location, marking Fallstivities as the second local family-run pumpkin patch displaced from its regular location this Halloween.
“We were blessed to find this spot, even though it’s a little bit smaller, but we do anticipate returning to Cerritos next season,” the owner said. “We’ll probably still have this location, for the local community.”
What separates Fallstivities from other local pumpkin capitals is their expansive, curated variety of pumpkins for sale.
Beyond large carving pumpkins, Anthony says some of their best-sellers are more decorative pumpkins such as the white crystal star pumpkins and the mini blaze pumpkins which resemble green goblin bombs.
A price guide table displays the different prices for different kinds of pumpkins at the Fallstivities Pumpkin Patch on Oct. 16. Photo Credit: Delfino Camacho
The site also includes a playpen area for children guarded by a worker who sanitizes the zone every 45 minutes.
Fallstivities offers other rides, including inflatable jumpers and slides, but visitors crave the photo backdrops. They provide plenty of cartoony themes.
“A lot of people that come visit us, their compliment is, ‘Oh my goodness, you have so many photo ops,’ and I take pride in that,” the owner said.
Pumpkin prices vary but range between $10 and $30.
3. The Pumpkin Factory at Westminster Mall
Location: 1025 Westminster Mall, Westminster, CA 92683
Distance from CSULB campus – 7.3 miles or an 8-minute drive
Cost: Monday – Thursday: Free
Friday – Sunday: Adults – $5
Kids 2 & under – Free
Hours: Monday – Thursday: 5 p.m. – 9 p.m.
Friday: 4 p.m. – 10 p.m.
Saturday: 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.
Sunday: 10 a.m. – 9 p.m.
Ingrid Alma, 12, debates whether or not to ride the Rock and Roll Coaster at the Westminster Pumpkin Factory as her mom, Rosa Alma, gives her some advice on Thursday, Oct. 17. The coaster is a fairly new addition, just added last year. Photo Credit: Delfino Camacho
With its Ferris wheel lights visible from the 405 freeway, it is almost disingenuous to call the Westminster Pumpkin Factory a patch.
Located in the Westminster Mall parking lot, the Pumpkin Factory retains the qualities of a fair. Pumpkins are for sale to the left as visitors enter, but the Factory offers much more.
The site’s manager Lizbeth Trevilla, 26, has been with the company since she was 15.
“I believe I [became] a manager when I was 17 years old,” Trevilla said. “Ever since then, I’ve been here. Every year.”
Trevilla said this year includes new additions.
“This year we actually got [food] vendors, like the chicken place, we got the cookie stand,” Trevilla said. “We got the Ferris wheel new and we got the free corn maze.”
The site offers other large and small rides, games, jumpers, paintball and face painting. They also boast a petting zoo and live pony rides.
A couple embrace and kiss while shopping for pumpkins at the Westminster Pumpkin Factory on Oct. 17. Beyond the pumpkins the location operates like a mini fair with rides for adults and kids. Photo Credit: Delfino Camacho
In what has become a theme, Trevilla said they have begun adding more photo opportunity backdrops.
“I think our most popular thing here is our photo ops. Like, we have [a] big rocking chair that a lot of people come straight to it and our pumpkin house as well,” Trevilla said. “A lot of couples, they come and they take pictures and that’s it.”
Pumpkin prices range from $1 and max out at $25.
