Teresa Sargeant
Key Points
- Great Scott Farms in Mount Dora is hosting its 24th annual fall festival and corn maze with an Island Adventure theme from Sept. 26 to Nov. 15.
- The farm features two corn mazes: a one-acre maze for children with five stations and a six-acre maze with 21 stations and trivia games.
- The festival offers additional attractions such as a playground, zip line, pumpkin patch, gem mining, and farm tours, attracting thousands each weekend.
Great Scott Farms is inviting families to trade screens for cornfields this fall as its corn maze and fall festival return for a 24th year with an “Island Adventure” theme.
The Mount Dora farm’s fall attraction, which opened Sept. 26 and will run until Nov. 15, features two corn mazes. This year, the maze and festival grounds incorporate island-themed decorations and trivia.
Haley Scott, retail manager at Great Scott Farms, said the farm selected the theme from several options with younger visitors in mind.
“We just chose it at random,” Scott said. “There’s a bunch of different options, and we kind of went with one that we thought that the kids would enjoy and be excited about.”
The farm offers a smaller, one-acre maze geared toward younger children, with five stations for visitors to find. A larger six-acre maze, which Scott said contains 21 stations, and offers an accompanying game in which visitors answer trivia questions connected to the Island Adventure theme.
After the design is selected, an outside company prepares the maze design before a worker cuts it into the cornfield using a small tractor and GPS, Scott said. Cutting the design takes about four hours.
Visitors looking for activities beyond the maze can also find a giant playground with a children’s zip line, jumbo games, a super slide, mist hut, jumping pillow, tree maze, gem mining, farm tours and a pumpkin patch, said Kirsten Gushwa, director of operations.
The fall festival began in 2003, according to information from the Great Scott Farms website. Scott said that the festival’s appeal is rooted partly in giving families an outdoor activity they can enjoy together. Last year’s festival featured an “Under the Sea” theme and a seven-acre corn maze.
“I think it’s just old-fashioned fun,” Scott said. “It’s something different. Gets the kids outside instead of in front of a screen and gets them, lets them get fresh air and run around and get some of their energy out and lets family enjoy time together.”
The farm typically sees a few thousand visitors each Saturday and Sunday during the fall season, although Scott said weather can affect weekend attendance. Visitors come from Apopka and other areas, with some traveling from Tampa and Florida’s coasts. Gushwa said the farm has even had visitors from as far away as Colombia.
The festival is open to the public Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday, the farm offers visits for school field trips and other groups.
Advance tickets are $16, plus a 99-cent online fee, while tickets at the gate are $20. Great Scott Farms posts weather-related updates on its Facebook page.