Date: 3/31/2018
Time: 10am SHARP!
Place: Oviedo Sports Complex 1251 E. Broadway Street
Location: Baseball Field
Time: 10am SHARP!
Place: Oviedo Sports Complex 1251 E. Broadway Street
Location: Baseball Field
Hosted By: City of Oviedo and various other sponsors
Purpose/Holiday: Annual Easter Event
Appropriate for who? Adults and children under age 10
Where to buy tickets in advance: at Riverside Park and the Gymnasium & Aquatic Facility in Oviedo
Purpose/Holiday: Annual Easter Event
Appropriate for who? Adults and children under age 10
Where to buy tickets in advance: at Riverside Park and the Gymnasium & Aquatic Facility in Oviedo
Cost:
Only the children that want to participate ($3 per kid in advance, $5 per kid day of the event, no cost to adults. If your child is under 2, one adult may accompany them on the field for free, otherwise NO parents allowed on the fields!).
Are the marshmallows real?
Only the children that want to participate ($3 per kid in advance, $5 per kid day of the event, no cost to adults. If your child is under 2, one adult may accompany them on the field for free, otherwise NO parents allowed on the fields!).
Are the marshmallows real?
Yes! The Marshmallows are real, real sticky really clumped together and really dirty!
What are the goody bags & what’s inside?
A few small pieces of candy, a few advertisement flyers, a small bag of prepackaged cotton candy, a small pack of crayons, and random other small things (that are not meant for younger kids-make sure you check before giving to the little ones) inside of a plastic bag with some random advertisements on it. The area where you trade the marshmallows for goody bags is NOT clearly marked, look for several smaller craft fair type canopies with tables holding large boxes near a small grove of large recycling trash bins! We found it near the food trucks and bounce houses. (The advertisement stated there would be surprise grand prizes, didn't hear or see anything about these...)
A few small pieces of candy, a few advertisement flyers, a small bag of prepackaged cotton candy, a small pack of crayons, and random other small things (that are not meant for younger kids-make sure you check before giving to the little ones) inside of a plastic bag with some random advertisements on it. The area where you trade the marshmallows for goody bags is NOT clearly marked, look for several smaller craft fair type canopies with tables holding large boxes near a small grove of large recycling trash bins! We found it near the food trucks and bounce houses. (The advertisement stated there would be surprise grand prizes, didn't hear or see anything about these...)
How is the parking?
A nightmare! We got there about 20 minutes to 10am and had to park in the wooded area across the street from the field's entrance, as all the parking on the fields side was completely full, except for a few handicap parking spaces. The walk from the wooded lot to the baseball fields was probably about a mile! On the positive side, it doesn't cost you anything to park and FREE exercise! Absolutely NOT what I expected, even the kids were out of breath by the time we got to the fields!
A nightmare! We got there about 20 minutes to 10am and had to park in the wooded area across the street from the field's entrance, as all the parking on the fields side was completely full, except for a few handicap parking spaces. The walk from the wooded lot to the baseball fields was probably about a mile! On the positive side, it doesn't cost you anything to park and FREE exercise! Absolutely NOT what I expected, even the kids were out of breath by the time we got to the fields!
Is it worth $3/5 bucks?
From a parent's point of view, NO. However, my son thought seeing marshmallows thrown out of a low flying helicopter was really cool! But the excitement only lasted about 10 minutes total.
From a parent's point of view, NO. However, my son thought seeing marshmallows thrown out of a low flying helicopter was really cool! But the excitement only lasted about 10 minutes total.
What exactly is included with a ticket?
With each child's ticket (its actually a wristband) that gives them entry to the field to participate in the marshmallow drop, they turn their marshmallows in for a goody bag (as long as you have a wristband, you don't even need a marshmallow to get your goody bag-they make you dump the marshmallow in recycling bins before they give you your goody bags anyway-so they have no clue if you actually had any, to begin with!). There were several bounce houses, however, the lines were extremely long. We did not partake, as the lines were way too long and the children were already getting restless. Way too much waiting for them and us!
With each child's ticket (its actually a wristband) that gives them entry to the field to participate in the marshmallow drop, they turn their marshmallows in for a goody bag (as long as you have a wristband, you don't even need a marshmallow to get your goody bag-they make you dump the marshmallow in recycling bins before they give you your goody bags anyway-so they have no clue if you actually had any, to begin with!). There were several bounce houses, however, the lines were extremely long. We did not partake, as the lines were way too long and the children were already getting restless. Way too much waiting for them and us!
Were concessions available?
Yes, there were multiple vendor food trucks, with varies types of fair type food for purchase as well as several vendor booths with little games and useless promo items.
Yes, there were multiple vendor food trucks, with varies types of fair type food for purchase as well as several vendor booths with little games and useless promo items.
Did the children like it?
My 7-year-old boy, said Yes-he liked the actual dropping and hunting of the marshmallows, but he complained about the waiting period and the walk! My 2-year-old, always likes being around a lot of people and she enjoyed eating the candy! An hour and a half's time, and they really only enjoyed about 10-15 minutes of it and I only enjoyed the parts they enjoyed, which wasn't much!
My 7-year-old boy, said Yes-he liked the actual dropping and hunting of the marshmallows, but he complained about the waiting period and the walk! My 2-year-old, always likes being around a lot of people and she enjoyed eating the candy! An hour and a half's time, and they really only enjoyed about 10-15 minutes of it and I only enjoyed the parts they enjoyed, which wasn't much!
Was it well organized?
NO! It was complete chaos, no one knew that there were separate fields, depending on what age your child was. Had your child missed their age groups drop, they were NOT permitted to enter the fields during a different age groups drop (even if you paid for tickets!). This was not posted anywhere on the website or Facebook event. The fields were marked with signs, of each age category, however, they did not seem to be laid out in order. We had to walk around to every field to find the correct one! After finding the correct field, the parents were NOT allowed to wait on the field with their children (ages 5-10). We had to wait outside of the fields in the bleacher area, we weren't even allowed to wait inside the dugouts. The bleacher area is not a good area for taking photos, as there are several fences and tons of people in the way! Not being able to wait on the field with my son, made me feel very uncomfortable, as there are multiple entrances to each field. My concern was that when the hunt was over my son would not remember which one, I was waiting for him at and get lost in the crowd. There were approximately 300 kids in the 7-9 section alone. I was able to keep my eyes on him for a few minutes, but quickly lost eyes on him in the sea of kids running around. For this reason alone, this will not be an event we will ever attend again. Unless they can get this portion of the event better organized, to ensure the children get safely back to their parents and not lost in a sea of a thousand people!
Once the children went out onto the baseball fields they were instructed by an events person, to hold onto the chain linked fence. (How is that supposed to help prevent the children from running onto the fields prematurely and get clobbered by huge chunks of melted marshmallows?) My husband and our 2-year-old daughter waited in line for her age group 0-4. The line was able 1/2 mile long. Needless to say, she did NOT get to partake in the marshmallow drop. The entire hour and a half we were there, the line did NOT move.
They do the age groups, one by one. The helicopter has to leave the fields to get more marshmallows for the next age groups drop. The first drop did not happen until about 10:15am (the 5-6 age group), the 7-8 years old drop happened around 10:35am and the 9-10-year-olds around 10:50am, I have no idea if they actually did a drop for the 0-4's as we did not stick around to see. It had not happened by 11:30am (that's the time we decided we were done with this fiasco and started our trek to the car).
This event made the news, as apparently some of the 5-6 years old ran out onto the field before the copter was done dropping the marshmallows and allegedly were struck by large blobs of melted marshmallows!
NO! It was complete chaos, no one knew that there were separate fields, depending on what age your child was. Had your child missed their age groups drop, they were NOT permitted to enter the fields during a different age groups drop (even if you paid for tickets!). This was not posted anywhere on the website or Facebook event. The fields were marked with signs, of each age category, however, they did not seem to be laid out in order. We had to walk around to every field to find the correct one! After finding the correct field, the parents were NOT allowed to wait on the field with their children (ages 5-10). We had to wait outside of the fields in the bleacher area, we weren't even allowed to wait inside the dugouts. The bleacher area is not a good area for taking photos, as there are several fences and tons of people in the way! Not being able to wait on the field with my son, made me feel very uncomfortable, as there are multiple entrances to each field. My concern was that when the hunt was over my son would not remember which one, I was waiting for him at and get lost in the crowd. There were approximately 300 kids in the 7-9 section alone. I was able to keep my eyes on him for a few minutes, but quickly lost eyes on him in the sea of kids running around. For this reason alone, this will not be an event we will ever attend again. Unless they can get this portion of the event better organized, to ensure the children get safely back to their parents and not lost in a sea of a thousand people!
Once the children went out onto the baseball fields they were instructed by an events person, to hold onto the chain linked fence. (How is that supposed to help prevent the children from running onto the fields prematurely and get clobbered by huge chunks of melted marshmallows?) My husband and our 2-year-old daughter waited in line for her age group 0-4. The line was able 1/2 mile long. Needless to say, she did NOT get to partake in the marshmallow drop. The entire hour and a half we were there, the line did NOT move.
They do the age groups, one by one. The helicopter has to leave the fields to get more marshmallows for the next age groups drop. The first drop did not happen until about 10:15am (the 5-6 age group), the 7-8 years old drop happened around 10:35am and the 9-10-year-olds around 10:50am, I have no idea if they actually did a drop for the 0-4's as we did not stick around to see. It had not happened by 11:30am (that's the time we decided we were done with this fiasco and started our trek to the car).
This event made the news, as apparently some of the 5-6 years old ran out onto the field before the copter was done dropping the marshmallows and allegedly were struck by large blobs of melted marshmallows!
Tips/Suggestions:
Wear closed toes walking shoes, the whole family. Dress the kids in very bright colored clothes and stay together! Be sure to chat with your littles, tell them NOT to leave the field unless they see you physically so that they don't accidentally come out in the wrong place and get lost! EEk! If you have younger siblings, they are permitted to go with their older siblings (at least, they were in 2018), during their age groups drop. For example, our 2-year-old could have gone in with her 7-year-old brother's age group. However, NO ONE will tell you this, unless you ask! Most of the staff was outfitted in black shirts, that were NOT easily identifiable, not that they were much help anyhow and several of them extremely rude! And of course, you need to bring your own bucket/basket/bag etc. for the marshmallows!
Would you recommend this event to others?
At this time, based on our experience and the lack of safety procedures in regards to keeping the little ones safe, I must give this event a Big Thumbs Down and would not recommend this event to others, at this time! If you do decide to take this adventure on, I hope my review has at least given you a few helpful tips, to ensure your little's safety! It is definitely a one-of-a-kind event, I believe with more safety procedures in place and better advertisement of the event, it could be a really awesome event! I did hear that this year was their largest turnout and in light of some of the children being struck by marshmallows that they were going to revisit some of their current safety procedures. I truly hope they do.
Wear closed toes walking shoes, the whole family. Dress the kids in very bright colored clothes and stay together! Be sure to chat with your littles, tell them NOT to leave the field unless they see you physically so that they don't accidentally come out in the wrong place and get lost! EEk! If you have younger siblings, they are permitted to go with their older siblings (at least, they were in 2018), during their age groups drop. For example, our 2-year-old could have gone in with her 7-year-old brother's age group. However, NO ONE will tell you this, unless you ask! Most of the staff was outfitted in black shirts, that were NOT easily identifiable, not that they were much help anyhow and several of them extremely rude! And of course, you need to bring your own bucket/basket/bag etc. for the marshmallows!
Would you recommend this event to others?
At this time, based on our experience and the lack of safety procedures in regards to keeping the little ones safe, I must give this event a Big Thumbs Down and would not recommend this event to others, at this time! If you do decide to take this adventure on, I hope my review has at least given you a few helpful tips, to ensure your little's safety! It is definitely a one-of-a-kind event, I believe with more safety procedures in place and better advertisement of the event, it could be a really awesome event! I did hear that this year was their largest turnout and in light of some of the children being struck by marshmallows that they were going to revisit some of their current safety procedures. I truly hope they do.
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