My First World Major - The NYC Marathon 2023

November 9, 2023

I am officially a NYC Marathoner!

This Sunday, November 5th, 2023, I completed my first world major marathon, the TSC NYC Marathon. There is so much to say, where do I start?

Since the beginning, I really did not want to do this but got roped into it by a friend and once it was started, the stubborn part of me that hates not completing things once started said we were too far gone with the qualifiers and then pushed on through 6 months of training. And despite how hard it was, I repeated to myself at every training how close I was to the finish line that there’s no turning back now. I had already put in the work, I had to see it through. And then at the end, when I finally crossed that finish line, my entire being burst into tears, overwhelmed with emotion. Why? Why was I like this?

The TSC NYC Marathon is no joke. You can’t just sign up for it and train like you do with the runDisney races. The 6 World Majors (NYC, Chicago, Boston, Berlin, London and Tokyo) are special. Each race is unique with how to enter, some being exclusively difficult to attain, like the Boston Marathon. For NYC, I entered through their 9+1 qualifiers, meaning I had to sign up and run 9 of their NYRR qualifying races and volunteer for 1 event. It sounds easy but it’s still a lot of time and work, especially if you’re not a NYC local. I spent a lot of early mornings racing into the city to get to races on time, running them, and then racing back home in time for work because a lot of races were always on my days on instead of my days off work. It’s a lot when you’re trying to juggle real life at the same time. You have to do all this in one calendar year to qualify for an entry into the next year’s marathon. And then after I gained entry this year, I had to train for 6 months for the race, all through the hot and brutally humid summer months. So this was nearly 2 years worth of work that went into the execution of this one day. And all that work, is no small feat. Maybe that’s why it feels like so much when you cross the finish line. It is A LOT. A lot goes into completing this one task.

And it doesn’t involve just you. It takes a village. I can not sit here and say that I completed this alone. My friends and family played a big part in helping to get me to the finish line. From supporting me and being patient with me through the 6 month roller coaster of training (including scheduling and rescheduling events and being flexible with me so I could train), to helping host me for the weekend, to making signs and cheering me on all along the course and helping provide the final motivational cheer at the finish line and taking photos for me all along the course. To listening to all my grievances and rants and just having to listen over and over for the past year about this damn race, lol. From all the messages, texts, comments, heart reactions, everything. You don’t know how much of a world of difference every little thing that was done for me from my loved ones, makes. Those ‘little’ things, were truly big things for me. Marathon training isn’t just about the runner; all the friends and families supporting their runners, you all deserve this medal too for all you do putting up with us.

The Expo

I left Saturday morning, the day before the race to pick up my bib at the expo. The entire week leading up to the final day though, I was riddled with anxiety. I couldn’t eat breakfast that morning and then later that day, I could barely finish 2 slices of pizza. I had to force myself to eat because I knew I needed the fuel for the next day but my anxiety had been destroying my regular appetite. I knew that night was going to have insomnia issues as well. I guess because this is a “new” race course and system I had never done before, and didn’t know what to expect, I was entirely on edge as opposed to the excitement I have for runDisney races at this point, in which I have an easier time falling asleep, but still lacking in sleep because I want to do everything, lol. Pick your poison.

The expo was held at the Jacob Javits center. Of course, I’m familiar with Javits from the past 10 years attending so many different conventions there. Bib pickup was very easy and quick to get through. It was the first thing to do getting through the entrance to the expo. From there, I had to visit transportation to add on my Staten Island ferry option since I forgot to do it online before the cutoff. Luckily, it was very easy to sort out and the volunteers were great at helping me with everything. I picked up my race shirt afterward and then checked out official race merch but didn’t find anything I like so I moved onto the vendor booths. There were a lot of cute promotional booths giving away freebies like Gatorade, gels and sweatbands. They had a lot of tables and walls where you could draw and leave messages and signs for the race the next day. I found my name on the wall they had printed of every runner signed up for this which was pretty cool to see. It was inspiring to see people from all walks of life and all over the globe come here to take on this goal. It made me feel a little less alone in my anxiety.

Race Morning

Sunday was also daylight savings which meant an extra hour of sleep, or rather for me, an extra hour of anxiety. I did get some sleep though, thankfully, albeit waking up several times in the middle of the night thinking it was time to go. I got ready and left early to make the train in time to get on an earlier ferry than I was assigned, but ultimately I got to the race start later due to bus delays once we got off the ferry at Staten Island. It took a while to shuttle everyone. When I finally got to the village, it was about 9:30 so it was around 2 and a half hours travel time. Maybe it was good I left earlier. I would have had more anxiety if I was even more delayed leaving later on. Once I got there, I had 2 hours till my wave would start but I found a spot to sit, stretch and warm up, and eat a bagel. Again, I wasn’t hungry but I forced the bagel down knowing I would need the fuel for later. I had to pee by the time my corral opened though, which sucked but at least it was before the race and not during. The downsides to this not being a runDisney race, is that all the bathrooms on the course would only be port-a-potties. At Disney, we have the luxury of actual restrooms once you’re inside the parks. Luckily, I had a travel pack of wipes in my running belt for this reason, because I was deathly afraid of having to use a port-a-potty. I know, first world problems. But if you’re a runner, you know those things are doubly gross.

I’m glad I was able to pee before the race started because it would’ve taken up a lot of time, trying to take off and then repin my bib, and adjust everything back in place comfortably to continue on with the run, all the while, trying to not touch any part of the port-a-potty as minimally as possible, lol. It’s obviously inevitable but you want to minimize the grossness or it’s going to be in your head the whole run.

I got into my corral and then the nerves cranked up even more. The starting gun went off, the music was blaring and I had to take slow, controlled breaths to get through it and calm myself down as we made our way across the first part of the course, the Verrazano bridge.

The Race Course

There’s a lot to say about the course.

First off, it prides itself on being a course that goes through all 5 boroughs but only the real ones know it’s not really. If you look at the map, it ‘starts’ in Staten Island but this is really a scam. Not that we really want to be in Staten Island that long anyway but the only part that you’re in Staten Island for, officially on the race map, is the bridge. This is a joke. More of your getting to the starting point is the Staten Island part but the actual course itself is the short distance on the bridge before you go over the water into Brooklyn. Then you’re in Brooklyn for basically the length of a half marathon before diverting into Queens for 2 miles and then finally getting dumped into Manhattan for 3.5 miles and then to the Bronx for literally ONE mile. Then you get spit back into Manhattan for the final stretch of 5.2 miles going downtown through Central Park. You don’t really get to the iconic views of NYC so much as the neighborhoods so for those who have never ran it and come in thinking it’s a great way to “see” NYC, I’m sorry to say, you may be in for a disappointment.

BUT! That’s not to say the course itself isn’t still great. Going into the race, I read someone describing this course as NYC’s biggest block party and honestly, it is the perfect way to describe it. I love Disney, but compared to NYC, New Yorkers really SHOW UP. The entire course, save for the bridges and some short stretches of a few blocks or so, the entire course is lined with people cheering you on and no one is more supportive than a New York stranger on this day. They make the most creative, wild, out of pocket signs! And they pass out SO MUCH food. I saw so many passing out cut up banana pieces, boxes of fruits snacks, bags of pretzels, gels, candy, soda cans, beer, literally anything you need as a runner, they were there for you. I even saw in the neighborhood of Greenpoint, a man on the side with his bbq grill set up, making hot dogs for any runner that wanted one passing by. It was SO MUCH FUN to run this course and see everything and everyone screaming at the top of their lungs, screaming your name too if you had it displayed on your shirt, telling you that YOU CAN DO THIS and truly rooting you through it, wishing the best for you. It really helps push you to the end.

I am fortunate enough to have my friends there that day for me supporting me, stationed at the beginning of the course at 4.5 miles and at the end right before the finish line. Danny and Kayla gave me the push I needed to get through the first 13 miles in Brooklyn. I was really worried because it felt so grueling looking at the map but they truly helped me get through it. Seeing their faces smiling back at me and rooting me on was really heartwarming.

I was doing okay for the most part, running as much as I could and slowing down to grab Gatorade and water to stay hydrated. I slowed down to a walk on the bridge into Manhattan because that part was brutal but when I got into Manhattan I was able to run for a bit up until mile 19. That was where I start to feel the wall hit. You can even see it on the map below where I hit the wall. I had a good half marathon for the first 13 miles but then started to decline in the middle. The red line shows pretty much where mile 19 was and it went downhill fast for me. I alternated between running and walking but ultimately at mile 20, my legs gave in and said no more. No matter how much I tried to pick it up and run again, it just wouldn’t happen. So I forced myself through the pain, dragging my feet to at least walk, telling myself to at least just put one foot in front of the other. At that point it feels like you have two lead feet, dragging cinderblocks down the road. But I had come this far and I wasn’t about to give up now. One girl cheering on the side saw me and dumped her bag of pretzels into my hands. I took them and ate them slowly making my way to the next water station and remembered I had Tylenol in my belt. I took the Tylenol but I think by that point it may have been too late because I didn’t really feel any better from it, but hopefully it helped slow down the damage that was internally happening. I started bargaining and compromising with myself, like I was going through stages of grief. The NYC Marathon app had predicted I could finish by 5:30 best case scenario, if I had been able to keep the pace I was going at mile 19, but it was already going downhill. I would have been more than happy if my finish time was 6 hours. But at this point, I just wanted to be able to finish. I was so close! I cried thinking about giving up because I had come so far, I was almost back into Manhattan, I couldn’t possibly stop now. But the pain was a lot. So I told myself, “Okay. So you have to walk. At least walk the rest of this to mile 26. Conserve whatever strength you have left for the last 0.2 so you can at least RUN the last part and finish strong across the finish line for a good pic.” I did NOT want to walk across the finish line. So that’s what I did. I kept walking, thrusting my arms to the side to help propel me forward for some speed. I made it into Manhattan and kept going. At mile 24, I noticed that’s when a lot of people started to go down. I saw a girl in front of me with her legs all taped up but I noticed what looked like blood coming through the tape. I saw clusters of people on the ground on the side of the path in Central Park. I heard a volunteer’s radio go off and say “I have one person unconscious.” I saw one girl with two friends on each side, trying their hardest to keep her up and going, as her feet dragged, like a ragdoll. It was brutal. People were dropping like flies. I thought to myself, as bad as it was for me, I wasn’t their level of bad yet so let’s keep going. I smiled through the pain for all the cameras (because vanity, lol) and made it to mile 26. My friends texted me they were somewhere very shortly after, close to the finish line and I looked out for them as I made my way to the end. And the moment I saw them, was exactly what I needed to propel to the finish! I instantly perked up, and tried to pick up the pace and run again. I smiled through my tears, running past them and got to the finish line! One of the announcers saw me and complimented me on my outfit as I dashed past her, making me feel super cute enough to victoriously cross over.

And that’s when it happened. I instantly burst into tears, in disbelief that I finished. I was disappointed it took me so long with my final time being 6:30:18 but at the same time, I was really emotional that I didn’t give up and pushed through the pain. And boy was I in pain. I hobbled over to receive my medal and another finisher was kind enough to take a few photos for me. I stupidly thought I could cross my legs and point my toes to pose, only to discover my foot cramp up immediately. More tears, lol. I waited for it to subside and then grabbed my recovery bag and poncho and slowly hobbled out of the park to the family reunion area to find my friends. I cried the whole way there as all the thoughts came rushing through my head post race.

Recovery

In the end, despite taking forever and change to finish, I am proud that I finished this. I worked really hard and I need to work at being kinder to myself and give myself more credit. I know I’m not fast, I made my peace with that but I am still disappointed that it took me longer due to hitting the wall. I struggle with this even in training. My main goal though, due to Dopey PTSD, was to finish this with the most minimal amount of injury. Considering the battlefield I saw on the course towards the end, I am very happy to report I did not need to go to the medic tent. For the first 2 days post race, my legs were definitely sore and I had to hold onto the walls to get to the bathroom in the morning but I was doing okay so far healing and recovering. I was able to go for a 2 mile walk around the neighborhood on the second day and my appetite was slowly coming back after being gone last week due to all my anxiety. I’ve been allowing myself to eat whatever I crave in this recovery phase.

I did hit a snag yesterday though. Tuesday night, I went to bed with slight stomach upset but thought nothing of it. Wednesday morning I woke up fine, but when I tried to go get groceries, I found my abdominal area cramping like I've never felt before. I almost had to pull over from the pain but I was able to make it home okay. I laid down and tried to wait it out before getting ready for work but it kept going for the next few hours. When I tried to get up to get ready for work, I felt dizzy. I laid down again and realized it was so bad I had to call out of work. I took a hot shower when the pain subsided for a bit and was able to get it under control with the heat from the hot water. After I got out of the shower I thought I was in the clear. But within 30 minutes the pain came back, and worse than ever. I finally gave in and asked my husband to drive me to the ER. It's funny because when I called out, work was giving me a hard time, requesting I have a doctor's note for my sick call, because it was the day after my “vacation”/PTO being used. I understand policy but I still think it was ridiculous they were running with this because I rarely call out, let alone call out sick, nor have a track record like others do at my job for crying wolf. Anyways, here I was, showing up at work after all. Just not in the capacity they wanted. I was there for a few hours and they gave me fluids and medication to help lessen the cramping. The pain never went away but it felt a little duller thankfully after a liter of IV fluids. They couldn't figure out a clear diagnosis of what it was because my labs came back normal with the exception of elevated CPK which is expected post marathon, and some minor labs slightly elevated. All they could say was that there wasn't something too major going on, so they chalked it up to post marathon stress on the body due to severe dehydration since I hadn't really upped my water intake since Sunday nor was I really intaking any electrolytes since. I picked up a heating pad on the way home and it helped me sleep through the night last night although intermittently. My advice to you is to take post marathon recovery seriously. EAT even if you don't feel hungry and hydrate hydrate hydrate with both water and electrolytes. Don't go back to normal routine just yet. Up those calories and get those carbs in. I was going to go back to the gym later this week but I guess not now lol. I promise I'll be good and go back next week but take an extra week off from running.😅

I don’t think I want to run any more full marathons though. I think I am finally retiring from full marathons. The half is my favorite/farthest distance I’m willing to run because it’s still challenging without making me feel like I hate myself. My fastest half marathon time is 2:30 and I’m more than happy with that. My full marathon times are embarassingly humbling. And at the same time, I am proud to say that I completed this. One of my 40 before turning 40 goals was to run one full marathon and now, after just turning 35, I can actually say I completely 2 full marathons. That’s crazy. It really goes to show, you are more than capable of doing hard things if you have the discipline and put in the hard work. It doesn’t matter if it takes you longer than someone else. Remember to run your own race and be proud of what YOU can do.

Final thoughts

Although regardless of how I feel about the full and how hard the NYC one was, I do have to say, I’m glad I did it. I finally did one world major and can say I’m a marathoner, especially to those who don’t believe runDisney races are real. Although honestly, if we’re being real, of course they’re real, because Dopey is EXTREMELY hard and I still can’t believe I did that. I don’t have another world major to compare it to, but I can attest to the people who have done more than just NYC that they’re right. NYC is an incredible city to run. There’s really nothing else like it when it comes to the crowds. Disney has nothing on NYC’s crowd and energy. So if you’re interested in running a world major, while I do not recommend anyone run a marathon because honestly it sucks lol, I do recommend the NYC marathon if you had to pick one. Like they say, it will MOVE you. New York forever remains unmatched. This city is deserving of all the praise it gets.

Sleepy Hollow

October 30, 2023

We finally made it to Sleepy Hollow this fall! This was another stop I wanted to check off my Halloween list and this year I was able to make time for it and on my birthday of all days. We were able to make a nice day trip out of it since it was only about an hour and a half away. For some reason, in the past I thought it was longer because anything ‘upstate’ seems like forever. In reality, this isn’t that much upstate of Manhattan. It was an easy drive up and back, especially if you’re able to avoid rush hours.

It’s a relatively small town so it’s very easy to see everything in a day. We got there around noon so we were able to explore a little bit of the cemetery, see the famous town sign for a quick pic, take a tour of Lyndhurst Mansion and walk the grounds before having dinner at Horsefeathers. The town is well decorated and very festive, being a popular tourist spot. I didn’t get to check out the shops on their main street because we arrived later in the day but because it’s so close, we plan on coming back again next year because it’s just such a beautiful and easily walkable town.

The iconic Sleepy Hollow sign is on the side of the road right next to Sleepy Hollow High School. It was easy to spot, and conveniently marked on Google maps as well. And because we went on a weekday, it was easy to find a quick spot to park, get out and take a quick pic. You don’t want to loiter too long since it is a school zone area. Weekends during October I’ve read can get pretty busy. This comes down to pros and cons of what you want to experience though. Weekends are busier so it may be harder to find a spot to park and have to wait your turn for things, but it’s also when they have more festivals and fun special Halloween events. If you walk a few blocks over from the sign, you’ll find the famous Beekman Ave, where there’s a big clock and the Jack Skellington looking pumpkin display decorated right at the intersection.

Drive a little further down the road and you’ll be at the Sleepy Hollow Cemetery. The Old Dutch Reformed Church is right out front with a couple of parking spots inside the entrance but you can drive alongside the one-way road and park on the right all along the cemetery if you can’t find a spot, as long as you follow all the marked signs and rules. We didn’t get to see inside the church this visit because it was closed albeit coming during visiting hours. Note that the bridge right outside the church is the official “Headless Horseman Bridge” - you literally drive on it to get to the cemetery - but it has since been replaced by a more modern looking construction. If you walk through the cemetery to the Old Style Horseman, you’ll find a more iconic, traditional looking wooden bridge the town installed to fit in with the legend of Sleepy Hollow better, to appease the tourists and makes for a better picture opportunity. It’s very pretty walking through the path to get there during this time, seeing all the beautiful fall colors and the stream that runs through it. I came at just the perfect time as the fall foliage in this area was reaching peak. Driving through the cemetery as we left was also a very pretty ride. I know, it seems weird to describe a cemetery as ‘pretty’ but there’s something hauntingly beautiful about the mausoleums and different tombstones, especially during this time as the colors change with the spooky season. Speaking of spooky season, the hubby noted there were a lot of Hot Topic looking girls also visiting during this time. I imagine the weekends are even more packed with tourists and Halloween fans. They have day and night tours for the cemetery but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go on a long walking tour at this time but maybe next time, if the weather is comfortable, a night time tour might be nice to try. We actually got very lucky this visit and it was a pretty warm day and a cool evening. It was unusually warm for my birthday weekend this year.

After the cemetery, we headed to the Lyndhurst Mansion for a tour. It was either this or the Armour-Stiner Octagon house but the Octagon house sold out before I remembered to book it, and the Lyndhurst Mansion had a lot of good reviews and gave you access to the grounds after the tour for you to wander to your hearts content. If you’re a history or architectural/home interior design buff, I recommend the Lyndhurst Mansion as one of your stops. It goes through the history of its three owners, from William Paulding, to George Merritt to Jay Gould. They used to have a Halloween tour but our tour guide said people complained and preferred to learn more about the history of the mansion than ghost stories so they only offer the classic tours at this time. (Hopefully next visit, I can book the Octagon House’s Myth and Mysteries tour to fit in better with the spirit of the Halloween season.) The mansion was built and decorated in a gothic style. I found it beautiful to walk through as all its furnishings and decor looked so regal and grand. I’ve never seen any of the shows and movies that it’s been featured in but I can definitely see why they would choose this building for their sets. And the grounds are also equally beautiful and were decorated for Halloween in good fun. Our tour ended right before sunset and we walked out to this beautiful view overlooking the Hudson river. It felt like the perfect ending to the evening for my birthday. We took a moment to take it in before leaving to head back to town for dinner.

We went to Horsefeathers for dinner, which came highly recommended by a few friends, and reviews and blogs I read online. There is definitely a wait because it is a popular spot and the hostesses to seat you do work a little slow (we tried earlier in the day before the tour and again after the tour and both times, it took a bit of a wait before someone came out to greet us and gave us an estimate for our wait time), but once you’re in, the service inside is normal. The inside decor is really festive and cute, with writers on the wall like Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe and Washington Irving. The food though, for me, didn’t really live up to the hype. I was in the mood for fish and chips and the fish was a little too crispy and the chips were more like potato wedges than fries, which I would’ve preferred to pair better with the fish. The crabcake was good though. The hubby had ribs and they were fall off the bone good but a little too oversauced. I probably should have gotten a burger instead since that’s what they’re well known for but I wasn’t in the mood for a burger. There were a lot of other things on the menu so maybe I’ll give it another shot if we visit again. I probably should’ve tried a drink but I don’t really drink and I’m in prep mode for the NYC marathon so it wasn’t really a good idea anyway. Two other recommended restaurants I’m looking to try next time are The Bridgeview Tavern and The Hudson Farmer & The Fish. Hopefully they fare a little better. After dinner, we walked around the block a little to kill time and check out some decorations. The shops were all closed by this time but it was a beautiful cool night to just walk since we were waiting for rush hour to die down before heading home. I found Sleepy Hollow very charming and everyone very friendly and informative. Hopefully next Halloween season, I can experience a spookier tour and see more of the town. I missed the Headless Horseman statue but that just means I need to make another trip back, of course!

The Pumpkin Blaze

October 21, 2023

I finally got to visit The Pumpkin Blaze this year!

I’ve been wanting to go for years since I found out about them back in 2018 but it’s a little far and out of the way being a little upstate NY and I’ve never had an excuse or opportunity to visit the area, especially since my fall schedule is usually packed. This year was a combination of stars aligning so I finally got to go. They finally opened up another location on Long Island, I stopped going to conventions, and my bday trip was just a quick getaway trip this year due to marathon training taking priority, which helped give me more free days back in my schedule as well as kept me more local this season to do fall things in state.

So what is The Pumpkin Blaze or The Great Jack O’Lantern Blaze? Their website describes it as “a walk-through experience of thousands of hand-carved pumpkins in elaborate displays that light up the night at two historic locations in New York. At Van Cortlandt Manor in Croton-on-Hudson and Old Bethpage Village Restoration in Old Bethpage, larger-than-life installations, along with synchronized lighting, create a magical, family-friendly experience for all ages.”

Accurate to its own description, I found it basically a fun Halloween trail filled with lit up pumpkin carvings as you walk through to view everything. I decided to visit the Long Island location for obvious proximity reasons, since both locations have the famous coveted pumpkin tunnel all the Instagrammers flock to on display, and let’s be real, that’s what we’re all here for. And yes, it absolutely did deliver! One important thing I would note is that you can only walk through the trail once - you can only go forwards, not backwards - but you’re allowed to take your time since the walk-through is self-paced, so I would definitely not rush through it and take as much time as you need to really enjoy the experience. Read everything, take as many pics as you want, linger a little, whatever you need. It can get crowded at times, but I also did find some breaks in the crowd where there was less foot traffic if I just waited a few minutes so I was able to get some shots in. So if you’re trying to get that shot, my advice would be to go on a weekday, book the first time slot, arrive at the venue 30 minutes before your time slot, and BE PATIENT when you get up to the tunnel. We were lucky and showed up before parking opened at 6pm, for the 6:30pm time slot on a Thursday evening, and we were basically the third car in line. We were able to park incredibly close to the entrance so it was a short walk, and walk in and hang around the gift shop and got some photos of the displays at the entrance before it got dark. The following 2 photos were taken just 30 minutes apart at 6 when we got there and 6:30 when they officially opened and let us start walking the trail so you can see how fast it gets dark at dusk this time of year. From there, within the hour, it got completely dark by the time we got to the tunnel.

Once it got even a little dark though, that’s when photos became a challenge especially if you want to be in the photos. So another tidbit to also note, is that the pumpkin tunnel is not at the beginning of the walk, but more towards the middle-end of the trail. And of course you don’t want to rush through the trail to get to it and miss all the great displays on the way, which I absolutely don’t recommend you do - definitely take your time and enjoy the displays at a slow, leisurely pace to get your money’s worth - but by the time you get to the tunnel, at this point in the season, it’s definitely past dusk and the light will be gone. I recommend a small hand held light if you have one, to help light your face up for photos. Just make sure your light isn’t intrusive and blinding to other guests. We used our cell phone light to help light me up in photos and it worked out nicely. I was able to get some nice portraits on my camera, but if you have night sight or live photo on your phone, those settings definitely help get some nice photos too. They just don’t allow tripods and drones as listed on their website’s FAQs, just FYI. Also another good tip, I highly recommend NOT wearing black if you’re trying to get photos in the tunnel of yourself. Lighter colors show up better and help reflect light to light you up.

Despite it being dark though, that’s when the pumpkin displays really shine! I forgot some of the displays were pumpkins at some points in the walkthrough because they were so well done and fit into the background. And there are SO, SO many of them. We got in at 6:30 and left around 7:20pm, so you definitely can spend some time looking at everything. There was great ambiance with the music they have throughout the trail, with a lot of screens on display, giving you tidbits of history of the island and background info of some of the artwork. For our particular venue, we saw shelves of carved pumpkins, each with a unique face, a pumpkin portal tunnel with a lightshow as you entered, a field of skeleton pumpkins, a firetruck, police car and ambulance pumpkins, a giant spider field, the headless horseman story carved out on display as homage to the original Pumpkin Blaze upstate, a haunted house inspired by the Amityville horror house, a sunflower field and corn field of pumpkins, a Long Island Hall of Fame, a giant grandfather clock, the Statue of Liberty, an entire zodiac of pumpkins, a lighthouse, sea creatures made of pumpkins, a dragon, and a circus train full of pumpkins with a moving carousel at the end.

Originally I felt the sticker price of admission for this was a little high, which it is for a pop-up, starting at $29 for adult admission on a weekday, and go all the way up to $54 for weekends. The timeslots are also priced differently; the earlier you want to go, the higher the price. If you don’t want to pay as much, I’d recommend going later in the night if you don’t care about your photos as much and just want to go for the experience. But if you’re there for photos, I’d recommend the first time slot on a weekday. That being said, I do think the price of admission is worth it here if you visit on a slow weekday, as it can get pricy for a family of 4+, I imagine. I appreciate all the work that went into this and making it a really nice experience. I also want to note this is a really great family friendly non-spooky event. There are no scare actors, nothing too crazy, just good fun and beautiful displays to admire. It might be a little scary for some young kids due to how dark some areas can get and some parts with witches and haunted houses, but there are tons of fun parts too that I think all ages would enjoy, like the sea creatures, alien pumpkins and bubbles blowing towards the end. The gift shop at the end is a really nice touch too. It’s cute and has some cute souvenirs like home decor, keychains, magnets, hats, shirts and even little treats. There’s a pumpkin carving area too to watch the masters at work. The ladies we met were really sweet and gave us some great tips for when we carve our pumpkin later this month for Halloween. All in all, I think this was a lot of good fun and I would enjoy attending again.

Full disclosure, this visit was not sponsored. I attended and paid full price admission, this was not an invited press visit so all opinions are my own and honest thoughts. If you’re looking for a fun fall activity, this definitely makes for a fun date night! I went with my husband for an early birthday date and we both really enjoyed it. Usually he’s very skeptic of IG traps but this was a great time and a very cool experience. I definitely recommend this for all my Halloween lovers. If you go, come back here and let me know how your own visit went!