My family and I have many ways to save money at the fair, while still having fun.
With the parking at and around the fair being pretty expensive, we take the train, which costs $4 for an all day pass. We left the house at around 10 a.m. to get there fairly early and drove to the train station. The first train was fine with plenty of room and quiet, then we had to get on a second train where personal space was no longer an option and one lady decided to yell at no one in particular for missing her stop.
Once we got there, we shuffled through the fences and saw Big Tex. My dad said the same thing he has since I could remember “If you get lost meet at Big Tex.” We then go and buy coupons, 20 for $10. We usually buy more coupons throughout the day.
The food is expensive and so is everything else, with rides priced around 5-10 coupons. The fun houses and haunted rides are amusing every time I go on them, despite their prices. The things I don’t waste my money on are the special attractions, like the worlds biggest crocodile or smallest horse, which is a miniature pony stuck in deep hole, making it look smaller than it is.
We didn’t ride any rides this year, but we did buy a game card for $5 which is enough for one game. My brother had his eyes set on a huge Jamaican Banana stuffed animal and always tries to win one.
Before we got anything, my brother and I decided to split a funnel cake for 10 coupons, 12 for toppings. He was a bit upset with the cost but once he ate it, he was impressed. My dad brought a bottle of water and fruit, we drank the water with the delicious funnel cake. Next we went to the show rooms. I watched a man demonstrate a new kind of broom twice. They had a lot of cheap things, from rings to various flavors of jerky, which we were allowed to sample.
Another free way to get food besides small samples is to sit in on cooking shows in the Creative Arts Building. Our chef was Chef Salvatore Gisellu from the restaurant Urban Crust. He taught us to make great Italian food which, at the end, we enjoyed. Later, we decided to eat some good “fair food.”
I decided on a Fletchers corn dog for 12 coupons, my dad said it was the best kind at the fair, and it was tasty with its thick batter. My brother bought him and my dad a Frito pie. The fried Frito pie tasted good but was a little too greasy for me. My dad had no problem with it and even ate the rest of my corn dog. My brother’s Frito pie was delicious, and I kept stealing bites from it, we all shared a large root beer and finished it quickly.
We then went to the Show Place Theatre in the Creative Arts Building and saw World on A String. This is an amazing puppet show with ventriloquist dummies and black light puppets. It is very entertaining to try to sit in the front row because, for some reason, parents put their kids in their laps making it impossible to see the stage unless you lean over to one side, making it awkward for whoever you are sitting next to. A great show and not too long.
In the Creative Arts Building there was a butter sculpture and a lot of art, mostly quilts. All the other show rooms have candy, toys and odd inventions. Plenty of the products they’re willing to let you try and sample.
After the show rooms my brother went to go and try to win his desired prize, watching everyone play to try and figure out the best game to play, he was close but did not win. I went and bought a cotton candy bag for us to split for nine coupons. There also was a penny smasher so bring 2 quarters and a penny if you are a collector.
After the game we went to the Food and Fiber pavilion where they had free ice cream and $2 milk, we got strawberry, much better than the school milk. There was also a man demonstrating cook-ware so we got free samples of chicken and vegetables. On the way out my brother’s cuteness got us a cheaper frozen ice tea treat ending a great day at the fair.
