Raprager Family Farm: Local’s Review

Everything you need to know before you head to Raprager’s Farm in Odessa, FL

Wondering about Raprager Farm? We’ve got you covered! I took a trip to Raprager’s with our two toddlers to explore everything this farm has to offer the Tampa Bay area.

Raprager Farm is a family-owned farm in Odessa, FL, about 25 minutes away from Clearwater. They hold holiday festivals throughout the year and also open on weekends (except in the summer).

You’ll find a very nice animal petting area at the farm and kid-friendly activities like a bounce pillow and corn pit.

We visited Raprager for their annual Christmas festival and had an awesome time.

Let’s dive in!

General Information

Raprager’s is a family-run farm that opened to be an affordable educational experience for families with children.

It is a little tough to figure out their regular hours outside of their festivals on their website. Make sure to take a look on their website and Facebook page for updated opening information and possible weather closures (for example, on the day we went they closed early because of storms).

Key features of Raprager Farm

Now let’s take a look at the key attractions at Raprager Farm. We were able to enjoy nearly all of these features in about 3.5 hours at the farm.

Petting zoo

The petting zoo are at Raprager’s is really nice and differentiates it from other farms in the area. It is a large enclosure that you can walk around and the animals are able to roam freely.

It is big enough that it feels more relaxed for the animals and people since there is so much space.They also had a nice variety of animals, from chickens that you can pick up to roaming tortoises.

We almost missed the barn area, pictured below so you don’t make the same mistake. It was full of free-range goats and sheep.

You’ll also find a chick incubation room and some animals in pens and tanks like snakes and rabbits in the barn.

Bounce pillow

The bounce pillow is like a huge bounce house but without walls. I wasn’t sure if my kids were old enough for it but they really loved it. An adult is allowed to accompany jump kids (but not jump) which I really appreciated. We’ve been to other farms where this wasn’t allowed.

Note: We were lucky to visit Raprager’s on a fairly quiet morning. If it had been busier, I don’t think we would have been able to do the bounce pillow with how little our kids are. They did have signs that said the bouncing is divided by age (3-7 and 8+) when it is busier.

Corn pit

One of my kids is huge on digging so a corn pit is always a favorite in our house. That said, there are a few lowlights to the corn pit to be aware of before your kids dive in.

First, during our visit there were little bugs all over the corn pit enclosure (seen in the red circle in the picture below). Pretty much every kid I saw come out of the pit had some bugs attached to their clothes. They didn’t seem to bite but I did not let my kids lay down in the corn so they didn’t get in their hair.

Second, the corn pit leaves your kids filthy. Between the dirt and the bugs, you may want to save the corn pit until the end of your trip and you’ll definitely want to bring a change of clothes.

Third, there aren’t any digging toys in the pit. If we were to go again, I’d throw a couple small dump trucks or shovels in our bag.

Barn slide & kids fort

There is a large chute slide coming out of the side of a barn just passed the petting zoo area. There is a 44 inch height requirement posted so we didn’t try the slide. That said, it didn’t seem monitored so I’d think shorter kids could still do it (my kids were scared to go in the barn so we didn’t try)

There is also a big wooden “fort” structure in the middle of the farm for kids to play on. This was another one my kids weren’t interested in so we didn’t get to try it.

Hayride

During our visit, there were hayrides that went on the hour. The hayride was short and stopped at another barn that had Christmas-themed activities. It stayed for about 15 minutes before heading back.

The hayride wasn’t anything special but if you have kids young enough to still be into tractors, it’s worth the quick experience.

The barn was a very short walk from the hayride “station” so you could easily walk to it without the hayride, or walk back instead of waiting 15 minutes for the return trip.

Holiday-themed festivals

Raprager’s does a number of holiday festivals throughout the year, including a fall pumpkin festival, Christmas festival and Easter weekend.

We were there for the Christmas festival and there were Christmas decorations, the Grinch running around, Mrs. Clause meet-and-greet and Christmas trees for sale. It wasn’t overwhelmingly “Christmas” but they did a nice job of adding holiday fun throughout the farm.

What you need to know before going to Raprager Farm

Here are a few things that would have been helpful to know before our trip to Raprager’s.

Prepare for kids to get VERY dirty

Listen, I know you’re reading that and thinking “duh, it’s a farm, of course kids are going to get dirty.” But hear me out, my kids left Raprager Farm next level dirty.

The corn pit left them covered in a white dusty dirt that took me three times in the washing machine to get clean (I wish I would have rinsed them out before washing).

The corn also had these little bugs in it that got all over the kids. We weren’t the only family changing clothes after playing in the corn pit.

Plan ahead, pack a change of clothes and a wash rag so you can get your kids somewhat cleaned up in the sink before putting them in the car. You’ll also want to bring a bag for your dirty clothes too.

Pack snacks

We went when the farm opened and many of the food stalls throughout the farm weren’t open yet. I was glad that I planned ahead and brought us some sandwiches for the day.

Also, the selection of food can be limited for people with a dietary restriction. There wasn’t much for us as vegetarians from the posted menus.

They have lots of picnic tables spread throughout the farm so it’s easy to stop to eat. They have big sinks by the bathroom so you can get washed up before eating.

Baby goats!

Honestly, if I knew there were baby goats there I would have probably gone a lot sooner to visit the farm. They were sooooo cute.

I also really enjoyed the petting area experience of Raprager’s more than our visits to Horsepower and Old McMicky’s farm. It is a huge area and felt much more relaxed, both for the people and the animals wandering around.

It was such and nice chill experience and we could have easily spent so much time hanging in the barn with the goats.

Christmas Festival is a better value

The Christmas Festival ticket allows you to return as many times as you’d like throughout the Christmas season. This is a much better deal than the fall Pumpkin Festival which is a single entry ticket.

The attractions at the farm are the same at both festivals so it’s a similar experience with different holiday theming.

Raprager Family Farm also offers an annual pass but it is more expensive than the Christmas Festival. The annual pass doesn’t include the fall festival and the farm closes for the summer, so you’ll likely only be able to use the pass for about 5 months. I also didn’t feel like I needed to return countless times to feel like we “did” the farm fully.

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Looking for more farm fun? Here’s our review of Old McMicky’s farm.