Spotlight: Utah County - Cornbelly's Fall Festival and Corn Maze

Spotlight: This week's spotlight is a festival. Cornbelly's is an annual Halloween/Fall harvest celebration that takes place at Thanksgiving Point every October. Cornbelly's is famous for it's MAiZE, which first began in 1996 as the dream child of Brett Herbst. The MAiZE has grown into the worlds largest cornfield maze company, winning a Guinness World Record in 1999. However, Cornbelly's is more than just a giant corn maze. There are a plethora of activities and events for both kids and adults.

Location: Cornbelly's takes place at Thanksgiving Point in Lehi, UT.

Cost: There are different passes you can buy, each one allowing you admittance to more attractions than the previous one: General Admission (ages 3-99; ages 2 and under are free):
Laughn' - $11.95/person (Mon.-Thurs.); $14.95/person (Fri.-Sat.)
Screamn' - $24.95/person
Lovin' - $26.95/person

Time: Plan to be there 2-6 hours. This year, the festival started Friday 9/30 and will go to Saturday 10/29. It is open from 10:00 am - 11:00 pm (Fri. & Sat.) and open 4:00 pm - 9:00 pm (Mon.-Thurs.) with extended hours (10-9) on Thurs. 10/20 and Mon. 10/24.

Description: The main attraction is the MAiZE. Each year, has a different theme. This year's theme (2016) is the Peanuts Gang. Visitors are supposed to find various checkpoints before finding their way back to the entrance/exit. There are several other smaller mazes geared toward various ages. Separate from the corn maze is the Grain Train Maze. A tractor leads a train of cars on a ride through the maze to see various scarecrow and jack-o-lantern displays.

Grain Train Maze

Beatles Jack-o-lantern

     Other regular admission (Laughn') attractions include: Animal Band, Barnyard Ball Zone, Barnyard Billiards, Barnyard Soccer, Campfires, Corn Ball, Corn Cob Beach, Corn Hole, Corn Maze, Cornbelly Mountain, Cow Train, Duck Races, Farm Golf, Farmer Fast Pitch, Farmn' Foosball, Giant Rat Maze, Giant Slide, Grain Train, Haybale Maze, Hayride, Jumbo Jumpers, Kiddie Courtyard, Pumpkin Bowling, Pumpkin Princess Playland, Pumpkin Tetherball, Pumpkin Tic-Tac-Toe & Checkers, Rat Rollers, Singing Chicken Show, Special Events, Spiderwebs, Spookley Show, and Steer Roping.

Farmn' Foosball

pumpkin bowling

Corn Cob Beach

Duck Races

     The Screamn' Pass includes all Laughn' Pass attractions, plus entrance to the following Insanity Point attractions: Big Top Terror, Chaos Castle, Creature, Hayloft Horror, and the Haunted Maze.

The Creature at Insanity Point

     The Lovin' Ultimate Combo Pass includes all of the Laughin' and Screamn' attractions plus: Rockwall or Cole's Corral; Paintball or Apple Blasters; Hot Cocoa or Shaved Ice; Bull Riding or gemstone or cookies; and zipline or kettle corn or caramel apple.

Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)

Things You Should Know: - Cornbelly's is open for extended hours during Fall Break.
- The Corn Maze may be closed due to bad weather. Check website for closures.
- Special events this year include: Outdoor Movie Night (10/10), Meet the Gang Mondays (Peanuts characters), West Coast Lumberjacks (10/14-10/17), High-flying Trick Dog Show (10/19-10/26), Munchkin Radio Dance Party (every Sat. 11-3), Trick-or-Treat Parade (every Sat at 2:00), storytelling (daily), pig races (daily), Scary Tales n S'mores (Mon., Fri., Sat. 7:00 pm), Wild Wonders (Tues-Thurs), Magic Mondays (5:30 & 6:45), Candy Cannon (Mon, Fri, Sat), Fireworks (Fri & Sat), Pumpkin Smash (10/29)

Candy Cannon

- Thanksgiving Point members receive a 25% discount on Cornbelly's ticket purchases.
- If you purchase your tickets online from the website, you receive a $2 discount/ticket; but you also pay a small service fee. Overall, you come out ahead, and you don't have to stand in line.
- If you don't see everything on your first visit, you can purchase bounce-back tickets for later in the season.
- Most of the activities on the Laughn' Pass are geared toward younger kids (ages 3-10).
- Insanity Point attractions are only open after dark on select dates. Check the Calendar for times.
- Insanity Point screamn' attractions are open to visitors during the daytime, but they are "unhaunted" for a less spooky diversion.
- If you only wish to do one or two of the "Lovin' Combo Pass" activities, you can purchase items separately at the ticket booths, but you miss out on the discounts.
- Cornbelly's has a wide selection of pumpkins for sale, ranging from $0.50 - $10. Pumpkins are available in a wide variety of shapes and colors, from classic orange pumpkins to deranged white ones. You don't need to enter the event to purchase pumpkins.

Nearby: Museum of Ancient Life, Farm Country, Megaplex Theatres, Museum of Curiosity, Thanksgiving Point Gardens, Thanksgiving Point Golf Course,