Ditmars Orchard & Vineyard

The wine is sweet but so is picking apples to wear the kids out! We had a fun time here. The playground was uniquely built from recycled materials and could use a little linseed oil but the kids loved it! Plenty of things to do with the hayride and bounce pad, a tractor for the kids to climb on, and fields of trees to pick apples.

Ditmar's is a super cute little orchard and pumpkin patch that's just as close to Omaha as Vala's and about a fifth of the price :-)There are a few different way to experience Ditmar's - you can go and visit the Ditmar's shop/cafe for free, but if you want to do any of the orchards activities, you have to pay $10 each for an activity band (but ages 3 and under free).There are a lot of fun activities, with many of them being geared toward kids - so if you have children, this is a great and affordable option.There are a few tractor rides available - one is with a smaller tractor that can get into the orchard and through the trees, and the other is a larger tractor that can only go around the orchard and on larger paths, but that holds many more people if you have a large group.In terms of the "activities" you can do with your activity band:-Hy Vee Corn Maze: This is almost entirely uphill, if you're not in for that type of exercise. There are markers (little signs with icons on them like a flower, a bee etc) so you don't get too lost. -Axe Throwing: This was all plastic and velcro with the "axe" sticking to the velcro wall if you hit the "blade" on the right spot of the target. This is fun for adults, as well as kids, and harder than it looked to hit it on the target.-Zorbing: These are giant inflated balls that go over your body and you try to play soccer with each other, while bumping into each other the entire time. It was fun and hilarious for me and my husband as we participated.-Petting Zoo: A group of goats that you could feed and pet, and a separate little area with chickens. They were cute, but we didn't go in to pet any of them, as we were not wanting to get too stinky and muddy for the rest of the day.-Connect Four: This was an inflated backboard with basketballs that you tried to shoot into the different columns. It was fun, but the bottom of each column kind of opened up when the ball hit it so it didn't stay in place to show who got a "connect four" first. -Roller Slide: This was one of those old timey slides made of little rolling pipes as you go down. It appears to be large enough for adults, so we went down - which was a mistake. My butt hurt for quite a while afterward. Maybe youngster bodies are more resilient than my old bones?-Bounce Pad: This was a small inflated pad to bounce on, which appears to be mostly for kids, but I did see a few adults on it. When it was pretty cleared off, I wanted to go bounce on it, but my friends wouldn't go with me (boo!)So as I said, the "activities" are geared a little bit more toward children, aside from the actual apple picking/pumpkin gathering, which adults can enjoy.There are a lot of things for adults to enjoy aside from those activities, though, including some hard ciders, wines, beer, and of course the food. We had:-Apple Cider Donuts: They came super fresh and still warm, covered in sugar dust. We had eaten a few other orchard's donuts this Autumn, but these were the freshest and also not as dense and dry. Definitely recommend.-Tamales: I guess these were a special when we went, made by one of the cooks, Lisa. They were delicious and obviously made fresh with homemade cornmeal. We chatted with Lisa afterward to tell her how great they were!-Mozzarella Sticks: These had the kind of breading similar to an egg roll vs a breadcrumb breading (which I prefer). They weren't bad, just weren't the style I like best. -Fried Pickles: I am a fried pickle connoisseur, so I was excited for these. I was a tad bit disappointed because, while I like a little bit of crisp so they're not soggy, these were TOO crispy, like they were fried too much. The breading was so fried that it was separating from the pickle on each side :-( -Nacho Tater Ribbons: Kind of like a "walking taco", with the beef, lettuce, tomatoes, nacho cheese, and a little swirl of sour cream on top. The "ribbons" are actually kind of just potato chips, but they were a lot lighter than super crunchy chips and kind of melt in your mouth with each bite, as they have been soaking in all of the nacho cheese and other toppings. At first, we were a little let down that they they just looked like chips, but it ended up all working together super well. Recommend!-Pretzel Bites: Little circular pretzel balls that were heated and came with cheese (similar to nacho cheese you'd see at a sporting event). Pretty good when they came out hot, but once luke warm, they got a little hard, so definitely eat these pretty quick.Ditmar's Slushy: Sweet (and a little tart) apple cider slush that came with a color changing souvenir cup that we are definitely keeping.To sum it up, I think that this is a way more affordable option than Valas for a family outing, with a handful of fun activities, and slightly above average food and drink options!

Nice relaxing spot to spend with family and friends. Lots to do for the kiddos and yet still can enjoy a "date" with that special someone. Don't miss out on the cider donuts!!

We went there last week. Unfortunately it was bitterly cold but we still were so happy we went. The kids really wanted apple cider donuts which were great. We bought some preserves and we are really enjoying them. My grandson wanted apple butter and he loved it. The grandkids went to the pumpkin patch and to pet the goats. They had other things to do but like I said it was just too cold. The owner came by and we visited with him and the workers ( could all be family- I don't know) we're so super nice and really made us feel welcome. We will be back!

Pretty good experience at Ditmars this weekend. My main gripe is that it isn't the most organized. When you pull up there's really no signage you just see a little store, so you go in and there's different things you can purchase that are apple and farm related, as well as a bunch of different food items. When I go somewhere new I like to know exactly what to expect. As a customer, a clear map of the orchard would've helped a lot. They were quite busy so it was hard to ask questions of the handful of workers we saw. So I think some signs or directions would really help people.They had a pretty nice variety of apples, probably 10 or so that you could walk through the orchard and pick. I was disappointed in the Jonathan apples though, these are usually my favorite variety but it took 45 minutes to find enough good apples to fill a bag. So so many of the apples on the trees had worm holes or were already rotted. Perhaps I just came at the wrong point in the season? Our three year old really enjoyed the goat Petting, and you can buy goat feed for a dollar. It was nice that they had a playground and some things for kids to do besides just picking apples.

Traveling through Iowa on our way from Kansas City to Omaha, my best friend and I knew that a farm was a must stop. I picked Ditmars and we stopped in for a quick bite. We ended up getting a tater ribbon, spicy corn fritters and a flight of cider as well as a few donuts to go. The tater ribbon wasn't quite what I expected. I imagined it being more like a french fry and less like potato chips but I have no idea why as I'd never had one or heard of one before. The spicy corn fritters were the bigger hit between the two. Although they say spicy, they're definitely more on the mild side because I can't handle much heat and these didn't seem spicy at all.The cider flight included apple, cherry, strawberry basil, black raspberry and two others that I can't recall. None of the ciders really stood out to me though and I'd skip them if I ever return to Iowa in the future. However, the farm itself is absolutely adorable and I wish we'd had time to stick to our original plan of wanting to do the corn maze. Unfortunately, we were running behind schedule on our day and had to skip it.

Great place! We had hard cider flight to then choose our favorite for a full glass. All so good we couldn't decide and just picked two with our eyes closed. They have tons of events so worth more than one trip here if you can. They have a small cafe with a decent chicken wrap and tasty donuts.

This place strikes the right balance between orchard and outdoor activity. The corn maze, goats, playground and giant slide are a lot of fun. The admisson price is nice for large families. The fresh donuts are fantastic

Not selling bad apples. Got home and 3 apples were black. Went to Small's fruit farm and got great apples. I could have gotten better apples from a store instead of Ditmars.

The entertainment, wine and the setting was wonderful. The $20 Dutch apple pie I bought was aweful. The crust was like rubber. There was a bit of sugar and cinnamon in the center of the pie and that was all. The filling tasted just like eating an apple. We threw in the garbage ! would not recommend it!