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| - The state fair entrance fee seemed to come down to $10 from what I remembering being $12 previous times I've attended and while this was nice, once inside the gate I realized why.
For an additional cost there is atleast one more attraction you can enter. It's a small building that has something to do with dinosaurs. I didn't pay to enter so I'm not sure how it's set up, but again it was a small building.
As for the main part of the fair, overall it seemed like less stands, vendors, games and rides were set up this year.
Games: Games especially seemed over priced even for the $2 Friday special between noon-7pm. All games now require ticket purchasing (except the $.25 throw a quarter on the rainbow) as they no longer handle cash and they tell you 4 tickets equal $2 (which if you buy 40 tickets it costs $20). What they don't tell you is for a lot of games to attempt to get a big prize is that even if your perfect at some of those games it would still cost $30 to get it and that's on the $2 Friday special meaning after 7pm on Fridays or any other day of the week it would cost nearly $60.
Rides: Now rides on that Friday special are a good deal as most rides would normally be at least 8 tickets, but if planning on a lot of rides, save for the unlimited ride wristband days ($25 on Thursdays and $45 on Sundays). The one thing to remember with rides is this year they seemed fewer, so unless planning on re-riding the same rides, I wouldn't buy the $45 wrsitband.
Food: As for food, there were still several food stalls with many types of food including alcohol. Just expect to pay a hefty cost for most food items (near double to triple the cost outside of the fair). For the drinkers, the cheapest beer I found was $8 for a small glass. The large was $12 If I remember correctly. I think wine was $9.
Concerts: For me I believe the fair is still a cheap way to enjoy a concert as the $10 admission still gets you in and there are some small stages with other performers (cover bands/amateur acts). Even with the $10 parking on the fair grounds it's still only $20 to see a major entertainer, just remember there is no opening or second act with them. So if there is a concert you would like to see, it won't be cheaper elsewhere. Concerts are generally about an hour and 30 minutes (Was this way in the past and was with opening night act Gary Allan this year).
Vendors: In the past I use to go through the commerce buildings to find unique items you may not find elsewhere. While there is still some stalls set up, the quality of those stalls has dropped far from what they use to be. I also noticed that the buildings seemed far more "open" than they use to be. Open as in less stuff and less people going through them. People generally know when quality declines to not waste their time.
In all I arrived around 3pm figuring I could easily kill 3 hours playing some games and getting food to eat before being able to go into the concert. I think honestly I walked 5 miles through the many trips around the fairgrounds, played maybe 20 minutes of games (bought a 40 ticket pack and then spent $2.50 on quarter game), and sat down at the outdoor north stage to hear the cover band of Kenny Chesney while eating a $2 Indian fry bread ($2 Friday special before 7pm) to kill the 3hrs. Thankfully I didn't show up any earlier.
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