How To Do K-Days with Kids on the Cheap(er) #yeg

Okay, there’s a bit of an oxymoron there – I know that if you’ve got kids that go on rides, K-Days isn’t really on the cheap. There are a few things that you can do though to make it a little less stressful on the budget and let’s remember that it only happens once a year. 

Buy the 10 Day Pass
Instead of buying a gate pass for one day, buy a gate pass that’s going to be good for the entire ten days. If you’ve got kids, you can check out the entertainment on every day of the festival, not just the day that you’re there. Since the kids entertainment is switched up, you’re always going to be able to see something new, and get in for one price. From Bobs and Lolo, to my Little Pony and even Lego figures, the entertainment is enough to excite little kids alone.

Get Free Pancakes
Take advantage of the free pancake breakfasts that are happening around town throughout the entire K-Days festival. If you’re anything like me, you don’t want to make breakfast. Get out there and take advantage of the free pancakes – breakfast made easy (and when you’re finished you can hit up the fair)

Bring Water
Three dollar bottles of water that are gulped down fast when it’s hot are like burning through money, so bring your own. Fill reusable water bottles and freeze them to help them stay cool through the entire day you spend at the fair.

Buy RAD Passes in Advance
The Ride all Day passes are expensive, even when you do buy them in advance – but you know what they’re cheaper than? Buying tickets. I’m serious. Look at the prices of tickets and count how quickly the passes pay for themselves. If you’re going to be spending more than a couple of hours at the fair, you’re going to see how this saved you a bundle when you go to the Midway. With three kids under nine, we buy three passes. Most of the kids rides they’re riding alone, so we skip the adult passes. For us, we buy a small ticket package. Something like that huge slide, that my kids line up to go on five times in a row, makes the RAD passes so worth it.

Nightly Fireworks
Find a good spot to watch the Fireworks from outside of the grounds, and it’s free entertainment. It’s a chance to create a special night by doing bedtime as usual and waking up the kids to get in the car and drive to watch something spectacular.

Skip the Games
I know – what am I thinking? Evil, right? Really though, you can save yourself a good $20 (Okay, more) if you skip the games completely. I have to drag my kids away from the rubber duck grabbing game but really, it works out better for me because I don’t have to carry the prizes or try and grab them and stop them from hitting each other with inflatable hammers on the way home from the fair.

Skip the Rides 
Until a few years ago, we would be those parents that had to stop the ride half way through because our son was screaming at the top of his lungs. If you can skip the rides altogether and head into Kids Town to take advantage of the entertainment (and the bouncy castles) it’s going to save you a bundle.

See the Parade
Do you want the excitement of K-Days without actually having to go through the gate? Just see the parade. Every year the K-Days Parade sets the 10-day event in motion with a sea of beautiful floats, giant balloons, amazing performers, loveable mascots and real life animals. It’s a memory waiting to happen—just make sure to get there early to grab a good spot!