When did they change the July 4 policies?

I haven't attended in a few years, but was surprised that you need to pay admission to get into Memorial Park, at all.

It used to be you needed to pay for the circus and fireworks. We couldn't even go in to buy stuff from the vendors.  A bottle of water would have been nice. Or to just hang out and see our neighbors.

The park looks really empty (in part because of the weather). Can't be good for community engagement.

I think the idea is that the fireworks need more financial support, so the overall park ticket fee for the day mostly goes to that.

Next week, Maplewoodstock will be another opportunity for folks to get together in the park, and there is no admission fee.

It used to be that there wasn't much going on in Memorial Park on July 4th except for the kids races, pet show, baking and eating contests, art project, circus, and fireworks. A few years ago that all changed with activities going from 9:00 am clear through until after the fireworks.  Today's activities included a car show, zipline, eurobungee, kids rides, midway games, bingo, talent show, professional talent on two stages, plus much more.  Some of these activities are included in the cost of general admission, others were at additional cost.  Heat was a huge problem this year, keeping a lot of would be attendees out of the park. We did have a cooling area (that I ran from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm) providing air conditioning and indoor plumbing) at the Civic House.  Few attendees knew it was there however.  

What was different this year was that the entire park as closed on Monday and Tuesday for preparation as well as on  Wednesday for the event itself.

About the heat...  A relative took my kids down there today and mentioned that nothing was allowed into the circus tent, not even water.  If I heard the situation correctly it needed to be purchased there from the vendors.  I understand the need to make money, but considering the summer heat people should at least be allowed to bring their water into the circus.  Snacks, food, even soda, sure, ban those.  But water should be allowed to be carried in.  Trying to keep five kids hydrated in a hot tent in this heat couldn't have been easy. 

spontaneous said:
About the heat...  A relative took my kids down there today and mentioned that nothing was allowed into the circus tent, not even water.  If I heard the situation correctly it needed to be purchased there from the vendors.  I understand the need to make money, but considering the summer heat people should at least be allowed to bring their water into the circus.  Snacks, food, even soda, sure, ban those.  But water should be allowed to be carried in.  Trying to keep five kids hydrated in a hot tent in this heat couldn't have been easy. 

 Kids wanted to go to the circus but there was no way in hell that you were going to get me in that broiler.  We spent the time at the pool instead.  All the free water you could want!

My favorite Maplewood Fourth was the year I watched my guys run in the races and was able to come back and picnic on the grass with live music until the fireworks started. Never cared about the cirrrrrrrrcusss. Never missed all-day midway-style entertainment. I hate being the old geezer fondly recalling the olden days, but that was a really nice time. 

It's been that way (pay to get in at all) since we moved here years ago. The circus is hot as hell but cute and the kids love it. Everything else, however, has gone really down hill, in my opinion. The fair appeared to be just thrown together with terrible food vendors instead of the fun cook offs and everything else they have had in past years. Not many rides, and the antique car show was sparse. On top of charging just to get in, they also charged $3 per kids ride.... The fireworks were well done, but I didn't actually see anyone from Maplewood there. Seemed to be mostly people from other towns this time around.   I think we'll skip next year. 

Working the Crescent Gate last night, I saw a fair number of friends and neighbors passing through.  Nice surprise was being able to walk up the hill with a neighbor I saw after the fireworks were over.  This year planners and volunteers (and even an off-line ticket office in SO) included South Orange residents so I would expect a number of persons you saw were from South Orange.  With reduction in number of neighboring towns that are holding 4th of July festivities this year, I would expect that an increase in number of attendees from other towns is to be expected.  There is no residence requirement to attend.

I feel like I'm at a Jersey Shore boardwalk now during the Family 4th.  It's become too commercialized with the expensive games and rides.  

I would agree about the expense.  Our family of four attended, ate something there, rode some of the rides, and we easily spent $150.00.  That's pretty hefty.  We could do without the midway rides.  It seems the activities my kids most enjoyed were under the big tent -- and the zip line, of course.

RichardR said:
I would agree about the expense.  Our family of four attended, ate something there, rode some of the rides, and we easily spent $150.00.  That's pretty hefty.  We could do without the midway rides.  It seems the activities my kids most enjoyed were under the big tent -- and the zip line, of course.

 Zip line was $15 per person.  Seriously?

Going to the fair makes little sense if you’re not staying for the fireworks. Your $40 for a family of 4 quite literally only allows you to walk in your park and spend more money on overpriced stuff.

The Boy Scouts are the only reasonably priced vendors.

I’m not sure what the $10 is supposed to cover other than the fireworks. 

Jackson_Fusion said:
Going to the fair makes little sense if you’re not staying for the fireworks. Your $40 for a family of 4 quite literally only allows you to walk in your park and spend more money on overpriced stuff.


The Boy Scouts are the only reasonably priced vendors.


I’m not sure what the $10 is supposed to cover other than the fireworks. 

 I could be wrong, but I think they kick in for police and DPW overhead.

yahooyahoo said:

Jackson_Fusion said:
Going to the fair makes little sense if you’re not staying for the fireworks. Your $40 for a family of 4 quite literally only allows you to walk in your park and spend more money on overpriced stuff.


The Boy Scouts are the only reasonably priced vendors.


I’m not sure what the $10 is supposed to cover other than the fireworks. 

 I could be wrong, but I think they kick in for police and DPW overhead.

 That would make sense. Still not a great value imo. Not pulling out the pitchfork over it- the personal remedy is obvious.

$10.00? I think it was $12.00 just to enter the Park.

Somewhere I read that the Fourth celebration is really not run by the town. What is the real story? I would think the town would have to oversee everything.

LOST said:
$10.00? I think it was $12.00 just to enter the Park.

 It was $8 for a general admission ticket if you purchased your tickets by July 3rd.  This could be done online or at any of 4 brick and mortar locations.

galileo said:
Somewhere I read that the Fourth celebration is really not run by the town. What is the real story? I would think the town would have to oversee everything.

The Fourth of July Celebration is run by the Maplewood Civic Association and funded through the sale of wristbands (general admission ticket), 4th of July merchandise, and fees charged to vendors and exhibitors of classic cars.  The town provides a permit to use the park and some in-kind services (police, fire, DPW,etc.) some of which may be reimbursed by the Civic Association.

I believe the pre-purchase option was 3 tickets for $24 (i.e., $8/per ticket) 

The single tickets for $12 remained the same price: pre-purchase or day-of. 

sprout said:
I believe the pre-purchase option was 3 tickets for $24 (i.e., $8/per ticket) 
The single tickets for $12 remained the same price: pre-purchase or day-of. 

 I paid $8 for my pre-purchase single ticket at BCB Bank in Maplewood.

sprout said:
I believe the pre-purchase option was 3 tickets for $24 (i.e., $8/per ticket) 
The single tickets for $12 remained the same price: pre-purchase or day-of. 

 I paid $8 for my single admission ticket which I purchased at Town Hall.  The Maplewood Seniors Advisory Committee was instrumental in negotiating an off line option for seniors who were not computer literate and thus lost out on circus reservations and discount packages last year.  Since it is not just Seniors who may lack computer access or computer literacy, the agreement was that the equal deal off line would apply to anyone making a purchase by July 3rd at any of the four authorized brick and mortar locations.  Sorry you did not know about this.

Interesting. The online single ticket pre-purchase option was for $12.  (We got the 3-ticket online bundle, so spouse and kids were $8 each). Plus a service fee.  Next year, I'll check Town Hall first.

I  think there was not sufficient advertising of the fact that buying a ticket in advance would be a third less expensive than buying it on the 4th. 

I really do not like the fact that on the 4th there is no free access to the Park. What if I just want to go to the Park to sit on a bench and watch the ducks?

If you entered the park before 10;00 am, there was no charge.  Should you then leave the park and try to re-enter after 10:00 am, an advance purchased ticket or $12 payment at the gate would have been required.   Another apparently little known fact:  volunteer to work the event for four hours or more and admission is free.  Something to think about for next year since volunteers are always needed.

LOST said:
I  think there was not sufficient advertising of the fact that buying a ticket in advance would be a third less expensive than buying it on the 4th. 
I really do not like the fact that on the 4th there is no free access to the Park. What if I just want to go to the Park to sit on a bench and watch the ducks?

 You’re right- $12. Sun baked my brain I guess.

The loss of the park irritates me as well. For the amount of taxes paid it’s a bit galling to have to pay on the biggest summer holiday of the year just to walk through. 

I saw a sign claiming restricted access the days prior. Was working so unsure of whether or not the park was shut down the whole time for “set up”.

Fireworks are cool and all if you stick around for them but a few bounce houses (I think there were 3) and a bunch of sort of average cars for $12, $5 for a lemonade, $7 bucks for a funnel cake... $3 per “ride”... not a low cost day in your public park.

The Boy Scouts were the best deal in town. $1 waters! Thanks fellas, they were needed.

FWIW, The money spent at the Boy Scout concession stays in Maplewood. It help send Maplewood and South Orange kids to summer camp. Not sure the bottomless soda mug folks do that. 

We have sadly been out of town the last 4 years and were excited to be home to attend the fireworks. We prepaid and had no issues with cost. My wife, 12 year old, 14 year old & I did NOT prefer the new “improvements”. (We found the previous Park layout intuitive, and a pretty-darn-perfect slice of Americana). 

Kids said, “they’ve ruined everything”. 

I apologize to the re-organizers - but we, as a group, were shocked to find our iconic Memorial Park transformed into a loud, commercial, over-lit, non-intuitive “Jersey Shore” mess. Speculated that the Olmstead Brothers were rolling in their graves. 

The fireworks themselves were as good as always - and we look forward to  Maplewoodstock. 

Similiarly we missed the last two 4ths and were disappointed by the changes.  We also noticed that it was much more crowded, though, so perhaps we are in the minority. 

The organizers need to give serious thought to who their intended audience is and what that audience would most want to see in a 4th of July celebration.

Thank you Maplewood Civic Association for the hard work and dedication in providing Maplewood and our surrounding towns with a great 4th of July celebration!