State Fair of Texas: Pig Races, Fried Pudding & What NOT to Do at The State Fair of Texas

Hey there fellow travelers, Mark here with Walters World. Today I'm here with Big Tex at the State Fair of Texas. Today what we have for you are the don'ts of coming to the State Fair of Texas. My first don't is don't forget to say howdy to Big Tex and get your picture with them because it's kind of like the thing you have to do when you're here, all right? So be aware of that. Also, don't forget, this is huge. Don't think it's just going to be an hour or so or two hours of walking around. This place is enormous with rides, food, events, all kinds of stuff. So do be aware of that. So don't forget to bring some good shoes when you're coming here because you're going to do a lot of walking and also probably put on a little weight too. So comfy shoes might make it easier when you're walking later. Don't miss the pig races. That's all I'm going to say. Just watch the race. Just go to the pig races and enjoy it. The guy has ultimate bad jokes for the names. It's great. Now if there's one food you don't want to miss when you come here to the State Fair, it is Fletcher's Corny Dogs, the original corny dogs. You want to come and grab one. They have a few places around the State Fairgrounds, but this is the one you want to right by Big Tex. Look, he's right there. You can say howdy to Big Tex. Then you come over here and grab your corny dog. And yes, with mustard, okay? But there's tons of other things. Don't worry about your waistline when you come to the State Fair because honestly, everything is fried. Everything is fantastic. You want to eat everything when you're here. Don't spend the money on the rides. Spend it on the food. But Fletcher's Corny Dog is a must here. Now don't forget when you're at the State Fair, you might see these signs saying new food at the State Fair. You can try those out. But this is the one you really want to look for, the Big Tex Choice Awards. That's right. Go get some, especially if you got the Big Tex Awards. That means they're the best new foods out there. So check it out. Though I will tell you, it can be pricey. Like the winner of the Big Tex Award winner is 18 coupons. Translated into dollars, that's $18. So be aware of that, okay? And don't forget to get pictures with your food when you're here. One of the most important parts, because you can't just talk about having, you know, Biscoff cheesecake on a stick. You got to have the pictures too, whether it's the Corny Dog or anything. You got to get the pictures. Fried banana pudding. Yes, even liquids can be fried when you're here. So that's a don't for you. Don't think because something's a liquid, it can't be fried at the State Fair of Texas because it can. And honestly, the deep fried banana pudding, got some good stuff. Hey, I want to say this about the food when you're here. Don't be pressured just to try the new stuff that's here because the old classics are old classics for a reason. That Turkey Leg, the Corny Dog, you know, getting their funnel cakes, those things are fantastic. But I know with all the news and all the hype, it's all about the new stuff. I know we had, the year I'm here, the Biscoff cheesecake on a stick was the winner of like the sweet. We had it, I'll be honest with you, old school banana pudding, fried banana pudding was way better. There's Turkey Leg. So, so don't always go for the new stuff. Go for those classics as well because honestly, you're here for those classics too. So try those as well. So don't forget to do the fun things when you're here, like milking a fake cow, going on the rides. You know, there's a lot of other fun things you do. You can test drive cars. But yes, milking a cow is an option. And sometimes the fun thing you do is just seeing tex made out of butter. Figure out those things. You have a good time. My grandma would be so proud. So don't forget about the rides. When you do come here to the State Fair of Texas, hit on the Midway. Plenty of rides, plenty of fun things to do. Don't be surprised if you spend a lot of coupons to go on those rides, especially the big ferris wheel there. But honestly, it's fun to do. I mean, you're here. It's at the State Fair. You got to enjoy it. But yeah, riding the rides of the Midway, fun thing to do. So don't think that you're going to pay with cash or card when you go to individual spots. If you're going to get the great food or go on some of the rides and things, it's all based on coupons. So you got to buy the coupons. Now there's these kiosks you can go to and buy them there. This is a coupon-based adventure, not a cash or credit card-based adventure. So make sure you pick some up because sometimes those lines get really long. So do be aware of that. So if you want to get a feel of the entire State Fair of Texas, you can. Don't forget you can take the Skyway, which will take you over a lot of it, over the Midway. So you can see where a lot of things are, see if there's rides you want to do, but also get you out of the heat for a little bit, especially if you're here at the beginning. Because I want to tell you this, don't think when you come, it won't be hot at the beginning because this goes from, you know, the last week of September through October. So the end of October, it can be a little chilly here. However, at the beginning of September, it can be a bit hot. So don't forget to be prepared. Now don't think it's just fried food and the Midway with the rides when you are here. There's a lot of other things to do when you're here. So if you're not a ride person, like I'm a bigger person, I don't feel very comfortable in some of those rides that they'll keep me in there, but you can still have a great time. One thing I think is important to mention, don't think all the rides are cheap and easy to do. You do need to be prepared to spend quite a bit of money. If you want to go on the big old Ferris wheel, that is 14 coupons. So $14 per person, okay? So it is not necessarily cheap to go do the rides. So do be probably judicious what you want to do. Also, don't be surprised if you spend more money than you think, because since you're using coupons, you're just using coupons. You don't kind of maybe put the connection together. You just get more coupons. So do be aware of that. So maybe set a limit when you're coming here. Or maybe don't set a limit because you might end up having, you know, finding on your way out some pimento cheese queso covered tater tots and get those to finish off your coupons anyway. So, yeah. Now you'll notice the Cotton Bowl Stadium is actually here where the State Fair is. However, don't think they actually play the Cotton Bowl here. That's actually an AT&T, you know, where the Cowboys play. That, that's where that is. I gotta tell you this. There is one game they do play here. The Red River Rivalry. Say that 10 times fast. Red River Rival- If it's Red- I've had a few corn dogs. It's a bit tough. But don't come in because that's Oklahoma versus Texas. It gets packed here. I mean, that's the weekend. Yeah, just don't. Unless you got tickets to the game. Otherwise, this is not a place to be. Now, if you're wondering when you should come, it's open Sunday through Thursday. It's open 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. But then on the weekends, on Friday and Saturday, it's from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. So you can go and have a good time when you are here. Don't forget to look at the schedule. When you come in, they'll have this, or you can look online to see what music groups are playing, when things are going on. This is going to help you know what to do to enjoy when you do come here. Because you'll never know when a show's going to be on, when a musician's going to be playing. This can help you out. So don't forget to look at the schedule. Don't forget, Thursdays, it's actually reduced entrance into the State Fair of Texas. So if you want to pay a little bit less, come on Thursday, save some money. I mean, if you come on the right day, it can actually be quite empty here. So you don't have to deal with the crowds. Because I'm going to tell you, don't think it's going to be empty on the weekends. Saturdays, Sundays, this place gets packed, okay? So be aware of that. Also, if you're thinking about dropping off your kids, a lot of them run around like crazy when they're in high school. From 2023, they had a new rule that after 5 p.m., if you're 17 or under, you need to have an adult there. It's like one adult per six kids. During the day, you can let them enjoy their time. But just for safety stuff, they started instituting that. When you're getting all the really good food here at the State Fair of Texas, don't forget to not litter and throw your stuff away. Because you want to keep it clean. Because look, look how clean this is. Keep it clean so people have a good time. And then you can get some more corny dogs and some other fried fantastic things. Oh, here's another don't for you. Not everything is fried at the State Fair of Texas. I know it sounds crazy, but not everything is fried. I haven't seen too many things, but I've heard there's not. So if you're not into fried food, don't worry, they got stuff for you. Okay, another don't. Don't forget, you do have to pay for parking when you do come here to the State Fair of Texas. There is a dart stop you can do if you want to save some money that way and get dropped off in a better spot. Or if you have a fantastic friend that'll drive you around like Mark, they'll get you there. But I mean, if you want the premium parking, it's like 40 bucks. If you want like the normal parking, it's 20 bucks. But don't think you're gonna get the park for free, okay? So just have a heads up for that one. Don't worry, they do have adult beverages as well. So if you want to have a cool adult beverage, you can get that too here at the Texas State Fair. So I hope this helps you get better prepared to come to the State Fair of Texas here in Dallas. I gotta tell you, this is not like any other State Fair you go to in the U.S. It is so worth it, and it runs for 24 days. So it's literally like a 12th of the year. So there's a good chance if you're coming to Dallas in the fall, you're gonna be here for it. So don't pass it up. It's a fantastic, fun experience. And if you want to learn more about coming to Dallas, we've got the don'ts of visiting Dallas. We got what you should eat when you come to Texas on our website at waltersworld.com. And I want to say a special thank you to Mark and Terry who helped us out here from escaping the empty nest so we can have a good time eating and drinking and just enjoying the State Fair of Texas. And I hope you do too. And I'll say, bye, y'all. Have a good time. So they got me on the way out after I made my video. They had pimento cheese queso smothered tater tots.