Kid's playground

Mety

Well-known member
Anyone know any good kids' places in Irvine or nearby?

Great Park has some nice playgrounds for kids and toddlers in each village. Woodbury is also nice. Do you guys know if Portola Springs or Los Olivos have any?

Also not just playground, but any good place to hang out for kids?

Newport Beach library is one of the best places for kids I've been to. Play Pie in Buena Park is also very nice. I wonder if there is anything like that closer by.

 
nosuchreality said:
Isn't Irvine pretty dotted with pocket parks full of kid play areas and accompanying parents and kids?

Yes, there are many parks in Irvine. I just want to hear where you guys go or had good experiences and etc. I shared that GP and WD were good and also this place called Play Pie and NB library (which are not Irvine) were good. Anywhere you guys like? If it's somewhere adults can go together and have coffee and whatnot, that would be nice. Oh, I forgot to mention that Spectrum opened a kids' playground couple months ago along with new shops.

 
I lived in Oak Creek on and off for about a decade.  We have a couple public access parks - Dove Creek & Valley Oak.  Valley Oak park has trees for shade and tennis court for adults as well.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/dovecreek-park-irvinehttps://www.yelp.com/biz/valley-oak-park-irvine


These two parks actually have living breathing humans and kids for your children to interact.  Inside the community gates, we have a small park around the corner from my condo and I rarely see kids play there.  I'd sit by the BBQ area with my laptop and count the rabbits on the lawn.
 
Pretend City near the Spectrum that has a cafe and a miniature city. Never been because my kids were already too old when I found out about it. But I think it's pay to play:
https://www.pretendcity.org/

There is an outdoor play area with supervision in University Park called Adventure Playground:
https://www.cityofirvine.org/parks-facilities/adventure-playground

It's so funny because I just recently found out about it and it's been open since the 70s.

This site is useful:
https://funorangecountyparks.com/category/playgrounds/oc-central/irvine

And you can also see stuff outside of Irvine (gasp!).

If your kids are older, Boomers and D&B are great too.
 
If we are talking public parks, from my experience (which has no credibility):

Bill Barber: Huge multilevel
Heritage: Has a water thing like Spectrum (back in the day had a huge slide)
Northwood: Castle!!!

And in Tustin Ranch, Citrus Park (I think that?s the name).
 
irvinehomeowner said:
If we are talking public parks, from my experience (which has no credibility):

Bill Barber: Huge multilevel
Heritage: Has a water thing like Spectrum (back in the day had a huge slide)
Northwood: Castle!!!

And in Tustin Ranch, Citrus Park (I think that?s the name).

I used to go to Bill Barber all the time when I lived nearby. It's cool, but later on, I discovered there was a landfill nearby.  :eek:

I like Heritage Park. There are so many kids coming to that swimming facility. Although I heard some guy got robbed in the park? Was that true?

I've never been to Northwood one. I always see that castle when I pass by, but I guess I should check it out.


I wasn't talking about just a public park. I just wanted to see where you guys take your kids to. Irvine is pretty well known for having parks and things to do for kids and family, but overall all the parks are kind of similar. I think if there is something like Play Pie here, that's going to be real popular. By the way, the remodeled Woodbridge plaza is pretty good for kids also. I like the coffee shop and the sandwich place there as well.

 
They used to have a place like Play Pie in the Tustin Marketplace.

They have smaller ones like Pump It Up in Irvine.

Also, there is Playland Cafe:

http://www.playlandcafe.com/
 
irvinehomeowner said:
They used to have a place like Play Pie in the Tustin Marketplace.

They have smaller ones like Pump It Up in Irvine.

Also, there is Playland Cafe:

http://www.playlandcafe.com/

Oh nice! I'll definitely check these places out.
 
I love taking my kids out for biking and hiking:

1) Boomer Canyon Trail -- small parking lot, nice area to hike but no shade

2) Peter Canyon Trail -- It can get busy on weekends, park at Peters Canyon Regional park or street park near Peter Canyon Elementary school

3) Jeffrey Open Space Trail -- well paved trail with bridges and safe area for biking and running. They will eventually open a sports park and another bridge at Jeffrey and Portola. You can keep biking/running and connect to Hicks Canyon trail and then to Lower Peters Canyon Trail / Mountain to Sea trail.

4) Irvine Regional Park -- Train rides, zoo, renting bikes, pony rides, picnic areas, fishing

5) Crystal Cove Beach -- hiking, picnic area, and beach fun
 
We have a 3 year old and 6 year old. We do mostly stick with the outdoor Irvine parks because they're free, but my kids absolutely love the indoor play places (their favorites are Luv 2 Play at the MarketPlace and We Play Loud in Lake Forest). They aren't cheap unfortunately, and it sucks they charge admission for adults. But--you can kill a few hours there easily and there are seats for adults and snacks/food.

Also, a good source for finding things to do with kids all over Orange County is:

www.planadayout.com





 
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