Best Family-Friendly Attractions
Explore the best best family-friendly attractions options for kids and families in Costa Mesa
TeWinkle Park
Park for recreation & picnicking. This 49-acre park with a lake offers play areas, ball fields, tennis courts & picnic shelters.
Lions Park
Park with playground & community center. Small park featuring a playground, picnic tables, baseball field & community center.
Heritage Museum of Orange County
Restored buildings from the 1890s. Attraction featuring restored homes & buildings from the 1890s set amid extensive floral gardens.
Victory Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Turtle Rock Nature Center
Educational nature preserve with trails. Five-acre nature preserve with trails for viewing wildlife & habitats, plus an outdoor classroom.
Shipley Nature Center
Fenced area with native plants & animals. Opened in 1974, this 18-acre fenced nature preserve features native plants & animals, plus trails.
Santa Ana Zoo
Home to over 350 animals. Zoo attracts animal lovers of all ages with 350+ animals, a petting barnyard & a mini-train ride.
Discovery Cube
Rotating displays & interactive exhibits. Educational museum with a focus on kids offers over 100 hands-on exhibits, plus special programs.
Crystal Cove State Park
Beach, hiking trails, coves & tide pools. Park has 3.2-mile beach with sandy coves & tide pools, plus 2,400 acres of land for hiking & biking.
Bolsa Chica Ecological Reserve
Protected coastal estuary & bird habitat. 1300 acre ecological preserve with over 200 avian species spread around the coastal wetlands.
Blue Gum Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Great Park
Park known for its giant helium balloon. Public space popular for a huge helium balloon tethered to the ground offering views from up high.
Great Park Balloon Ride
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Citrus Ranch Park
Orchard, playground & hilltop views. Park with a lemon orchard, a playground, picnic areas with grills & a hilltop gazebo with views.
Irvine Spectrum Center Giant Wheel
Family-friendly ride with city views. Day or night attraction with 52,000 LED lights & panoramic city views from the top.
Irvine Spectrum Center Carousel
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Pretend City Children's Museum
Imaginary town & exhibits for kids. Set up as a pretend city, this kids' museum has a post office, cafe, farm & other interactive areas.
Parasol Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Jessie's Critter Carousel
Pixar-themed attraction for kids. Gentle, kid-friendly carousel ride featuring brightly painted animals from the Pixar universe.
Pixar Pier
Themed waterfront spot with rides. Waterfront, Pixar-themed place in Disneyland featuring a boardwalk, rides, characters & eateries.
Paradise Gardens Park
Lakeside garden with rides & food stands. Landscaped lakeshore park with classic carousels & kids' rides, plus a bandstand & hot-dog stalls.
Ancient Sanctum
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Disney California Adventure Park
Modern theme park with dining & shows. Contemporary theme park with innovative attractions, multiple dining options & live entertainment.
Crescent Bay Point Park
Blufftop retreat with water views. This green space sits on a bluff that provides panoramic views of the ocean and a tide pool.
Beacon Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Pirate's Lair on Tom Sawyer Island
Secret island from Mark Twain stories. Open since 1956, an island with caves, rope bridges & hideaways inspired by Tom Sawyer's adventures.
Sleeping Beauty Castle Walkthrough
Fanciful, fairy-tale castle replica. Disney family attraction built to mimic the castle of the renowned fairy-tale character.
King Arthur Carrousel
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Storybook Land Canal Boats
Boat ride amid mini fairytale scenes. Gentle outdoor boat ride through a whale's mouth & past miniature replicas of storybook settings.
Casey Jr. Circus Train
Mini railway through fairytale scenery. Children's railway passing miniature landscapes from Frozen, Peter Pan, Cinderella & more.
Minnie's House
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Seabridge Park
Playground & picnicking with water views. 3.9-acre neighborhood park offering a playground, facilities & picnic tables with water vistas.
Heisler Park
Seaside tide pools & sculptures. This beach area offers artsy park benches, sculptures, ocean views, rocky shores & tide pools.
Laguna Art Museum
Waterfront gallery with contemporary art. Contemporary art museum with a permanent collection of over 3,500 works & a waterfront setting.
Laguna Beaches
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Adventure City
Amusement park for children. Children's amusement park for family fun via rides, a petting zoo, an arcade & more.
Muzeo Museum and Cultural Center
Unique art exhibits for kids & adults. This contemporary museum hosts three inventive art exhibits a year & caters to all ages.
Bluebird Park
City park for activities & summer music. City park featuring sports courts, a children's play area, picnic tables & a summer concert series.
Grand Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Anaheim Founders' Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Lake Forest Heritage Hill Historic Park
Calm park hosting 4 historic buildings. Petite park featuring heritage landscaping & guided tours of 4 restored buildings erected 1863-1908.
Irvine Regional Park
Park, playground, rides & rentals. Park offers train & pony rides, plus paddle boat rentals, the Orange County Zoo & picnic areas.
Irvine Park Railroad
Recreation area with train & pony rides. Outdoor park featuring family activities including train rides, pony rides & paddle boat rentals.
Dinosaur Park
Fields & a dinosaur-themed playground. Large park offering athletic fields as well as a playground with dinosaur- & fossil-themed elements.
Orange County Zoo
8 acres of native Southwestern animals. 8-acre city park zoo features native Southwestern animals & plants, plus regular programs & events.
Pirate Tower
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Aliso & Wood Canyons Wilderness Park
Huge wildlife preserve with streams. Wildlife sanctuary across 4,500 acres featuring rolling hills with trails & several types of trees.
Knott's Soak City
Seasonal spot with aquatic attractions. Waterslide park with multi-person raft slides, lazy river & toddler areas as well as shops & snacks.
Pittsford Park
Hilly site of play, picnics & concerts. Pet-friendly nature spot with a big playground, picnic shelter, tennis courts & summer concerts.
Knott's Berry Farm
Old-school theme park with rides & charm. Classic theme park boasts fast rides, old-fashioned charm & famous fried chicken.
Pirates Dinner Adventure
Dinner theater set on a Spanish galleon. Diners enjoy dinner & a show with an 18th-century ship replica as the stage at this thrilling event.
Wild Goose Escape Rooms - Fullerton
Visit this great place for kids and families!
Niguel Botanical Preserve
Visit this great place for kids and families!
El Dorado Nature Center
Wide-ranging park for flora & fauna. 105-acre park featuring a visitor center, flora & fauna, lakes, a stream & walking trails.
Oak Canyon Nature Center
Nature park with an interpretive center. Nature park featuring oak forests, scrubland & canyons, plus wildlife & an interpretive center.
Earl Burns Miller Japanese Garden
Serene garden with a pond & a waterfall. Scenic park featuring a koi pond, a waterfall & 3 bridges, plus a black rock beach & a Zen garden.
Arboretum and Botanical Garden at Cal State Fullerton
26-acre botanical garden. A sprawling, 26-acre greenspace featuring 4,000+ types of plants, walking trails & a museum.
Panorama Nature Preserve
Short hiking trail offering scenic views. Small nature reserve with a paved & gravel walking trail offering sweeping views.
Mountain View Park
Landscaped park with broad views. Brass plaques in this landscaped park tell visitors what they can see in the wide-spread views.
Richard Nixon Presidential Library & Museum
Library, museum, birthplace, burial site. President Nixon's dedicated library has artifacts, a Watergate gallery, his birthplace & gravesite.
Ralph B Clark Park
104-acre park at foot of Coyote Hills. Sprawling park covering more than 100 acres includes a softball complex & plenty of open fields.
Yorba Regional Park
Picnicking, fishing, hiking & biking. Mile-wide park adjacent to the Santa Ana River has 140 acres of picnic tables, lakes, trails & more.
Cerritos Heritage Park
Sports facilities & historic Play Island. Park has playgrounds & sports areas, plus a Play Island with slides attached to historic buildings.
Bixby Park
Park with a playground, sports & more. Park featuring a bandshell, a community center, a playground, sports facilities & more.
Sea Canyon Park
Picnic & play area with a dog run. Open green space with a playground & picnic areas, a dog run & a lit, paved path.
Discovery Well Park
Visit this great place for kids and families!
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