9301 Westminster Blvd, Garden Grove, CA 92844
Hours: Monday-Sunday (6 AM-11 PM)
Restrooms? Yes, but a bit of a walk. Located by the ball fields across the parking lot
Playground Surface: Rubber
Parking Lot? Yes. Dedicated parking area directly in front of playground as well as multiple other parking lots
Gated/Fenced? No
Overview
Garden Grove Park is an utterly massive park, consisting of 36 acres and encompassing numerous parks and areas. My focus here will be on detailing the newly renovated rocket ship playground and surrounding area. What this area is undoubtedly known for is the spectacular Atlantis play center and splash pad (that never seems to be operating) just next door. This area of the park and the former playground here were nice but were pretty much an afterthought to the Atlantis Play Center.
Well, that is not the case anymore. This area is now a huge hit, after the city tore down the old playground and replaced it with the new rocket ship themed one.
Other great things in this area include the fantastic exercise area and multiple ball fields. In addition, gazebos and picnic tables are plentiful. And of course, don’t forget to visit one of the best playgrounds imaginable. The Atlantis Play Center, located a short walk from the space ship playground.
Features
2 play structures including a rocket ship play structure (for kids 5-12 years old) and a plane play structure (for kids 2-5 years old). A landing strip is etched into the rubber surface around the playground.
Rocket Ship Play Structure (For Kids Ages 5-12 Years Old)
- USA spaceship with thrusters and 3 slides including a tunnel slide and a spiral tunnel slide
- Crawling net that must be navigated to reach the slides atop the rocket ship
Airplane Play Structure (For Kids Ages 2-5 Years Old)
- Airplane with 2 slides
- Tunnel crawler, spiral ladder climber and toddler play panel
- Musical sensory toys
Other Amenities
- Huge open lawn areas, ball fields and covered picnic areas
- Large fitness equipment area
- Atlantis Play Center a short walk just up the street
Scout’s Story
Today would be another day of my wife and I attempting to get our daughter, Scout, outside to play while limiting her contact with others. As I have written about so many times now, Scout has been battling stage 4 cancer (germ cell neoplasm) for nearly 4 months.
We are currently at a stand still in her treatment as we await P.E.T scans on her tumors to determine our next steps. The difficult part has been getting the scans as we are having to go to Children’s Hospital in Los Angeles and the waiting period was originally 6 weeks. On our first attempt to get the scans Scout’s blood sugar was too low (most likely from fasting) so the scans weren’t able to be performed and we had to reschedule and wait another 5 weeks to get in. That is currently where we are in this process and we are very anxious to just move forward in this fight.
As our lives are currently centered around Scout’s battle and ridding her of these cancerous tumors, normal daily activities have become a bit of a foreign activity to us. Luckily, Scout is now more than a month removed from her last chemo treatment and her blood counts and levels were steady enough that we felt comfortable taking her outside. On this day, we would be meeting up with Scout’s Grandma and Grandpa, who would be visiting from Arizona. On our drive to meet them we elected to stop at a few parks and let Scout play. Our hopes were to let Scout be as much of a normal kid as possible.
December 7, 2022
Scout’s Day at the Park
This would be our second stop of the morning, en route to meet up with Scout’s Grandma and Grandpa. Scout’s main focus here was the slide on the airplane structure. She threw her 19 month old body down it and then ran and crawled back up the playground steps to do it again. This continued more times than I could count. The bigger play structure was way too advanced for Scout, but one day I’m sure she will love playing on it.
As we made our way around the playground a fire truck pulled up across the street and caught Scout’s attention. The playground was no longer Scout’s focus and we helped her cross the street to see the fire truck.
By this time the firefighters had exited the fire truck and made their way to the baseball field for a game of kickball. Scout was so entranced by the fire truck and we spent about ten minutes circling and showing it to her. With Scout now asking for milk, we made our way to the car. One last detour and grandma and grandpa would finally get to see Scout.
December 7, 2022
