Beyond Amusement Parks: 3 Amazing Places to Take Your Family to in Buena Park, California
(This trip was hosted by the Buena Park Tourism where we were given complimentary entry to Knotts Berry Farm to facilitate this post. The views and opinions expressed are entirely my own. Read my full disclosure here.)
Looking for some amazing places to take your Family to in Buena Park, California?
It is no secret that Buena Park is a Hotspot for Family Vacations. After all, it is the home of Disneyland and Knotts Berry Farm (check out our Halloween experience at Knotts Berry Farm here). But did you know that in addition to these famous Theme Parks there are some other really fun attractions that your family will LOVE?
On our recent family visit to Buena Park, California we got to check out 3 of these great attractions. (after all, we only had 2 ½ days. otherwise, we would have tried to see more.) At each of these attractions my children, husband, and I had a blast.
Medieval Times
I have been wanting to experience a Medieval Times dinner tournament for quite some time. I mean hello, Knights and jousting and sword fighting over a delicious feast. I have had multiple friends who have taken their families to Medieval Times (at various locations) and had raved about how amazing it was.
When we arrived to check in we were given colored crowns which marked the area we would be sitting at the tournament then while we waited to be seated (since they recommended arriving an hour early) we were able to explore the castle. My kids loved the suits of armor the stable and other fun medieval items on display throughout the castle.
When we seated and our dinner was brought out I was so glad that even my picky kids found plenty to enjoy.
Each colored section had a particular Colored knight that was ours to cheer on throughout the tournament. We all got into the story cheering like crazy for our brave knight and booing his competitors.
In the end, our knight didn't win, and yet we still had an amazing time watching the beautiful horses and gallant knights perform for us.
My kids loved Medieval Times soo much they couldn't stop talking about it the whole way back to our hotel that night and again the next day.
Pirates Dinner Adventure
Unlike Medieval Times, I had not heard of the Pirate Dinner Adventure before our visit to Buena Park, California but it was just as amazing as Medieval times. I mean who doesn't like a good pirate story? Apparently, we were in for an extra treat since we went in October. During the Halloween season, The Pirate Dinner adventure becomes the Vampirate Dinner Adventure.
We started our evening adventure enjoying tasty hors-d'oeuvres in the ballroom (since we were asked to come an hour before the Dinner performance would begin.)
The show actually started in the ballroom after which we were led to our seats by our own Vampirate (identified by out assigned color) and given instructions for how we would participate in the actual show. That's right we did more than just cheer our vampirate we got to be a part of the competition.
As the evening show began our food was brought out and it was delicious (even my picky kids enjoyed it). As good as the food was the show was even better. We all found ourselves cheering our quirky pirate along in his daring dos. Our kids favorite part of the night though had to be when they were taken onto the boat and sworn in as pirates by the Vampire Pirate Captain himself.
The evening was so fun my kids have been begging to go back. I totally want to and this next time we will see what one of their normal pirate dinner adventures is like. Yo ho hum...A Pirates Life for Me!
Big Air Trampoline
Originally we were going to go and check out the Big Air Trampoline our first day (before going to Medieval Times) but after having spent hours in the car driving we decided to rest in our gorgeous suite (at the Holiday Inn. You can read about our experience here.) that we were staying in during our Buena Park visit before heading off to our evening entertainment.
So instead of going to the Big Air Trampoline first, we went to it last on our trip before heading to our next travel destination in Mesa (where we were headed for a family wedding). Since Big Air Trampoline doesn't open until later in the afternoon on weekdays we ended up getting a late start on our driving to Arizona, but seriously it was soooo worth it. We had two hours of family fun that felt like much longer. By the time we left we were all happy yet exhausted.
Big AirtAt Big Air Trampoline we had to get special socks with grip bottoms for safety reasons.
After we entered my daughter and husband immediately had to check out the Climbing wall with the squishy blocks that you got to drop into when you let go. Later on, my 3-year-old discovered how fun the climbing wall could be.
My boys jumped into the foam block pit just to climb out and jump in all over again. Even their big sister joined in the fun.
In addition to the blog pit and the climbing wall they also had a fun dodge ballroom with trampolines on the floor and walls. My husband took on all three of our kids in a game of dodgeball which he totally won due to the kids falling over in laughter at his acrobatics.
Of course, even I joined in the fun. I particularly loved the Trampoline area which had back to back trampolines (with cushioned spacers between) where you could run and bounce on.
I even engaged in a little balance battle on the high bar with both my daughter and then my husband.
We wished we could have stayed in Buena Park longer because there are soo many more fun things to do with kids. I guess we will just have to go back again. This next time I totally want to check out Knott's Independence Hall across from Knotts Berry Farm and enjoy the Buena Park Historic District Tours. I hear they are even building a Butterfly Palladium which will be super cool to take the kids too.
If you are planning a Family Vacation to Buena Park Make sure to check out these articles too! (Click on the photos to go to the post)
