Orange County Great Park

Credit: Orange County Great Park

If you have a kiddo that loves police officers or you would like your family learn all about safety, you will definitely want to check out The Orange County Great Park’s Community Safety Expo.

The Safety Expo will take place this Saturday, March 26th from 10am to 2pm.

Police officers will be joined by Smokey Bear, Urban Search and Rescue dogs, and advanced fire and police vehicles at the Great Park. This free event will have safety demonstrations and activities that will show you how to protect yourself, your family and your neighborhood.

Kids are invited to bring their bikes to the Park to participate in a bicycle obstacle course and receive a free bike inspection. Parents can learn how to keep their kids safe from predators on the internet and see a live cooking fire safety demonstration. The event will conclude with demonstrations by the Irvine Police Department K-9 Unit and the Orange County Fire Authority Urban Search and Rescue Dog Team.

Kids can meet police officers and fire fighters, and see real emergency vehicles up close. Visitors will also be able to meet the K9 officers, and gourmet food trucks will be available throughout the event.

To learn more about the event head here.

What: OCGP Community Safety Expo

Where: Orange County Great Park

Time: 10am to 2pm

Last Thursday evening my friend Caryn and I were trying to figure out what to do with our boys. We usually head over to Disneyland almost every week for our playdates and we wanted to try something different. I knew that The Orange County Great Park became the new home to the Fashion Island Carousel last year and I really wanted to check it out. We headed to Irvine for our fun adventure.

We drove up to The Great Park’s visitor center and easily found a parking spot. The park was pretty much empty and it felt like we had the area surrounding the visitor’s center all to ourselves. We headed to the visitor’s center to check in and we were off to ride the carousel to our heart’s content. I’m not kidding when I say that we had the carousel all to ourselves and we rode it at least 5 times.

My friend Caryn was brave enough and rode the Great Park’s ballon ride. The balloon holds up to 30 people and soars 400 feet in the air. Rides on the Balloon ride are free and all that is needed to take flight is a waiver release. Caryn rode up with her little girl in an sling and said the views were absolutely incredible. I think next time I will have to see for myself.

The boys had a blast riding the carousel and playing in the Kids Rock Section. Kids Rock is a fun play area that educates the kiddos about conservation ecology and the water cycle. This fun area had plenty of lighting and the boys could have played for hours. There are “caves” to explore, “reptiles” to observe and good old fashioned slides to slide down on.

Next time we head over to the Great Park I will make sure to bring dinner or lunch. There are plenty of picnic tables to enjoy a meal on and enjoy a wonderful evening or day. The best part is that we didn’t spend a penny. Our very fun evening was completely free of charge.

If you are looking for something to do with your family on a weekend night, pick up a pizza and head over to the Orange County Great Park for a great time.

Great Park Balloon ^Free!
Thursday–Friday: 10:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m.
Saturday–Sunday: 9:00 a.m.–3:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m.–10:00 p.m. All flights are free.

Great Park Carousel ^Free!
Thursday–Friday: 10:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.
Saturday–Sunday: 9:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.

Check-in is required at the Visitors Center. Riders under 42″ must be accompanied by an adult. Rides are approximately two minutes long. Rides are Free.

Kids Rock
Thursday–Friday: 10:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.
Saturday–Sunday: 9:00 a.m.–10:00 p.m.

For additional info head here.