Plaza Park

Plaza Park that is located at the corner of Warner Avenue and Paseo Westpark, which is just about two blocks from Culver Drive (Google map at the end of the post). A typical playground layout that breaks into two sections: a wooden castle structure for younger age while a plastic/metal play structure next to it for older kids. Both structures features stairs and slides. There are also a spring horse, two kid size swings and a seesaw that can fits four people.

The playground has a car park adjacent to it, which is very convenient for parents. During weekend day time there are quite a lot of activities on the big soccer field nearby, so if you're thinking to park there, be aware.

Traffic to the playground is not too bad. We were there on a weekend around evening time and only about 6 kids (that's about 3-4 families) were there playing.

The wooden castle structure has two wide walkways for kids to walk into the castle, but climb up to the tower and the slides would be quite difficult for toddlers since the steps are quite high. However, what worry me most is the condition of the structure. Since it's sitting on top of the sand area, obviously whoever walks into the castle from the sand area will bring in a lot of sand onto the surface of the structure, and because of that, plus the foot traffic, the wood surfaces on the structure have been worn out badly and I worry that tiny wood chip will cut my daughter's finger.

The plastic/metal play structure has two staircases, and two climb bars to get onto the structure platform, with a full spinal slide and a half spinal slide on either end, plus the two lookout "windows". The staircases are unprotected (not a complete handrail) so toddlers will have a little bit difficult time to get up. My daughter (2yo as of writing) seems to enjoy the full spinal slide more than the half spinal slide side. The speed is definitely quick on the full spinal slide so watch out for that.

The plastic/metal play structure also suffers from the same problem its wooden friend has. The paint on the metal handle, especially the top coating, is mostly gone, and even the top plastic layer on the plastic balls on the structure is gone.

 

Another problem on the playground is the condition of the sand and the landing ground. I'm not sure if I can call that sand anymore since the particles are so big, I would consider those "dried soil" than fine sand. Of course those areas probably never consider to be a sand pool to begin with, but I'm sure all the kids who play there will try to play with it and assume those are sand. Surprisingly, although the sand is rough, the area is generally clean and doesn't have a lot of debris from the surrounding trees and grasses.

While the sand is rough, the soft-mat surface that the playground is standing on is even rougher. You can see the big crack on the photo on the left, which is very likely caused by the long exposure of the California dry nice weather. However, this is no excuse for the park to be in this condition.

Irvine thrives on high level of living standard and well maintain public facilities, but I fail to see it in the Plaza Park playground. I hope the city and the community can work together and renovate the playground.



Pro: parking spot nearby, convenient location, not too busy, quite area, restroom nearby

Con: lack of maintenance/poor condition on the playground facilities, lack of toddlers play facilities.