"Paseo Westpark & N Santa Teresita" Park

This park is located right next to the Westpark Kindercare. You follow the north bound Paseo Westpark and after you past N Santa Teresita (on your right), the park will be on the left side. Pull into the Westpark Kindercare parking lot and it will be there. At this point I'm still trying to figure out if this is a city park, or a community park. Judging from the location and the nameless status, I will have to assume that it's a community park.

The park is quite quiet during the weekend, almost no one come here, occasionally there will be one or two families join in and enjoy the park with their kids but that's about it. I've never visited the park during weekday so it could be very busy since it's right next to Kindercare (I drove by the other day during weekday, still don't see a single human being.....).

The park has two play structures, one for 2 to 5 while the other one for 5 to 12. The park also has a seesaw, a spring horse, and four swings.

The footprint of the 2 to 5 play structure is quite small, much smaller than other toddler play structure in most of the park I've been to. Although it's small, there are three ways to get on the platform: a traditional staircases, a ladder and a plastic multi-steps and two slides on either end for the toddler to get down, one goes to the sand pool and the other one goes to the padded ground. Compare to some other play structures that have multiple ways to get on but only one way down, this is a much more thoughtful design.

The 5 to 12 play structure has one staircases, two ladders and one monkey bar to get to the platform, while you're on the platform, you can use the two single slides or the dual slide to get down. My daughter seems to enjoy this one more than the 2 to 5 play structure so that's something. However, there's no shade on this play structure at all, so it's quite tough to stay up there watching the kids play under the sun.

Another problem is the condition of the 5 to 12 play structure in general. The play structure itself is fairly well maintain, however, one of the two activity equipments under the platform is not working at all. The Spin Racer's cars are stuck on the rail due to the sand and it's been like that for quite long. Also, the sand condition in the sand pool that the play structure is sitting is quite bad, the sand is not fine and almost like tiny rocks. I would compare it to the condition in Plaza Park that I review before.

Overall, this is an average park. I know I shouldn't expect too much from a community park (may be I should?), however, if the maintenance and the sand condition improves, the park's quite environment and non-exist foot traffic is actually quite nice for families that do not like to be disturbed while their kids are playing.

Pro: quite area, parking, non-exist park traffic during weekend.

Con: small-ish 2 to 5 play structure, lack of maintenance, bad sand condition.

Cypress Community Park

The Cypress Community Park is located on Visions, just one block down from Jeffery Road. You head northbound on Jeffery Road, make a right turn on Roosevelt, and then another right turn on Visions, the park will be on you right side. Pull into the parking lot and make a left and you will see the park. Cypress Village is a fairly new community in Irvine. So as expected, the facilities are also quite new.

The playground consists of two play structures: one for 5 to 12 and the other one for 2 to 5. There is a climb structure near the 5 to 12 structure that looks almost like a real rock climbing wall. The park also has four swings (two for toddlers and two for adults), three seesaws (two short and one regular size), and two excavators sitting on the sand pool.

There are four entry points on the 2 to 5 play structure: one staircases, one climbing blocks, one ladder and one plastic rock climber, however, there is only one dual slide for the toddlers to get down. This post the same question that I have on the Sycamore Park: who think this is a good idea to have so many entry points but only one slide to get out? This will be a automatic traffic jam epcicenter if we're talking about LA freeway. :)

The play structure doesn't have much extra activity. The only two choices are the wheel on the platform, or the table under the platform so they can play with the sand pool that's right next to the structure.

The 5 to 12 play structure has even more entry points compare to the 2 to 5, includes two staircases, two ladders, one monkey bar, and two climbing boards, but at least this one has two slides: one single turn slide and one dual slide. However, the dual slide is only accessible (if you go with the traditional staircases entry) after you walk through the fake rock bridge. That rock bridge is quite narrow and there's no handrail on either side, so I felt like I'm Indiana Jones trying to get to the treasure whenever I walked across that bridge. I can imagine that kids that are 5 to 12 might not have any problems crossing that, but just a little bit scary from my point of view.

There are also few new (OK, so may be they're already at other parks, but this is the first time I encounter one) play equipments, such as the flower style mini-merry-go-around, or the excavators on the sandbox, or the large climbing structure on the other end.

The overall design language of the play structures is quite similar to the one at Sycamore Park, which uses dull color tone on the structure with umbrella shades. The dull color is bad choice, but the umbrella shades are good call. I strongly encourage community (or city) to consider the adding shades when replace the older play structures. It benefits not only the kids, but the parents who accompany them.

The park is not very busy. I suspect not a lot of people know about this park, or may be because I went there during off-peak hours, but nevertheless, it is a very nice park that the kids will enjoy and the parents will relax.

The park is very close to the 5 freeway. There is also the Trabuco Grove shopping center right across the street, plus the Orange Tree Square and The Arbor shopping center down the road not too far away, which is quite nice for a half-day family activities.

Pro: Quiet neighborhood, quiet park, new-ish play structures, interesting play equipments, umbrella shade on both structures, a lot of parking spots 

Con: strange color choice, restroom is locked (I'm not 100% sure)

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.