Great Park really isn't a park in the sense of Central Park in New York. It is really massive, but I would say it's more of a sports complex. There's a nice little playground that has a zipline and some climbing equipment for kids, there's a carousel, there's the helium balloon ride, but it doesn't have the same charm as an older park with a lot of trees. There are so many soccer fields and tennis courts. There's a good amount of parking, but if you are here for some sporting event or tournament, Good luck. You might have to park all the way by Great Park live or great park ice and walk over. It's not really that far but if you are accustomed to just parking your car in front of a doorstep of a business, that is kind of a hike. read more

Environment was good. Cool park pretty chill place as well pretty. Nice for photos as well read more

Great Park - Parks Near Me - Irvine, California

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We like this park bc it's nearby and convenient. There is plenty of parking, a good size playground, small free museums, nice Christmas lights, and a carousel and balloon for cheap. The balloon sells out though so you might not get to ride. We ride our bikes around the park which is good for the kids and little ones who are just learning. There's just no food yet unless you come on a day with the Farmers Market. Supposedly, they plan to have a big man made lake, natural history museum, hotels, and a shopping area here one day. Can't wait to see that. read more

Great Park - Parks Near Me - Irvine, California

This seems like a no-brainer to me. It's a massive park. There is a ton of parking and it's free. There is green space everywhere. There are sports fields everywhere. Yes, there is the big orange balloon but good luck getting a ride. Yes, it's free but unless you check into the visitor center early, you're probably not getting on the balloon, period. Signage could be better about signing up for a ride (which you probably won't get anyway). The carousel is nice. It's $3 a ride or $10 for a day pass. There is a nice farmer's market on Sundays, from 10-2, I believe. Park in Lot 2 or 3 to be near the market, the balloon, and the carousel. I don't get the negative reviews. It's a massive, free park. Green space is good. read more

Great Park - The balloon. Reserve a spot EARLY at the visitor center or you ain't getting on board. - Parks Near Me - Irvine, California

My rating is based solely on the park itself and not the sport events or sport facilities. With that said--- this park is almost perfect to me. To make it truly perfect, there could be more shade/trees at playground areas and along the main path where people walk/ride bikes. It does get extremely hot during the warmer months. Even in December, with it being cooler weather, by the time it was 11am-1pm, it was warm and hot with the sun out. I recommend bringing hats and sunscreen. If you plan to get active, definitely water and snacks/food too for an extend stay. The park is spacious, so no fear of running into people or lack of parking as parking spaces are ample surrounding the park. I've been to this park since it's inception in 2016 (when it was still under construction and development). To see where it is now is pretty incredible. Lots of fields for and designated areas for various sports. There's ice skating rink and arena as well. There's the hot air balloon and carousel. Check the recreation center for all of the details. I don't recall BBQ pits, so bring your own food! Not only is the park ridiculously clean, their bathrooms are as well too. It's very much catered to families and baby needs. Playground equipment are new and will appease diff play wanderers out there. They have various community events here and I believe they have a little farm to table restaurant here. There's an airplane museum and the art studios areas. During Christmas time, they have Christmas decorations up: music and lights. It gets anyone in the holiday spirit for a nice evening or morning stroll. It's a gem for all ages! read more

Great Park - Parks Near Me - Irvine, California

I'm not very familiar with parks in SoCal, but what I found odd was the lack of natural area of trees. NYC central park is more natural than Irvine Great Park. I really wish there were more trees or shaded areas. Besides that, the park is huge. Lots of space. OC is almost always sunny and decent weather. Great place to bring kids. There is a hot air balloon attached to the ground that lets you go up and see the area. There is a carousel that is fun for the kids. Depending on the time of year, either or both could be free. Lots of soccer fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, baseball fields, and couple sand volleyball courts. read more

We attended a large high school competition event at this location. From arrival to departure the event was well organized. Parking attendants were helpful directing traffic as there visitors from all over California and even out of state schools were present. There are lots of activities for all ages. There is a carousel and ballon ride onsite. They were no cost at the event we attended. I'm addition, there were bounce houses and obstacle courses. There is plenty is space for vendors and food trucks. All over the field there were tents from each school to set up a home base for their teams. Pro tip: lot 0 and 1 are closest to actual grounds. The other lots are much further away especially if you are bringing tents, chairs, and coolers. read more

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We came to watch the World Ultimate Frisbee Championship on their last day. There was plenty of parking. Luckily, we were able to park close. The bathrooms were nice and clean as well. The park is HUGE. It seems to host a number of sporting events. There's a Carousel at the park that seemed busy. The event we attended to had nice stadium seating but most of it was dirty. I would suggest bringing a napkin or something to wipe your seat off. There's some places to grab a bite to eat but we option to go somewhere else to grab something and come back. Overall it seemed to be a nice huge park. read more

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Fabulous venue with great performers. We saw DSB and Queen Nation. The food and drinks are pricey- but expected. The beverage staff is a bit unorganized and chaotic, but friendly. We sat in the rain and were a bit disappointed that such a venue doesn't have any cover. Bathrooms are all potra potties and well, you know the rest. read more

Brought my nephew to enjoy the playground at Great Park because it's a fantastic place to spend a day outdoors. The park is HUGE and offers something for everyone - sports fields, walking and biking trails, and unique attractions like the iconic Great Park Balloon and the carousel. The picnic spots and scenic views make it great for families and friends to enjoy the outdoors. The Farmers Market on Sundays is a bonus, offering fresh produce and local goods. It's clean, well-maintained, and has plenty of parking. Overall, it's a wonderful space to relax and enjoy nature. read more

Drove almost 2 hours, when we got there waited another 2 hours, and never even got to ride the hot air balloon, which is the main reason we went there. The most frustrating part is that I went up to the counter at the Visitor Center twice and it never occurred to the man working there to put my name on the list because, apparently, the waiver you're supposed to fill out online is not the same as getting your name on the waitlist. I heard another woman also complain "They never said anything." So note that once you sign the waiver, each adult needs to sign one separately, and on top of that MAKE SURE they put you on the list! Like DON'T LEAVE the Visitor Center until you get a text officially saying you're on the list! Also, I heard a woman working there say "It used to be free, but we started charging just yesterday." So now it's $10 per person. I also heard her say to someone on the phone that they don't take reservations. Again, why the hell not? Clearly this is your most popular attraction. Wouldn't it make sense to streamline it so that there are time slots online that people can reserve in advance? The few redeeming things about this place was that the carousel was free and so was the art gallery. To the man behind the counter, did it never occur to you to say "Oh, wait, before you go, let me put you on the list"? Because of that one oversight you made, what should have been a great birthday celebration for my sister is now a tainted one. Try to be more competent at your job. read more

This park is massive, and people always seem to get lost here. There's so much happening during the week and on weekends, from soccer games to volleyball and just about every other sport you can think of. Of course, everyone talks about the Great Park Balloon, but it feels like every time I'm here, it's closed because of the wind! read more

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This is a beautiful park! Surrounded by multi-million dollar homes but don't let them intimidate you. There's a mobile home parking as well. Drive in and enjoy the quiet space - It's hidden inside behind the big streets/freeway - not like other parks you see while driving around in the street. It's clean, spacious and well-kept. Parking - free and plenty! However when they have big events/festival/fair - parking get crowded. There are trees and shades and very nice play ground for the children. Play ground is located behind Visitors Center. Sign up/subsribe to Irvine City email. They send out weekly update in Irvine and events. They have events at the Great Park almost every month/season like "Fiesta Latina en Irvine", Irvine Global Village Festival, arts, Holiday Faire, Gallery of artists, Irvine Nights, Brain Science Workship, farming etc. Great Park also holds Farmers Market on Sunday. read more

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Love the Great Park. It is vast and great to get your steps in while your kids enjoy some outdoor time. -There's the carousel - free rides until the end of 2024. -There's the Great park balloon ride - free rides as well. Waiver needs to be signed online. It is dependent on weather and slots fill up fast. Get there early and put your name on the waitlist. - There's the park structure with a zip line, sand play, tire swing. - Hangar with plane to view - great for pics. There is little shade during the day. Get your own snacks and drinks. There are vending machines and air conditioning at the Visitor Center. read more

I am very surprised with the overall yelp ratings of Great Park! We were visiting Irvine and a friend recommend we stop by this park, most importantly try to get on the free Orange Balloon Ride. Got there around 9:30am on a Saturday, went to the Visitor to sign a waiver and check-in on the Balloon Ride waitlist. We were informed off the bat that we would wait at least an hour before we receive a text to proceed to the Balloon Ride line. There is signage that they Balloon ride can close down anytime due to weather and high winds. As we waited, we walked around, checked out the Art Gallery and Studio near by. We also saw people doing Tae Chi and dance classes outdoors. Also checked out the Farm + Food area (free entry) ; a great place to learn about plants, eco-system, to name a few. There were several young students planting and cleaning the area. Also saw someone giving a lecture about gardening which was well attended. By then we got a text to head over to the Balloon ride. When we got there, it was about another hour wait as they only take 6-7 guests at a time. Securely anchored, It's a slow ascend up to about 500 feet, enjoy the 360 spectacular views, then a slow descend down. Heading back we saw the carousal, food trucks and ice cream truck. Well kept, lots off areas to hang out, even lay out a blanket for a picnic! Perfect place to walk the dogs too. This is truly a Great Park to spend the entire day without spending much, because most of the things to do here are FREE! read more

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A lot of these lukewarm reviews seem to be for events held at the park, the balloon ride, etc. and not for the park itself. This review is about the park and park only! I've always enjoyed visiting Great Park. For one, it is MASSIVE. You can spend all afternoon walking around the fields and grounds. I think it is very well kept -- never had had issues with trash, rowdy visitors, or crime. In the center of the park, there is a visitor center, playground, restrooms, carousel, and even a hangar. A lot to see. The main parking lot is parking lot #3 right in front of the center of the park, but it often gets full, so I recommend parking in parking lot #2 right outside the main entrance and walking across the street. There is a soccer stadium on the grounds of the park, where apparently the local professional soccer team -- Orange County SC -- plays home games. Tickets are pretty cheap. If you have a dog, there is no dog park on the grounds, but a short drive away there is a dog park called Central Bark Dog Park. read more

Great Park - Nice palm tree grass area - Parks Near Me - Irvine, California

Located off Great Park Bl. In Irvine. We are playing softball this season at the stadium field. The park itself is huge and nice they have big soccer fields, basketball courts and of course softball fields and lots of walk ways to get your walking exercise on and walk with your doggie as well. There is a huge orange ball as well which you can use as reference point to navigate yourself around. Overall a very park. read more

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A relatively small but interesting art gallery in the Palm Court Arts Complex in Great Park. We visited there on a Saturday morning about 11 am. There were only a few patrons even as the admission is free. They have rotating exhibits during the year. It happened that it is showing a special exhibit with 'Food' as the main theme. The exhibit will last till April. Most if not all of the art pieces are depiction of food or the use of edible items in art form with only a few pieces not really related to food. The center piece is a huge overripe banana about 12-15 feet long with realistic appearance and color scheme that seems to be ready for consumption by a giant. In contrast there is a glass or crystal banana the size of an actual banana (7 inches or so) right beside the giant banana. The exhibit includes several mosaic like hangings using sesame seeds as the main media (see accompanying photos). All pieces are accompanied by a description of the artist that makes some interesting reading. Overall it's a worthwhile experience particularly if you like pop arts or food! read more

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Huge territory, amazing landscapes, beautiful orange ball every evening on sky:) I like Great Park, many football players enjoy here! read more

Great Park - Parks Near Me - Irvine, California

This review is solely for the park - it's vast, clean, has ample parking and is FREE! I wouldn't even describe it as an actual park because it's majority field. There are great areas to picnic, run and walk your dog. This is also where the infamous Orange Balloon is located. There is even a carousel! If you're looking for a place to stroll and just soak in the day - this is it! read more

Great Park - Parks Near Me - Irvine, California

We have great parks to spend time, and this park is a good option for residents in O.C. My husband and I went back for second time, because we found a good attraction for free there. The structure is really good! But we missed a restaurant s as bad the size of the park is possible to have one. Bring a picnic to spend the day. The carrousel is great, $3 on ride, $20 for many you want to. The Gallery is cool and the balloon is free! I think your children will like to go. Take time because which ride is 10 maximum. You have dog there. It is really safe. Close to there is an ice sport center. We saw a hockey game. Tou will have a good time there. Also, we saw a lit bit softball game. There is a hangar with airplanes from IIWW. read more

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Why do people throw their trash out on the parking lots? C'mon, this used to be the Marine Corps Air Base and I can remember it being very spotless. Now people come for the games just toss their garbage out. The park maintenance is NOT your babysitter. read more

Not sure why everyone is complaining. Great park, safe and lots of parking. The usmnt is going to train there for a reason

This park is huge and very nice for sport events. Parking does suck because there aren't enough lots. I feel like they should have more parking lots for such a multipurpose park. Be careful parking on the streets cause it does say no parking and they do ticket read more

Wow, this park is so nice. Went on weekday morning and there were few people around. I imagine it gets quite crowded on the weekends or afternoons given all the fields and courts for youth and adult sports. Too bad the visitor center was closed. But let me tell you, the restrooms here are so so clean. Never seen a park with such clean bathrooms. They have soccer fields, baseball, and tons of basketball courts. Would love to hang out here sometime. But it was great to stroll around for an hour or two. read more

I don't know why the park doesn't have higher reviews. The place is so niceLots of areas for the kids to play. Hot air balloon--If you want to come for the free hot air balloon, check in early then go play with the kids. Also, set a timer for the wait and go back. What happened to me is they forgot to send me a confirmation text but when I checked back in after my timer went off the guy was so nice and re-added us. Also, remember windy days they won't fly. In the welcome center it's nice and there is a coffee machine but it was broken today. Little hiccups but still 5 stars!!! read more

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Wow, these Irvine folk have it all nice and fancy! Our kids came here to play and we got tickets for the balloon ride. While we were waiting, the kids enjoyed the playground equipment and I even tried the zip line! I don't need Hawaii zip lines if I come here all the time. Lol. This place is huge and fabulous. We were so sad we came on the day the zoo/farm thing was closed. There's a lot of parking if you are willing to walk and the bathrooms are pristine. Y'all make LA County parks look like dumps. We ended up leaving before the balloon ride because we all got hungry, but wow, this place is vast. read more

We came here specifically for the free balloon ride. After we parked, we walked toward it on the 2,604 foot long timeline that was printed on the pathway. We passed by athletic fields where people were playing soccer. After signing a waiver and checking in at the visitor center for the balloon, we killed time by hanging out at the playground with the niece. She also rode on the carousel ($3 single ride or $10 all-day pass). There were some other attractions, but we didn't check everything out. After about an hour, we finally rode the balloon (separate review). read more

This park is huge and is constantly changing and updating! Spent the whole day with the kids. Definitely need to go!!!

I had a hard time finding advance info about this venue, but I was very pleased when we arrived. We got there early, so parking and entrance was quick and easy. Plenty of seating for picnicking. Only downside are the clear-bag restrictions for food. I had to get very creative to get food in. But it was a beautiful spot to enjoy live music. read more

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This park is certainly great. Hubby and I love coming here on the weekends with our little dog for our morning strolls. We prefer early spring or late fall for our visits here because this park does not offer much shade. Nonetheless, this park is massive and great for everyone. There's something for everyone here. There are biking trails, walking trails, a ton of sport fields, lots of grassy areas for dogs and kids to run around, art gallery, carousel, visitors center, and so much more. I believe they even have a farmer's market on the weekends. They have SO much parking here and it's all free! We definitely recommend this park to anyone. It's definitely worth a visit. read more

This park has come a long way they have many different sporting fields, and outside activity spots today I took the grandkids tor a hot air balloon ride and carousel both rides are free, this park is between 5/405 freeway in the Orange County/ Irvine area I recommend this park PS they have free summer concerts read more

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This is regarding our experience today attending our first USTA junior tennis tournament to watch our grandson. 1) Signage- signage is needed that gives directions to tennis courts upon entering the Great Park. We used Google Maps to drive to the GREAT PARK. To find the tennis courts we had to zoom into the map to navigate to the courts. Also from the parking lot, there is no sign for the tennis complex entrance. We found the entrance by seeing people leaving with tennis bags. 2) Limited parking- To park, we had to follow people who were leaving and wait for their space. The soccer fields were full of players and spectators. The fields are next to the tennis center. With two sports events taking place, parking was a challenge. 3) For a tournament there should be space for seating and shading to allow the few spectators (family) to view matches, after all these are juniors playing and need to be driven. 4) court #2 should not be used for junior tournament play due to the obstructive windscreens on 3 sides, including the door and the door of the adjacent court #3. A small viewing bench is placed between court 3 and 4, but you cannot see court 2 very well from this location. If you stand behind the court #2 fencing, you will not be able to see through the obstructive screens. If you stand next to the door to see through the gap, this is closer than 3 ft , and you will be accused of intimidating the opponent. We found out our grandson was penalized because we stood next to the fence, without warning from the USTA referee. Court #2 does not have a viewing bench and has obstructive windscreens, and should not be used for tournament play. The courts are numerous and beautiful, but attending a USTA tournament here was unpleasant. read more

The only thing I would change about great park is the small park they have for the kids. they should have more than one park and it's made out of steal which it's not safe for the kids my son hurt himself plenty of times playing in the park they should really look into expanding and adding more parks and the material they use and also add shade for The kids. read more

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This is a great park but the event was hot and pretty unexceptional. I would not recommend. The food lines were ridiculously long and not worth the wait. Don't waste your time. They had a few activities for kids like a petting zoo which was the only redeeming feature of this entire event. The animals had shade but it was still pretty hot out. There was an adorable alpaca and a few sheep and a huge pig. They also had booths on the other side of the park with interesting crafts from far away countries. There was also a hanger with artwork in it that was kind of cool. As far as the entertainment, we only semi watched one of the performances. I guess if your kid is in it, it's very exciting. Maybe if it wasn't too hot today it would've been more enjoyable or if I knew someone that was performing it would've been worth the schlep. read more

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Clean, beautiful, and plenty of parking. This is a great place to play soccer. The field condition is always perfect. There are also lots of dog waste bag stations, and there are lots of dogs on leash. Keep in mind that there are rabbits in the park. If you have a dog, these rabbits may look very tempting to your pet. This park has a lot of open spaces--great for social distancing. Unfortunately, some of the patrons are not wearing masks, despite the signage and the park mandate. Even among the ones who do, many of them are wearing their masks on their chins. read more

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The great offers a lot of different activities to due. You could get a bird's eye view of the whole park and south Orange County on the great big orange balloon. We use the soccer fields almost every weekend they are in superb shape. The grounds crew keep them very well maintained. Who ever helped design the fields knew what they were doing. Especially putting up the ball screens between fields. It help keep the soccer balls on the correct field. Go and experience the great park for yourself and bring your kids and family with you're bikes and scooters read more

This review is for the free hot air balloon rides. It's the best for a date evening and the views at the top are spectacular. Just be sure to sign up that morning as the waitlist is only available on that day if I remember correctly. Another bonus I like about great park are the stadiums and soccer fields. I use them to run laps and do "bleacher" workouts when I'm allowed to. read more

Enjoyed the concert last night (fourth of July). Very talented folk:) Exiting the parking lot was madness. This needs to be investigated/studied. Perhaps a parking lot commission can try to PLEASE come up with a plan to rectify the situation. Everyone in LOT 2 leaving at the same time was hellacious. This made the great park much less than great/excellent. It was LESS than satisfactory. read more

Great place for a picnic. Kids had so much fun at the playground. Really big and a lot of packing and sitting space.