Review for Harrer Pool parties only: Don't. We contacted the park district 1 month prior to…read moreintended party date to pay deposit to secure the party room. After scheduling and paying deposit for the pool party and confirming we have 1 hour set up and 1 hour post party to clean up, we tried to contact the Harrer pool coordinator for room specs, table number, size, chairs and equipment availability so we know what we needed to buy or not buy..table covers wall decor and such. Nothing. Emails and phone calls not returned. Was contacted 2 days prior to party by the new coordinator only to be asked about the cake. Coordinator told my daughter, the birthday celebrant's mom, we had to be out of the room exactly at noon. We were pushed out at 1145.. why? They had their own party to go to. Will never opt for a party space that NEEDS to have a coordinator on site. Have used the field houses for parties before and will continue to use them again. OR will rent Oriole Pool party room and instead (as long as that particular "party planner" is NOT part of the deal) So terribly disappointed.

This review is purely for the 'open' volleyball Thursday nights. I've gone to the gym for years…read more The workers there are friendly and helpful. The older woman that looks to head this "open" volleyball seems to pick and choose when she would like others to take part. My friends and I have slowly started to participate in the open volleyball here, but have noticed that her attitude towards us participating is not very kind. We come from different suburbs in the Chicagoland area - not exactly close. But we're turned away because she felt that they couldn't let one more team play (even though other players told us we were welcome). Third week in a row we were given attitude while trying to take part in "open" volleyball. I would suggest MG park district try to come up with a sign up sheet or better method of signing up to partake in "open" volleyball. Because if I have to travel from far to only be told I cannot play, it should not be called "open" volleyball. We would have made other arrangements to play had we known we would be told we cannot play there. Instead we wasted 45 mins trying to arrange another court to play. Unprofessional and rude.

Nice little spot to sit and relax around the lake with your smoky or jus by yourself, also good…read moreplace for kids to play in the open area. Have multiple places around the lake to get some fresh air. Well maintained, does have a portable potty. It's more of a picnic place, I see a lot of people come here mostly for fishing. I ended up here looking for trails to run by in he neighborhood. Even though it comes up in suggestions when you are looking for nearest trails for nice long run, this isn't the place for that. It does have little unpaved path around the lake which almost comes around close to a mile but not a recommended one for runs/walks. Parking available too.

This is an adorable hidden gem. Great picnic location and looks amazing in photos! Would totally…read morerecommend to all ages. The walking trail isn't paved so be weary about your shoe choice. Saw tons of people fishing and relaxing with their dogs. Overall, had a great time!

I have been taking my son to Dreams Gymnastics for several sessions for their parent and tots…read moreclass. We couldn't be happier. Jackie is his instructor who clearly has so much passion for the development of the kids in the class, not to mention how she teaches the parents in the class how to work with their children, telling us what to do both in class and what we can do at home, to develop their motor skills. The gym itself is wonderful. It's clear that they just renovated (see pictures). The equipment and mats are in perfect condition. The parent and tots class is so great. We start in a small gym which is nice for the little ones to get acclimated. Then we get to bring our kiddos into one of their big gyms (we alternate each week). My sons' favorite part is the foam pit. The foam blocks seem to be new. I don't even mind jumping in myself to play with my son. I'm happy that I started my son so young at this gym and am excited to watch him grow and develop in their classes for older kids.

Dreams has been a godsend for us! My daughter expressed a lot of interest in gymnastics and after…read moredoing a winter entry level class at our park district, they agreed she was too advanced for her age level program, but couldn't put her in anything different until the following fall! We didn't want to wait that long to pursue her interest so I quickly did some research and moved her to Dreams. We have been doing classes now for 5 months...she has moved up 3 levels and about to do a pre-team class this coming fall! The amount she has learned in such a short time has been amazing to see. Coach Paige is fantastic! Andrew, Amy and Arthur have also made it such a positive experience. Highly recommend!!

I come here mostly for the theatre, but I'm impressed with the variety of different services, the…read moresize and layout of the facility, the spacious parking, and other aspects of this community center. This facility also offers a wide variety of fitness options (both indoor and outdoor), kitchen, lounge areas, and meeting rooms. In terms of theatre, Big Noise Theatre makes this facility their home. This is a local company which provides quality entertainment at very affordable prices. Some of the recent shows include Chicago, The Odd Couple, Wizard of Oz, and The Last Five Years.

This is a pretty nice community center, and there's so much that it offers Des Plaines. There's…read morewhat you might expect from a park district community center, such as a quite large fitness center. There's at least one gymnasium. I know that somewhere in the building is a pool since this is where they host their swim program. There are studio spaces. In another area of the building, connected but not in the same building, is Prairie Lakes Theatre which hosts various suburban arts organizations and other events.

I keep finding myself back to this park ever since high school. They have plenty of outdoor…read moreactivities like basketball, sand volleyball, pickleball/tennis, and baseball. Big area to picnic with bathrooms. The lights stay on until about 11 pm during the summer/fall. They also have a waterpark. Great park for all ages. No issues with parking.

This review is for the pool. I grew up going to this pool every summer. I recently went here for…read morethe first time as an adult to bring my own child. It looks exactly the same and they have managed to keep it in good condition. It's nothing fancy but it's clean and well kept. I love that they have two kid pools, one with a bunch of fountains and that connects to slides and another that is more basic/quieter. There was plenty of seating and lots of staff/lifeguards around. They do adult swim for the last 10 min of each hour. One less star because it is very expensive for non-residents ($18 per person). My infant was free, thank goodness. I guess if I think about it that is about the cost of a movie ticket. Anyways, I will probably not be going as often as I would like because of the cost.

I'm in a few park and playground social media groups, and the park at the Des Plaines Park District…read moreAdministrative Center has come up a time or two as being particularly good. I decided we should finally go check it out. If you're coming here for the playground, don't make the boneheaded mistake I did: Stopping at the Iroquois Community School, which is right off Touhy and when I saw the school's playground I thought we were at our destination. You will be sorely disappointed if you stop at the wrong one. If you make your way here via Birch Street, you'll go all the way to the end of the street, turn left, and find the park on the other side of the building; if you take Maple Street to get here, drive down toward the barricade dividing the street and you won't be able to miss it on your right. With all that out of the way, this is a fantastic park. When we left the school playyard, something just seemed off and I am so glad that I went around the block to find the actual playground we'd intended to visit, at the DPPD. It's all the way back at the end of the road; you'll essentially dead-end into when you head down Birch. This is my current favorite playground. The equipment is fantastic and so much of it is geared toward the littlest kiddos, which is not always the case. Here there are small things for them to climb on and under, there's a little "farmers market" booth with different play elements, crawl spaces, slides, and so on. My little girl had fun just running around the place, and she also did some crawling and climbing and sliding and enjoyed trying to feed the big turtle sculpture, as well as naming the turtle's body parts that she recognized. Toward the tail end of our visit, she spotted the swings, which is her favorite so we spent a while there before heading out. All told, we spent about 45 minutes here. The first time, that is--we've since been back again in the last week or so since our first visit and were there for an hour or more. There are several picnic tables in this playground area as well, so many of the parents were hanging out there whilst the kids ran around. This playground is geared toward younger kids (10 and below). The terrain is turf, grass, and paved walkways throughout, and it's fully fenced which is one of my favorite features of a park right now (though some parents are better than others about making sure the gates are actually closed). There's a private parking lot, very convenient. I hope we see you there!

On Sept 15, we went to the Fall Festival to see Live bands play on stage but what we saw was…read moredrunken brawls break out during the concert. Prior to the bands playing and during the breaks, announcements were constantly made for Alcohol Sales. Alcohol impairs judgement and I highly suggest that at future park district events that No Alcohol Sales occur, especially events that are promoted as "family friendly".

The Wilmette Community Recreation center houses 2 modern playgrounds, a preschool, tennis courts,…read morebaseball fields, state of the art gym facilities for adults and little ones, and a variety of indoor and outdoor extracurricular activities for all ages. The indoor facilities and the outdoor grounds are all very well maintained. The large playground was rebuilt last year and is one of the nicest ones in the North shore area. The small playground (which is part of the preschool) is fully fenced and has a splash pad that operates during the summer months. There is an outdoor walking path that loops around the entire Rec center and an indoor running path at the fitness center. There is also a state of the art gymnastics facility for toddlers to big kids. Overall, this is an excellent recreation center that is very well maintained and has just about everything. The only negative aspect of this center is that the playgrounds can get too crowded when all the kiddos from the preschool, summer camps, and enrichment programs all come out to play. Otherwise, very highly recommended.

One of the best parts about living in Wilmette is coming to this community recreation center run by…read morethe Wilmette Park District. Here they run a variety of activities for children as well as adults and seniors. Almost any activity you can think of including sports, fitness, dance, theater, gymnastic and art are offered here. They are always adding new things that are popular. My son just started a video game design class which is really up his alley. During holidays and throughout the year they put on special events for families to enjoy. They run a very good preschool which is one of the most affordable in the area, but make sure you book it early because it fills up fast. The quarterly book that they send to the residents is huge and nicely laid out with programs. You can register for classes with ease online or there. Not only that, but the staff are all very helpful. If there was ever a time when we were not completely satisfied or were suddenly unable to attend, we were refunded our money and never given a hard time. Anyone can sign up for the activities here, however it is just less expensive if you are a resident. What I love the most is the convenience of everything being in one location, so I'm not running all over the place. I also like how many options there are. We are always trying something new and fun. They put on the cutest theater productions and tickets are not expensive. The rec center has alot to offer so check it out for yourself!

Nice place to play pickleball. They have pickleball available from 7:00a.m. - 3:00p.m…read more Monday-Friday on a drop in basis (only until noon when schools are out). They have four courts available and plenty of people to play with unless the weather outside is good. It's $6 single play or you can pay for 10 plays for $40. They also have basketball available after 3:00p.m.

Figure I share this info since I bet there are quite a few people around Chicago looking for an…read moreaffordable indoor basketball gym. Hamlin Park cost $40 an hour to use their basketball court. No thanks Xsport cost $20 - Ok but no one is there to play with and most of my friends wouldn't pay that much to play basketball. I found 1 public park that has free indoor gym but that place only have 2 rims which mean a very long wait. I found out about Golf View from a friend and I was so glad to know about this place. $5 to use their basketball court if you are under 18 or $8 for 18+. This is a day rate not hourly which is perfect. This place has 12 rims and plenty of people there on any given day playing basketball. Perfect!!! I peeked around and it seems they offer a nice fitness room. Their monthly rate isn't bad comparing to other fitness center.

What an absolute BLAST of a waterpark!! Highlights: really…read moregreat staff/lifeguards & very clean. Summer 2026 the rate for four adults, two children under 5 and cooler for $126. Came here on at 11am on a Friday into the afternoon and we all had so much fun. There were some school trips there and all the chairs were taken but it still didn't feel crowded. Short lines, if any, for the lazy river and short lines for the slides. - The lazy river was a hit! 2'5" makes it easy for everyone to enjoy. You have to stay in your tube and the kids complied, mostly, LOL. My 5yo nephew quickly found his element and must've went around 50 times. When it gets busy and the line reaches a sign, you can only go around once. We did have to do that twice but the line getting back on was quick and eventually died down when the school kids left. By 1pm it was smooth floating. - They have four waterslides. Two of them are drop slides (just learned the term). The longer ones were so fun! You can even catch some air on the right slide haha. I think they're built more for the adults than the kids! The two drop sides are also so fun and give you that adrenaline rush. Or at least for me! I did unfortunately fall pretty hard into the water on the left drop slide and have regular issues with my ears as it is. I should have prepared myself better and am still suffering the consequences of not acting my age I guess HAHA. I will say the manager Jason Mata was incredibly helpful. He was able to put some alcohol drops in my ear to relive the fluid from my ear. However it came right back a few minutes later, no fault to him. Either way, it was so much fun and didn't ruin my time one bit! They also have a large pool with a partial deep section and a splash pad area for younger kids. There's also a beach/sandlot playground to enjoy. Lots of fun for everyone!! And the best perk is being able to bring your own food and drinks. This excludes any glassware or alcohol. I honestly think that's a clutch option and so awesome! Did I mention the place is clean and the staff is great?? Cheers to summer!!

Nice water park. A bit expensive in my opinion for 1 day.... $17.75 for 1 kid…read more There's a lazy river, two areas for slides and a pool. It's nice but, just seems expensive. Plenty of chairs. Pretty clean. Basic food in the mini cafeteria. Pretzels and nachos and pizza etc.

We went on a Tuesday during spring break and spring break special. I was pleasantly surprised that…read moreit wasn't busy! It's not a large place. The front desk, younger man and older woman, were nice and answered my questions. The young woman working the food court was also nice. 20-25 minute wait for hot dog and 2 fries. She apologized and explained the oven is not very good. I saw her always checking to see if our food was ready but it really did take 20 mins. This place definitely needs to get that upgraded. When we first got in my son immediately saw the rock climbing. I saw a worker in there and asked if we needed to pay extra. We did so we went back to the front desk to pay for it. We went back to climb but the worker was gone. The only other worker we saw was a gentleman with an AirPod in his ear periodically checking his phone. We kept checking the rock climbing area and no one ever came back. After an hour I asked the front desk and they said to ask any worker with a blue tee. So I asked the young man with the AirPod who was actually very helpful and patient as my son spent at least 30 mins with him in the rock climbing area. At some point we made our way to the trampoline area behind the princess bouncy house where I saw the original woman worker who was in the rock climbing area sitting on a bench outside the area, one arm in her sweater and the other using her phone. She was mostly talking to another young man who could have possibly been a worker off the shift as he was holding a blue shirt. I wouldn't have known she was a worker if I had not seen her earlier. Later on I saw another young gentleman who was on his phone with an AirPod in as well sitting on the bench near the basketball area. I had no idea he was a worker until he stood up and walked away (holding his phone) and saw the back of his tee. The rugs and floors and most tables are filthy with tons of black gum stuck to it. Idk why this place allows people to wear shoes where socks are mandatory for people jumping. It's disgusting Other Pros: at least when we went, although little staff present, kids and families were respectful. It wasn't a busy place and I was allowed to go jump without being in the way of anyone. Lockers are only 50 cents. It's a nice atmosphere but there's a lot of polishing up that needs to be done. They are very understaffed and hope they are able to get more or better hires that actually work.

HUGE assortment of open jumping, bouncy houses and climbing! Staff friendly when I came in w my…read morekiddos today. Reserved online and paid for and signed waivers. This will help w wait times for excited kiddos. Place is clean and again, HUGE!