Such a COOL playground in the heart of KC! The perfect…read moreplace for an after Science City/Crown Center/Union Station picnic and some more fun.

It was a rainy day and our pool plans had been dashed. We ended up moving our play date to crown…read morecenter where the kids could explore their free fairytale land exhibit. After running amok with all the other children of KC indoors and having lunch, the rain had let up and we thought it might be good to get some more energy out before heading home. My cousin recommended we stop by this park, which she remembered was close by. To be fair, I had pretty low expectations but I was so pleasantly surprised by this cool spot. First of all, it's not a generic park at all. You've got a giant sea monster made out of concrete and play structure that is made have the look and feel of a pirate ship - it's so fun for pretend play, and such a unique concept for a public park. My kiddo LOVED the sea monster and got such a kick out of it. Aside from that the park is a really good size and you've got a pretty standard playset next to the pirate ship, some swings, and loads of things to climb on, including some play rocks, which I think is a nice touch and sort of compliments the unique nature of this park. 4/5 stars simply because there is some room for improvement - mostly in the restroom area, as they did not look clean/safe, so we used the good ole travel potty for our toddler and made our way home after playing. Overall if you're in the area this is a really fun park for kids and it's worth exploring!

We took advantage of the beautiful morning last weekend and checked out Penguin Park. My kids…read moreloved the giant animals and all the different play areas. I appreciated the turf vs gravel. They had fun going from each area and exploring. Lots of different structures to keep them busy. The park was very clean. We were there for a little over an hour, and will definitely be back another day.

I don't know if it's the unique nature of the one of a kind animal statues, the charm of an old…read moreschool playground, or what, but Penguin Park is probably my favorite park that I've explored in the Northland. If you have small kids they will enjoy the modern play equipment just as much as they will marvel at the huge sculptures of penguins, elephants, and other zoo animals. I haven't confirmed this, but I heard from my friend that the artist that made the sculptures (some of which are interactive for children), also made the rabbits that go on display on the Plaza every Easter, which honestly makes a lot of sense given how they look. To me, it just feels charming, and I love that it's something that sets this place apart from other parks in the area.

We had a great time at Dagg Park! Enjoyed the spray ground even though not all features were…read moreworking. But their Facebook page did forewarn that issue. I enjoyed that the playground areas were on turf so the kids could go back and forth from the playground to the splash pad. There are covered shelters and seated benches. Would recommend bringing a chair or blanket just in case they are full. We were there right as it opened, so no issues. Another feature we liked is that the park is fenced in. Also, nice bathrooms!

Adorable little park! My friend and I had lunch at a picnic table here this past weekend. It was…read morecompletely empty on a gorgeous day! No idea why no families were here as it looked to have some good playground equipment. Nice little park with tons of parking and completely free of others if you want to dominate on the monkey bars.

My toddler and I are on a fun mission to find the perfect park! Our criteria includes a safe…read moreneighborhood, plenty of benches, toddler swings, restrooms, and a sense of privacy to feed my son. This park hits almost all of our criteria! It has all of the above except for the toddler swings. Not an end-all for us because, honestly, my toddler mainly just collects rocks and sticks the whole time and has a blast doing so. This park feels very safe, which is the biggest pro! Definitely high on our list of parks.

This is my new favorite playground in the area. The Mission Hills Playground it located behind the…read moreMission Hills City Hall (accessible from Mission Drive, between Tomahawk and 63rd Street) sits secluded, surrounded by verdant trees that shield it from the road. The playground equipment is suitable for children of various ages, including a rock climbing wall, monkey bars, slides, a fireman's pole and other such features. For my preschool children, the monkey bars are too high to reach, but they are able to enjoy themselves with all of the other attractions. The especially love to climb on the twisted green curve structure, the likes of which I have never seen on another playground, and to go down the steep slides. The park feels very safe due to both its isolation and the regular comings and goings of police officers into the City Hall building and parked in the lot. (Anyone who has ever driven up and down 63rd Street in this neighborhood knows well that the Mission Hills police officers like to catch speeding motorists by hiding on Mission Drive and other such small residential roads) There are three benches surrounding the playground. Usually one or two of the is in the shade at any given hour. Although it is impossible to see the entire playground from any one of the benches, the area is such that one can sit and watch his or her children playing fairly well from these seats. There is also a picnic table located off of the parking lot, near the outbuilding. Perhaps the best feature of this park is the public restrooms located in a small outbuilding off of the parking lot. As those with potty trained young children know, the need for a child to relieve himself often comes suddenly and most urgently, so it is delightful to have a clean facility on site. It is one spacious stall (with plantation shutters on the inside window, no less--swanky!), and it is clean. It remains open during daytime hours. Rumors suggest that a brick walkway to it from the playground may be added in the future.

We went to this wonderful show room to try out all the play sets they have. They have open play for…read more$8 cash or $9 with credit card. They have wonderfully made play sets that are very sturdy and high quality. Our grandson enjoyed trying out all of them and the mini basket ball court and trampolines. I highly recommend for fun and for purchase for a backyard.

When I was a kid growing up we had one of these play systems in our backyard and I remember the day…read moreit was installed all the way up until the day my parents had it removed when I was an adult. The one my parents installed in their backyard in the 90s lasted three kids and over 20 years with regular maintenance. When it came time for us to look into a swingset for our daughters as tempted as I was by the kidcraft DIY ones at Costco, we ended up going with Rainbow simply because the kidcraft wooden playhouse in our backyard has been up for maybe three years and LOOKS it. We were a bit worried about how something we DIY might hold up so we figured we'd pay a bit more and go this route. First of all these things are expensive. There is no way around that. The website always says things are heavily discounted, like it never changes cost and is always on sale, so I think it's just the way they try to get you to pull the trigger - like OH it's not actually 7grand, it's ONLY 2 grand. I'd prefer they just be a bit more transparent on that, but I appreciate that it could be more. Once we were sold on the unit we wanted we decided to make the trek out to Olathe to see it in person and make sure we knew what we were doing. It was April, and honestly we were wanting to move quickly so we could have one installed early in the summer season. There is conflicting information on when they are open online - in some places it says they have hours on Sundays and on others it says they are closed. We couldn't figure out what the case was so we went there and they were closed to the public. The door was open and we thought oh, maybe we could just speak with a sales person but nobody was around so we just went home and ordered the one we wanted online. Now, their website is a bit dated but it worked okay. It was a little scary placing an order this big in this way, but we had no other time to get out to Olathe in the near future and decided it was worth it. Again, IRL would have been better because I would have asked about small add ons like a pirate telescope and baby swing, neither of which you can just add on via their website. At any rate, we made the purchase and a rep from their team was in contact with me by Monday morning which really impressed me! She told me the timeframe we'd be looking at and what to expect next. As the timeframe of 3-5 week delivery creeped into the three week mark I emailed asking about next steps and didn't hear back for several days. The following week I emailed again, and again no response so I called. Calling prompted an email and we got it scheduled and ultimately installed pretty quickly at that point. The installer was SO NICE and so fast. It was insanely impressive how they get these things up quickly. The main thing here is that these are impressive, well made, playsets. The folks working here are very kind, and thoughtful. Sometimes things just move slower than you might want, or you might have to reach out to get questions answered. Would I recommend Rainbow? For sure! Could they turn this into a 5 star experience with a few small tweaks? Absolutely. If you're not me though, learn from me, and go on a Saturday, talk to the sales people and I'm sure you'll have a smoother experience.

Great park to walk my dog. There is a nice playground too. Make sure to bring bug sprayread more

What an adorable and whimsical park! The playground equipment is fun, built to be explored and…read moreclimbed on, and feels like you're transported into a storybook. We loved everything about this park from the climbing structures and tree houses to the working water fountains and bathrooms. On the same grounds there is also a skate park and a nice dog park. There's literally something out here for any member of your family to enjoy!

Beautiful park! Beautiful falls! Love going here for lunch, taking walks, fishing and taking the…read morekids for outdoor adventures!!

I will say that the fishing here is great but the playground is not. If you're a fisherman like…read moreme, you would love this place as I myself have caught tons of fish and even quite a few turtles. I will say, though the playground is almost nonexistent, so this is not the best place to go with kids. Obviously not a problem for me, but for the little kids, I would go to a different park. Other than that, the park is very crowded and very nice.

Beautiful park to walk through, and plenty of shade if you just want to rest and people watch…read more This park is adjacent to the Country Club Plaza shopping area, which puts you well within walking distance for food and drink options when you're done soaking in the vitamin free (*D). At the southern end of the park is the J.C. Nichol's Memorial Fountain. Folks were walking, running, and biking on the paved trail around and through the park. I didn't expect to find this beautiful fountain here, but it was a beautiful surprise. The walkways of the park put you less than a block away from Country Club Plaza, but I was well within walking distance of the Kemper Contemporary Museum of Art and Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. Great green space.

As someone who runs and walks solo about 50% of this time, this is not a favorite of mine. One…read morewould think that with all of the people on the plaza you would feel comfortable, but I don't. There is a hill covered with trees and that section gives me the creeps.