Tilden Park Carousel Party
I am planning to host my son's second birthday party at Tilden Park Carousel this summer and would like to ask if anyone has held a party there and can share their experience? If anyone has recommendations for catering for toddlers and their parents that would be appreciated as well. Also rentals if anyone has experience/suggestions for a soft play rental and outdoor add-ons (i.e. Connect Four, Corn Hole, outdoor games) that would be very helpful! Thanks in advance.
May 22, 2022
Parent Replies
My experience is that when we tried a party there there were actually so many yellow jackets that we had to abandon the location completely. Please test it out with a picnic or something in advance. I don’t know about catering or rentals or regulations in that regard because we just brought our own food and games. Check the East Bay Regional Parks website to see if there are any restrictions on rentals.
Good afternoon. I hope my experience can help, although it was pre-pandemic. My husband and I rented the picnic area closest to the Carousel through East Bay Regional Parks. It was a joint birthday party for our two oldest who were turning 4 and 1 at the time. We didn't rent any party services. We had a potato sack race using inexpensive pillowcases we bought from Target. We also had a 3 legged race, and brought sports equipment. We also had a table for an easy art project. As far as food, we grilled hotdogs (regular and vegan), burgers, chips, fruit salad, some other side dish and a cake. We bought everything from Costco. We purchased a bunch of carousel tickets and the kids could ride as much as they wanted. Best wishes with your party!
We held our daughter's six-year birthday party at the Tilden Carousel this January, and had a really good experience! We didn't go with any of the catering or food options that the carousel offers, and instead brought a bunch of snacks, treats, and sandwiches that we ordered from a favorite restaurant (not close to Tilden). We reserved the big space that has several picnic tables arranged around a tree, and there was a lot of room for kids to run around there. The picnic tables offer a lot of shaded seating. We brought our own corn hole, parachute, and bubbles (we brought a kiddie pool and a hula hoop so kids could have a bubble made around them), and also set up some craft activities on the picnic tables. I think they discourage any kind of bouncy house because there are pine needles on the ground that might puncture an inflatable. The party package comes with either cotton candy or popcorn, but we didn't want either and they let us get extra carousel tickets instead. My only negative was that communication was lacking up to our party date, but when we got there everything was good to go.