Virginia Beach - Family Friendly
If your children start to tire of endless sunny days on the oceanfront; if they’ve had enough splashing, boogie-boarding, body-surfing, surfing, sea-kayaking, and swimming in the ocean; if they’re over building sand castles and drip sand castles, burying one another, and laying in the sand, fear not! Virginia Beach has a lot to offer for children.
If you don’t feel up to straying too far from the beach, walk down the boardwalk to 15th Street. Here, the Virginia Beach Amusement Park will entertain families with plenty of rides and games. Two of the bigger rides include the Log Flume and the Skyscraper, which sends you soaring 165 feet at 65 miles per hour. If you plan ahead, you can get discounts on day passes at the Holiday Department Stores on 12th, 20th, and 29th Streets, as well as at the Harris Teeter on 28th Street and Arctic Avenue. The Virginia Beach Amusement Park is open during the summer from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The “strip,” or the stretch of mainly tourist area along the oceanfront in Virginia Beach is home to tons of souvenir shops. Your children will have fun looking through the funny T-shirts, sun visors, bathing suits, and towels; they will enjoy choosing mementos of their fun vacation from Virginia Beach-inspired pencils, magnets, postcards, and more. Also along the strip are a number of “haunted houses” sure to elicit a squeal from any boy or girl (and maybe even the adult accompanying them!) You can choose from the Haunted Fun House on 25th Street and the Haunted Mansion on 20th street.
Also along the strip, you will find Flipper McCoys, a family friendly arcade, at 22nd Street. Parents will love the classic arcade games (do Astroids, Frogger, PacMan, and Centipede ring a bell?) and kids will love the addition of full-motion, high-tech video games, such as Daytona and MK3. At Flipper McCoys, you will also find a number of other ways to have fun, including shooting billiards, playing air hockey, and rolling the skeeball. If you happen to be out at Lynnhaven Mall, Flipper McCoys also has another Lynnhaven location.
Your kids will adore a day trip to Ocean Breeze Waterpark., located just 1.5 miles south of the strip. Ocean Breeze has sixteen water slides for mats and tubes; a huge wave pool for tubing, floating and swimming; tons of fun water games; and a large pirate-themed area designed especially for young children, called “Buccaneer Bay.” Inside Ocean Breeze, you’ll find an arcade, BBQ pit and gift shop. A separate section of Ocean Breeze offers go-carts, a batting cage, miniature golf, and a bungee swing.
For a more educational pursuit, only a few steps from Ocean Breeze, you can visit the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Museum. The aquarium holds more than 700,000 gallons of water, housing rare species of endangered sea turtles, a variety of large sharks, playful North American river otters, harbor seals, cownose rays (which you can touch!), and many more fish and ocean animals. The plentitude of educational games and activities, as well as the IMAX theater, will ensure both children and adults have fun while learning.
If you happen to catch a rainy day in Virginia Beach, the kids might enjoy a treat to the movie theater, and there are plenty to choose from! The newest theater, AMC Lynnhaven 18, is out at Lynnhaven Mall, approximately a ten minute drive from the oceanfront. This theater sports stadium seating. About a ten minute drive south of the oceanfront is the Regal Strawbridge Marketplace Theater, also sporting stadium seating. Closest to the oceanfront is R/C Surf and Sand 8 Theater. If you have enough room after the popcorn and soda, the kids will love a stop next door at the Purple Cow, a family diner that caters to their younger diners. Kids will find a placemat to color, and perhaps win a spot among the art on the wall; balloons and delicious milkshakes, including the famous “Purple Vanilla” shake await them indoors. Adults might enjoy their own special shake, with a bit of Amaretto, Irish Cream, or Triple Sec mixed in.
It would be impossible to hear “I’m bored” from the mouths of children in Virginia Beach. This article only touches on the many ways to entertain the younger ones.
Susannah Fuller is a freelance writer in Virginia whose work has appeared in a variety of magazines and publications
Virginia Tourists Guide - Virginia Beach, Virginia
If you don’t feel up to straying too far from the beach, walk down the boardwalk to 15th Street. Here, the Virginia Beach Amusement Park will entertain families with plenty of rides and games. Two of the bigger rides include the Log Flume and the Skyscraper, which sends you soaring 165 feet at 65 miles per hour. If you plan ahead, you can get discounts on day passes at the Holiday Department Stores on 12th, 20th, and 29th Streets, as well as at the Harris Teeter on 28th Street and Arctic Avenue. The Virginia Beach Amusement Park is open during the summer from 1 p.m. to 1 a.m.
The “strip,” or the stretch of mainly tourist area along the oceanfront in Virginia Beach is home to tons of souvenir shops. Your children will have fun looking through the funny T-shirts, sun visors, bathing suits, and towels; they will enjoy choosing mementos of their fun vacation from Virginia Beach-inspired pencils, magnets, postcards, and more. Also along the strip are a number of “haunted houses” sure to elicit a squeal from any boy or girl (and maybe even the adult accompanying them!) You can choose from the Haunted Fun House on 25th Street and the Haunted Mansion on 20th street.
Also along the strip, you will find Flipper McCoys, a family friendly arcade, at 22nd Street. Parents will love the classic arcade games (do Astroids, Frogger, PacMan, and Centipede ring a bell?) and kids will love the addition of full-motion, high-tech video games, such as Daytona and MK3. At Flipper McCoys, you will also find a number of other ways to have fun, including shooting billiards, playing air hockey, and rolling the skeeball. If you happen to be out at Lynnhaven Mall, Flipper McCoys also has another Lynnhaven location.
Your kids will adore a day trip to Ocean Breeze Waterpark., located just 1.5 miles south of the strip. Ocean Breeze has sixteen water slides for mats and tubes; a huge wave pool for tubing, floating and swimming; tons of fun water games; and a large pirate-themed area designed especially for young children, called “Buccaneer Bay.” Inside Ocean Breeze, you’ll find an arcade, BBQ pit and gift shop. A separate section of Ocean Breeze offers go-carts, a batting cage, miniature golf, and a bungee swing.
For a more educational pursuit, only a few steps from Ocean Breeze, you can visit the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Museum. The aquarium holds more than 700,000 gallons of water, housing rare species of endangered sea turtles, a variety of large sharks, playful North American river otters, harbor seals, cownose rays (which you can touch!), and many more fish and ocean animals. The plentitude of educational games and activities, as well as the IMAX theater, will ensure both children and adults have fun while learning.
If you happen to catch a rainy day in Virginia Beach, the kids might enjoy a treat to the movie theater, and there are plenty to choose from! The newest theater, AMC Lynnhaven 18, is out at Lynnhaven Mall, approximately a ten minute drive from the oceanfront. This theater sports stadium seating. About a ten minute drive south of the oceanfront is the Regal Strawbridge Marketplace Theater, also sporting stadium seating. Closest to the oceanfront is R/C Surf and Sand 8 Theater. If you have enough room after the popcorn and soda, the kids will love a stop next door at the Purple Cow, a family diner that caters to their younger diners. Kids will find a placemat to color, and perhaps win a spot among the art on the wall; balloons and delicious milkshakes, including the famous “Purple Vanilla” shake await them indoors. Adults might enjoy their own special shake, with a bit of Amaretto, Irish Cream, or Triple Sec mixed in.
It would be impossible to hear “I’m bored” from the mouths of children in Virginia Beach. This article only touches on the many ways to entertain the younger ones.
Susannah Fuller is a freelance writer in Virginia whose work has appeared in a variety of magazines and publications
Virginia Tourists Guide - Virginia Beach, Virginia
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