The Great Park with it’s great orange balloon and great PR is currently little more than a glorified parking lot. This incarnation of the park is called the “Preview Park.” It’s designed to give you a glimpse of what’s to come. Upon its completion, this metropolitan park will be almost double the size of New York’s Central Park. I’m excited for the community stakeholders to see their input realized as building gets underway. I’d encourage you to consult the Master Plan to see what’s coming in the park’s future. It’s pretty remarkable.
I’m not here to talk about all the controversy surrounding the park’s development and dollars spent — you can consult the search engines to find out more on that subject. I just wanted to provide useful information if you’re planning to visit the park.
Location: Finding the park entrance is not an intuitive process. It’s right off Interstate 5 at the Sand Canyon exit in Irvine. You almost feel like you are turning onto the freeway when you turn onto Marine Way, a side road which leads into the park. You should probably rely on directions directly from The Great Park Corporation. However, I’ve also marked the Marine Way entrance on my MAP to the Great Park Entrance in Irvine.
Orange County Great Park Overview/Walk-Thru:
- Turn left at the yellow entrance booth staffed by Irvine PD. Follow the big orange circles painted in the roadway until you turn right come to the orange and white barriers.
- Driving into the Great Park is a lot like driving onto a military base — makes sense because this used to be the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station. You’ll drive by old buildings and foundations of “what used to be” on your way to the parking area.
- The parking area is spotted with large trees in crates which will be used in future incarnations of the park.
- Look carefully under your feet and you’ll see old parking spots for planes and the loops to tether them to the ground.
- You can view the balloon’s flight all through your trips into the park.
- Upon entering the Preview Park, you’ll find some picnic tables and the Visitor Center where you register for the balloon ride. The walkable timeline is an interesting feature for history buffs.
Best Use Suggestion:
- A balloon ride would be awesome for a date night. The Preview Park is more interesting for adults at this point in the development.
Highlights:
- So far, the balloon is the absolute highlight of the park. I thoroughly enjoyed my ride up 400 feet into the air to see views of the foothills, ocean, and even as far as Long Beach. My blogger buddy, Marcy, did a great OC & Me video of her ride up in the balloon.
- If you’re afraid of heights, there’s not much else to do. However, I think it’s a great idea to visit at least once while the park is at this stage to fully appreciate the improvements to come.
- People and kids seem to gravitate toward the orange bike rack shaped as a bicycle.
- Go into the temporary Visitor Center for information on the park.
- Special events take place in “Historic Hangar 244.”
- Kids Rock Playground provides fun for toddlers outside the visitor center
Be Aware:
- The balloon can meet daily capacity by afternoon. The last few times we went in the afternoon, they weren’t accepting riders.
Checklist:
- The park is only open Thursday through Sunday (closed Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday). Consult the Great Park website for details on hours and maps.
- I’m always leery of portable restrooms, but these are pretty nice. Set up in trailers which are kind of like RV’s. (Foot pedal flush).
- Balloon ride is FREE. Sometimes there is a fee for special events at the park (i.e., the snow day was $8).
- You MUST sign a waiver and get a boarding pass to ride the balloon. Available in the Visitor Center.
- Also consult the Great Park Conservancy website for more information (although at the time of posting the navigation menu wasn’t working for me).
