Sarah P.
Yelp
Rides, Art, and Chaos (the good kind)
Broadway at the Beach delivered exactly what a family vacation demands: rides, laughs, meltdowns (the kids'... mostly), and just enough chaos to make it memorable.
We hit the Action Park Pavilion first for the giant ferris wheel and some rides. My husband Lorenzo sat out the Broadway 360 Ferris wheel due to a well-documented feud with heights, so I braved it solo with our three kids--Lolo (9), Suri (4), and Sadie (almost 2). At 7 tickets a pop ($2.25 each), it's not a budget ride, but kids under 2 are free and the ride operator gave us a wink-and-nod discount for Suri, who "looked 2 today." Bless him. Bonus: those extra tickets got repurposed for carousel rides that had the girls laughing, spinning, and eventually sobbing when it was over. (Ah, toddlers.)
The Ferris wheel, while a bit shorter than the SkyWheel downtown, had small windows in the gondolas with a nice breeze, and the kids deemed it "scarier and cooler" than the closed-in version. So, I guess that's a win for fresh air and perceived danger.
Each kid picked one more ride to do with me: Sadie chose to saddle up on her noble carousel steed, Suri spun herself silly on the Myrtle Turtles mini coaster, and Lolo went full send on the drop tower--confidently announcing I would be the one to scream. (He was right.) But he screamed too, and clung to those bars like his life depended on it, so we'll call that one a bonding moment.
After all the adrenaline, we met up with my grounded husband and hit up the airbrush t-shirt shop. I was thrilled to find one--those beachside airbrush stands used to be everywhere, and they're getting rare. It was a little pricey for five shirts, but the artist crushed it--especially on our custom octopus design--and the kids were thrilled. It's been a week and they're still fighting over who has the "coolest" shirt.
While we waited for the artwork, we killed time at WonderWorks. It's hands-on, air-conditioned, and kids 3 and under are free. (Remember Suri looked 2 today) I can't stress enough how clutch that combo is when your crew is melting down faster than a Charleston praline.
Other than the air brush place, we skipped the shops because my kids are the definition of "bull in a china shop". But Final verdict: Broadway at the Beach is part theme park, part nostalgia trip, and part parenting triathlon--but with enough fun and weirdness to make it absolutely worth it. 10/10 would scream again.