Monopoly in the Park

Monopoly in the Park is a fun, unique spot with a giant Monopoly board on the ground and two big dice you can climb on. There’s no playground, but there’s a nice grassy lawn and a bench to chill. It’s right by the Guadalupe River Trail and the San Jose Children’s Discovery Museum.

Fun to see a giant-scale monopoly board in a park. There are park seats, tables and chairs (some equipped with chess boards), fun animal statues, some giant artwork, and a large open space. A nice place to sit and relax. Kid-friendly. Easy to walk to.

The monopoly board was smaller than I had pictured. And why that game? It's one of the most boring board games around. The animal sculptures are cool. If you're passing by, it's worth a stop but definitely don't go out of your way for this one.

Cool giant sized Monopoly game board! Just wondering if there is an actual way to play with giant pieces and giant paper money!? Loved it though. Great atmosphere and wonderful park area all around.

This is a really cool idea. The open air and the sun beating down on you as you enjoy the day. Don't try and move the dice as they are huge and possibly permanent lol. There are little statues dotting the park area. Got to see lots of motorcycles traveling around at least 100 at one point. Beautiful artworks nearby

This was a cool park to visit for stretching the legs and getting some sun before exploring the city. I would love to come back when there is a festival going on that would be cool.

Date of Visit: Saturday, Dec 14th, 2019 Because we came to San Jose - we knew we had to look for the Monopoly in the Park attraction. We had seen it many times on other people's Instagrams and thought it might be a good roadside attraction worth visiting. It is incredibly hard to get to if you are just driving through San Jose. There is a major roadway with no parking to stop at and just grab a quick photo. We had to pull into the drop off section at the children's museum nearby and run over to the park while someone stayed in the car. It is a recreation of a giant Monopoly board in the centre of a children's playground. However, I assumed there would be tokens, etc but there were not. There are other figures in the park but they have nothing to do with the monopoly board. As a roadside attraction, it is a bit of a bust. It was too difficult to access, too far away from the nearest parking spot, and not really all that fun for photos. My recommendation is - DO NOT go looking specifically for this roadside attraction. If you are nearby - check it out. As much as Roguetrippers love oversized things, and quirky attractions, This one was a bit of a letdown.

Great initiative, putting a real life Monopoly in the park. However, it is not as big as I was expecting and it is not interactive at all, purely decorative. You cans see it had its best time as the board lost lots of its paint. This has great potential but could really use a new layer of paint!

A life size version of the famous monopoly board game located in the park! I love how San Jose brings this to life. Great for photo ops, or a picnic area for you and your friends and family.

Really cool to see! Wish the city would touch this up! My friend and I had a hard time finding it because the GPS took us to the museum. If you're facing the museum it's off to the right by the street. It's a lot smaller than we both thought but still really cool and great for photo ops.

Not much here besides Canadian geese and a bunch of stray cats. The cats are very cautious, but if you sit around the benches they'll approach you. The park is right beside the river. frankly the river's appearance and smell can be very unappealing. I like the fun facts around the park, one would learn a few things from extinct animals to San Jose's sister cities.

Located on the lawn somewhat near the Children's Museum this is a cute place to stop by and take some photos. It's just a large painted Monopoly board on the ground and there are some tables with seating nearby with chess boards and the like on top if you bring your own pieces. Not attached to the Monopoly are statues of some cute animals. If you're walking around downtown San Jose or need unique photo shoot ideas for Fanime, this is neat to stop by.

Did you know that there is a life size Monopoly board game in San Jose? It is located in downtown, by the Children's Discovery Museum of San Jose (there is metered parking and paid lots nearby, but you may be lucky like us and score free parking by the museum. But please note that the parking here is limited to 30 minutes only). This gigantic board game (930 square feet) is also in the Guinness World Record for largest permanent Monopoly board. I have been wanting to visit this cool (and free) board game for a several years but never got the chance every time we would visit this this part of northern California. But so glad we (my husband and our little girl dog) were finally able to visit this afternoon. At 2:15 pm, there was no one around and so we were able to get plenty of people free photos. If you are interested in renting this board game for a fun game day event, you can for only $300 that includes an official referee, giant dice to roll and token shaped hats to wear (game pieces) while you move from space to space on the game board. There is also jailhouse clothing available for those that are unlucky to land on the go to jail space or pick the go to jail card. If I lived in the area, I would definitely take advantage of this service. Although this giant board game could use a new fresh coat of paint and renewal, I think it's worth a visit for some great photos (definitely could see a fun themed photo shoot in the future here).

Looking at the photos posted back in 2015-2017, it looked like it was a cool spot to check out. Well it's still cool since it got into the Guinness Book of Records but it's past its heydays. I knew parking was going to be difficult and when we saw there was absolutely nobody at the park, we decided to just park our car right at the grass area. Looking at the monopoly board game on the floor, we knew we won't stay long anyways. Paint was fading, there were no longer any kind of game pieces except for a pair of dice and it was just in a state of despair. Took a few photos/videos and we were outta there. Stayed for about 15 minutes tops. It's nice to check out if you're in the area but definitely not worth to go out of your way for.

A great place to unwind and stroll around. The big monopoly was very interesting just cuz it's my family's fave board game. We found street parking but had to pay. Hopefully the payment goes to the art school...

I thought it would be cool to see this in person. Parking was tough. I didn't plan to stay long. I just wanted to see the huge version of the Monopoly game. We ended up pulling up and parking on the asphalt next to the grass. I'm sure we couldn't park there and it was just for golf carts, but didn't see any signs. There's garage parking but I didn't want to pay just to stay less than 10 minutes. The colors were fading and dirty. The chess tables around were super dirty too. We just wanted to take a few pictures and leave. It wasn't a place where we wanted to have a picnic or anything. Glad we got to see it but we won't be coming back. I didn't really feel safe with just us since we weren't familiar with the area.

This is a pretty amazing place for being open 24 hours. There's an actual life-size monopoly board in the park. There are also quite a few tables that have chess boards built-in for people to sit and play board games like checkers or chess. Near this park is a discovery museum for children. We came here late at night, parking is a bit difficult, there is a river/canal near here. And quite a bit of public parking garages near. Kids want to come back with the rest of the monopoly set and played a life-size monopoly game here. We are going to try that sometime. There's a bus stop right on San Carlos. Not sure what bus number ones here. Really nice and green, cool in the evening. Lots of benches to sit at. Maybe bring a real cash, see if someone can dominate... I love monopoly.

This is such a gem. My husband is a huge monopoly fan, so we had to stop by. The park is really well maintained! It's a really cool thing to have open to the public and a great photo opportunity for fans.

Very cool, very clean, and definitely InstagramAble, Nice, clean park with mini statues, a paradise, no a pair of dice, I said. Go go go and you can pass go and collect $200.

Never knew this place existed. Not exactly sure how to review it, as it's more of a landmark than anything else, but it's pretty awesome, especially if you're a monopoly fan. Apparently it's the world largest Monopoly game which is really cool. It's designed very well and sparks a lot of innovation in its design. You can't really play the game unless you bring your own pieces, but I think it's possible. Overall, I really enjoyed seeing this place.

Great place to visit if you're in the area. No parking, you have to park and walk. All the little game pieces have been either stolen or were taken back. It's kind of dirty, but not too bad. There was one bum but he kept to himself.

Monopoly in the park is a nice place to see if you are in the area. I would not recommend paying for parking. There are a few free spots on the street to park. There is a sign out front of the park on the street that says no stopping. I do not know how strictly that is enforced. The park is well maintained and something unique. I would not make a special trip to come here. They have a picnic table there as well, where you can eat lunch or hang out. You can also sit on the large dice and hang out for bit if you choose. This place makes for a good photo op, especially for the Monopoly enthusiast.

Monopoly in the Park just placed San Jose on the map! Who would have known that there's a life size monopoly! Thoughts/tips: *Its a free place to visit which equals super cool! *Probably wouldn't take you a super long time to take pictures and hang out. At most 30 minutes. *It's a bit tagged up on certain spots but nevertheless still pretty cool to see in real life! *Located right by the river. *walking distance from the main downtown san jose area. *if you actually wanna play the life size monopoly you gotta call and reserve the pieces in order to do so. *its not located in a shady place so if its sunny out; it'll get hot. *really awesome concept and worth seeing if you're a monopoly fan! *close by the light rail and children discovery museum. I would recommend coming here! Happy picture taking!

This is such a small park but if you're in the area you should definitely stop by to take a quick picture to post on your social media.

This is a fun place to go with a group of friends and some monopoly pieces and just have a great time! Be creative and nostalgic and just do your thing!

When driving through San Jose this place popped up as a must see. Like others have mentioned its in the Guinness world record as the largest permanent board game. I was excited to surprise my boyfriend as he is the biggest monopoly game lover ever. I on the other hand like many, grew up playing this game so why not. When we arrived there was no street parking available. We parked at a structure adjacent to the park which ended up costing us $10 for 15 minutes. Are you kidding me?? Anyway, when we finally reached the park the board game was very underwhelming. It didn't appear to be well maintained and the park itself was just well a regular park. You would probably be more impressed googling photos of it than seeing it in person.

If you love exploring hidden gems that are "off-the-beaten-path" like I do, there is one little place in Downtown San Jose that is a MUST SEE: Monopoly In the Park. Yes, that is not a typo. Monopoly in the Park is a famous section of San Jose's Discovery Meadow Park that houses the largest playable Monopoly board in the world. The board is so big that you won't be able to capture the entirety of it in one picture! The Monopoly board obviously does not contain playing cards or pieces, but you can easily use your imagination and play on this creative set! Monopoly in the Park is very accessible for people living near the South Bay. Downtown San Jose is close to a number of freeways (e.g. 101, 280, etc.) and there's the VTA for public transportation. I wouldn't really recommend driving here since parking can be bad. The amazing thing about Monopoly in the Park is that you can spend a whole morning here. The Monopoly board is located in a very huge and beautiful park. On a nice summer day, you can easily just lay around and spend time with family. The scenery is beautiful and there's even a lake! If you get bored of playing on the Monopoly board (no pun intended) but you still want to fan that competitive flame, there's also some chess boards built into nearby tables! I give Monopoly in the Park an "omg, I'd drive 2 hours for this" because it's a gem worth visiting. It's not everyday that you can see something in the Guinness Book of World Records, but you can here! Have fun and prosper,

San Jose bucket list - check! After living in the South Bay for more than 4 years, you would have thought that I'd visit this amazing art installation sooner. But sadly, I never made time to come here until just a few days ago. And boy, was it everything I dreamt it would be. Monopoly is my favorite board game (don't hate), that's why I'm geekin' so hard over this right now. I wish I could have played on this huge board, but I only had time to take a few pictures. And it was basically an oven that day, and I was wearing a blazer. I would say it's worth the time if you're in Downtown to come and visit it. You can't find it anywhere else!

Great place for pictures and it's FREE! Finding free parking can be tricky though! Definitely a hidden gem in San Jose!

Really wish there was a smaller dice so people could actually play! That would have been super fun and nice. I've been here twice and it's somewhat changed the last time I visited. They added new things such as animal sculptures near by and I'm not sure if there was a checkers table before, but it's there now. Although there's not much to do around, you can always take photos, take a stroll, or even have a picnic with friends, family or loved ones. A new improvement is the parking garage! It wasn't there before (or maybe I just didn't notice it) and it definitely made it more convenient.

We just came here to check out the huge board since kids love playing monopoly. Parking sucks, so if you can be lucky to find one on the street it would be best than rather paying to park in Garage. I think its near the Children's discovery museum. There are cute animal statues nearby and a big grassy field to just hang out for a picnic or what not.

I had seen this place in pictures and being that I live in the SJ area I had always wanted to visit it! But never really had the time to go out of my way to see it until my friend came visiting and I decided to show them around! Parking: There is lot parting for $7 a day, but there are also a few minute/hourly meters near the discovery Museum side (so you just have to walk a little) if you aren't planning on staying in downtown SJ for the whole day or want to pay that much when you're only going to be there for like an hour max. I just did the hourly parking. From the pictures that I had seen, I was expecting this Monopoly board to be huge!! So it was a little sad when I got there, but it was still awesome because all of the text was engraved into the cement and the board is painted. It also looked like you could sponsor some spot on the board if you wanted b/c my friends and I noticed that the Boardwalk had the Santa Cruz Beach Board walk under it and the Jail had the SJ Police Department under it. There were also a couple of statues of random animals in a patch a couple feet away from this board! There are two large dice that are right next to it, which I guess is perfect for standing on to take a group selfie, or just a selfie.

Another one of the #CACamillebucketlist You can see it from the street - parking during the weekend was a little more difficult than I thought it. On a Saturday - I paid $7 for all day parking. We passed by the Parade of Animals on our way to the Monopoly in the Park. Surprisingly - there was no one there & I could have easily missed it if it wasn't for the two giant dices. They also have a sign that has the Official Guinness World Record label on it. It is the World's Largest Permanent Board Game. Great photo-op place, for some reason - I picture this as a SUPER cute place for an engagement shoot - just sayin'

It is pretty cool if you are a monopoly fan. It is right next to the children's discovery museum, which would an awesome place to go before or after.

It's Monopoly! It's in a park! It's on the ground, nearby a questionable city bus stop! You have to call the city for game pieces! There is no shade around it! You will have to yell at each other while playing the game to hear over the buses, highway traffic, and questionable sketchy people in the area! It's Monopoly!

Unique little place to visit if you happen to be in the area. It's a life size Monopoly board with the opportunity to rent large game pieces and play a game for a fee ($300 for family pricing, $150 deposit) according to their website. Street parking and the parking lot nearby is $7 for the whole day, which isn't worth it if you're just visiting the park. There's about 2 street parking spots in front of Hilton that offers 30 minute parking, which was enough time for me and my friends to walk over and take some photos.

this park is not very well maintained, especially the monopoly. It is very close by to a children's museum but the board area looks dumpy. The game is faded, litter and weeds and very visible and the giant dice are scuffed up. It seemed like a hopping place years ago but it was deserted when I went on a thurs afternoon. I spent maybe 5 min here. Parking around the area is another problem. I found a garage after driving around for 10min, that was $2 for 15min and left the area soon after. Would only recommend if you have kids or are visiting something close by, but do not go out of your way to see this because it's not worth it.

Cool spot to visit and take photos and walk around. Not much to do but we enjoyed the trip here. My gf and I had a great time.

San Jose hold's Guinness book of world records for largest permanent monopoly board 31 x 31 ft (9.44 x 9.44 m). Pretty cool! It definitely isn't as big as you probably expect (or maybe that's just me), but kids love to jump around on it! It is located on the lawn right next to the children's discovery museum. There is also a pair of large, stationary dice. Metered parking is around the block which is your best bet unless you want to pay for the expensive parking garages.

Located about a 10 minute walk from my hotel, this was a really cool place to see and snap some pics. Just a chill vibe to this park - I could see myself renting the board pieces with some friends on a warm day and actually playing Monopoly out here. Assuming that I lived here of course...and assuming I had friends...that would want to play giant Monopoly in the park. It's a family friendly park, adjacent to the Children's Museum. Picnic tables with built in checkers boards, a nice open grassy field to run amuck, and little animal creature things that kids love to jump all over. In fact, while writing this review a little kid just ran and jumped all over one. There's not much to it as far as "ooh's and ah's" go but it's different and simple and that makes it worth visiting.

This is a fun little place near the Children's Discovery Museum. We brought an out of town friend here and she had a great time here. We watched some people playing the Monopoly game. It looked like they had a private party because they brought in all the big game pieces.

This is a fun little attraction everyone (young and old) should see at least once. Truth be told the neighborhood is shady and old and run down and kinda scary. Park on San Carlos right next to the board. DO NOT park on side streets or by the children's museum. STAY AWAY - I shall repeat STAY AWAY from anything near Guadalupe Park (which is about a block away where we parked because we couldn't find the board). Guadalupe Park is full of scary homeless people and drug using teens. Another note, if you park anywhere besides San Carlos Street you are going to pay the meter too much to walk or pay $5.00 at an adjacent parking garage which is totally not worth it to see the board. Okay, now that we are done with parking and the neighborhood I can talk about the board. It's not as big as I thought it was going to be but it certainly is a fun sight to see. I had to play dorky tourist girl and bounce around on the square for fun. We spent about 10 minutes looking around at it and left. Good times for cheap. Fun quick little stop.

Wow was this ever a great experience! I booked several months in advance (highly recommended) and showed up 1 hour before our start time of 11:00 am to set up my canopies/b-day cake/balloons etc. The volunteer staff were very friendly and nice and very well organized. I think my son and his friends, all age 9-10, were of a perfect age to play, as they all love regular Monopoly anyway. Even the parents got a kick out of it. We loved watching and sometimes participating. You think to yourself when you hear about this giant Monopoly game, what are the logistics? How do they do the money, the properties, the deals, etc.? Well, these folks have it all figured out. Such a unique experience, too! I think every kid who loves Monopoly and/or board games should have this experience!

A very cool thing to see if you have some time while in Downtown SJ. It is cool, but as some of the other reviews suggest, not really going to knock your socks off. On a really nice day it seems like a perfect thing to do with a couple folks or ideally kids who like monopoly... maybe a picnic and a game of real monopoly!

It was rather disappointing. The monopoly board itself is rather small, and faded out. Besides the board, there are two large dice to sit on, with a sign stating that this is monopoly in the park. We personally had a really hard time finding parking for this place. The surrounding area in the park was also not the prettiest.

One of the best coolest htings I have every seen!!!! When you come here you have to take a pic running across PASS GO!!!! or sit in the Jail square :) If you are like me you want this one off your bucket list! Very cool to feel like you are a player piece in the game of MONOPOLY. Did you know you can even rent the pieces in advance to play a real game???? How awesome is that!!!! So if you live near here or are passing though place it on the map for a must see landmark in Downtown San Jose!!!

Love it, great place to go with the homies

Pretty cool. Life size version of the game on the concrete. A lot of kids nearby having a blast. There are a lot of people on a picnic nearby can't really play the game but it's still cooler to see. Located in a very nice park in downtown San Jose, kids will think it's cool.

Very interesting location I had no idea about till I saw it on Yelp. The pictures were great so I decided to stop by and take my kids. I was a little disappointed at the tagging on dice as well as on the genius world record sign. There was also a few homeless people who were hanging out in the park. It's an interesting location but I do wish they can clean it up a bit.

Great little spot to visit. Right next to the children's museum. It was nice, except all kinds of people hanging out drinking and smoking in the whole area. . It's downtown. I guess you can't be to surprised about that.

Interesting to see, but definitely not a "must see" in San Jose. The way some people describe this place, it makes it seem like the board is GIGANTIC. However, it is not a huge board. Also, not much to actually do in this location unless you bring your own playing pieces. If you're passing by, stop, take a look and take a few pics. However, I wouldn't go out of your way to see it.

Amazing! But be aware... drove from sac to see it and it was covered, assuming to prevent fading or renovations. Sad face.

Such an excellent group of people that help support Monopoly in the Park. They do such an excellent job of informing you on the History of Monopoly as well as helping to involve both the Adults and Kids into the fun. I celebrated my 34th birthday with them and although it was a really hot day the staff was so much fun. If you are a true Monopoly fan you must play on this board at least once in your lifetime :)

So fun to bring visitors to see the giant game board. They are always impressed. Little kids like to jump all over it and make up their own game. Theoretically, you really can bring your own game pieces and play here. There are a few tables with checker boards surrounding the Monopoly board. This is good for a little picnic or a game of checkers/chess. I always like to come by just to take a look. :-)

Pretty cool! I guess it holds the world record as the largest Monopoly board. The letters are engraved so it's pretty fun thing to see if you're in the area.

I've lived here my whole life and never knew this existed. Monopoly in the Park is definitely cool. It's part of the Children's Discovery Museum. My only complaint is that there are no trees or shade around here to chill or relax.

I had to stop by Monopoly in the Park before heading to the Children's Discovery Museum.. it's so cute .. small but cute.. I love the over size Monopoly Game pieces.. I do recommend..