Believe it or not, a trip to New Orleans with kids isn’t what many people think! There are PLENTY of things to do with your kids in the New Orleans area, and one of them is Storyland in City Park! Since we live in Louisiana, we take our kids over to New Orleans a few times a year to explore new places – and none of them have anything to do with Bourbon Street!
Storyland park is located inside of City Park, which is 1300 square feet – 25% BIGGER than City Park in New York City! City Park is HUGE! And within City Park is Storyland. If you’re using your GPS, since there are so many entrances to City Park, you’ll want to use the address 5 Victory Avenue in New Orleans, or search specifically for Storyland park, NOT just City Park.
What is Storyland?
Storyland is a walk-through playground that has been open since the 1950’s. It has 18 larger-than-life storybook scenes that kids can explore, climb through or on, and enjoy. The best part is – it’s ALL shaded!
From giant sized slides to structures kids can climb on and inside of, each storybook tale had a unique feature that my daughter especially really loved. The teens had fun climbing inside of the Alice in Wonderland house but mostly came along for the unique walk.
Before you even enter to pay your admission, there are giant Storyland statues of Little Bo Peep, Humpty Dumpty, and a Storyland sign that you can pose for pictures by!
How much does is cost to go to Storyland?
Storyland costs $6 per person, but is free for children under 36” and of course for Friends of City Park members. So for our family of 5, we had to pay $30 just to walk through to see the cool displays.
A family of 4 can purchase a season pass for about $265 which is astronomical to me but that also includes admission to Carousel Gardens Amusement Park. So if you live in the area and have small kids it might be worth it to pass time.
When is Storyland open?
Storyland is closed on Mondays. On Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday it is open from 10am-4:30pm, and on Friday and Saturdays it is open 10am-3:30pm. You must arrive 30 minutes or more before it closes to receive entrance.
Is Storyland worth the price?
It really isn’t a large area considering that you have to pay to enter, but it’s a neat place to let the kids run around in a unique setting. As you can see from our pictures, there are plenty of unique photo ops for the family! Although you’ll also notice it’s in need of serious repairs as well.
For my family – I have 2 teenage boys and an 8 year old girl at the time of this post – and Storyland is a neat place but a one time deal for us.
If my daughter was younger or I had all little kids, and I had the money to burn, I’d consider going to Storyland once in a while as a fun treat then stop for beignets at Cafe du Monde. I’m glad we went at least once though because my kids will certainly remember it.
My daughter ran around like crazy wanting pictures everywhere we went as you can tell from seeing her in just about every single picture! It was fun watching her light up at each storybook display!
It reminded me of something I might walk through during my childhood in the 80’s and early 90’s. We had some silly fun at Storyland for the day – probably took us about an hour to walk through.
Probably my most exciting spot in Storyland was this Epossumondas storybook scene – it was my son’s FAVORITE children’s book for a long time! You can buy the book on Amazon here.
This giant Jack and the Beanstalk slide was definitely one of the most “wow” things in the park.
What else can you do in City Park New Orleans?
There are a LOT of things to do in City Park! The entrance into City Park is open FREE to the public, but most other things inside the park charge a fee, so make sure to look that up before coming to visit!
- Explore the Park. As mentioned City Park has 1300 acres of land which actually makes is one of the largest urban parks in the United States! There are PLENTY of trails and places inside the park to explore.
- Eat beignets at Cafe Du Monde
- Rent a swan boat! You can rent swan boats, paddle boats, canoes and kayaks to explore the lagoons and waterways throughout City Park. In fact you can even go fishing in some areas of the park.
- NOMA (New Orleans Museum of Art)
- Sculpture Garden
- Botanical Gardens
- Carousel Gardens Amusement Park
- Seasonal Activities
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