Kids’ Birthday Party Places in West LA We’ve Actually Tried — And Why I Still Prefer the Park
Between having 2 boys and attending what feels like a hundred birthday parties over the years, we've experienced quite a few different types of kid's birthday parties around West LA.
We've done simple classroom birthdays when the kids were little. We've hosted parties at the neighborhood park and Scooter's Jungle. Through friends, we've experienced Round1, Chuck E. Cheese, Dave & Buster's, Lucky Strike, Cinemark, Activate Culver City, Wild Child and plenty of other park parties.
Some were elaborate. Some were expensive. Most were fun.
But after experiencing all of them, my favorite is still one of the simplest - and cheapest - options: the neighborhood park.
Let me explain why.
What Makes a Good Kids' Birthday Party?
Obviously, kids need to have fun. But I don't think that's enough.
A birthday party is supposed to celebrate the birthday kid. I want my child to actually spend time with his friends - running around together, laughing, playing and creating some kind of shared experience.
That's why I'm personally not a huge fan of arcade parties.
We've attended parties at Round1, Chuck E. Cheese and Dave & Buster's, and yes, the kids had fun. But once everyone gets game credits, they scatter.
One kid is shooting basketballs. Another is racing cars. Another is on Fruit Ninja. Two kids are playing Minecraft. Three kids are trying to win tickets. Someone has already run out of credits.
At some point, it doesn't really feel like a birthday party anymore.
And they're expensive! You need enough credits to entertain all those kids for a couple of hours, plus food and everything else.
For me, a good party has kids actually playing together, parents who can relax with minimal supervision, and a price that doesn't make me question all my life choices afterward.
With that in mind, here's what we've tried.
Movie Theater: Simple, But Surprisingly Memorable
Everyone gathered about 30 minutes before the movie, sang Happy Birthday and received good bags willed with snacks to eat during the movie. Then everyone watched the movie together and went home.
Simple.
What I liked was that the kids shared an experience. They talked about that movie for days afterward.
It wasn't particularly interactive, but compared to an arcade where everyone does their own thing, I thought it worked surprisingly well.
Cost wise, other than the birthday cake and goodie bags you prepare, movie tickets are the only things you need to pay for - about $20 per person.
The only issue with the theater birthday party is that there needs to be a kids' movie coming out right around the time of your child's birthday. If there's nothing that kids are excited to see, then this is not going to work out.
Scooter's Jungle: My Favorite Paid Venue
We liked Scooter's Jungle in El Segundo so much that we held our son's birthday there 2 years in a row, for his 6th and 7th birthdays.
It's basically a huge indoor playground with inflatable slides, bounce houses, obstacle courses, basketball hoops, ping pong and lots of open space.
The kids decided what to do. They chase each other, play tag, bounce, slide and make up their own games. Most importantly, they're playing together.
Your group gets a private arena for 1.5 hours, followed by 45 minutes in a dining room. While the kids play, the staff sets everything up. You can add food, balloons, drinks and even goodie bags.
We had about 20 kids and 20 adults both years and spent around $1,000 after our add-ons.
The hardest part of planning the party was justifying the $1,000 bill to my husband.
But honestly, I didn't have the bandwidth to plan anything myself at the time. Being able to basically show up and enjoy the party was worth it.
Wild Child: Great for Little Kids - and Parents
Wild Child in Playa Vista is another option I really liked, especially for younger kids.
It's a smaller indoor playground/gym where kids can climb, run around and play. But the biggest difference is the staff. Instead of simply letting the kids loose, staff members actively lead the play and entertain them.
The kids stay engaged with each other, and the parents can actually sit down and have a conversation.
That's a big win in my book.
Their packages, however, range dramatically - from $995 to $3,295.
The $995 package covers up to 15 kids and gives you 2 hours of playtime with 2 staff members leading the kids. The $3,295 option covers up to 20 children and includes basically everything: food, cake, decorations, themed balloons, favors and even beverages.
I understand paying for convenience - I did it twice at Scooter's Jungle.
But $3,295 for a kid's birthday party?
That's where you lose me.
Lucky Strike: Fun Until They Discover the Arcade
I actually like the idea of a bowling party because everyone is doing something together.
We attended one at Lucky Strike, where the higher party package was around $40 per person and included 2 hours of bowling, shoes, food and some arcade credits.
My biggest problem?
There's an arcade right there.
Once one kid wants to play arcade games, another follows. Then another. Eventually, good luck getting everyone back to bowling.
There's also a hidden expense: the parents.
Quite a few parents stayed at our friend's party, so they ended up adding lanes for the adults, plus drinks. My friend told me the final bill for having 20 kids and some parents was around $1,800.
Fun? Yes.
Would I personally spend $1,800 on it? Probably not.
Activate Culver City: Very Cool, But Pricey
Activate was probably the most unique party we've attended.
Imagine stepping inside a video game where you become the game piece. You're running around to dodge moving laser beams, jumping to different colored blocks and solving puzzles with your body.
Our son's friend had a party there recently and, oh boy, the kids had a blast.
There's plenty of teamwork and interaction, although some games are challenging enough that younger kids may need adult help.
The downside is that Activate isn't really a traditional birthday venue. You're mainly paying for gameplay - around $30 per person for 60 minutes or $40 for 90 minutes.
For 20 kids, 90 minutes alone would be around $800. You still need somewhere to feed everyone, have cake and sing Happy Birthday.
Cool experience? Absolutely.
For a birthday party? I'm not sure the numbers work for me.
And Then There's the Good Old Park
Which brings me to my favorite.
We held our older son's 5th birthday at a public park called Sports Park right next to his school in Playa Vista.
We intentionally scheduled it on a Friday right after school, so most of his classmates could come.
My husband and I took half a day off work. We picked up pizza and cake and since he was into Minecraft then, we also got one of those party packs off Amazon with Minecraft theme. The $20 party pack included themed table covers, balloons, banners, cupcake stand, plates, napkins, forks and cups. Easy Peasy.
That was it!
No entertainment. No elaborate decorations. No party package.
There was a playground, picnic tables, restrooms and a huge soccer field.
And apparently, that's all a bunch of 5-year-olds really need.
They chased each other, climbed, ran around the field, came back for pizza, ran off again and eventually gathered so we could sing Happy Birthday.
The adults sat around the picnic tables eating and talking. Nobody was constantly supervising. Nobody was trying to convince a child to leave an arcade. Nobody was watching the clock.
The entire party cost us around $300.
There is one downside.
The kids don't leave.
At a party venue, your 2 hours end and everyone goes home. At the neighborhood park, there's always one more trip down the slide, one more game of tag and one more snack.
A 2-hour party can very easily become an entire afternoon.
But maybe that's exactly why I like it.
What I'd Choose Again
If I wanted convenience, I'd happily choose Scooter's Jungle again. For younger kids, Wild Child was fantastic. Activate was probably the coolest activity, and the movie theater was surprisingly memorable.
But if you asked me where I'd host my own child's next birthday?
I'd choose the park.
Not just because it's cheaper.
After all these birthday parties, I've realized that price and fun don't necessarily go up together.
Kids don't need an elaborate venue or hundreds of dollars in game credits.
Give them a playground, pizza, birthday cake and their friends.
Then get out of their way.
After all, our kids don't really need anything fancy. They just need their friends there to celebrate the day with.
