Have been itching to check out this place but was warned of the crowds so I finally made the trip on a Tuesday morning. Here are a few opinions bulleted for convenience:
- Parking would probably be a pain if it was a busy weekend. Be prepared with quarters and comfy shoes.
- The team behind the design and construction of this place is genius. The transformation of container vans into a sleek but whimsical, fun but functional space that people can enjoy for FREE is an admirable feat.
- The main playground/treehouse is quite a narrow space, I would definitely not attempt to go here if the place was packed. But on a slow weekday, they still had lots of security guys roaming and constantly looking after kids and parents. Great job guys. I'm also not sure that the treehouse and slides are something that I would keep bringing my son back to play with. Once or a few times would suffice.
- There's a grass field fronting a small concert space with good sound quality so you might want to check out their monthly event lineups here - http://downtowncontainerpark.com/events/.
- I wish the awesome mantis at the entrance was part of the space inside where people can enjoy it more.
- I was only able to try 1 restaurant, the Mexican one and wasn't very impressed. The only other spot that interested me sold charcuterie and wine but they opened late for lunch. You could see that the people hanging out at Container park were there primarily for the space and not the food. I wish they'd have some really sick/awesome food joints to keep people coming back for more.
I'm glad I went on a lazy slow day before it became too hot. It was quite enjoyable walking around to Jazz music wafting in the air, flowers on the sidewalks and children running here and there. Will I go back? Only for great food and music.