Millennium Park - Grand Rapids, Michigan

 

We love this park!  Partly because it's not far from our house but it's also a lot of fun and not that expensive!  http://www.accesskent.com/CultureLeisureAndTransit/MillenniumPark/

There are some things you can do for free like park, play in the playground area, picnic in one of the many pavilions (can be reserved),  walk/run/bike on the beautiful trials, and they have nice restrooms.

The main portion of the park that we visit is in the paid area.  They have a great splash pad for kids and a beautiful beach area with swimming.  One thing that I like with my little ones is that the water is pretty shallow in the swimming area.  However, there is a drop off past the area they have marked for swimming.

It's hard to see but if you look in the distance you can see that they offer chairs to sit in.

FYI - There are a couple of these poles in the splash pad area (I think the other one is orange).
The water is set to turn off every now and then (to preserve water).
You just have to move your hand over the sensor located in that section to turn it back on.
It's helpful to know if there aren't a lot of people around and your little one is freaking out because it "stopped working"!

Sandy beach so don't forget your sand toys

The "no swim" and drop-off area is well marked.

Of course there are some of these visiting those picnicking on the beach ;-)

The park offers restrooms, changing rooms, showers, lockers, and tables to sit and eat.  You can bring your own food or, during busy times, they offer nice options to purchase food there.  I think it's fun that they offer a kids meal in a bucket so the kids can use it for play after they eat :)

These are near the buildings to provide shaded seating.

This is a side view of the picnic table area and changing/shower rooms.

Menu and pricing for summer of 2012

The park is continuously growing.  Recently they added a boat rental option.  It's located outside of the beach and splash pad area so you do not have to pay an entrance fee.  I have not rented a boat there yet but I noticed a nice variety of options (canoe, paddleboat, kayak, row boat) while we were on the beach.  The cost doesn't seem to be bad and I even came across a coupon for $3 off any boat rental (found in a local advertisement at my library).

The boat house