Here's what you need to know: Parking: Off-street Age range (playground): 3+ Sidewalks: Paved to play area Seating: Benches around play area Bathrooms: None Picnic tables: None Grills: None Sports field: Open field; full basketball court
As soon as we stepped into the park, I was blown away by what it has to offer. The playground, climbing net, and spinners sit on turf. The small (2 baby swings) swing set and diggers sit in a sandbox.
What impressed me was the variety of play equipment and the turf/sand combination. This makes for a broader sensory experience (especially if the kiddos are barefoot) and longer play period (for my kids, at least, who can play in sand for hours).
Madi (4.5) and Titus (3) were big fans of the circular spinner (pictured in main photo). They spun themselves and one another. Zoey (16 months) liked going up and down the elevated bridge on the playground. She also loved the swings (as always, she tried out and approved of both baby swings).
A unique feature of Eileen Weida is a netted bridge. Madi was extremely excited for this challenge (and had little trouble traversing it). Titus shied away from it.
Other equipment on the playground include slides, a climbing wall, raised steps, and ladders.
Right next to the playground is a big climbing net. The last few playgrounds we've been to have had this feature as well. Madi and Titus were super excited to be "spider-monkeys" again (spiders because they're in a "web" and monkeys because they're climbing around) and spent a good amount of time on this equipment.
The entire park (open field included) is fenced in, a nice feature if you're with professional escape artists. The field is pretty level and offers plenty of space to run around (there was a backyard football game going on during our visit).
There were several trees and a couple benches between the play area and open field, offering shady refuge.
Eileen Weida was pretty busy during our visit, mainly with unsupervised kids. They were friendly and mainly kept to themselves (one kiddo asked about my belly!).
I personally like having other kids around on our visits, as I think this does wonders for socialization. If you'd rather a quieter setting, consider visiting during school hours.
This park has both been around for a while and hosts a lot of guests. The play equipment (especially the turf), then, is pretty worn.
Some of the older kiddos got rowdy towards the end of our visit and broke something glass-made (at which we put our shoes back on). One of the adults in that part of the park did pick up whatever broke.
Eileen Weida has more quality than most of the other Saint Paul parks we've been to. If you don't mind being in a developing neighborhood (more good than bad), stopping for a visit when you're in the area...
Read moreI was just here yesterday with my twin toddlers and 1st grader. I'd say it's one of the nicer parks/playgrounds I've seen on the eastside of STP. Two 10 foot slides, a decent size spiderweb, wobble bridge, two toddler swings, but no regular sized swings, mini sand excavating actors with split sand and rubber surfaces. There was also a 2 hoop, both with nets, full basketball court where my eldest found a pickup game, lol sorta the boys there were nice and shared the rock with her :) Umm what else.. A 100 yard field, 4 or 5 benches and one picnic table I believe, but not 100% sure. What I liked best about this playground though, was that there were 5 community center workers/volunteers, like United Way or Big Brother, Big Sister playing and laughing with the kids. Which was really nice to see because with everything that's going on in our country, our youth are still the most important thing in this world because they're ARE the future. That may sound cliche, but it's the truth and I for one want a bright and promising future for all of our youth. I would've given the park 5 stars if there were regular sized swings and the park could be maintained better. There were masks and garbage on the ground when there's two trash cans in the park. Other than that we all...
Read moreThis is the worst park. There are often drunks, bums, and junkies frequenting the park as well as a bunch of unruly kids that have nothing better to do than hang around a park and make kids and moms feel uncomfortable. There were a bunch of people lighting fireworks off there over 4th of July and when I confronted them after a bottle rocket hit a slide, I was threatened with being beaten and had tons of racist slurs thrown at me (I am Caucasian). They blocked the exit and I had to call my boyfriend at work to have him walk me home. I hate taking my 8 year-old daughter there but she always wants to go...I don't...
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