Summer at Old Orchard Beach With Kids… Not Again

I love the south coast of Maine, so many pretty beach towns. Every summer, I spend a weekend in Ogunquit with my family. This summer, I thought I would try something different. And boy was I disappointed. It was such a let down compared to what I was used to.

Here is my review of Old Orchard Beach (OOB) in Maine, just a wee bit south of the not so bustling city Portland. So here is my review of Old Orchard Beach (and it’s not called Old Orchard despite wanting to know where New Orchard Beach is).

All ratings are 0-5 stars, with 5 being the best.

Hotel lodging – 3 Stars

We stayed at the Alouette Beach Resort, such an amazing hotel. It may have 2 stars on Google, and from the outside it looks like a dingy old motel. When compared to other motels on the E Grand Ave strip, from the outside it looks like a very nice acommodation. And one thing I praise about this hotel is the exceptional, welcoming customer service from the staff at Alouette. The Alouette Beach Resort had bigger suites on the waterfront, all of its rooms steps away from the beach, as well as a sister hotel across the street. The two sister hotels for Alouette Beach Resort are Neptune Beach House & Inn and The Beach Walk Oceanfront Inn. One nice thing about the Alouette Beach Resort and The Beach Walk Oceanfront Inn is that both hotels allow pets (with the caveat of no dogs on the beach from 9 am to 5 pm).

Some perks about this resort that were awesome for traveling with a little toddler – on site breakfast cafe with a fee, breakfast cafe even had a waitress who can turn on cartoons for the little ones, rooms are all walking distance from the beach like right at the doorstep is that beautiful view, on site chair rentals for the beach, and 15 min walk to the downtown pier. If you want to be on the beach and close to the downtown action of the boardwalk & Palace Playland, these are the top two hotels I would recommend: https://www.alouettebeachresort.com/ or https://www.seacliffhouse.com/

Sandy Beach – 5 stars

With a 7 mile stretch of sand and calm waters, you can’t beat the beach at Old Orchard. I am a big fan of the beach, but this sandy beach impressed me with its calm waves. The waves were barely higher than 2 ft, perfect for little toddler feet learning to explore the ocean for the first time. I smile just thinking back on how much my little boy loved playing in the sand.

Bring some sand toys, a towel, and have some fun in the shallow end. I say the shallow end because not all the hotel facing beaches have lifeguards, so go into the water at your own discretion. If you feel better having a trained lifeguard nearby, there is definitely a lifeguard on duty in the summer months at the public beach by the boardwalk and Palace Playland.

Restaurants – 2 stars

In the downtown part of Old Orchard Beach it was hard to find good restaurants that had a kid friendly vibe. Grab and go foods that are your classic fair foods like burgers, fries, hot dogs, salads are easy to find right next to Palace Playland in the downtown stretch of Old Orchard. Dairy Queen is also right in the downtown area if you love a Blizzard on a hot day.

But I am always asking the big million dollar question: “what’s for dinner.” And I have two places I recommend: Surf 6 walking distance to the boardwalk and Palace Playland is one restaurant. Surf 6 is a family friendly seafood restaurant with reasonably sized kids’ menu servings, really good food, and great customer service from the staff. The restaurant is right on the beach, once again with those gorgeous ocean views.

The other one is Pirate Patio and Galley. Pirate Patio is big portion sizes, okay tasting food, bit crowded (in summer or weekends), and amazing beachfront views. The one cool thing about Pirate Patio is the tables are in the sand, and you get live music on weekends.

Boardwalk & Palace Playland – 3 Stars

One cannot visit Old Orchard Beach with kids without going to Palace Playland. The iconic beachfront amusement park has 28 rides, an arcade, fair games, and something for all kids to enjoy. My toddler was just learning to walk during this recent trip so he enjoyed taking steps all around the Playland looking at everything, and then the giant light up ferris wheel was pretty cool. Most of the rides are for kids over 32 inches, so a smaller height minimum than most other amusement parks.

Palace Playland has two options for admission: pay per ride or pay for a day pass to get unlimited rides for an entire day. My personal favorite ride is the ferris wheel, as you can see the beach and the boardwalk from the highest point on the ferris wheel. At the entrance to the Palace Playland is an indoor arcade space with fun arcade games for older kids (probably ages 5 and up), so lots of games and activities at Palace Playland.

I rated the downtown area of Old Orchard Beach as 3 stars, and not 5, because of the boardwalk. If the boardwalk area was a bit nicer, that would make a huge difference for families looking for a good time with kiddos. The two big restaurants on the boardwalk pier were Hooligan’s and Pier Patio Pub, which had more of a bar-like vibe than being kid friendly. The shops on the boardwalk were more geared for adults, and even the touristy items being sold seemed inappropriate for little kids. Although my kid is still a toddler, I was happy that I explored the boardwalk shops without him around.

Pictured above is the view of the boardwalk pier and beach from the top of the ferris wheel.

My overall rating for a weekend in Old Orchard Beach with little kids: 3 stars Why 3 Stars might you ask? Well it would’ve been nice to see more sit down restaurants near the beach that didn’t have a night club bar feel, and almost all the hotels in the area were beachside motels that were very dated.

The hotel I picked for my family took quite a bit of research, and in the future I’d make sure to look for word of mouth recommendations before booking a new hotel. When visiting a new beach town in Maine, I learned two things: good to have lower expectations then be pleasantly surprised and you’ll be very disappointed if you always compare every beach town to York or Ogunquit. So not going back to Old Orchard Beach in the next few years. Maybe when kids are older like teens, but not again anytime soon.

Do you still want to try visiting Old Orchard Beach or perhaps this review has you intrigued enough to visit another beach town in Maine? Contact Peggy here Contact Us to start planning your next weekend getaway before cold weather comes into town.