Castle Park's Springfest 2021
Castle Park, Riverside, CA
Happity hoppity Friday, folks! Tomorrow is the first day of spring, and what better way to celebrate it than by heading out to Castle Park in Riverside for their Springfest celebration of all things post-winter! Like many theme and amusement parks across California, Castle Park is slowly emerging from a longstanding closure / reduced operation over the past year. Fortunately, unlike its larger brethren like Disneyland or Universal Studios, the park / family amusement center hasn’t been completely shut down over the past year. Its miniature golf half has helped bolster business under limited capacity, as the amusement park side remains closed. Last year, we even stopped by during Halloween season, where we saw that Castle Park had put together a haunted trail component as part of its spooky season offerings.
Things aren’t completely back to normal yet, as amusement parks cannot reopen until April 1 at the earliest, but Castle Park hasn’t let that stop them from celebrate the changing of the seasons with its general Easter celebration. Springfest invites guests to enjoy games, miniature golf, and even a virtual Easter egg hunt, all across the non-amusement park half of the property Starting from last weekend and running Fridays through Sundays until April 4th, Springfest offers a compelling value package that promises hours of fun for families and friends of all ages.
The park has been modestly adorned in vernal garb, with sets of eggs and flowers and rabbits set up around. There are a couple of photo ops, but most of the activity on the midway involves the Easter egg hunt found by looking for eggs with QR codes and a meet-and-greet with the Easter bunny himself (we unfortunately missed him).
Included in each Springfest package is a $5 voucher for midway games and another coupon for a free snack sample pack. The sweet variety includes deep fried Oreos (which were surprisingly delicious) and churro bites served with a light purple chocolate dipping sauce. The savory sampler pack includes pizza bites, a mac ‘n’ cheese with bacon cup, a literal Hawaiian roll, and tater tots.
If you wander around the grounds, you might also bump into Kevin, the resident peacock who struts through Castle Park. Now, your first instinct might be to ask, '“Why Kevin? Is this a reference to Up?” Colorful, exotic bird with flashy plumage and a unique personality? Well, it’s certainly possible. But Kevin is a cool sight regardless. Just don’t get too close—he’s not exactly a people bird.
The highlight of Springfest is the famed miniature golf courses at Castle Park. A Springfest package includes unlimited miniature golf across all four courses at Castle Park. This forms the bulk of the diversions here, and playing all four holes could easily take a few hours to go through.
This haunted house set was maybe my favorite hole and can be found off Course #4.
We’ve been to Castle Park a few times before, but unfortunately, we’ve never been able to enjoy the golf because of time crunches and focus on the specific seasonal attraction of our visit. But this time around, we actually went through three of the four courses, enjoying the wonderful sets and interesting obstacles and fantastic themes set up across the various structures.
Admittedly, some of the buildings are a little run down and can definitely use some TLC, especially when viewed up close. The park’s permanent anti-drought policies have also taken away some of the charm via the absence of the ponds and fountains that used to flow throughout the grounds. But many of the holes have also been refurbished by Adrenalin Attractions (you know, of Mystic Motel fame?), and those theming elements look fantastic!
Overall, Castle Park’s spring holiday celebration is a great excursion offered at a terrific value. The cost of admission for Springfest is $24.99 online or $26.99 at the gate, which includes the unlimited miniature golf, $5 voucher for midway games, free snack sampler box, and a little crayon and coloring and sticker craft set—all inside a large Easter egg that guests can take home and decorate. The price is definitely worth a few hours of fun, and thought the arcade and rides remain shut down, the park is working to reopen under the state’s COVID-19 guidelines. In fact, this weekend, the train will be reopen!
The event runs three more weekends into the first weekend of April, after which we presume Castle Park will move toward a full reopening under the capacity restrictions. Slowly but surely, amusement event life will return the normal as more people are vaccinated and we hopefully continue to keep the Coronavirus variants at bay. If you find this appealing and want to go, please remember to keep your mask on at all times (except when eating in a stationary location), socially distance as much as possible, wash your hands, follow the rules, and have a great time!
Architect. Photographer. Disney nerd. Haunt enthusiast. Travel bugged. Concert fiend. Asian.
