Oklahoma City is one of the most accessible cities the country. With its massive push to fun-ify the city, it’s home to a tone of great experiences for families and kids. When you combine those two – you get a great place to visit that makes vacations and getaways simple and memorable. Here are the experiences, activities, and adventures we enjoyed most as a family.
Rumble Drop – Riversport
This is a must for the whole family. There are new and exciting adventures here for all ages that will let everyone explore outside of their comfort zone.
We each got a chance to try out something different when we visited.
Jade’s first stop was the whitewater rafting. The twin manmade river loops makes shooting the rapids as accessible as riding a roller coaster – with a short team-paddle between the last rapid and the raft elevator that carries riders back to the top to shoot down again.
Augustine got suited up and headed out on her own kid-sized ropes course, right before taking on the cloud bounce and even do some big-kid rock climbing.
As for me, I climbed up the adult ropes course and jumped off the Rumble Drop – which I had been eager to try since parking. All in all, this was a half-day trip that we could have easily stretched into a full day.
This was our favorite discovery of the trip. Across the river from Downtown OKC, the Wheeler Wheel dominates the skyline – well at least it’s the biggest/funnest thing to see when spending an afternoon or evening swinging in the free hammocks or playing in the massive green field. We visited twice (which is super easy since a day pass is only slightly more than a single pass). Our first experience was at night when the neon shines bright and the city skyline lights up the horizon, and our second time was on a sunny day when we could spend more time playing around in the grass.
By far the most unexpected part of our trip. As I mentioned in our city guide, so much of OKC can best be seen from a bike seat – or from the comfort of a pull-behind chariot. The city is so accessible and with the right guide, you can tour several different parts without even breaking a sweat.
The family at RideOKC toured us through downtown and Bricktown topping at some great spots for photos and snacks. Our tour was a hybrid of their breweries tour and their cookie tour, and gave us a great mix of OKC’s culinary landscape. We can’t wait to go back and dive into more of the cookie and coffee side of OKC – which is a type of bike tour we haven’t found anywhere else.
Bricktown was the forerunner of Oklahoma City’s renaissance. Visiting this area is great for a half to full-day including Brickopolis (arcade, lazer tag, putt-putt), a movie theater with its own kids club, a wide selection of restaurants for families, and of course the water taxi.
While the entire area is totally walkable, grabbing a ticket to the hop-on-hop-off water taxi is a unique experience. Riders on the taxi are taken to see the city’s water-side murals, wind under the ‘echo bridge’, see a manmade waterfall that is listed as one of Oklahoma’s best waterfalls, and pass through Oklahoma Land Run Monument – which is best seen by boat (in my opinion).
The farm team for the dodgers play at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark, in the center of Bricktown. Which means in addition to the game, visitors can chow down on official Dodger-Dogs. Tickets are very reasonable and surprisingly so are the food and drinks. While we got seats near home plate, there are tons of unique seating options that can help customize your visit – including lawn seats and several reserved sections for smaller parties that include specialized benefits.
Just walking up the counter is exciting. Every donut and pastry behind the glass seems to have been designed with at least a chuckle in mind, if not a full blown laugh. For years, we’ve said that hot now donuts are the best, but this is definately a place that makes eating fun. Come prepared to indulge in more sweets than you expect.
Every exhibit here has hands-on elements including a Mission to Mercury Simulator, Power Play (where kids can test their skills on gymnastics equipment), and Curiocity. For families, there are specific areas for younger visitors to explore and play as well as big-kid areas to climb and run around.
During our visit, one of the coolest parts to me was the Jurassic Room – which paired motion tracking with robotic dinos – giving Augustine the sensation of being watched by the t-rex while she dug for fossils.
The Oklahoma City Zoo is a great attraction for kids. We got the ‘Zoo It All’ pass which included our lorikeet & giraffe feeding as well as our rides on the carousel, train, and more.
Our favorite sections were the Oklahoma Trails area (which featured native animals – including a bear that really loved playing in the water) and the kid’s area with a splash river for cooling off, the lorikeet feeding, and a river side playground just a short walk away.
Honorable Mention
National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum
If visiting with older kids, this museum is the perfect spot to stop for a few hours. With a good assortment of art and memorabilia – everyone will learn and feel something here. Also, there is a full old west town to wander through.
For more things to do in Oklahoma City – Check Out our Oklahoma City Guide.
Our OKC trip was sponsored by Visit OKC, but all our experiences and recommendations are all our own.
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