Why is every kid related activity absolutely packed every weekend/holiday

[Anonymous]

Agree on the roller rink! There used to be one in Rockville when I was a kid but it went out of business. I know it's not easy to start that kind of business but I do feel like there is so much demand...and it would make me so happy

[Anonymous]

Hmm. Have you tried the Arboretum? Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens? They are hardly ever crowded.

As for roller rinks— can your kids learn to ice skate? There are lots of ice skating rinks open this time of year.

[Anonymous]

Can you come into DC for roller skating? There’s this place: https://www.experiencekraken.com/rollerskating

[Anonymous]

Have you tried the Postal Museum? The Building Museum? They are rarely crowded.

[Anonymous]

People in this area have a ton of money and no ability to entertain their kids at home. We stick to unknown local playgrounds, our backyard, and activities around our house.

[Anonymous]

I am kind of agreeing with 15:44. Many posters take their children out every weekend (activity +meal). Are houses too small or do you think your kids need to be out of the house, even though they are out of the house 5 days a week at school, aftercare, etc?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People in this area have a ton of money and no ability to entertain their kids at home. We stick to unknown local playgrounds, our backyard, and activities around our house.

Agree. We typically avoid all these places on weekends, unless my kids are invited to a birthday party at one of them.

I think it’s a mix of disposable income, inability to entertain kids/teach them to entertain themselves, and some weird kind of consumerist FOMO.

[Anonymous]

You can always move away OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People in this area have a ton of money and no ability to entertain their kids at home. We stick to unknown local playgrounds, our backyard, and activities around our house.

Would add that housing prices mean a lot of people don't have room for kids to run around inside or in a big yard, so looking for places to go. Those same people have enough $ to pay for play spaces etc though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’ve lived in many places and what you see here is probably because of the high number of two-income families here. They don’t have time during the weekday so those places are packed on the weekend. That’s why the playgrounds here tend to be empty except the big ones on warmer weekends. Most babies and toddlers here are in daycare. I’ve lived in higher COL areas and have not seen so many double income families compared to here.

I also agree with you about the roller rink—we have to drive at least 40 minutes to get to one.

What are these multiple higher COL areas where only one parent works? And where the kid museums etc are less crowded?

I can’t think of a single place that meets that definition, save possibly LA

[Anonymous]

Museums are free here? Hmm

[Anonymous]

Get there early and beat the crowds or go late after them.

Everyone else just has the same idea as you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Because this area is high density and there are not as many kid friendly activity places as there are in some other areas. Add that to better educated parents with more money and you have constantly packed activities.

I tend to avoid as much as possible on the weekends if we have any other time during the week.

It's this. I also think this area has more of a culture of taking kids to an activity, and in other cities there's either more activities or people are more likely to stay home or just take kids to each other's homes. Especially this time of year. My DC friends are doing different activities every weekend while my Chicago and Philly friends are either at home or maybe doing something outside (skiing or hiking or something).

[Anonymous]

I wish Montgomery County had roller skating, but it does have ice skating. You might give that a try.

Here are some rinks run by the county:
https://montgomeryparks.org/ice-rinks/

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP I totally get your venting. It sucks and it does make these places unpleasant. We rarely do that stuff unless it's a bday party or something.

This whole area is just too packed with people. You see it with traffic, house prices, school sizes and class sizes, and even playspaces.

Oh and I will add Smithsonians to this list. We go to more museums in smaller cities when we travel and they are way less packed, even on weekends.

Op here. Yup! I won’t even try the museums here anymore. Also the zoo. Forget it. Way more hassle than it’s worth. We now make sure to go to the zoo every time we are out of this area because they are always more pleasant.

Go early in the day! We go at 8/8:30/9, snag street parking and its basically empty. The farther you go out of the city the more empty places are. I think certain types of places are crowded but there are plenty of non-crowded places to go if you want.