Blog

Planning a birthday party that's just right for the season can be tricky. There are questions about whether it should be family with relatives only, with friends only or both? So far, we have hosted birthday parties for our sons at Pacific Flips Gymnastics, Pismo Bowl, Ravine Waterpark with a canopy rental, and at Pismo Beach on the sand where we brought and set up our own canopy (literally on the beach).

For each birthday party that we had planned out here on the Central Coast, it has been a success and our birthday boys had a great time!

Pacific Flips Gymnastics Birthday Party

Pacific Flips has two locations: Grover Beach and Santa Maria. We've planned a birthday party for our child at the Grover beach location and had an excellent experience with organized play and music! Their birthday packages are either for 90 minutes or 2 hours. Parents are welcome to come watch and when we planned this for our kindergartener, all of the parents stayed to watch.

They set up 2 tables ahead of time per your reservation and you just bring your decorations. I came 15 minutes early to and set up the tables they provided with a Minecraft theme. This was my decoration for our son's birthday party below:

I want to note that we had the party at the older Pacific Flips Grover Beach location. They have moved since to a different part in Grover Beach.
For more pictures and details, read about our detailed experience in this Pacific Flips Birthday blog entry.

Pismo Bowl Birthday Party

Located in the central area by the Pismo Beach Pier, Pismo Bowl was a great spot to host my son's 11th birthday. We invited 5 of his friends and their families to bowl with us. It was a great time for a dozen of us. We did a birthday package and reserved the spot ahead of time. I came 15 minutes early to decorate the two tables that were reserved for us for food.We had 2 hours to ourselves with two bowling lanes, side by side.

After we bowled together, we continued to hang out together at the arcade where everyone got to roam around a little more. I highly recommend coming here for a birthday party, especially if you have a winter birthday. Address: 277 Pomeroy Ave, Pismo Beach, CA 93449

Ravine Waterpark Birthday Party

Since the canopies at the Ravine Waterpark can get sold out during the summer, I booked a canopy for the exact spot of my choice as soon as the waterpark allowed me to book for the season. This waterpark is located in Paso Robles and is only open during the summer and since one of my sons has a summer birthday, we had a birthday party here with just our family (my husband, older son, birthday boy and me), the grandparents, and an uncle and his fiancé. The canopy rental does not include tickets also you would also need to buy tickets and order food a la carte. With a canopy rental, we had a designated server who came and checked in on us periodically so we never had to wait in a line to order. Here's a video tour of the exact cabana that we rented at Ravine Waterpark below:

Read more details about Ravine Waterpark on my blog entry about Ravine Waterpark.

Other Birthday Party Ideas for Kids:

The list below are places that I haven't hosted a birthday at, but I've visited these places personally and feel that it would be great for kid's birthday parties! So, here are some more ideas:

Mustang Waterpark Birthday

Even though we've never hosted a birthday party at Mustang Waterpark in Arroyo Grande before, we have rented a canopy as a celebration for our son's birthday with just the four of us! It was at the tail end of the pandemic. My birthday boy still had a great time and made some random friends there. The canopy space there is smaller than the Ravine Waterpark, but I feel that it's more appropriate if you have little ones the water park is smaller and you can keep track of the kids a bit better. Like Ravine Waterpark, when you rent a canopy, a designated server comes around and takes your order periodically so you never have to get in line to order food.

Read my full detail review of Mustang Waterpark.

Central Coast Aquarium Birthday 

For a 2 hour slot, you can have a birthday party for your child at the Central Coast Aquarium in Avila Beach. They host birthday parties on Saturdays and Sundays.  Their minimum birthday packages is pricey but it's very engaging and is complete with decorations.

To see more pictures of the aquarium, read our review blog entry of Central Coast Aquarium. I've volunteered to chaperone at a field trip here before so got to have a more private party experience.

San Luis Obispo Children's Museum Birthday

This children's museum offers a birthday package experience and there have been many times where I've considered booking a birthday package here, but felt that it would be hard to connect with families and have the kids mingle with each other throughout the timeframe because the space is three stories big! However, I have no doubt little kids would have fun here! We've been to San Luis Obispo Children's Museum for their free Moonlight Hours and the kids can spent at least an hour or two here! Read my full review of San Luis Obispo Children's Museum.

As always, you could always reserve a spot at a park with the city office for a particular date within San Luis Obispo County for parties.

Go to the SLO family-friendly restaurants section to see restaurants with a play area. These places are also great options for birthday parties.

List of Things To Do Just for Fun in San Luis Obispo County With Kids

• Charles Paddock Zoo -- Read my blog review
• Hearst Castle -- Read my blog review
• San Luis Obispo Children's Museum -- Read  my blog review
• Central Coast Aquarium -- Read my blog review
• San Luis Obispo Railroad Museum -- Learn more
• Paso Robles Children's Museum -- Read my blog review
• Exploration Discovery Center -- Read my blog review
• Museum of Natural History -- Learn more
• Avila Valley Barn -- Farm Stand with Animals
• The Ravine Waterpark -- Read my blog review (only open for Summer)
• Mustang Waterpark -- Read my blog review (only open for Summer)