Gilroy Gardens Family Theme Park

3050 Hecker Pass Hwy, Gilroy, CA 95020, USA

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Address:	3050 Hecker Pass Hwy, Gilroy, CA 95020, USA
Phone:	+1 408-840-7100
Site:	gilroygardens.org
Rating:	4.5
Working:	Closed Closed Closed Closed 11AM–5PM 10AM–6PM 10AM–6PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 5

A Private User

Weve been to a LOT of amusement parks, and Gilroy Gardens is easily one of the best. Heres how Id rate the gardens in comparison to some others for the 12 and under set: Gilroy Gardens: A + Legoland: A+ Disneyland / world: A Busch Gardens Williamsburg: B Dutch Wonderland: B (the waterpark there, though, is an A) Hershey Park: C Discovery Kingdom (Six Flags): C - Reasons for the high rating: Its absolutely beautiful. Its not named gardens for nothing. We love walking through the park. I cant think of a park that is as much fun for the kids (and parents) and peaceful for the parents at the same time. We simply love going to the gardens. Its completely focused on families with pre-teen kids. But, any adult with kids will enjoy every minute as well. It is focused on fun and good things (the vegetable show - is a hoot!). The rides are great. Theyre well maintained, and are perfect for the little folks. We all have fun. It has swings, a couple roller coasters, a ferris wheel, boat rides of a couple sorts (Im a sucker for swan and duck paddle boats), a monorail, a park train, spinning garlic cloves (think teacups), two carousels, and lots of rides for toddlers. Its one of the few parks left that seems to have little cars for kids to drive (think autopia at Disney), but way cuter than Disney. Teens seem only to be there when theyre with their families. Adults seem to be there with their families. Its a non-profit organization, and your membership is tax deductible. (whats not to like there!) The holiday lights display is gorgeous. The food is decent, and not horribly overpriced as other parks. They need to make their money somewhere, and you can expect the food to be a little expensive, but Ive paid more for lousy meals elsewhere, so Im actually pleasantly surprised at the intersection of cost and quality. The food is good, and it has some local family run concessions operating inside, which is a nice touch. Also, the membership gets a 20% discount. Trinkets and clothing are decently priced - 20% membership discount applies. Its clean. And, it just plain feels very comfortable and safe. Have a good time. If you can, become a member. Not only is it fun, but it is also a worthy cause to support.

David Peri

This place boggles the mind. If only there were more places like this in the world. Every time I visit this place I always find something new. I am awe struck at the original vision of Michael Bonfante and his love of trees and horticulture that he had the vision and means to invest to dream and build such a wonderful place. And the creative landscape architect Karen Bernosky from Karen Aitken and Associates he hired in 1981 and worked with him for the next two decades in planning, designing, building such a beautiful and unique experience. What a park! What a destination. Such a wonderful experience. If you have not yet visited what is now Gilroy Gardens – DO IT NOW! If you love Nature, botany, color, water and surprising environments which delight the eye and heart, you owe it to yourself, your family and friends to experience this most wonderful place at least once. There is so much - but particularly wonderful is they saved the famous and nearly lost forever circus trees by Axel Erlandson. Also wonderful are the historic rides they bought from the famous Elitch Gardens before it moved. To save those historic rides and change oh-so-subtly with Nature themes just shows the deep thought that went into making this place so special. Being devoid of Hollywood movie artifice and the superficial nonsense so common elsewhere, this is a showcase of, by and for the beauty of Nature herself. That Michael Bonfante would spend so many scores of millions creating this wonderful place, and that Karen Aitken & Associates could spend decades making it real so that even in todays form as Gilroy Gardens tens of thousands can enjoy this respite from the 21st Century pablum is a joy. Forgive the length of this post. I got carried away. But if it moves you to come and appreciate this vision and decades upon decades of hard work - then it was worth it. Go - visit - and if you ever come across Michael or Karen or anyone who created or operates this wonderful place - let them know if you enjoyed your visit.

Stacey Chandler

NOT FOR GUESTS WITH DISABILITIES!!! We were planning to visit the park tomorrow. We have 5 children and one of them is disabled and uses a wheelchair. She can not sit up on her own or transfer for rides. I checked out the website for accessibility. The website is very misleading. It states that "some" of their rides are wheelchair accessible, but no where on the site does it tell you which rides are accessible. I called the park and explained our situation. The young man I spoke with explained that they do offer passes for her to get to the front of the line and things like that. He said that they evaluate the guest before issuing the passes, so only guests that really require them receive them. That is great!! He said that if we werent happy with what attractions our daughter could do, we could ask for a full refund. I told him that we have a 3 hour drive to get to the park and wanted to know before, also to avoid extreme disappointment from my younger children. Im not going to take my children to an amusement park, go in and then say oh we arent staying. My question was, what can my daughter ride without transferring?? I explained that our daughter has to remain in her wheelchair for rides. He then said that NONE of their rides are wheelchair accessible. I suggested that they update their website to state that none of their rides are wheelchair accessible. I voiced my extreme disappointment and explained that we have taken our children to Disneyland three times and have had wonderful experiences and hoped to have the same a lot closer to home. And they call themselves a FAMILY theme park!! Whatever….

Sean Gibson

We are fortunate to have this so close to home. As others have stated, this is suited for 6ish and under crowd. I think older kids would get bored fast. The season pass is recommended if you plan to visit frequently. The rides are kid appropriate and my daughter loves the carousel, train, air balloon and the fish rides the most. There are 2 water parks, old and new. While the new one is flashy, its also over crowded. And it tends to leave the old one very uncrowded and more than enough water and fun for an hour or 2. Walking the entire grounds will give you enough variety with out making you feel like you spent the whole day on your feet. Just like ANY entertainment park, prices are high for entrance, parking, food and souvenirs. Stop at Safeway or Nob Hill on your way through town and pack your own lunch for the parking lot. Or if you live close enough with a season and parking pass, go home for lunch and a nap then go back for more. In addition, weve seen the Christmas lights and the Illumination event. Ill pass on ever seeing Christmas lights again but the illumination event was wonderful and I would go back for it with the family.

Deepak Agarwal

Very beautiful theme park! Visited first time yesterday to celebrate my daughters 3rd birthday. Great park experience except Facepaint booth. Many rides for young children including train ride and she absolutely loved the mini water park. Lot of shade all around the park so you wont be standing in the sun waiting in lines for the rides. I am giving it 4 stars due to facepaint booth incident near the park entrance. As we entered park, we asked for the butterfly paint tattoo on my daughters arm and the girl there (Ashley) offered to do it at discount price of $12 instead of normal $16, as it was on arm and not face. But, once done, she overcharged me and did not honor the price she quoted before. She behaved rudely and kept saying she is doing me a favor by giving a discount of $2. I complained to park manager and explained her the incident. She was very understanding and even offered to refund the money back. It was an employee ethics issue at childrens park and manager assured me to take an action to resolve this. Other than that, really good place for kids and family to have fun and 1-day might not be enough to cover all activities!