Yilan, Lucky Art Tourist Factory 蜡藝彩繪館

front of the building

ticket counter/waiting area

1st station- coloring

2nd station-make your own markers

Location: google map

Pros: an unique experience, relatively cheap,

Cons: everyone needs a ticket, regardless of whether you want to do the activities or not. crowded on weekends.

Ticket: $200/person ($100 can be used toward gift purchases)

Duration: 1~2hrs

My boys (5,7,8) all enjoyed the activities here. There are 4 craft stations included with your ticket: 1. coloring 2. making your own markers. 3 & 4. make your own crayons (one you can pick your own mold from a selection of letters/numbers and the other is a taiwan shaped crayon). They do get crowded on weekends of course, but luckily they do crowd control so you are not fighting your way through crowds as you do each activity (still a bit crowded, but could be worse). We went on a Saturday morning, and we only had to wait for 5 mins or so until our number (you get a number after you purchase your tickets) was called. I would suggest your child to be at least 4 years old to fully enjoy this place.

Longshan Park, Hsinchu 龍山公園

Location: google map

Pros: small, contained, there's a Family Mart near by

Cons: no bathrooms on site, no shade, might be hard to find parking

This is a cute little neighborhood park near Costco in Hsinchu. The playground structure is pretty big for the small park. If you get thirsty or need a potty break, there's a Family Mart about 2 min walk away. 

Elephant Garden, Taipei 象園親子餐廳

small playground inside

Location: google map, inside CITYLINK Nangang. MRT blue line Nangang Station
Pros: N/A
Cons: N/A

We walked past this restaurant once and I just wanted to share of its existence. My boys are too old to play at a playground like this, but if you have little ones under age 5 this might be fun. It was lunch time on a Saturday and it didn't seem terribly busy.

Zhongyan Park, Taipei 中研公園

Location: google map

Pros: swing, skating rink, climbing bars

Cons: there's not much around the park. no shade. no easy access with public transportation. 

It's the first park I've been to with artificial grass! it has a small playground that's suitable for preschoolers, and a wheel turning thing that my boys loved to walk on. It's a decent park you happen to be in the area, but I would not cab/drive here specifically for the park itself!

Bali, Kuta Beach

it's a coral beach. it hurts!!

still beautiful though

Location: google map
Pros: busy, lots of vendors, baby sea turtle release on site, close to lots of shopping
Cons: crowded, lots of corals and hurts to walk barefoot on the beach

We went there for the baby sea turtle release and wanted to play at the beach afterwards, but geez! it hurt so much to walk barefoot on this beach!! Even my boys couldn't stand it and wanted to leave. Although I still saw plenty of family with young children running around on the beach, my boys would rather go back to the hotel and swim.

Miaoli, Mele Hula Campsite 音樂之舞營地

great view

Location: google map
Pros: great view of the lake, relatively easy to get to compare to some other campsites. cabin available for booking.
Cons: mosquitos

We went at the end of May so the weather was already warming up. Also because this place is right by the lake, we got eaten up by mosquitos...!!! With that being said, it is still a pretty good campsite with a gorgeous view. You have one sink, several outlets, and a cabin with a decent shower/bathroom inside. This may be a good choice when the weather is cool.

Hsinchu, Fantasy Island Discovery Paradise 奇幻島探索樂園

"Rope maze"

an employee helping my son with the slide

Location: inside Big City Mall, 7th floor. google map to Big City
Pros: clean, supervision by on site employees, good for rainy days
Cons: no parent seating available, a bit pricey for what it is. *they require you to have non-slip socks to play, which can be purchased at $30 each. (a totally ridiculous policy)
Age: no age limit, but I would suggest parents go in with kids under 5. (unless you have older siblings to watch them)

There are two parts to this facility: the "Rope Maze" and the "Discovery Zone" (that's my literal translation, maybe they have an actual English name?? :)). You have to buy tickets to each separately,  which I believe is $499 for each ticket and it gives you 3 hours. 3 hours is A LONG TIME.....my boys were done with it within an hr and a half. But I guess some parents are comfortable enough to leave their older children here for three hours while they go shopping somewhere else in the mall.

I would not recommend the Discovery zone, because your kid will have to wear a helmet/vest and be strapped on to a safety chord while walking on the beams. It might be worth it to try it once, but I definitely prefer my kids to run around freely.

Hsinchu, Guanxi Township 關西鎮

Ang Gu Noodles

grass jelly alley

egg cake

playground right by the parking lot

Location: here is the google map of the parking lot, and the eateries are few streets down

Parking: the above parking lot is free but extremely small.

Pros: few mins away from Leofoo village. A cheaper option to get food.

Cons: Nothing special...do not go unless you happen to be in the area.

The list of the places we went:

An Gu Noodle: the noodles were pretty sweet. I didn't like it too much. 

Grass Jelly Alley: if you like grass jelly, you'd love this place. Many different combos.

Cantonese egg cake: I'm sure you can get better in hong kong. We got some for kids and they loved it. the playground is right across from the stand

Bali (Kuta), Bali Sea Turtle Society

the line to get a ticket for a baby sea turtle

Location: right on Kuta Beach, google map

Pros: an unique experience

Cons: very crowded

If you plan on doing this, first check their Facebook page to see if they have any upcoming releases. You'll to wait in line to get a ticket to get a baby sea turtle. And they seemed to have a lot of them, so don't worry if the line seems long. 

I do have a mixed feeling about this though - on one hand it's really neat to have this experience and play a part in sea turtle conservation, but on the other hand it is kind of crazy to watch/be part of a huge group of tourists squeezing their way to the release line at the beach to release their sea turtles. On top of it, you have all these people trying to take pictures..and kids who want to get extremely close up to the sea turtles...and I was so afraid that they would accidentally step on one. The whole experience is not as chaotic as it possibly can get, but it is certainly not very peaceful.

Bali (Nusa Dua), Pirates Bay

Location: google map (in Nusa Dua), kind of hard to find - right next to Surf & Turf

Pros: right by the beach, good food, fun for kids

Cons: service a tad slow (but who cares? your kids will be having fun while waiting anyway!)

The beautiful beach is a given, food's great, fun stuff for the kids to do...what else could you ask for? They have several swings and climbing area with ropes for kids, and open spaces for the kids to run around. The whole place is very casual with lots of families with kids. Food is good and average priced. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you are in the area! (We actually went all the way from Kuta to Nusa Dua to come here and check out the beaches on this side.)

Taipei, Fun In Enterprise 方尹文創

ball pit

lego building space

a giant net

Location: it's inside Songshan Station, 3F. MRT green line to Songshan Station.

Pros: it's not too crowded, many food options inside the building. clean, bathroom nearby. 

Cons: nothing!

Price: $399 (1kid+1adult)

          $299 (kid only)

(unlimited play during the week, 2 hrs on weekends)

It's got everything! all of my boys (4, 6, 8) all had a blast here. We first had lunch right next door at the "Fun Relax Restaurant" (average, service is a tad slow, but its convenient if you want to sit here and have coffee while your kids play next door), and then came here to play. This whole floor is part of "Fun In Enterprise," and it also has other arts and crafts you can pay to do.

Guanxi, Leofoo Resort 六福莊

This is NOT photoshopped!! That is a lemur on my back!!

Entrance

lots of water! and an empty frig for you to use

animal grounds

Location: google map, right next to Leofoo Village. You CAN walk there but will take a little bit, driving is about 2 minutes.

Pros: close encounter with the animals (with luck), spacious rooms, close to Leofoo Village

Cons: expensive without a discount, paid activities are expensive, food is not that great

For better pictures and room descriptions, you can go to their website. First off, the room we stayed at was the Kenya Greenery Room. It was spacious with one queen sized bed downstairs, and two queen sized beds upstairs. What we loved about the room was that it's equipped with TWO showers, and TWO toilets! I would rate the quality as a 3.5 star hotel, it is clean and comfortable, but details are lacking. We were able to get the room at a discounted rate of NT$7999/night, usually it goes for at least NT$10000+/night. It is pretty expensive for what it is, but it would be great to have grandparents come a long and stay in the same room. 

kids breakfast buffet: NT$300ish + 10% (4 and up)/person - lots of selection but...it was not very good. Eggs were not warm.

adult dinner buffet: NT$900+10%/person - we didn't try because our guess was it would be not very tasty and expensive

Overall, I would say it's worth it to try it out once if you can find a good deal, and if your kids can enjoy Leofoo Village. 

Miaoli, Shang Shun World 尚順育樂世界

coffee cup

go cart

2-story carousel

sega arcade

playground

Website: http://www.ss-plaza.com.tw

Location: google map

Pros: good for rainy days, LOTS of options, food court & restaurants on site

Cons: can be a bit overwhelming, or your kids might not want to leave. Be prepared!!

Shang Shun Plaza combines a hotel, a shopping mall, a giant indoor play facility and food/restaurnts all into one place! The rides ranges from $50~$250/each, and you pay with EASYCARD. Here is the floor guide: http://www.ss-plaza.com.tw/about-game.php

There are height restrictions on most games, so make sure you check that first. my 4 yr old could ride most of them, but he had to sit out for bumper cars and go cart. Over all it will probably take more than one visit to play all of the things that they offer here!!

Zhubei, Family Pizza 手工柴燒窯烤比薩

Location: google map

Pros: nice atmosphere, children's books, blocks

Cons: drinks are kind of expensive. $50NT for a can of treetop apple juice?!

It's kind of an interesting place, you order at this little hut and then go next door into this building for seating. They have a lot of special flavors like stinky tofu pizza...(which we've never tried) but also the more normal ones like margherita and pesto & cheese. The pizzas are not to die for, but decent enough. Each pizza (about 8 slices?) is around $200~$250. For our family of 5 we ordered three and it was just right.

Hsinchu, Miller Breakfast & Brunch

Location: google map

Pros: it opens early - everyday!!

Cons: it's basically a glorified taiwanese breakfast joint

Breakfast and brunch is sort of a big deal in our household, and we are always struggling to find places that open early (before 8am) on the weekends. This place is new, clean, and the food is decent. But their food is basically like any of those Taiwanese breakfast places you find on the street. A little bit better? Maybe. But the main difference is that you can sit down at a place that's furnished and air-conditioned while you eat your breakfast instead of sitting on a cheap metal chair.