Honeycutt Road Park in Fuquay-Varina - Fun, but not for all ages

The scary slide!

 My play date buddy, Amanda, who is always up for an adventure, joined me at Honeycutt Road Park in Fuquay-Varina. It's right behind Club Worx Gym on Old Honeycutt Road.

We got out of our cars and said, "Wow, this place looks great!"
My mind changed quickly when I walked up to the scariest playground slide I've ever seen.

The playground looked great, but it was not ideal for really little ones. Amanda and I both have 20-month-olds, and let me tell you, we were terrified of this jungle gym! It is sort of sectioned off in two parts, one for the little ones and one for the big ones. But they're not separated. There's a tunnel/slide, which was a challenge but not impossible to maneuver for both our little ones, that connects the two parts. The section obviously designed for older kids is so high, and the slide was so steep I wouldn't even go down it. Not only that, but there were several openings in the equipment where a little one could just walk off the side. This is not such a big deal, if your 3-4 feet off the ground. I didn't have a tape measure with me, but I swear that slide was 15 feet off the ground. My 3-year-old walked up to the top of it, looked down and turned around. "It's too scary!" she said. There were kid there at least 5 or 6-years-old and they wouldn't even go down.

We left after about 40 minutes, which I thought was about 30 minutes longer than I felt comfortable staying there - thanks to the swings, which were nice. It's beautiful equipment. The place is well maintained, nice swings, great soccer field right next to it. The parking is close by, and there's a shelter. But I will not go back until my oldest (3) is at least 5 and the little ones are 3ish.

Maybe I'm being overprotective, but my youngest is fearless and at that stage where she doesn't understand consequences or listen to safety warnings. I have to physically remove her from most dangerous situations versus giving verbal warnings. (pretty standard stuff at that age, I think) Also, we met a wonderful mom who was playing their with her kids for the first time, too. She, too, was concerned about the openings in the jungle gym and the ridiculous slide. So I don't think our concerns were out of nowhere.

Interestingly enough, we went to a second park as we were not ready to go home yet. My oldest told me in the car on the way home, "I liked the first park mommy. You know, the one with the scary slide."

101 Fitness Drive
Fuquay-Varina, NC 
 

HIGHLIGHTS: Nice, well-maintained equipment, clean benches, shelter, climbing walls on playground, also some imagination play areas with "steering wheels," nice soccer field next to it, parking was close by, section for little kids and big kids.

LOW LIGHTS: The equipment was just too high for the really little ones, and it's connected to the section designed specifically for little ones. The swings are separated (little kids on one side and big kids on the other) so I couldn't push my 3-year-old and 1-year-old at the same time. Lots of openings in the playground, very challenging equipment, and it looks like the rubber flooring could be replaced. Also, I didn't see bathrooms.

COST: Free!