From amusement rides to arcade games, Seaside offers many ways to make lasting memories on your next family vacation. You’ll find miniature golf, laser tag, performing seals and even a nostalgic whirl on a great American carousel — great ways to keep the kids happy even on a rainy spring day. Here are some of Seaside’s favorite attractions.
Level Up at a Local Arcade
Entertaining families since 1931, Funland Arcade is a quintessential Seaside stop downtown. As one of the largest arcades on the North Oregon Coast, you’ll find virtual-reality games and even electric-powered bumper cars. But it is best known for the vintage game Fascination. Described as a combination between bingo and Skee-Ball, Fascination players roll small balls toward a 5-by-5-hole matrix, landing their balls in specific spots that trigger the corresponding light to turn on the backboard. To win, you’ll need to roll quicker and more accurately than anyone else in the parlor… plus a little luck.
To the delight of older kids, nearby Seaside Carousel Mall is home to Seaside Laser Tag & Arcade, a 3,300-square-foot, multilevel laser tag arena complete with a fog machine. When your mission is complete, choose from 60 arcade games ranging from Halo to Space Invader Frenzy and what they claim is the world’s largest Pac-Man.
The newest addition to Seaside’s indoor-entertainment scene is Funtastic Arcade Seaside. Conveniently located at the Seaside Outlets premium outdoor shopping center north of downtown, trade your tickets in for prizes at the redemption-style games or play the claw machines, racing games and air-hockey tables.
Ride a Carousel, Play Mini Golf and More
Traveling with grandparents or younger kids? Add the Seaside Carousel to your itinerary. Delighting multigenerational groups for over three decades, this replica of the great American carousel dazzles with lively music, bright lights, oval-shaped mirrors and children bobbing up and down on whimsical animals as they spin around the room in delight.
When you’re done, hop into a brightly colored car on the Tilt-A-Whirl at Seaside Skooters + Ten Tiny Tees, or bump and be bumped in the electric bumper-car arena. This complex is also home to the only indoor miniature golf course in town (Captain Kid Amusement Park, located on the south side of town, offers a great outdoor course).
Just off the Promenade, the Seaside Aquarium is one of the oldest and most beloved family-friendly destinations in town. An educational experience — complete with touch tank giant Pacific octopus, wolf eels and sea stars — it’s the harbor seals that steal the show. You can even buy fish to toss into the seal tank in exchange for clapping, sitting, talking and other marine-mammal antics.
Stop by the Seaside Museum and check out the newest attraction: a miniature re-creation of the city from the year 1899, when Seaside officially transitioned from established to incorporated. Kids will love spotting miniature 3D-printed people and dogs.
Feed Your Adventure — and Children
With 35 varieties of breakfast served all day at Pig ’N Pancake, it’s no wonder the original location of this local diner chain is a favorite with families. Or try Dooger’s Seafood & Grill for a slightly more formal dining experience. Family-run and family-friendly, the Junior menu at Dooger’s offers linguine with Alfredo sauce, rib-eye steak and sea scallops alongside the traditional mac and cheese and chicken strips.
Everything you would expect from a neighborhood pizza restaurant, Angelina’s Pizzeria & Cafe serves up Italian classics like stromboli and calzones in addition to 20 different options on the gourmet pizza menu. For more pizza, bowlers will love the Fultano’s Pizza location inside Gearhart Bowl, north of town.
With million-dollar views and food prices that won’t break your budget, Mo’s Seafood & Chowder is both casual and family-friendly. Whether your kids order fish and chips, clam strips, or together you brave the family slumgullion — Mo’s signature clam chowder topped with pink bay shrimp — the menu is varied enough to please even picky eaters.
