Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Iowa
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 02-24-2011, 03:27 PM
 
5 posts, read 34,192 times
Reputation: 11

Advertisements

Is there anything for family entertainment in Spencer, Iowa or in the little towns that are at least within an hour of it?

Thanks!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 02-24-2011, 03:42 PM
 
459 posts, read 2,227,418 times
Reputation: 422
Spencer is literally minutes away from the Iowa Great Lakes where you will find family entertainment up the wazoo. Water parks, go-karts, an amusement park, local theater, restaurants, and one of the midwests best recreational lakes.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-24-2011, 04:07 PM
 
Location: Des Moines
586 posts, read 2,184,512 times
Reputation: 385
Just don't expect that they'll be open if you're looking to entertain the kids in February.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-24-2011, 04:20 PM
 
Location: Edina, MN
333 posts, read 704,480 times
Reputation: 191
NW Iowa is a wasteland eight months of the year. We took a lot of day and weekend trips to Sioux Falls, SD and Minneapolis because there is nothing to do around Spencer in the winter.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-26-2011, 09:43 AM
 
5 posts, read 34,192 times
Reputation: 11
Default Indoor children's activities near Spencer Iowa?

Are there any indoor activities for children during the winter? Like children's playgrounds, museums or bouncehouses, etc?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-26-2011, 11:15 AM
 
Location: Edina, MN
333 posts, read 704,480 times
Reputation: 191
Quote:
Originally Posted by IowaCurious View Post
Are there any indoor activities for children during the winter? Like children's playgrounds, museums or bouncehouses, etc?
There is a small indoor water park in Milford. I have no idea what a "bouncehouse" is so I'm no help there, sorry.

Spencer is a town of ten thousand people. No museums to speak of, certainly not a science museum or anything similar that children would enjoy. There is a very nice science museum in Minneapolis - 200 miles away.

As far as indoor activities for kids in Spencer in the winter, you've got the YMCA, you've got wandering around the sorry excuse for a mall, some school and church activities and that's about it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-28-2011, 03:28 PM
 
5 posts, read 34,192 times
Reputation: 11
Default Children's Activities - Spencer, Iowa

Thanks for your help!

Does the mall have a carousel at least for the kids? Anyone else out there have any ideas for children's activities in or near Spencer? A bouncehouse is a place where the toys are inflated and the kids jump and climb and slide on them.

Last edited by IowaCurious; 02-28-2011 at 03:36 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 02-28-2011, 03:34 PM
 
5 posts, read 34,192 times
Reputation: 11
Is there anything to do during cold weather, are there gatherings of any sort, mom's or dad's groups, rec center, libraries, etc?

Last edited by IowaCurious; 02-28-2011 at 04:01 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-01-2011, 02:25 PM
 
Location: Edina, MN
333 posts, read 704,480 times
Reputation: 191
Quote:
Originally Posted by IowaCurious View Post
Thanks for your help!

Does the mall have a carousel at least for the kids? Anyone else out there have any ideas for children's activities in or near Spencer? A bouncehouse is a place where the toys are inflated and the kids jump and climb and slide on them.
Ah, thanks. Can't think of anything like that but I don't have small children so I simply may not have noticed. There was a carousel in the Gateway North "mall" a few years back but I believe it was torn out and replaced with...nothing.

Quote:
Originally Posted by IowaCurious View Post
Is there anything to do during cold weather, are there gatherings of any sort, mom's or dad's groups, rec center, libraries, etc?
Again, pretty much the YMCA, youth/adult sports leagues (school and YMCA), the YMCA IS the rec center. There is a small but decently stocked public library that has children's readings on Saturday morning, or at least used to. There is a sort of wannabe arts "district" that consists of a couple storefronts basically. Plus the usual church groups and that sort of thing.

As far as outdoor winter activities, the area isn't terrible but could be better. Snowmobiling is okay but not great, no real trails for XC skiing. No alpine skiing at all. Not many hills for sledding but there are a couple spots in town that are fun for very small children. West of Milford, there is a good tubing hill with a couple hundred feel of vertical and a rope tow which is fun. Ice fishing is very good in that area. Probably the most popular winter activity outdoors would be ice skating at Leach Park. They flood the parking lot and create a round rink there, and there is a heated indoor meetinghouse a few steps away where they sell hot chocolate and coffee while you get warm.

Just out of curiosity, which area are you coming from? For anyone accustomed to living in suburbs/exurbs or even within reasonable distance of a large city, Spencer is going to be a huge culture shock.

Last edited by DirtMagurt; 03-01-2011 at 02:42 PM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-02-2011, 01:50 PM
 
5 posts, read 34,192 times
Reputation: 11
Default Spencer Iowa - Family Friendly? Ha, a new jail!

Lived in big cities and small towns but I was hoping since Spencer was rated a top family area to live it had more to offer children. Most everything is outdoors and it being cold so many months of the year doesn't make that family friendly for young children.

Then I read today they are considering building a new jail because it would cost more to send prisoners out of the area? Seems they would rather have the jail out the area and pay more in a family oriented town. I'm thinking Spencer isn't the supposed "family town" for us.

Thank you for the information!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Iowa
Similar Threads
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 04:58 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top