Is Arlington Park Racetrack appropriate for kids? The park definitely thinks so and I kind of agree. We went there for Father’s Day along with at least half of all of the other fathers in the Chicagoland area. It was busy but we had so much fun. The girls loved it! Both of them, but my oldest daughter especially, are going through a major horse phase. All day long it is My Little Pony everything so it wasn’t just a selfish suggestion by my husband to go gambling for Father’s Day (although he does really enjoy the gambling part). We’ll call it a compromise.
Arlington is a beautiful park and perfect for little horse lovers. Before each race they bring the horses out into the courtyard and parade them around for everyone to see. The girls also thought the races were really exciting - shouting along with everyone else. It wasn’t a big deal that we couldn’t find a seat in the grand stands because the races are so short and then you can go out and sit in the courtyard. There really isn’t that much time in between races which prevented anyone from getting bored. We had a really great time picking our favorite horses based on their amusing names. My daughter also rooted for any horse with braids or other decorations in their mane or tale.
Sundays are family days at the Park and the best days to take little kids. They have a different theme/sponsor each week with related activities and always have pony rides. We stood in a VERY long line for the girls to ride on the ponies for about three minutes but it was for sure the highlight of the day. My two year old was still talking about it almost a month later.
Logistically, you’ll probably have to park far away. There is shuttle that I highly recommend after carrying a 30 lb kid for approximately a mile to our car because I just didn’t want to wait for the shuttle. You can bring a stroller and there are lots of stroller friendly areas if you have a small baby but this place gets really crowded on the weekend so it would probably be pretty hard to maneuver it once you are in the park. There is a nice grassy area where a lot of families get set up where you have a good view of the races (but not the finish line) and can set up a picnic lunch. Also, it’s a bit more shaded than the grandstands. We only were planning on staying a couple of hours at most and ended up spending the whole afternoon there with plans to perhaps come back again this summer - maybe for the Arlington Million in August.
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