One of Omaha’s newest entertainment options, Smash Park La Vista, is the perfect place to take teens. I suspected as much when I visited during a soft opening event, and confirmed it recently when I took four teens one afternoon. As a bonus, the Smash Park outing was fun for me, too.
Disclosure: This post is sponsored by Smash Park La Vista. All thoughts, opinions and typos are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.
During the teen outing, we belted out a few songs in the Sing Suite, played duckpin bowling, threw a few cornhole bean bags, hit the arcade, and ate quite a few snacks. Combining this visit with my first visit, I came up with several tips to help you plan a fun teen day at Smash Park.
What makes Smash Park different
When Smash Park started in West Des Moines in 2018, the idea was to focus on pickleball, as they described it, “a sport that offers instant mastery, promotes an active lifestyle and brings people together to socialize. Once other key ingredients were added–like outrageous events, endless games, chef-crafted food and unique cocktails, Smash Park was born.”
It’s true. Smash Park has a different feel to it compared to other entertainment centers because of pickleball, but also because of that unique menu. But, also I think part of the difference is there’s a lot more natural light at Smash Park (at least the one here in Nebraska). And there’s an entire outdoor space at Smash Park, as well. It feels like you’re hanging out somewhere designed for just hanging out.
Anyway, I like the vibe at Smash Park. It’s a place you can feel comfortable taking kids and teens to, even if they cater to adults with many of their 21+ events and bar spaces. But you know kids are welcome when they have a kid’s section on the menu.
Tips for taking teens to Smash Park
Now that I’m thinking about it, most of these tips can apply to younger kids headed to Smash Park for the first time.
1. Make reservations early
Smash Park has a great app where you can make reservations for most of the popular activities they offer (you can also reserve them on their website). You’re going to want to do this for your group. I was able to get reservations for my preferred times the day before for activities like the Sing Suite and Duckpin Bowling, but the pickleball courts were fully booked, except for the 8 a.m. time slot…which we all know is never going to happen with teens.
2. Do the karaoke thing, even if you don’t “karaoke”
I don’t do karaoke typically, but even I can be compelled to sing some John Denver if I can sing without an audience of strangers. The La Vista location has one Sing Suite, which is a private karaoke room. It’s open to all ages, too, making it a perfect place for teens.
You can get the Sing Suite at half-off if you reserve it between 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. If I had to guess, it’d comfortably fit about 10 people. There’s plenty of seating and small tables for the group. You can order food and drinks to enjoy during the karaoke concert.
3. Duckpin bowling for the affordable win
Duckpin bowling is the most affordable option for a group at Smash Park, and it can be pretty fun for teens. Duckpin bowling consists of much smaller lanes, pins and small, wooden bowling balls. No bowling shoes needed. The kids liked choosing the type of game we played, so rather than the standard knock-as-many-pins-down-possible game, we played some sort of military mission game where we had to be more precise about which pin we hit (and didn’t hit).
4. Axe throw safely
If you’re going to do the axe throwing, wear the right shoes. You must wear closed-toe shoes. Axe throwing is open to kids ages 14 and older, so it’s likely going to be something your teens will want to do. And I have to admit, it’s pretty fun once you get the hang of it. Smash Park has different games you can play rather than just straight-up aim for the bullseye games. The score is tracked digitally, too.
5. Arcade games are half-off on Sundays
If your teens love the arcade (who doesn’t?), bring them on a Sunday when the games are half-off all day.
6. Don’t forget the free activities
There are free games at Smash Park, and teens will play them. There are cornhole games set up that anyone can play located right by the main dining room at Smash Park. It makes the wait for food more manageable with hungry teens. There’s also giant Connect 4 games set up in that space, as well.
7. Don’t miss the Happy Hour food deals
Feeding teens can get expensive, so I highly recommend planning your visit to coincide with Happy Hour at Smash Park. There are a lot of drink and food specials, and for our group, we took advantage of the 50% off appetizers. Happy Hour is Mondays through Fridays from 4 to 6 p.m.
8. And don’t miss the refills on fountain drinks
There are free refills on sodas. Once the teens figured this out, it was game over.
Let me know if you’ve been to Smash Park and if you have any additional tips to share!