I recently heard about a McDonald’s in Niceville that had an indoor play center with an underwater theme. Henry and Massey have never even seen a fast food play center, so I thought this would be very exciting for them. I decided to drive up the next time we had a rainy day. Little did I know how soon that would happen.
South Walton and 30A is known for fabulous food. We love dining out and trying new places, but every now and then I get a hankering for McDonald’s French fries. They’ve always been my favorite. In high school, I would often walk from our house in Meadowbrook to McDonald’s, order fries and a coke, and walk back home. Oh the days of rapid metabolism…Henry and William got very excited when I told them we were going to McDonald’s. William even got up before 10:00 to join us! Henry talked non stop about his Happy Meal.
Costa Enterprises owns several McDonald’s in the area, but the one near Bluewater Bay in Niceville stands out from the others. It looks like any other McDonald’s from the outside, but once you step inside and see the play area, you know you’ve found a gem! It is a multi-sensory experience. There is a multi level play zone with a small lower area for toddlers. However, Massey had no trouble climbing all the way to the top and went face first (on purpose) down the slide many times. There are projectors depicting moving underwater scenes complete with dolphins and sea turtles. One of my favorite things was that the soundtrack to The Little Mermaid was playing in the background.
If you live in the area or are passing through Niceville on your way to the beach, it’s definitely worth your time to stop and let the kiddos play while you marvel at how far fast food play centers have come since we were children.
Make sure you pack a blanket or a snow suit, because it was freezing in there! I’m very cold natured, but other people in there were wrapped up in beach towels, so it wasn’t just my weird body thermometer. I kept telling myself it was to kill the germs!
If you want to enter the exact address in your GPS, it is:
Bluewater Bay McDonald’s, 4570 Highway 20 East, Niceville, FL
From Dixie to 30A 