Riverport Sports and Entertainment Complex - Richmond

Activity:

You've heard of one-stop shopping, well now there's one-stop family fun centres.  The biggest we know of is Riverport Sports and Entertainment complex in Richmond.

Be sure you take your bathing suit, your kids will never forgive you when they see the pool.  The pool is painted in bright primary colours and looks like fun.  It has little kids area with sprays and toys, a wave pool and waterslides.  The only problem is it gets buy--so busy, there's hardly room to stand, let alone swim.  If the crowd is too  much for your family, 100 yards away are skating rinks (6 NHL size and 2 dry floor surfaces for the summer).  There's also a bowling alley.  The Zone Bowling Centre has 40 lanes with both 5 and 10 pin bowling.  Little kids love the five pins because they can roll it down the alley without the help of a big person.  The night time birthday parties are fun because the balls and pins light up and smoke billows from the alleys.  Although I have to admit, Jen was a little scared.

If the bowling alley has a long line-up (which it did when  we went - a rainy day on spring break), the move theatre is guaranteed to have at least one show your kids want to see.  (It better, there's 18 to pick from).  I think we saw Muppets in Space, and the theatre was almost empty.  The good thing is you never have to wait a long time to see the next show, because there's one starting soon.  The Famous Players Silver City also has an IMAX theatre where you can watch movies that reach out and touch you.

If you have some time to blow meander over to the old Vancouver Grizzlies basketball team training centre and watch some basketball.  The two gyms are frequently used by kids of all ages wanting to learn basketball.

If your kids are like ours, they'll want a snack, especially if they've worked up an appetite swimming.   Take them to the Silver City cinema.  It has a mini food court serving hot-dogs, tacos, pizza, and ice-cream.  Or if those won't satisfy the hunger, there's a White Spot restaurant and a Brew Pub where you can take your kids.  (The Zone even hosts the eating portion of their birthday parties there).

Rest assured, one thing your kids will not be saying when you're at the SilverCity Riverport Sports and Entertainment complex is, "I'm bored, there's nothing to do."  If it's just a cup of coffee you want, Lulu Sweets House of Coffee might have what you're looking for.

Details:

The Riverport Sports and Entertainment Complex is located at 14671 Entertainment Blvd., Richmond.  Website: www.riverport.ca

P.S.  While you're in the neighbourhood, you might want to stop in at the Grocery Hall of Fame, the Buddhist Temple, or have fish and chips at Steveston.

Area:

Richmond

Season:

All seasons