We love Old Orchard Beach. There were a few things open in April, but not much. It's worth mentioning, there aren't any public bathrooms open and neither are most of the restaurants. There were a few ice cream shops and a few other little trinket shops open. The pay and Park lots are also closed. There is limited amount of curbside parking and a few other places that have free parking. They do have 2 port-a-potties near the public bathroom if you're brave. Everything else opens May 1st. Regardless, the beach was wonderful as always.
My family and I recently went on a trip here on a recommendation made by my daughter. Seeing as the family I went with are from a different state and I had never been before, we were all pleasantly surprised to see that there were many activities for us to keep busy with. The beach was beautiful, while the water was shivering cold, once we got used to it we were able to make great memories here. The amusement park was great, all the rides and games that were available was well worth the 2 hour car trip that we had to take to get there. There are many shops along the sidewalks, all of which are in close proximity to each other and are filled with souvenirs for everyone. One thing that I think could be improved is the pricing of the general area. The restaurant and shops, while nice in quality and quantity, have some truly ridiculously expensive items. My daughter and sister ordered two burgers with fries and wings, the total was over 70 dollars. The food was pretty good, but the wait time and pricing for it definitely was not worth it. Keep in mind, not all shops are like this, but you definitely need to go often to figure out which shops are best for certain items. I also think that the fact there are no free public rest rooms is a little ridiculous. The staff was very nice, but we had to pay 50 cents every time we needed to go to the bathroom. Some other restrooms were 75 cents. It may not seem like a lot, but for the amount of people in my family, thats about 7 dollars added to the trip. Again, it may not seem like much, but parking was 35 dollars,(later on in the night it was reduced to 20) over 70 for food, 30 for beach toys, (a bucket and shovel and umbrella) and about 20 for 3 ice creams which actually was the most reasonably priced thing here (the portions were ginormous!) Over all, the trip was enjoyed by everyone I had brought with me and was very relaxing. I would 100% recommend to someone and I plan on going again next year!
