I’ve been going to Old Orchard Beach almost every year since I was 10 years old. As a kid it was a great place for your parents to drop you off and you could play at the arcades and amusement parks all day.
When I started bringing my friends up with me, it was fun and a great place to people watch. It started to get a bit seedier over the years, but that made it more fun. It wasn’t dangerous, just full of some crazy characters.
Over the last few years, it seemed to get more family friendly, and the crowds changed. At first it was for the better, but last year (2006) they tore down the arcade and concessions on one side of the strip near the pier and added a huge condo complex. They took out a really fun outdoor bar that always had live bands and put instead a stuffy “upscale” type bar with really uncomfortable rickety chairs. It’s not the kind of place you hang out at and drink beer and eat steamers.
I’ve always love this place, but as they push out some of the tourists, they will lose the charm.
The beach is beautiful and there’s a pier filled with little souvenir shops, airbrushing and food. The strip used to be the home to something like 20 souvenir and clothing shops, but a lot of them have closed down and seem to be slowly being replaced by shops you can find at shopping malls.
I still recommend a trip, but maybe that will change one day.