BWV Pool Slide

[Maxwell]

Does anyone know the age limit for use of the slide. Can kids use it if they wear a life vest?

 

[PKS44]

They can go down wearing a life vest...not aware of any age or height limit...which is nice...

 

[Lesley]

The sign at the top of the slide recommends it for "strong swimmers only" but the pool is fairly shallow at the end of the slide.....I'd just use parental discretion...If your child wants to do it and can stand in the water at the depth of the slide I'd probably let them give it a try. If your child might be prone to panic in the middle of the slide I'd wait...its a long slide.

JMO

 

[Peterd]

Our five year old can swim, but went down with and without a tube around her waist. She loved it. There's a lifeguard set up by the slide, and you just let him know you'll be to the left of the slide, waiting for your' little one. They don't want you to be directly in front of it.

 

[Maxwell]

Does anyone know if you can obtain/rent life jackets at the Boardwalk or do you have to bring your own?

 

[Peterd]

Ours brought her own tube, and also used a Boardwalk vest at no cost.

 

[TheWho]

Just as a benchmark, my daughter used the slide last summer. She was 5 1/2 yrs old and she is not much of a swimmer. However, with swimmies (sp), she barely went under the water since the end of the slide is rather flat. Although, it is a very long slide. A lot of fun!!

 

[CaptainMidnight]

I had the bright idea of going down first at the Vero Beach slide, so that I would be in the water near my 5 year old when he came down second. But, he decided he wasn't ready yet. I tried calling him a chicken in front of everyone to embarass him, but that didn't seem to work. Then I tried to tell him he wouldn't get a car when he turned 16 if he didn't go down, but that didn't seem to register. I was going to start telling him about moving out of the house, and some of the other Dad's were starting to jump in to help me redicule my chicken son, but for some reason my wife took over at that point and I didn't get to finish....

But, the life guards didn't seem to mind a parent staying close at the bottom of the slide. I sure wish you were allowed to go down the slide with your kids on your lap, works wonderfully those first few times. Our pool changed that rule and really spoiled our fun. How's the BC slide?

 

[Lisa D]

BWV has wonderful life vests to borrow - they are available near the quiet pool - they will take your room number and you can use it for the length of your trip. They are the heavy duty kind so your child will come right up out of the water after going down the slide. Using these, my little one has loved that slide since he was 3 1/2 years old.

Lisa

 

[jennybobenny]

My 3 1/2 year old son went down the BW slide for the first time on our last trip. We got him a life vest from Community Hall and he did great. I was nervous at first - he looked so small walking up all those stairs - but his sister was with him for all but the actual 'sliding' and my husband waited for him in the water. The lifeguard at the top learned quickly that 'telling' him to wait a certain length of time between sliders didn't work, so she would put her arm in front of him until it was safe to go. He has spent his short little life around the water (boats, pools, lakes, etc) so he was eager to give the slide a try.

Stormalong Bay, however, was a different story. There's a sign at the bottom of the slide that says in order to use the slide the 'slider' must be able to exit the pool area unassisted, or something like that. Since that meant my husband wouldn't be able to 'help/catch' my son as he landed in the water we decided to skip it.

 

[Pete W.]

The water at the bottom of the slide is 3 1/2 feet and it swirls quite a bit due to "jets" at the end of the slide so don't assume your child will be able to stand or easily "fight the current" over to the ladder. Still, it's perfectly fine as long as a responsible adult is at the bottom to render assistance.

 

[PKS44]

The BC slide is awesome! but rougher than the BWV---it has this really fast straightaway start then two curves under water falls before dumping out... I would say definitely for kids who can swim only...

Paul