DLH Pool Slide Question

[mhconley]

My 6 year-old son loves the water whether it be at beaches, pools or waterslides. We have a good size in-ground pool at home. At WDW WL last summer we could not drag him out of the pool nor keep him away from the waterslide. His absolute favorite park at WDW was BB - he rode every waterslide for which he was tall enough. The only problem is he is skinny and sinks like a rock. We ALWAYS have him in a Coast Guard approved life vest whenever he is near or in the water.

We are planning a trip to DLH in late September and I booked DLH specifically for the pool and waterslide. I have since read that the lifeguards at DLH give kids a swimming test before they allow them on the slide. My son can easily swim across a pool in his life vest. Without it, as I said, he sinks like a rock. Will he be allowed to use the DLH slide?

Martin

 

[engo]

I've the same question for our DS5 too. Thanks for anyone who can provide answer!

Also, do we need to bring our own life vest? Would DHL have life vest provided for the guest?

 

[heatherplus3]

At DLH, they will not let kids go down the bigger slide if they can't swim without a life vest. They have a short slide (really short, maybe 2 feet off the ground and 5 feet long) that kids in life vests can go down. At the PP the slide goes into a trough type thing that is only about a foot deep with water. A great deal for both swimmers and non swimmers.The overall theme of the pool is no where near as cool as DLH, but my kids love the slide and can both go on it. We have had great experiences at PP and have been upgraded every time, most recently to a suite. Let me know if you have any other questions I can answer.

 

[mhconley]

That's a bummer. More than likely a result of California's draconian liability laws and overzealous tort lawyers. Probably 1/3 of the kids on the WL waterslide could not swim and my son was one of only a handful of those that wore a life vest. (Parent's waited at the bottom of the slide that dumped out into the pool and were scooping their kids out of the water.) Oh well... can't change now - no rooms available at PPH or GCH.

Martin

 

[bumbershoot]

The area where the slide opens into is relatively small, and they don't allow anyone to stand around in there. I certainly wouldn't want to be accidentally smacked into by someone coming out of that slide.

engo, they have vests available at the resort hotels. There's no neck collar, in case that's a worry to you. But as has been mentioned, you have to fully be able to swim on your own, to go down the slide.

Without being able to go on that slide, as we found during our stay, the DLH pool is a serious bummer. Can't even touch the pirate ship, can't go on the good slide (though my 5 year old LOVED the little slide just fine, though I made hubby catch him b/c it's just dangerous at the bottom there with all the kids and all the parents!), etc...bleah.

I didn't realize the quiet pool was open until we had already checked out, and if I had it to do over again we would have just swam over there instead.