Playground at Poly?

[Nikel]

I can't seem to find any pics. Is it toddler appropriate or more for bigger kids?

 

[Tikiman]

The playground was removed when they gutted the whole area in 2001. It was replaced with a wet play area. The playground was hardly ever used.

 

[Nikel]

Thanks. That explains why I couldn't any pics. We'll just hope for warm enough weather for water play or hop on over to MK to let them run around at Pooh's Playful Spot.

 

[grimley1968]

The wet play area was a good idea, but was implemented poorly, IMHO. They put shrubbery between it and the main Volcano pool. I appreciate the sentiment of separating the areas a little bit for safety's sake, but for the parent it makes it a little difficult. We have 2 DD's, one age 6 and one age 2. While our 6 YO would play in the Volcano pool, sometimes getting in a little too deep for her, our 2 YO would run pell mell from the Volcano pool to the wet play jets and back again. The problem is that you cannot see both the wet play area and the Volcano pool in one sightline. For the parent, it pretty much meant we had to position ourselves so that we could watch our 2 YO in the wet play area one second, then turn our head 90 degrees or more to see our 6 YO and make sure she wasn't getting too deep in the Volcano pool. We also had to pretty much stay out of the pool to slow our 2 YO down to make sure she didn't trip and hurt herself while running from one area to the next. It was a bit nerve-wracking.

They should either rename the wet play area to Skinned Knee Geysers or turn it into a kiddie pool like WL has. It's so much safer and easier to watch kids in, IMO. They should also lose some of the shrubbery, etc. that separates the two areas so it's easier to watch both the pool and the kiddie area at the same time. I'd be happy to just sit in a chair by the kiddie area if it meant I could still keep an eye out on the Volcano pool. This is something you can do pretty easily at WL.

 

[cinmell]

John,
Was your six year old able to go down the slide at the volcano pool? My daughter will be 5 1/2 in May and we are not sure if she will be able to go down it. One of us would walk up with her and the other would be waiting at the bottom.

Thanks!

 

[grimley1968]

John,
Was your six year old able to go down the slide at the volcano pool? My daughter will be 5 1/2 in May and we are not sure if she will be able to go down it. One of us would walk up with her and the other would be waiting at the bottom.

Thanks!

She could have, physically, easily. But she was too scared. The problem for some kids is that the Volcano slide is closed for much of it and that looks pretty intimidating for some, I suppose. She will go down closed slides at playgrounds, but then those slides are nowhere near as long as the Volcano one.

But for reference, my 6 YO DD is also scared of those tiny, tiny little slides they have at Blizzard Beach that are made for 3 YO's. I also had to struggle to get her to go down the tinier still kiddie slide at SAB at BC/YC in 2004 when she was almost 5, and that little slide is about 5 feet long and uncovered. I saw many kids at the Poly going down the Volcano slide very happily, and some smaller and/or younger than my 6 YO. My fraidy-cat 6 YO is probably not a good guide by which to judge whether all kids that age can handle it. I'd say most can, if they have any swimming ability at all.

Your 5 YO might be scared of the Volcano slide at first, but if she's ever been down any other pool slides that are partially closed, she might enjoy it. That said, you might have to really encourage her to try it the first time, just to get her past her fears. But it always depends on the child.

And I agree that one parent walking up with her to the top is wise. Make sure you look down and wave at the other parent waiting near the bottom, just so she sees that person for her peace of mind.

 

[cinmell]

Thanks for the info! I wasn't sure if the entire slide was enclosed or not. The last time we went to WDW was 3 years ago and we stayed at the CR and she was furious she couldn't go on that slide, she was only 2 1/2 then. I think she'll really want to go on this one but I was just trying to find out about it first so we can prepare ourselves if we had to tell her No.

I've been searching trying to find info about that pool to see if there were height restrictions or anything like that. Thanks again.

 

[grimley1968]

I think there has to be something of a height restriction. I can't remember, though, if there was some line to measure against, though. Oh, Tikiman? I do remember there is a red light/green light thing at the top letting people know when it's ok to go ahead and slide down.

But anyway, your 5 YO, unless she's extremely undersized for her age, should have no problems with restrictions. And if she's dying to ride the slide, there's no reason you shouldn't let her at this point, IMHO. In fact, I bet my DD would love it, too if she gave it a chance, but I just didn't want to go through the scene of forcing her to do it. If your 5.5 YO is wanting to do it, more power to you, and you'll have even fewer worries about keeping her time occupied than otherwise.

 

[cinmell]

If your 5.5 YO is wanting to do it, more power to you, and you'll have even fewer worries about keeping her time occupied

You'd think wouldn't you? She loves pools so much that I'm afraid she won't want to leave it to go to the parks or won't walk by the pool without wanting to go in!

 

[DVC Sadie]

Our grand neice would have rather just stayed at the Poly pool than spend time in the parks. Go figure! Anyway, we took her to the parks in the am and was back at the pool by 12 everyday to get her fix. Have a great time on your vacation.

 

[DaisyD]

I think there has to be something of a height restriction. I can't remember, though, if there was some line to measure against, though. Oh, Tikiman? I do remember there is a red light/green light thing at the top letting people know when it's ok to go ahead and slide down.

But anyway, your 5 YO, unless she's extremely undersized for her age, should have no problems with restrictions. And if she's dying to ride the slide, there's no reason you shouldn't let her at this point, IMHO. In fact, I bet my DD would love it, too if she gave it a chance, but I just didn't want to go through the scene of forcing her to do it. If your 5.5 YO is wanting to do it, more power to you, and you'll have even fewer worries about keeping her time occupied than otherwise.

There is no height restriction for the Poly slide. As long as you are able to go down the slide BY YOURSELF, then you are fine. Life jackets are okay for the slide too.