Waterslide policies at Starwood resorts

DW and I travel with our two young children (ages 1 and 3). When we went to WKV last year, they had a lax waterslide policy, and allowed my then-2-year-old to ride on my lap down the slide. It was tons of fun for both of us, and we are looking forward to doing it again next time we visit. However, when we traveled to SBP this year, they did not permit this same lap-riding arrangement.

Does anyone know what other Starwood resorts allow young children to ride the waterslides on an adult's lap?

okwiater said:

DW and I travel with our two young children (ages 1 and 3). When we went to WKV last year, they had a lax waterslide policy, and allowed my then-2-year-old to ride on my lap down the slide. It was tons of fun for both of us, and we are looking forward to doing it again next time we visit. However, when we traveled to SBP this year, they did not permit this same lap-riding arrangement.

Does anyone know what other Starwood resorts allow young children to ride the waterslides on an adult's lap?

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Technically I don't think it's allowed at any resort - probably for safety concerns and insurance. We have been to WKV and have done the same with our smaller kids, and it's nice it has been do-able, but at WLR it was not allowed.

cubigbird said:

Technically I don't think it's allowed at any resort - probably for safety concerns and insurance. We have been to WKV and have done the same with our smaller kids, and it's nice it has been do-able, but at WLR it was not allowed.

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We specifically asked at WKV and was told it was permitted. I even told the GM of the resort how much we enjoyed that aspect of our ownership.

okwiater said:

Does anyone know what other Starwood resorts allow young children to ride the waterslides on an adult's lap?

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WKORV does not allow kids to go with their parents on their one slide. At the pirate ship pool they do not allow adults (or teenagers).

At WPORV, the slide was unattended for large periods of time when I went last year in September.

I was able to go down the slide with my daughter in my lap -- no issues.

-ryan

I don't have any first hand knowledge of water slide polices or enforcement beyond WKV, but I am a lawyer and I can tell you why they are generally prohibited.

Basically what happens is the person or child in front's foot can catch the side of the slide. Normally that person just corrects themselves and continue down the slide. When two people go together, there isn't enough time for the person in front to correct themselves and the weight of the second person jams the foot harder into the wall.

The result is usually a compound fracture. It rarely happens, but it happens enough and the injury so severe, that it is a no brainer to prohibit two people going down a slide together.

I only know about this because the injured person usually has very expensive medical and rehab bills and sues everyone in sight.

esk444 said:

I don't have any first hand knowledge of water slide polices or enforcement beyond WKV, but I am a lawyer and I can tell you why they are generally prohibited.

Basically what happens is the person or child in front's foot can catch the side of the slide. Normally that person just corrects themselves and continue down the slide. When two people go together, there isn't enough time for the person in front to correct themselves and the weight of the second person jams the foot harder into the wall.

The result is usually a compound fracture. It rarely happens, but it happens enough and the injury so severe, that it is a no brainer to prohibit two people going down a slide together.

I only know about this because the injured person usually has very expensive medical and rehab bills and sues everyone in sight.

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I understand and appreciate your explanation, but it is sad that the sue-happy must ruin everybody else's fun. :annoyed:

The thing is that many people don't consider themselves sue-happy until a bad thing happens. Then they start getting upset that they weren't warned of the possible problem and their expenses are such that they need help covering them. In this case, it would t be all that frivolous, since the problem is not obvious.

This type of injury sounds pretty horrible. I hadn't considered it, and may stop going down the slide in tandem. Never mind the suit. Consider the injury you might inflict on your child.

esk444 said:

I don't have any first hand knowledge of water slide polices or enforcement beyond WKV, but I am a lawyer and I can tell you why they are generally prohibited.

Basically what happens is the person or child in front's foot can catch the side of the slide. Normally that person just corrects themselves and continue down the slide. When two people go together, there isn't enough time for the person in front to correct themselves and the weight of the second person jams the foot harder into the wall.

The result is usually a compound fracture. It rarely happens, but it happens enough and the injury so severe, that it is a no brainer to prohibit two people going down a slide together.

I only know about this because the injured person usually has very expensive medical and rehab bills and sues everyone in sight.

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Sorry this makes no sense physically if you are going down the slide with a toddler that is less than 4 ft tall. Typically the only reason you go down a slide in tandem is when you have a very little one that is less than 4 years old. When they are that small their legs or feet don't extend past your shins and there is no risk of them injuring themselves.

esk444 said:

I don't have any first hand knowledge of water slide polices or enforcement beyond WKV, but I am a lawyer and I can tell you why they are generally prohibited.

Basically what happens is the person or child in front's foot can catch the side of the slide. Normally that person just corrects themselves and continue down the slide. When two people go together, there isn't enough time for the person in front to correct themselves and the weight of the second person jams the foot harder into the wall.

The result is usually a compound fracture. It rarely happens, but it happens enough and the injury so severe, that it is a no brainer to prohibit two people going down a slide together.

I only know about this because the injured person usually has very expensive medical and rehab bills and sues everyone in sight.

Click to expand...

pacman777 said:

Sorry this makes no sense physically if you are going down the slide with a toddler that is less than 4 ft tall. Typically the only reason you go down a slide in tandem is when you have a very little one that is less than 4 years old. When they are that small their legs or feet don't extend past your shins and there is no risk of them injuring themselves.

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It makes total sense. The NYT wrote about this a while back.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/blogs/well/2012/04/23/a-surprising-risk-for-toddlers-at-playground-slides/

From the article: "The injury is typically treated with a cast from the foot to above the knee; the good news is that no surgery or resetting is needed. The child wears the cast for four to six weeks and heals without any lasting complications. But the damage is not merely physical. 'The parents are always crushed that they broke their kid's leg and are baffled as to why nobody ever told them this could happen,' Dr. Holt said."

I'm all in favor of warning people of known dangers so that they can make an informed decision. But to instead conclude that we should outright ban something because of a remote possibility of injury... well, there would certainly be a lot of sad children who no longer have football, hockey, gymnastics, or cheerleading to occupy their time -- but at least they're safe from injury! Now off to pad the walls of their bedrooms.