August 2006
Don’t Just Jump in a Lake!
Water Play Options in the Puget Sound Area
A glance at a map tells you that Seattle is surrounded by water. However, it takes a more detailed study to discover the many places there are to have wet summer fun without putting a toe in a lake, sound or canal.
The Seattle Center area alone has four different fountains for kids to play in. The best known is International Fountain, part of the large open area in the middle of the Center. The fountain sits at the bottom of a spiral-shaped pit that allows people to watch safely from the edge, brushed by only the occasional drift of mist, or lets them get soaked by the fountain’s 283 jets – including four that shoot water 120 feet in the air. The volume of water is often synchronized to music, so braver kids can venture forward and try to touch the brushed metal surface of the fountain while the water is trickling instead of gushing. The fun is when the water is faster than the adventurer.
Just west, between Key Arena and Marion Oliver McCaw Hall, sits the Du Pen Fountain, which was installed for the 1962 World’s Fair. While less boisterous than the International Fountain, the Du Pen is a lovely little water play area, with a small wading pool, fountains, bits of sculpture and rocks for sitting on, as well as the occasional visiting duck. This more serene fountain is better for relaxing and unwinding, especially since the neighboring buildings often cast it into partial shade.
Further south, between the Seattle Children’s Theatre and the Pacific Science Center, is a small sculpture garden called Neototem’s Children’s Garden, which features the Whale’s Tail Fountain. About four feet high, the sculpture’s posture mimics a whale as it raises its tail from the water to slap it down again. The water flows from the flukes to create a gentle waterfall.
At nearby Fisher Plaza, at the corner of Denny Way and 5th Avenue North, there’s one more great place to play – a bull’s-eye-shaped fountain consisting of rings of jets shooting water from the sidewalk. The water shoots out in patterns, with jets chasing each other around the rings, sometimes going as high as 10 feet in the air. However, the patterns aren’t readily apparent, making a walk across it a challenge or a game – depending on the kind of shoes you’re wearing.
Seattle hardly has a monopoly on fun with fountains. Just north in Lynnwood are two playgrounds featuring water spray areas. North Lynnwood Neighborhood Park, at 18510 44th Ave. W. in Lynnwood, contains one of the only places on Earth where a dragon and a sea lion can peacefully coexist, though it probably helps that this dragon emits mist from her nose instead of fire. Kids also get to play on a red and blue submarine, complete with periscope, and they’ll find lots of brightly colored cement shapes for going over, through and around.
Blocks away at Daleway Park, 19015 64th Ave. W. in Lynnwood, there’s even more water fun, with a tower that shoots water, fountains spraying from the ground, and a rowboat to sit on. Best of all, the waterworks start with a button for kids to push, letting them control the action.
The South Sound area boasts some of the area’s best waterworks.
Wild Waves, at 36201 Enchanted Parkway, just off Interstate 5 in Federal Way, has more than a dozen slides, as well as a wave pool and a multi-story water playground. The attractions have different height and swimming skill requirements, depending on slide height and pool depth, which are clearly posted at each slide’s entrance. Many allow kids of all ages, so long as an adult accompanies them.
Smaller kids and more tentative swimmers would do best to stick to the gentler attractions, such as the lazy Konga River Ride and Hooks Lagoon, a big, multi-story water playground. With its towers and connecting bridges, Hooks Lagoon looks like something out of Swiss Family Robinson, if the Robinsons had squirt guns and excellent water pressure. Raging River, which is far less turbulent than its name suggests, is another more placid option. Swimmers drift on tubes with the current and down mild slopes. Up to three tubes can connect, letting families stay together.
Speed demons and more confident swimmers have plenty to choose from. The Zooma Falls Raft Ride, which opened last summer, drops passengers almost 50 vertical feet in 30 seconds. This yellow and orange slide doesn’t have the steepest slopes and the rafts seat up to four people. Braver kids can go it alone on the Konga Slides, which are a bit steeper and also use tubes, or the Green Waterslides, which are a quartet of looping chutes that weave in and out of each other in spirals. Faster and steeper still are the “giant waterslides,” a group that includes the Banzai, the Bobsled, the Python and the Rampage. Fastest of all are the Black and White Speed Slides, which require a long slow-down area at the bottom.
Six Flags operates Wild Waves and the adjoining Enchanted Village, and both are included in the cost of admission. Tickets are $34.99 for general admission, $28.99 online and free for children 2 and younger. Parking costs extra. For more information, call 253-925-8000 or visit www.wildwaves.com.
Even the public parks in the area have some impressive aquatic action. Stewart Heights Park, 402 E. 56th St. in Tacoma, includes a 160-foot water slide, a lazy river, a bubble pool, water basketball and more. Hours and fees vary, and some attractions have height requirements. Rotary Spray Park in Les Gove Park, 11th Street S.E. and Auburn Way S. in Auburn, features primary-colored pipes, water cannons and jets, and lots and lots of buttons to push to activate even more fountains and sprays. A Foam Gun shoots an arc of foaming water across the playground.
Looking for more places to cool off this summer? Most open-air fountains, spray parks and wading pools are open approximately until dark through the end of summer and are free. For a listing of all pools and wading pools in your area, call or visit the Web site of your city or county parks department, YMCA or public school system. The following list includes pools with water slides or other special features. Also, check the Seattle’s Child monthly calendar for special kids’ nights and events at local pools.
Seattle
Colman Pool at Lincoln Park, 8603 Fauntleroy Way S.W.
The heated outdoor saltwater pool has a water slide. $3.50 adults, $2.50
ages 17 and younger, $1 slide fee. 206-684-7494.
Judkins Park, 2150 S. Norman St. The spray area includes
a tower that shoots water.
Mounger Pool, 2535 32nd Ave. W. The pool features a 50-foot
corkscrew slide. $3.50 adults, $2.50 ages 17 and younger, $1 slide fee.
206-684-4708.
Pratt Park, 1800 S. Main St. This wading pool has water sprays and animal-shaped
squirters.
Westlake Plaza, 4th Avenue and Pine Street downtown.
The waterfall fountain features a walkway passing between sheets of water.
Snohomish County
McCollum Park Pool, 600 128th St. S.E., Everett The Z-shaped
outdoor pool is operated by Snohomish County Parks. One end is shallow;
the other has a 10-foot-deep diving tank and slide. $3 per open swim session.
425-357-6036.
Mountlake Terrace Leisure Pool, 5303 228th St. S.W.,
Mountlake Terrace. The indoor water area includes a lazy river, a shallow
play area with toys and a pool. Hours and fees vary; call for details.
425-776-9173.
Eastside
Bear Fountain at Redmond Town Center, bounded by N.E.
74th Street, Bear Creek Parkway and Leary Way in downtown Redmond. Bronze
bears in the middle of the central courtyard are surrounded by a shallow
pool and gently falling water, and are a favorite with toddlers and preschoolers.
Bellevue Aquatic Center, 601 143rd Ave. N.E., Bellevue.
The indoor Blue Lagoon pool has a diving tank and 10-foot slide; the therapy
pool is heated to 91 degrees. Adults $4.75, youth 12 and younger $3.75,
discounted swim times $3.25. 425-452-4444.
Julius Boehm Pool, 50 S.E. Clark St., Issaquah. This indoor pool occasionally
has a rope swing; call for details and times. Adults $4, youth 3-17 $3.
425-837-3350.
South Sound Area
Henry Moses Aquatic Center, 1719 Maple Valley Highway,
Renton. Attractions at the outdoor pool include two water slides, a wave
machine, a spray play area and a lazy river. Fees are $4-$6 for Renton
residents, $6-12 for non-residents; children 4 and younger are free. 425-430-6780.
Heritage Park Fountain, 330 5th Avenue S.W., Olympia.
This popular downtown fountain, across from the waterfront, has jets of
water shooting from the ground. 360-753-8380.
Farther Afield
Birch Bay Waterslides, 4874 Birch Bay Lynden Road, Blaine,
WA. This park is about two hours north of Seattle, almost at the Canadian
border. Birch Bay has four large slides, several smaller, tamer slides,
and lots of space for sunbathing. $9-$14; children 2 and younger free.
360-371-7500. www.birchbaywaterslides.net.
Slide Waters – Lake Chelan Waterpark, 102 Waterslide Drive, Chelan, Wash. Chelan is about four hours east of Seattle. The park has 10 waterslides, a spa, a children’s area and other outdoor activities, including volleyball. $13-$16. 509-682-5751, www.slidewaters.com.
Breanne Boland is a Seattle freelance writer.
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