Skokie Water Playground

Kinda pricey if you don’t live in Skokie, but totally worth it! Love taking my 5 yr old on the tube slide. The locker rooms are always clean and aside from kids cutting line from time to time, I have no complaints.

Located near the corner of Skokie Blvd and Oakton, this is the flagship pool for Skokie. We had 4 free passes to come here, so we had to check it out. While it’s spacious and better than anything the Chicago park district can give you, it has some undesirable things about it too. Anyone who thinks it’s the best pool in the burbs needs to visit more suburban pools.
The price is very steep — more than anyplace else in the area. At $ 14 per adult non-​resident, it is probably too costly for non-​residents to come here. Good thing we had those passes. You enter through a train station-​like turnstile and ticket booth and go into separate Men/​Women locker rooms. The locker room is a winding path of dressing areas, showers and toilets leading to the pool.
The park has 3 large water slides — a red slide for tubing, then two body slides — blue and white. The white slide was the fastest. Still, none are as tall as the ones in Schaumburg or Glenview.
Besides the slides, there is the water playground with 2 slides for kids, a giant bucket dumping water and other water activities all in 1-​foot deep water. Off to the side is a shady area for people relaxing. And next to that is a huge sandbox. The unusual pairing of a sandbox next to a water area explains why there’s sand in the water playground.
There’s also a colorful splash pad where kids can run around under sprayers. It was pretty unoccupied, save for the smallest kids playing there. Then there’s the big pool, which starts as a wading pool and goes down to 5′-6″ at the deep end. The deepest part of the pool is for lap swimming though.
So, why only 3 stars? Let me give a rundown of the problems I saw:
1. Rudeness seems to be the prevailing virtue at this place. Kids cut in front of others in line at the water playground slides, more than any place I’ve ever seen. Same with the big slides. They run up and barge in front of others waiting to be next.
2. On the inflated tube slides, you need a yellow inner tube or twin raft to ride on them, but there is a very limited number available. If you don’t have one, you can’t get in line even. Some people go down 6 times and hog the tubes while a crowd waits for them at the bottom of the ride. Either offer more inflated inner tubes for more people or have an orderly way to let others get their turn. Once more, rudeness prevails here again.
3. While the men’s locker room was pretty good overall, my wife was appalled with the condition in the women’s, including a dirty tampon left in a shower stall.
4. There are no family changing facilities like at other parks. I saw many dads go in with little girls to the mens locker room. This is especially awkward when the kids are not old enough to get dressed on their own but old enough to know they are in the wrong place.
5. Lifeguards can be more attentive to some of the hazards and unruly behavior of kids. A female lifeguard tripped over a plastic water bottle abandoned by the edge of the kids pool but didn’t do so much as to bend over and pick it up to prevent someone else from tripping on it.
6. The 15-​minute breaks at every hour aren’t as annoying as the ones in Niles. Kids are not allowed to be in the big pool during that time, though they can play in the water playground and splash pad areas.
While we had fun for almost 3 hours, we won’t be coming back here again unless we get gift passes again.

I wish I could give this place 3 ½ stars. I went with two other moms and four kids (3, 5, 6, and 8). The kids all thought is was totally fun, were never bored and especially enjoyed the slides, tube slide and the water spray area with the gigantic dumping bucket of water.
The layout of this place is excellent. Each area has a fence making it easy for parents to keep track of children. It is spacious and did not feel to crowded even on a 90 degree summer Saturday. There are many lifeguards.
Two problems they should fix. (1) We got there when it opened and the bathrooms were clean. They became increasingly dirty and by mid-​afternoon were truly disgusting. It did not appear anyone was monitoring or cleaning them. (2) There were not enough inner tubes for the tube slide and no system to prevent people from holding on to their tube while kids stood and waited. And waited. And waited.
I would go again but if the bathroom issue is not fixed, it would probably be the last time. It is expensive for what it is.

Best pool in the burbs. Outrageous prices though. Here’s from the website:
«Fees:
2009 Season Child (3−15yrs) Res — $ 6.50 Guest — $ 7.50 NR — $ 12 Adult (16+) Res. — $ 7.50 Guest — $ 8.50 NR — $ 14 Children 2 & under Free Resident must show valid ID. Guests must be accompanied by a resident entering the facility. All non-​Skokie residents must pay the non-​resident (NR) fee. «
Not so bad if you’re a resident, but if you don’t have proof you live in Skokie, you’re screwed so don’t bother yelling at the admissions people it’s not their fault. Also, if they find you sneaking in, or having conned the admissions people they’ll kick you out or you’ll at the least be faced with a manager.
Birthday parties and a snack area with picnic tables are available. They have a main pool, three slides (two body and one inter tube which is the most fun in my opinion…), a bucket pool in the back for kids, sand play area, toddler pool and every hour a 15 minute safety break for adult swim. Kids must exit the water. If you’re worried about safety, they have plenty of lifeguards on staff.
The pool is also available for rental after hours. It gets really crowded during the hotter months of the summer and so I recommend you get there right when they open if not a little bit before or chances are you might not get a chair, and you’ll have to deal with the rush. Makes for a fun time though!

We live by Navy Pier, but we take the kids to the Skokie Water Playground several times per season because it seems to be the closest park of this type to where we live, can’t believe Chicago doesn’t have anything like this!
Our 5 yr old loves the actual water playground itself which is a 0’0′ to about 1’6″ deep or so that has a giant bucket that dumps water on you every few minutes. They have locking gates around the water playground on all the entrances except one — young kids can still escape the water playground by going through the snack bar area, for some reason there is no locking gate leading to the snack bar and then the kids can go directly to the adult pool from there so if you have mischievous young kids that are looking for ways to run away from you, you need to keep a close eye on them.
There is also a large sandbox area where kids can dig in the sand, and a beach volleyball court.
The food at the snack bar is pretty typical for park district pools, its ok, not great, one thing that’s convenient is there is the «village creamery» ice cream parlor one block east of the water park so we’ll usually stop there after we finish up at the water park.
The water slides are great, lately it seems like the inflatable rafts that you use on the slides are getting punctured and in short supply, especially the 2 person rafts.
Its a little expensive compared to some other park district water parks, but they do have a lot to offer.

I’ve only been here with a kid who was kind of scared of everything, but I can see how this could be a nice place to spend a summer day.
The pool was big, and the kids play area seemed to be a lot of fun. I didn’t try out the water slides, but they seemed to be a hit with the kids.
I’d probably only go here if I were a resident or with a reside of Skokie. The non-​resident fees can get expensive: $ 11 for kids and $ 13 for adults, eek!

The waterpark area is a blast for kids of all ages… two slow but long slides, fountains, a big bucket, things to twist/​turn/​manipulate, lots to explore. Not always open during parent tot swim on Sat (9 – 10:30).
They also have a bigger pool for laps, a mushroom shaped fountain and a big waterslide for bigger kids (currently being renovated).
There is also a little picnic area with concession stand for breaks, which is shared with the adjacent baseball diamond/​playground area.
The exploratorium looks amazing… have not been there yet but seems promising. Seems like a great park district!

I ove cominh here in the summer with all my friends. This a great place to hang out and just have fun. They have diving boards, pools for little kids, a pool for just swimming. They have indoor and outdoor pools, but I prefer the outdoor more.

A great place to come cool off in the summer. It has slides that you go on with tubes, a climbing water playground for bigger kids, and a zero depth entry for little ones. They also have a lap pool for those who come to actually swim.