any slide better than a turbotwister slide?

[julie1218]

have been doing a lot of slide research for our remodel. my kids are 8 and 10, so i think for the slide to be used daily/weekly/ever it needs to be huge, speedy, and be as scary as possible! we have friends with the turbo twister, and my kids love that slide, as do the owners of that slide. my pool is just barely big enough for the turbo twister to be safely installed, and it's going to look pretty ridiculous (but i do not care about that as i'm doing this for the kids not for "better homes and gardens" magazine). it's also going to be kinda tight to get on the ladder which will be quite close to my privacy fence.

so, i just want to double check that the turbo twister is the best slide for my needs. i think it is after my research but just want to see what y'all think. i have looked at the g-force but do not want a spiral slide as it limits the fun for tall people, and my son at age 10 now could be too tall soon for the g force to be super duper fun for years to come.

on a side note, it seems like most owners who have their slides removed/are unhappy with their slide have a slide that is too small for older kids to use very often. anyone agree? i am hoping that the gargantuan turbo twister reduces the chance of this happening to us until the kids are much much older.

 

[VinceL]

They start installation of our pool this week. But, I have already purchased and taken delivery of a Typhoon waterslide. I was debating between the the Turbotwister and the Typhoon. Our pool will be 37' x 16' fiberglass. I thought the Turbotwister would be a bit much for a pool our size. The Typhoon is 7' tall and the Turbotwister is 8' I believe. I figured the Typhoon would be exciting enough and would match the pool better.

We have no kids now, but grandkids will be along soon. Our kids (in their 20''s) wanted me to get the Vortex. I told them I'd be happy to if they wanted pay for it.

 

[JimM01]

I have the G-Force slide and you are right about the height limitation. It's great for my girls, aged 11 and 7, but I'm 5' 8" and I have to lift up my knees in order to get down the slide. (That doesn't stop me from using the slide!) I considered the Typhoon, but I didn't have enough room on the pool deck to accommodate it.

The one thing I would recommend is a dedicated return line for the slide so you can maximize water flow. In other words, set up the valves so that all of the water from the pump can go to the slide and not to any of the other return lines. I have a pool and spa, so the pump is larger that you would typically need for just a pool. My slide is plumbed together with three other wall return lines. I can get acceptable water flow to the slide by setting the return valve from 1/2 wall and 1/2 floor to all wall, but it really makes the slide go faster if I restrict the flow to at least one of the wall returns.

 

[VinceL]

I had quite a bit of discussion about pumping water for the slide with my PB.

I didn't want the operation of the pool and/or spa to be impacted by using the waterslide. So, the waterslide will have its own pump, 2 additional drains in the pool and a return to the pool. I will have a manual valve after the pump to balance the water flow between the slide and the return.

 

[julie1218]

I have the G-Force slide and you are right about the height limitation. It's great for my girls, aged 11 and 7, but I'm 5' 8" and I have to lift up my knees in order to get down the slide. (That doesn't stop me from using the slide!) I considered the Typhoon, but I didn't have enough room on the pool deck to accommodate it.

The one thing I would recommend is a dedicated return line for the slide so you can maximize water flow. In other words, set up the valves so that all of the water from the pump can go to the slide and not to any of the other return lines. I have a pool and spa, so the pump is larger that you would typically need for just a pool. My slide is plumbed together with three other wall return lines. I can get acceptable water flow to the slide by setting the return valve from 1/2 wall and 1/2 floor to all wall, but it really makes the slide go faster if I restrict the flow to at least one of the wall returns.

so, when you lift up your knees and go down the slide, is it big fun? if your kids were so tall that they had to lift up their knees too do you think they'd still like the g force?

 

[kenandshari]

We have the Interfab Wild Ride and it is really fast and fun for both kids and adults. I think the fact that it only curves about 90 degrees has a lot to do with the speed. Also, this thing will flow a lot of water which really seems to help the speed. We also looked at several slides that change direction and spiral, but as JimM01 stated about pulling the knees in, we thought that adults and bigger kids may not fit very well into some of these designs. We did a DIY installation on ours. It was a lot of work over 2 days as we had to water auger a path under concrete for the water pipe, but no part of it was really all that complicated. We ordered it from an eBay pool supply vendor and installed it over a weekend in July 2011. We've been happy with it so far.

Also, jimm01 is right about the pump set up. We have our slide set so it can bleed all the water it can handle from the pump. It is plumbed in between the pump and the filter using a T fitting in the pipe and a valve off of the fitting. If your pump is strong enough it should still handle the slide and filtration. Our VS 3050 runs solar, slide, and 4 deck jets simultaneously with no real issues at about 3000 rpm. Of course we don't always have all of those things going at once, but I'd say that once or three days a week when the pool is full of kids they will turn on the jets and slide. Just allow a twist valve at the point where you pull water for the slide in addition to the valve at the slide you use to turn the slide off and on with. The slide also works great for aeration.

 

[julie1218]

We have the Interfab Wild Ride and it is really fast and fun for both kids and adults. We also looked at several slides that change direction and spiral, but as JimM01 stated about pulling the knees in, we thought that adults and bigger kids may not fit very well into some of these designs. We did a DIY installation on ours. It was a lot of work over 2 days as we had to water auger a path under concrete for the water pipe, but no part of it was really all that complicated. Wish you the best in your choice.

Also, jimm01 is right about the pump set up. We have our slide set so it can bleed all the water it can handle from the pump. It is plumbed in between the pump and the filter using a T fitting in the pipe and a valve off of the fitting. If your pump is strong enough it should still handle the slide and filtration. Our VS 3050 runs solar, slide, and 4 deck jets simultaneously with no real issues at about 3000 rpm. Of course we don't always have all of those things going at once, but I'd say that once or three days a week when the pool is full of kids they will turn on the jets and slide. Just allow a twist valve at the point where you pull water for the slide in addition to the valve at the slide you use to turn it off and on with. The slide also works great for aeration.

what ages are your kids and friends who are enjoying the wild ride? the wild ride and typhoon were two of my back up choices, so i'm really glad you posted. that's good to hear that you are enjoying the wild ride!

 

[kenandshari]

We have kids ages 5, 8, & 10 plus their friends. We've had pretty much all ages use it. Teenagers, boys and girls, parents, and even some grand parents have all been down it. I'm 6" tall and 220 and can slide on it just fine. Our youngest was riding it at age 4. During our research we wanted something that everyone could enjoy. It has been there a year now and it still continues to get a lot of use. We placed ours so that you land in the deep end of the pool. Like I said, it is only a year old, but we're happy with it. It feels sturdy enough to last a long time and we like the way it sits you in it with high curved sides like a commercial water slide. Also, the enclosed steps seem safer for kids. We got the white one and it cleans easily with soft scrub and sponge or the pressure washer. I will say that we had to ban kids from using flippers on the slide as they were leaving black marks and we quickly got tired of cleaning those off.

One other thing we really didn't consider before our purchase, but it just worked out good for us was the walk under height for our slide. It has about 75" of clearance (SWAG, not an actual measurement) so that I can and often do walk under the ladder when moving about on the pool deck. The TT is about a foot taller and a little longer than the WR slide so it would probably be the faster of the two. One other thing to consider in placement is that people will not hit bottom or slam into the opposite side of the pool wall when sliding. Some will want to slide head first on their back as our 8 year old loves to do. Its all good as long as they only hit water. Hope this info helps in your choice no matter which one you choose.

 

[JimM01]

I have the G-Force slide and you are right about the height limitation. It's great for my girls, aged 11 and 7, but I'm 5' 8" and I have to lift up my knees in order to get down the slide. (That doesn't stop me from using the slide!) I considered the Typhoon, but I didn't have enough room on the pool deck to accommodate it.

The one thing I would recommend is a dedicated return line for the slide so you can maximize water flow. In other words, set up the valves so that all of the water from the pump can go to the slide and not to any of the other return lines. I have a pool and spa, so the pump is larger that you would typically need for just a pool. My slide is plumbed together with three other wall return lines. I can get acceptable water flow to the slide by setting the return valve from 1/2 wall and 1/2 floor to all wall, but it really makes the slide go faster if I restrict the flow to at least one of the wall returns.

so, when you lift up your knees and go down the slide, is it big fun? if your kids were so tall that they had to lift up their knees too do you think they'd still like the g force?

Even though I have to lift up my knees, I still have a lot of fun with the G-Force slide. It's been four years now and the novelty has not worn off. I'm guessing that my kids will continue to use the slide as they get older. If not, then there will be more room for me!

 

[julie1218]

We have kids ages 5, 8, & 10 plus their friends. We've had pretty much all ages use it. Teenagers, boys and girls, parents, and even some grand parents have all been down it. I'm 6" tall and 220 and can slide on it just fine. Our youngest was riding it at age 4. During our research we wanted something that everyone could enjoy. It has been there a year now and it still continues to get a lot of use. We placed ours so that you land in the deep end of the pool. Like I said, it is only a year old, but we're happy with it. It feels sturdy enough to last a long time and we like the way it sits you in it with high curved sides like a commercial water slide. Also, the enclosed steps seem safer for kids. We got the white one and it cleans easily with soft scrub and sponge or the pressure washer. I will say that we had to ban kids from using flippers on the slide as they were leaving black marks and we quickly got tired of cleaning those off.

One other thing we really didn't consider before our purchase, but it just worked out good for us was the walk under height for our slide. It has about 75" of clearance (SWAG, not an actual measurement) so that I can and often do walk under the ladder when moving about on the pool deck. The TT is about a foot taller and a little longer than the WR slide so it would probably be the faster of the two. One other thing to consider in placement is that people will not hit bottom or slam into the opposite side of the pool wall when sliding. Some will want to slide head first on their back as our 8 year old loves to do. Its all good as long as they only hit water. Hope this info helps in your choice no matter which one you choose.

good to know you are walking underneath your wild ride. after we get this slide in (wr or tt), they only way to get to my back yard may be to walk under it! oh well. who needs a backyard when you have a slide? i think if tt doesn't fit, we will go with wr. i think the spirals on the g force might prevent some basketball-type stunts that i'm sure they'll want to do on the slide (make a basket while going down, etc.). this has been really helpful. i feel better about my 2nd choice, wild ride, now!