Altoona Aquatics Park — Attraction in Altoona

Great swimming pool for young kids! Zero entry/shallow for most of the pool. They have one lap lane for anyone wanting to swim laps. Two large slides (one fast with a dark tunnel and waterfall over the opening) the other slide is open and much slower, kids must meet the height requirement to go down them. For toddlers there is a small double slide, mushroom, dump buckets, water fountains and animal figures that squirt water. There is a concession stand with treats to purchase. For the older, braver kids there is a diving board and slide that goes into super deep water, must also be tall enough to do those. Lifeguards seem to do an awesome job keeping folks safe and following the rules. There have been a few "rescues" while we have been there. Seeing them respond quickly to situations is reassuring, most of the incidents have been in the deep dive pool.

If large crowds bug you and you see multiple buses in the parking lot, think twice. It sure gets crowded when there are large groups of kids. I wish they would post on their website when they have large groups or day camps coming so we could plan around them. I'm sure the day camp counselors do their best, but it can get a little wild when there are so many kids and not so many adults. Lifeguards sure have their work cut out for them on those days!

We've been there a few times where there have been themed weeks which makes it extra fun for the kids. One time, we even got a picture with spiderman!

Overall, I would...

My family came here back in July and had an amazing experience. Today, it was completely different. The staff are rude and on a power trip, blowing the whistle for every little thing my kids did. My daughter was so distraught because they continually blew their whistle for dumb reasons, especially when other kids were acting/doing the same thing. My daughter was allowed to go down the bigger slides numerous times… until a life guard change. Then she was denied because she is exactly 48 inches tall. The facility is nice, it’s a shame the life guards are so aggressive and targeting of specific children. They blew their whistle for my son walking to fast, and standing over the water sprinkler, and the animals, the bumble bee, there’s so sign saying you can’t sit on it, my son got the whistle blown at him while other kids did the same thing, yet the life guards didn’t say anything to them. It’s a shame that it has to be like this, we would have continued coming back, but after my daughter left with tears in her eyes because the life guards continually yelled her, we will find...

This place hasn't changed a bit since I was a teenager. What was reassuring is when there was any kind of emergency, a child falling on the concrete, something floating in the water, unlocated child, ALL lifeguards jump into action to assist and make sure whoever or whatever is taken care of as fast as possible. If there is an emergency, the paramedics are less than a block away. They don't do pool checks every hour so there's no out of the pool for 10-15 min and explaining to your kids why there's a perfectly good pool sitting empty waiting to be played in while the lifeguards just stare back at you. The lifeguards make the smaller kids do a swim test to prove they can swim in the deeper ends, and the truly deep end (10ft) where the drop slide and...