Steve Miklos Aquatic Center — Attraction in Folsom

On July 1st, 2023, my family and I visited the Steve Milkos Aquatic Center to celebrate my five-year-old autistic nephew's birthday. However, our fun day turned into a traumatic experience when another guest accused us of stealing their property and hiding it with our belongings. Despite providing an alibi and no evidence being found, the staff refused to listen to us and called the police to escort us out of the park. This was an embarrassing and humiliating experience for us, especially since we were there to celebrate a special occasion. We had to tell our kids their time was cut short due to being kicked out. My nephew who was enjoying himself left crying and unable to be comforted because he said it was his birthday and did not understand why we had to leave.

We tried to explain that we were innocent, and even had at least one person in our group with our belongings at all times, except for the last 20 minutes when we were all together at the diving boards. However, the staff's unprofessionalism and lack of empathy only made the situation worse. They seemed incapable of handling the situation, and their refusal to listen to us left us feeling upset and distressed. They called the police to escort us out of the park before we had even found out that we were being accused of anything. This was an embarrassing and humiliating experience for us, as we were forced to leave the park under false pretenses and in front of all the other visitors.

We believe that our experience highlights a larger issue with the business and its staff. It is clear that they lack the necessary training and professionalism to deal with sensitive situations like this.

The accusing guest continued to change their story about the accusation, further exacerbating the situation and causing even more distress for us. Despite finding out that it was possible that her son moved their belongings without her knowledge, the recreation coordinator, Scott Seeba, did nothing and continued to comfort the other party.

When we asked Scott Seeba why the accusing guest was not being asked to leave with her children since we were falsely accused, he stated that it would not happen and asked "why she should be asked to leave." We told him it was only fair since the situation started with her falsely accusing us. He stated that it was beside the point and that she would not be asked to leave, and that he would handle it separately after we left. He told my sister we were no longer welcome back to the park.

This was not the only situation of the day for us. Shortly after we arrived, a teenage boy whom we did not know came over and dunked my nephew's face in the water and when my nephew popped up, he slapped him across the face. When my sister confronted the teenager, the lifeguard who witnessed the situation apologized and stated he was a regular in the park that had done this once before and that he has autism. My sister explained her son also has autism and asked that the lifeguard walk the boy to his parents who were not around and tell them what happened. The lifeguard walked the teenager to his parents, but nobody checked on us afterward, nor was the teenager and his family escorted out of the park by police or asked to leave. We were not even offered an apology.

Overall, we hope that sharing our story can help others avoid similar experiences with this business's practices and treatment of customers. Our experience was deeply traumatic and has left a lasting negative impression on us. We urge the staff at Steve Milkos Aquatic Center to take our concerns seriously and make the necessary changes to ensure that no one else has to go through...

PARENTS BE AWARE OF THEIR RULE THAT KIDS OVER 4 MUST USE THEIR PHYSICAL GENDER BATHROOM. MOMS CANNOT BRING KINDERGARTEN SONS INTO THE FEMALE RESTROOM SAME WITH DADS WITH DAUGHTERS. UPDATE 2: they started using signs, put someone at the entrance, and closed the emergency exit to lessen the chaos. BUT swim lessons can often start late but they always stop on time, so that means less time for the lessons, besides the day that got canceled and was not rescheduled. I'd honestly rather my kid get the 8 lessons than get a refund (which I will believe when I see it). The swim classes are really fun for the kids, but with the late starts and the instructors having to rotate through each student, it seemed to me that these lessons would be better suited as refreshers for kids that know how to swim OR baby's first pool/swimming lessons to get comfortable in the water. UPDATED: Started my little one with swim lessons here. It is so disorganized, there are no signs to designate where people are to go, the employees tell you conflicting info constantly and absolutely NONE of them would approach me or even look at me as I stood there lost with my 5 year old. There was NO ONE at the welcome kiosk, people were entering and exitting through the emergency exits, again there were no signs, and the only employees with uniforms were in the water. I would not reccomend this to parents for swim lessons unless you have been there previously as they tell you to not arrive more than ten minutes early, and it will take you more than that to find a parking space and then find where to go. Unless you're going here with someone who already knows the place, don't expect to be...

My younger child was denied access to the diving board because they were wearing goggles, even though they can only swim with them. The inflatable obstacles were only accessible one at a time, resulting in long, boring queues and no fun for the kids. My younger kid was completely barred from these due to his need for goggles. Another inflatable slide was not being watered, causing kids to burn their bottoms and backs trying to slide down. Neither of my children were allowed on the only slide due to their height, even if accompanied by an adult. It seems like unless you're of the 'perfect' height, you're out of luck. "No running, no running" to everyone creates a stifling atmosphere, like prison. The staff were more interested in performing a ritualistic search for non-existent drowning victims than ensuring actual safety. Watching them obsessively scan empty pools waving there heads for minutes on end was both comical and disheartening. If you shake your head like them for 5 minutes, you'll vomit. The obsession with perceived safety has ruined what should be a fun and enjoyable experience for children....