Queen Creek Recreation & Aquatic Center — Local services in Queen Creek

From 2020 to 2024 my husband and I owned property in queen creek town limits (meridian neighborhood to be exact). We paid property taxes and water bills. Less than a year ago we moved outside the town lines due to financial hardship. We didn’t want to move too far outside in hopes to still stay involved in the Queen creek community and to be close to this facility we knew was coming. We had no idea we would be excluded from something our tax dollars helped to build.

When we found out that non residents were excluded from just the aquatic center I was in shock it’s been so hard to explain to our kids and friends we love why we can’t join them at this facility honestly I would love to support with my funds. A few thoughts I have

First… If you don’t want San tan valley residents to access this facility it should be PRIVATE not PUBLIC.

Second… don’t make it accessible to non residents for everything else except for the fun water slides that kids see and obviously want to experience when they come up to the facility for basketball or to play at a public park.

Third… yes we can access the facilities as guests of a queen creek resident but can you really? Today I found out even if I went with one of my friends and their family only 2 of the 5 of us in our family would be allowed to enter as a non resident guest. I have 3 kiddos so one of them would always be missing out even if I didn’t go with them.

So I guess Chandler aquatic center will be getting my business this summer and I will have to spend my money there. I do hope that this decision to exclude non residents gets changed. It’s causing more division than it’s worth. The people who live around here are amazing and this has the potential to divide when we don’t need more to be...

I took a tour last month, feeling excited and ready to check out the place, but left disappointed and frustrated. It started off well – we were greeted with a smile and a wave, and everything seemed positive. Our guide was helpful, but it became clear that they were a bit power-hungry. For example, a kid walked up to ask a question, and the guide dismissed him rudely with a "shoo" and a wave of the hand. That felt off, but we brushed it off and continued.

The place itself was really cool, and we got to explore all the rooms. However, when we asked about pricing, age restrictions, and other details, things started to get frustrating. While the pricing was expensive, that wasn’t the issue. What really bothered us were the strict age restrictions. Basically, if you're 13, you can’t be there without an adult in sight; if you're 10, they have to be within arms reach. To me, it didn’t make sense – I can drive myself there, but I can’t enter without a legal adult present?

We were still willing to give it a shot, so we went back the next week. The same guy greeted us, and we bought day passes. About an hour later, while playing basketball, the ball bounced near someone. We quickly apologized, and they were totally fine. A minute later, a staff member came up and told us to "watch how we play," warning us we’d be asked to leave if we kept playing recklessly. We thought he was joking at first, but no – he was serious and mad. Needless to say, we left feeling upset and disrespected.

If you're under 18, or if you don’t like power-tripping employees who treat you like you’re beneath them, I would not...

I am concerned that I went to the facility to present grants received from Our Military Kid, a 20 year veteran organization as a part of the Month of the Military Child. I was advised there is a payment for each child. I was turned away at the front desk because per the website it shows that the address and subsidiary the organization should write the grant commitment check to should be the center. In addition to being told that was not an option, I then was advised to make an appointment with the director to even have this considered In context, my children could have easily had these funds applied to the Triangle Y Ranch camp ( A YMCA branch for overnight camp in Tucson). which has already given them a free week of overnight camp. This would have covered two additional weeks of fun. However, I thought it better to invest funds where I live. The funds can not be reissued per the strict guidelines of the OMK organization at application process and their website. What a disappointment. Another fine example of "Thank You For Your Service" !

Update had a call from the senior leaders and a a suggestive work around was to purchase individuals verses a family plan costing us an additional $100 going in their pocket. Wow so no one in finance can deposit check after cleared apply it to a...