Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Original poster

Waterpark holiday & DS' friend can't swim

166 replies

LittleMissSandy · 14/07/2016 10:15

DS(10) is an only child and so for our holiday this year we invited a friend of his to come along at our own expense.

We're going to an all inclusive water park in Spain, great slides, lots of water etc so I just naturally assumed that the friend could swim, until this morning at the gates when friend's Mum asked if he'd be able to wear arm bands on the water slides

I was so taken aback, I said I wasn't sure & that I would double check. Their doesn't actually seem to be anything about it on the website, does anyone know if children can wear arm bands on large water slides? Their are lots of small rides that I'm sure they could go on but the whole point of inviting a friend was so that they could spend the days together and go on all the rides.

We leave on Saturday, so far too late to do anything now.

OP posts:

MyBootsAreMuddy · 14/07/2016 13:29

If you scroll to the very bottom of their website and click on the bit that says 'resort regulations' then scroll down that to the 4th page there is a bit under section lll. 'In Portadventura caribe Aquatic park' that tells you that non swimmers are allowed floatation aids but nothe their own. You have to hire the parks own approved ones.

opensideno7 · 14/07/2016 13:30

Poor child wearing armbands at Ten

You will probably find he is swimming like a fish by the end of the week.

BluePitchFork · 14/07/2016 13:32

do the water park offer swimming/water confidence lessons?
if so maybe book a session for when you arrive.

Goingtobeawesome · 14/07/2016 13:33

I think the guest mum has been really unfair.

Your holiday is going to be different now if you planned to send your son off and see him for food later.

PhoenixReisling · 14/07/2016 13:44

So you have gone to the expense of paying for their child to go on holiday and they fail to tell you that their son cannot swim........

She may not have mentioned it, because her son really wanted to go; however, just because he really wanted to go, does not excuse her telling you today that he can't swimthree days before you leave, meaning you cannot change or cancel him going and also putting you in a position, where you will have the added stress (when you should have been having a relaxing and fun holiday).

What are you going to do OP?

You really need to have a frank conversation with her

toomuchinternets · 14/07/2016 13:47

SO nice of you to take a friend for him. :)

SO shitty of the mum! Puts pressure on you, defeats the whole purpose of taking a friend if you have to watch them all the time. Also surely she's going to be worried sick knowing her child who can't swim is at a waterpark in another country for a week!

Goingtobeawesome · 14/07/2016 13:51

Tbh I would cancel the offer if it is going to change the holiday so much that you can't enjoy it and get full satisfaction. Let his mother deal with the fall out. You've done nothing wrong.

BitOutOfPractice · 14/07/2016 13:53

KoalaDownUnder while I agree that you do sometimes go underwater at the end of a slide, there are no pools at the bottom of any Port Aventura slide where you have to swim out. In every case you can stand up and walk. And yes, I do know this from personal experience.

OP what an awful situation!

However, Port Aventura has flotation life vest things for hire that lots of kids wear.

I think you 'd need to be careful round the lazy river and wave pools though

Good luck. What a shame this is taking the shine off for you

BarbaraofSeville · 14/07/2016 14:02

As long as he is confident in the water and doesn't panic when he flies off the end of a slide I don't see the fact that he can't swim to be a problem.

All of those that a 10 YO would be allowed on go into 2/3 feet of water at most so as others have said, you just walk out - if you were planning to let your DS go off and do this by himself, his friend will be fine too.

There isn't really a lot of swimming going on at waterparks unless you want to start doing lengths of the deep end of the wave pool. Most of it is spent queing for and riding the slides.

You don't need to watch over him all the time you are there. That's what the lifeguards are for, probably with CCTV too.

Tallulahoola · 14/07/2016 14:07

Don't withdraw the invitation like some people here are suggesting. Think how upset he would be!

I couldn't really swim at that age, by which I mean I couldn't swim the length of a pool. I had swimming lessons which I absolutely hated, and just couldn't get the hang of it. But I knew how to tread water and would have been fine on a water slide. I think this boy will be naturally cautious if he's not confident so will sit out the real thrillseeker rides. Is your son sensible? I would worry if you were taking a group of boys who were all egging each other on but just two shouldn't have that dynamic.

I would do three things:

Ring the mum to get a proper idea of his ability

On the first day of the holiday, get in the pool with them and (under the guise of playing) assess his ability for yourself.

Hire a floatation vest from the water park for peace of mind.

Like I say, I was a hopeless swimmer during lessons. My parents also never took me on holiday to places with pools. But when I finally went on that sort of holiday when I was a teenager and had the time to get comfortable in the water in a nice pool without a horrible swim teacher, or feeling that the other kids in the lesson were laughing at me, I realised I actually could swim. I'd just needed to relax and not feel under pressure.

Orangetoffee · 14/07/2016 14:10

Now I have seen the park, I wouldn't have a problem with letting them both go off independently, other boy will be fine with vest.

I would tell the parents that arm bands are not allowed and he will need to hire a vest, so please give him the money for that.

Original poster

LittleMissSandy · 14/07/2016 14:17

I've managed to get the Mum on the phone and learn a bit more. She said she meant he's not a great swimmer, he can't swim 25m but he's knows how to doggy paddle and is water confident, she's sure he'll be fine on any ride and won't need supervision, but wanted a flotation aid to be extra safe.

I'm not happy with it, but I've decided to still take him but to just never invite him for things like this again. I've told her we have to hire out life jackets when we get there as we can't bring our own & she insisted on paying for it, which is the least she could do.

DH has said he'll stick with them on the first day, figure out how strong a swimmer he is and if their are any unsuitable rides, hopefully this will all work out.

OP posts:

KoalaDownUnder · 14/07/2016 14:26

Sounds like a fair compromise, under the circumstances.

You are a nicer person than I - I still think she's been a knob!

MissMoo22 · 14/07/2016 15:03

To be fair, the waterpark at PortAventura isn't exactly massive. They also have plenty of lifeguards on duty and some of the more interesting rides for 10 year olds are the dingy ones which you don't even enter the water on. If he is wearing the jacket provided then I wouldn't be too worried. The waterpark isn't somewhere I would want to spend more than a day or so in either but some people love it.

When we went there last my boys were 12 and 8 and not great swimmers. They were never without their Dad but they didn't seem to have any problems with any of the pools. I think common sense should be used, if it ends in a deep pool then don't go down that slide, if it ends in a shallow pool or you use dingys then work away.

The water park is only a small part of the theme park (if you aren't familiar with it) so I wouldn't think it would impact the rest of the holiday at the park.

itsmine · 14/07/2016 15:17

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Scarydinosaurs · 14/07/2016 15:25

I really hope it all goes a lot better than you anticipate. Fingers crossed he is actually a lot more confident than his mum thinks.

arethereanyleftatall · 14/07/2016 18:40

It might just be that his mum is having done last minute nerves and is exaggerating how bad he is to make sure you keep an eye on him.

I know I would be desperately worried if my ten year old was going on holiday with another family.

Aeroflotgirl · 14/07/2016 18:49

That is good, it sounds as though he will be ok, mum is probably being very pfb, I really don't know many 10 year olds who will wear arm bands.

Schmoozer · 14/07/2016 19:09

Can't wear flotation things and non swimmers not allowed on water rides at centreparcs, what a stoopid mother !!!!!!! She should have said MUCH sooner

pleasemothermay1 · 14/07/2016 20:16

Don't do it I did this my sons birthday he invited two friends one who can't swim and it lead to no end or arguments my son didn't want to sit in the shallow end and they buggered of to the wave machine end and the other boy was left of his own most of the day

I eneded up most of the day moaning at my son for. Leaving his friend and him sulking because he didn't want to sit in the shallow end and baby sit

Also if I had known the boy couldn't swim I would have said no for safety to its a lot watching and making sure a child who can swim is ok let alone a child who can't

whois · 14/07/2016 20:19

WTF? What kind of dip shit accepts a WATER PARK holiday for their non-swimming child and doesn't say anything at the time? Idiot.

Natsku · 14/07/2016 20:46

Waterslides should be fine for a non-swimmer, they end in shallow water and he can wear the hire flotation vest in the wave pool and lazy river if that makes him feel safer (though it sounds like he has enough swimming ability to manage anyway). Hope you all have a lovely time - jealous! We went on a waterpark holiday earlier this year but outside pools and slides in Finland are too bloody cold if its not late July or August so we didn't spend much time there!

BitOutOfPractice · 14/07/2016 20:56

Can't wear flotation things and non swimmers not allowed on water rides at centreparcs, what a stoopid mother !!!!!!! She should have said MUCH sooner

Have you RTFT?

To start with, they are not going to CP. And the park involved hire out flotation aids that can be worn on the rides

Original poster

LittleMissSandy · 14/07/2016 21:12

I'm not happy at all, but DH & I have decided to let the friend go, this has been planned for weeks & I don't have it in me to say no at the last minute.

DS has said that he thinks friend was put in to the medium group for school swim lessons, so he does have some swimming ability. I just don't understand why she didn't think it was worth mentioning back in April, this is just added stress and she's also posted 'DS friend's name is so excited for his trip*' on Facebook with me tagged in it 😓😓😓 so I think she knows from our conversation that I was considering not taking him

OP posts:

Original poster

LittleMissSandy · 14/07/2016 21:13

I have learnt that for anything like this in the future to ask any and all questions, so this never happens again.

OP posts:

Flip

1 2 3 4 5 6 7