Review: Intex Ocean Play Center

Sometimes a simple water table just won't do, especially when the temperature begins to hover around 90 degrees (F). I want my DS to be able to play outside and stay cool. So we got him what I generically refer to as a kiddie pool.

More specifically, we bought an Intex Ocean Play Center inflatable pool. It retails on Amazon for about $37. It just arrived this morning, so this afternoon we whipped it out and had some good old fashion backyard fun.

"Forget the pool, look at my bulging bicep!"

Assembly

It's a blow-up toy. If you can't figure it out, then you probably shouldn't be having kids. I'd use an electric air pump on this thing or you'll collapse one of your lungs trying to blow it up by mouth.

It also comes with some blow-up toys, which I used a small hand pump with relative ease.

Durability

It feels cheap. There's no real 'bottom' to the pool which makes it flimsy. This also means that unless you place it on a very level surface, the water will collect in the lower parts.




And if you have a windy day (like the Chicago-area is notorious for), make sure you either have the pool filled with water or have some other way of holding it down. Because of the flimsiness, it catches the wind like a sailboat.

I'm not expecting much out of this pool as far as durability goes. I'll be happy if this thing lasts the entire summer.

Playing Fun

I should start off by saying we didn't fill the pool up all the way. My son didn't quite know what to make of this pool. He sloshed around a little at first, though not much.

On a side note, water coming out of a garden hose is very cold. I'd fill it up an hour or two before your child's going to play in it and let the sun beat down on the water for a while to warm it up.

The pool has a feature where you can attach a hose to it and it sprays water up along the sides. No matter how you adjust the garden hose water pressure, it's either spraying ten feet into the air or not spraying at all. When I first turned it on, my son started crying.

Once he figured everything out I think he had a pretty fun time. We put sandals on him because the bottom gets very slippery.

While he played I pumped up the additional toys that come with it (you can see them in the back of the pool). He liked those a lot. Just be careful if there's wind because they have a bad habit of blowing away.

There's also a little pool in one corner where they can climb up onto a little slide. The bad thing is there's really nothing to help the kid get up on the slide, which is made worse by the wet plastic (or whatever it's made out of) being very slippery. You're going to have to put your kid on the slide yourself.

My son didn't really venture into this part of the pool until we put him there. He tried to climb up the slide a few times with no luck. Yeah the slide looks cool but it's not as exciting as you'd think.

Pump Up The Jam!

This is the air pump I used to blow up the little toys that came with the pool. Why is it pictured here, immersed in water? Because my son played with it more than anything else. He figured out if you suck water into the pump, you can spray it out all over your parents.

One thing about toddlers that always amazes me is they love to play with the most mundane objects. It takes so little to make them happy. There's probably a lesson in there somewhere for us adults.

To make things a little more exciting, we did something that no parent should ever do:

This is a lawsuit waiting to happen.

We placed our little plastic slide inside the pool - combining two toys to make one super, awesome fun toy.

My son loved this. He loves his slide anyway. When he slid down into the water, he was in watery-slide heaven. He liked this much more than he like the slide that is attached to the pool. The other great thing is that this slide has steps going up to it, which the pool slide lacks.

Verdict


Meh! I'm neutral on this one. I think this pool is a little overpriced, especially given the "cheapness" of it. On the other hand, it is a pool of water, and most kids could care less how much it costs. They just like to get wet.

If you're in the market for a good kiddie pool, I'd shell out some more money and get a better one. Some of the fancier pools are upwards of $100 or more.

I think what makes this pool seem so flimsy and cheap is the low sides. It's not very deep. That's probably a good thing, especially for toddlers. Though if the sides were a little taller I might have better things to say.

If you also have this pool, let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Safety Note: Regardless of how deep a pool is ALWAYS stay with your child while they are playing in any pool. It doesn't take much for a toddler to drown. Sadly, it happens all too often.