Swing-N-Slide WS 5033 Olympus Wave Slide Plastic Slide for 5' Decks, Green

So you're contemplating the Swing-N-Slide Olympus Wave Slide, huh? Buckle up, because this slide is a joyride of fun—once it's set up. Don't get me wrong, the assembly process is like playing a 3D puzzle, but if you've got a bit of DIY spirit, this slide can be the crown jewel of your backyard playset. First off, let's talk material. The slide is made of heavy-duty plastic. No flimsy stuff here; this slide has some weight to it and feels durable, like it's gonna withstand a throng of eager kids for many seasons to come. Now, about that assembly. You might hear some folks saying the holes don't line up, and I won't sugarcoat it—it's not a plug-and-play kind of deal. But here's the inside scoop: finger-tighten those bolts and get ready to wrestle with this slide like you're in a chess match. The slide's thermo-injected plastic might deform a tad during shipping, but with a little finesse and patience, everything aligns. You won't need to go all MacGyver and drill new holes if you use your wits and, yes, a large screwdriver for those last two bolts. Finally, a pro-tip. Don't be a hero and try to wing it; follow the instructions. And when you find yourself ready to chuck a bolt across the yard, take a deep breath and remember: it's all in the name of fun (and saving yourself from a meltdown). So, do I recommend the Swing-N-Slide Olympus Wave Slide? Absolutely. Yes, it's a labor of love to set up, but once it's up, it's up and your kids (and maybe you, no judgement here) will have a blast.

We were surprised the slide was very sturdy since it is on the cheaper side. It came in 2 different pieces. The only complaint we had was that the holes were not drilled to line up with the metal bracket. My husband had to drill new holes through the plastic so the bolts would line up and go through both pieces of the slide and the bracket. The cheap price made up for the little bit of extra work.

I purchased despise of two bad reviews, since blue one and yellow ones had great reviews. The playset I built for kids is mostly green, so I wanted the green one. This review is consist of two part. 1. How to align the holes and 2. Why I chose two-piece slide instead of one-piece slide. It is challenging to align the holes, but it can be done (well, at least mine didn't require drilling). I wrote down what I observed, and I hope it will help you. Please note that, the product is designed with the sliding side up. So, if you try to assemble two pieces together with the sliding side down, it will be challenging. Be aware of that, and the first step, is like manual recommend, place the center bolt and LOOSELY tighten the nut. (You can do this step with sliding side down) If you tighten it too much, it will be difficult to align the rest of holes. Second one and third one will be difficult, and what I did was to loosely tighten those two with the slide on its side (see photo). You will have to wiggle the bolt, but you shouldn't have to re-drill the hole. Once you place the three bolt, I recommend you loosely mount the slide with sliding side up to your playset. By doing this, the alignment become similar to what it was designed for. Still, as you see in one of the pictures, the red arrow indicates tight fit, whereas white arrow indicates very loose fit. This is because the center of the slide sag a lot more than the side of the slide (or so I presumed). When I attempted to install the bolt #4, there was a gap between the metal piece and the plastic (see photos), so I had to hammer the metal piece in a bit to close the gap. Gently pushing the metal plate in did not damage or even scratch the plastic piece. It also helped me to place and tighten the #8 an #9 bolts in order to close that gap, then I tighten the bolt #4 and #5. The rest of the bolts were easy to install since every holes are aligned by that time. Now, burying 17" stake into ground by 15" is a lot of work, especially if the ground is hard. Make sure to use treated lumber (2" x 4" x 8' is available for $4-5 at Home Depot or Lowe's.) The second part of this review is the comparison between one piece slide and a slide made of two piece. One piece slide is extremely easy to assemble, but much more difficult to manufacture (you need a larger molding machine) and transport (expensive and more easily get damaged). Two-piece slide is an engineering solution for an economic problem. Two-piece slide can be very well more durable than one piece slide, because how shear stress and bending moments are distributed. Because it requires mush smaller molding machine, the manufacture can make it much cheaper. Also, it is far easier to transport, and less chance to get damaged during shipping. But the end-user must assemble it, and it is not that easy to assemble. In my opinion, two-piece slide is just fine. Just to be sure, I tested a few times on my own, and it worked just fine.

After some minor adjustments the slide is fine. The holes where the two pieces connect were all off so I had to drill new holes. Also, the fact that this slide costs $200 and does not come with the 4 small screws you need to attach it to your platform is ridiculous. 1 star because I paid $200 for this and still had to do custom work to make it usable and had to go get FOUR screws.

The holes where it is screwed together we're misaligned a little but it went together okay and is really strong/rigid and doesn't bend in the middle.

Excellent quality and easy to put together and install. You may need two people when putting it together.

3 stars because my kid loves it. I can tell you the assembly of this was pretty bad, largely because the holes are not drilled properly. People are saying "be patient" and "it changes shape in shipping". I can tell you mine was simply drilled incorrectly. 2 holes weren't even drilled they were only dimpled, and 2 more were not even remotely close to where they needed to be. I just got all the bolts in there I could and drilled those 4 myself. This was not a case of plastic changing shape...the thing looks great assembled. They simply have a quality control issue with the holes.

Easy to put together and install. They don't give you any fasteners so I suggest going and investing in "installation screws" at your local big box hardware store. They are flat, Allen screws with a big washer head which are smooth for your little one to slide over.