Just-reopened Belle Isle slide closes after riders bounce down it

Detroit — The historic giant slide that reopened Friday on Detroit's Belle Isle closed early on its first day back after people were seen bouncing on it while coming down too fast, officials said.

The slide's surface will be retouched with wax to slow down riders, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

"For this evening, we're giving it a little scrub down, and we will be back open at 11 tomorrow," said Joel Thomas, Belle Isle supervisor for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.

Saturday evening, DNR parks and recreation ranger Todd Schultz said the slide had been open during the day and there had been no injuries. They periodically wet the surface of the slide to slow riders down.

About 400 people rode down the slide on Friday.

"People were out there just having a ball today and it was really fun to watch," Thomas said.

When Kasey Chapple, 9, of Warren, caught her on the slide on Friday she thought: “Oh my God, I want to go down so bad.”

She went down and then: “Boom! Bounce. Bounce.”

Kasey would go down again, she said, but not on Friday. Maybe the next day.

The slide was “scary” to Donovan Harrison, 12, of Roseville. The wind made it “very shaky,” startling Harrison, who’s afraid of heights.

“It was fun, but I almost flew off the thing,” he said.

Max Maybee, 11, of Pleasant Ridge “got a bunch of air time on one of the jumps in the middle,” he said.

“Like I was flying through the slide and I came down like crazy.”

Max was there Friday with his mom, Nikki Maybee, who said the slide is “one of the best things to do” as a kid.

“It was terrorizing … and fun all at the same time," she said. "It’s just awesome to see the slide back open for another generation to enjoy. We love it. What a beautiful day out here on Belle Isle.”

The slide was closed in 2020 and 2021 during the pandemic. 

"Now that some things for the public are being reopened and we got all the approval ... we decided to go ahead and run it," Thomas added. "Our plan is to run it through Labor Day weekend and hopefully every year after that."

The six-lane slide will continue to operate from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through Labor Day.

The cost is $1 per slide.

It first opened in 1967 and had 1,400 sliders during its first two weekends.

Belle Isle representatives said this is a partnership with the park's Summer Youth Employment Program to expose kids to parks and natural environments through its work cohort, in hope that participants consider natural-resource based careers in the future.

Detroit News Staff Writers Myesha Johnson and Robin Buckson contributed.