There's a lot to like about Centennial. It's an okay pool. It has three different water spaces. One is a pool with a couple water slides, and there's another large pool that's much more calm. Then there's the wading pool, which is nice. I didn't realize at first which was the wading pool and I thought that the pool with the slides was it--I was wrong. The wading pool is between the other two, and is enclosed separately from the others. It's a significantly larger wading pool than at South Park, and with more features--there's a slide here too, but also a couple other water play structures. One of the parents of my child's classmate said that the pool sometimes reaches capacity, so it's good that they don't just let as many people in as will pay. It can be difficult to find a place to sit--the chairs can go quickly, so I wandered around a bit until a seat became available. There's a concession stand here, as well as some bathrooms and a family changing area. There appeared to be some showers as well, which the splash pad and wading pool in town doesn't have. I don't like that every hour they make people under age 18 get out of the pool for 10-15 minutes, regardless of that apparently being an industry standard practice. My daughter doesn't like it either--she was very very upset about having to leave the pool a couple times whilst we were here. And one of the lifeguards didn't even seem to know what they were doing; when we heard that announcement, most of the folks got out of the splash pad but there were still a few in it and so I asked the lifeguard thinking it may have been just for the large pool and she said "yeah, I think it's for this one too". We will be back, I'm sure. Our pool pass gives us a marginally earlier entrance time than the general public (fifteen minutes or so) so maybe we'll take advantage of that, or of their longer hours since they're open until 8 most days. Truth be told, I like the other splash pad and wading pool better. This one may grow on me, and assuming we're still here in the coming years as my daughter ages out of the splash pads I'll have to come here because this is the "fun pool". But I prefer the vibe at the (much less crowded) other pools. read more

Centennial Aquatic Center - Swimming Pools Near Me - Park Ridge, Illinois

Nice outside pool- kid friendly and adult friendly - they have day passes and season pass Kids from ages 1 month to 75 years old - three different pools and a water slide and kids wading area read more

See all

First time here today and can say I liked the pool. Actually, there are 3 pools. Doesn't matter how old your child is, you can definitely find the one which is the best for his/her age. There is one big slide, but the child has to reach certain high in order to use the slide. If you are hungry, there is small shop where you can buy some food or ice cream. Not sure what the choices are, but saw a line in front of it. Also, if you are not Park Ridge resident, the price of ticket is higher. All in all would recommend this pool. read more

My daughter learned to swim here as a little girl. This place is great. From the before and after school programs to the swimming pool; this place is great. This Park District is good for children and families. They have my recommendation and support. read more

We got a city pool pass and became regulars here this summer. It is a perfect outing for a 5-year-old, 3-year-old, and 1-year-old. There is a zero depth entrance with sprinklers in the main pool, as well as a kiddie pool that can keep young children entertained for quite a while. The deeper section of the pool has been great for teaching our older kids to swim with floaties on. We have also brought in Papa John's or other outside food so that we can eat lunch or dinner on the pool breaks. There are plenty of pool chairs even when it is crowded as well as picnic tables where you can eat or drop your stuff while you swim. The locker rooms are also large and there are several family changing rooms that work well for our group. When my kids get older, they're going to love the water slides, too! read more

Centennial Pool is a relatively new swimming complex in Park Ridge. It is open all summer and has both resident and non-resident rates. Our family has gotten passes the past few years and got plenty of use of out them. There is a huge parking lot which sometimes fills up, but there is ample street parking in the area to supplement any need. There is something for every age at Centennial. There are three pool areas: toddler splash pad, all age pool with graduated depth and a competition pool which has the diving boards. There usually are not capacity issues and the staff is well trained. The large waterslides are a hit for young kids and there are multiple water features for everyone to enjoy. There is limited shade from umbrellas - many times we have had no umbrellas and it is hard with younger kids. There is a concession stand through EVOO (Al Fresco). They have very good slices of pizza along with some fun options like walking tacos or smoothies. Prices are very fair, but the Park District also allows you to bring your own food if you'd rather save a few bucks. read more

Centennial Aquatic Center - Pools open - Swimming Pools Near Me - Park Ridge, Illinois

This place is absolutely horrendous, the lifeguards are rude to kids and very strict. Words can't describe how bad this place is. Would not recommend coming here at all there are better pools for sure. read more

For years, Park Ridge has been experimenting with the idea of a water park comparable to some of the fancier suburban parks in Des Plaines, Elk Grove or even Niles. Seems every time they had a referendum, it got shot down by at least a 2:1 margin because of its ridiculous expense and added burden on taxpayers. One PR parent told me, "Why can't Park Ridge come up with a really cool water park for the kids like other suburbs?" Well, after settling on this as a compromise, the new wading pool is the closest thing to it, so be happy with what you have, I guess. The wading pool is an addition to the 2 larger swimming pools at Centennial already. What really sucks is they charge $5 per person to use the wading pool, PR resident or not. This includes parents, most of whom I saw sitting around reading newspapers and magazines on lounge chairs while their kids played in the water. There is also no distinction in the pricing between a 2 year old and an older child. So for $20, the four of us got to enter the wading pool area. For comparison, the Rosemont Splash Pad is $6 for non-residents, but parents or caretakers don't pay. For $12, we could have gone to a neighboring town and enjoyed a better park. Anyway, Centennial Wading Pool kept my kids occupied for 2 hours regardless. As its main feature, it has the overhead buckets that fill up with water and dump their contents on the kids below. It also has a small water slide with a padded area near the bottom. The Stunt Baby liked the slide so much that he even went headfirst into the water though he's not a swimmer. I had to pull him out, but he did not seem frightened at all. The wading pool areas range from 6 inches to 1-1/2 feet deep. There is also a series of water chutes with flaps so you can play with it like locks and dams on a river. My older son liked that more than the slide or the buckets. From a grownup's perspective, it's pretty lame though. There were 2 lifeguards on duty and they were very vigilant. When a group of teenage boys showed up in the wading pool, they were immediately shown the way to the other pools, since this is for small kids only. There was no unruly play allowed either. Yes it was fun, but unless you splurge on a residents' summer pool pass for 4 at a cost of $150 and go at least once a week in the summer, this is not the best deal for the amount you pay to play. read more

See all

Terrible the only way you can describe it. Life guards are very rude yell at you very loud. They don't treat you with RESPECT. Just completely terrible do not recommend. read more

I love this place. Almost everything is good. Pool is usually clean, towel service is nice. But there are problems with their schedule, sometimes they do not put the schedule to their website on time. Besides, sometimes there might be lessons on the pool even if it is not scheduled and you cannot use the pool. So you might need the cancel your plans in the last minute....... So the biggest problem is the schedule. They definitely need to get better at that. read more

I visited here once this summer. Sometimes I like to escape the city and pretend I'm on vacation in a far away suburb. This was a really nice pool. Very family oriented. I ended up propping myself up against the fence on the grass and just relaxing,m reading a book. Very large property with plenty of slides and fun stuff for the kids. read more

We went to this pool as a birthday party guest. The pool was completely deserted because it was 65, overcast, and even slightly raining. So despite being nearly the only people at the pool the staff asked us to vacate the pavilion at 2:30 per the agreement. The posted sign clearly stated to "Feel free to use this space if it is not reserved". Staff confirmed it was not reserved the remainder of the day. The most upsetting part was that the staff later came and asked us to leave the pool after 2:30. If we wished to remain we would have to re-enter and pay the daily fee. We had expected to stay for a bit longer as we had arrived late and the host had told us we could stay as long as we wanted. The hosts confirmed that the kids pool admission should've been valid til public swim ended per their email contract. The website also states this as a bullet point when booking parties. The pool staff called their manager who agreed to let the guests stay til 3:30 (the end time they put on the invitation) but would have to pay for re-entry after that. I would have been furious if the weather hadn't been so cold. I gave 2 stars only because the pool itself was pretty great. The staff and management apparently have no regard for their own written and posted policies. I have no idea why they were so intent on enforcing these (incorrect) rules. When our party left there were less than 10 people at this huge pool. It's not like the kids were disruptive or taking up needed space. Just poor customer service. read more

Centennial Aquatic Center - Website listing for Birthday party amenities which they didn't honor. - Swimming Pools Near Me - Park Ridge, Illinois

Four star pool for parents with kids and a three star pool for those without. We bought our Wilmette beach and pool pass this year and also have a pass to LifeTime. As compared to LifeTime in Old Orchard, this place is way better for young children and kids - kiddie pool with several fountains and a slide, a major pool that's 3 feet or so deep with fountains and a "water" fort in the middle with toe small slides along with two water slides for older kids/adults - one's enclosed and faster than the other and damned near blew out my contacts. It was fun. Food is pretty bad in my opinion - carnival grade - but for kids, they seem to be cool with that. Burgers, hotdogs, pop, candy and Popsicles/good humor variety ice cream bars. Lifetime has better food, but you - of course - pay for it and portions are pretty small. The kids like this place better as well. Size, scope and ROI, this is the pool to go to if you live in the Glenview/Wilmette area. read more

Pool is to small and oversold. If your aren't a resident it's great for you as there is no real benefit for current resident vs non resident rate. It's decent for what it is but be prepared to be wall to wall people and somewhat un-relaxing. read more

It's a lovely place for kids and adults.. They have 3 separate pools, a lovely kiddie pool with a small slide and fountains. Just lots of stuff to do. It's almost always crowded and filled with various camps during the summer. There's also a concession stand but the food is terrible. They don't really let you bring food in because of the deal with the food place but it's such sub par crap like soggy pizza, dry burgers ect that I would save your time and money and just grab a bite after you leave. read more

The pool overall is pretty nice and a fun place to take kids. It has two sides, a kid pool, and bigger pool with diving boards. The only thing that made my experience is the food here. It is beyond below average. Each time income I have a horrible experience with the food. This time I found tiny bits of tin foil in my pizza. Pizza was also made really hard, and by hard I mean it was very over microwaved that my brother couldn't even finish. Warning do not go for the food because you'll have a horrible experience. read more

The pool is amazing care but the food is not. I come here with my kids all the time and they all love it here but the food. The cheese on the Pizza is all fake and terrible The burgers are just the worst and when we were walking by a kid said that there was something in their water. The Cokee is just bad how they serve at the lid is all crumbled up and so I don't even by it for my kids even though they love it so much. When we always get something from there there's only two people working there sometimes even one there's a line down right by the pool and it takes forever for us to get our food. Whenever we try to get popcorn it's always burnt read more

Centennial Aquatic Center - Swimming Pools Near Me - Park Ridge, Illinois

We all love this pool. Even though we live in the city , we drive to this pool. Staff is super friendly. Pool-clean and huge! There are a lot of fun things to do for all ages. There are no idiotic rules that City of Chicago pool are full of. I was surprised that people can actually dive from the decks (not in City's pools), wear the approved floating devices ( not in Niles pool), bring in the bag and take pictures (not in Portage Park pool! They will give you hard time and scare your kids). Just awesome time! place is nothing but fun! Staff is super friendly and helpful. Great place! Highly recommend read more

Love how clean the new pools are, however the locker rooms could use some updating too!

New pools opens 7/4/2014- They will have three pools, one with two large slides, one with diving boards and one kiddie pool with splashing features(the only one that has not been renovated). There will also be food available on the weekends. read more

Your swimming pool is so great to swim in. We all love to play with the things you have. I love the food you serve there. I love to go down your water slides and I like to go across the lily pads. Your diving boards are so fun to go off of, especially the high dive! read more