Sunday, June 26, 2016

SkyspaceLA: A Magic Carpet Ride High Above the City of Angels

So the #SkyspaceLA Skyslide officially opened and we have tickets for a ride this afternoon. When I bought the tickets several months back, it sounded fun and exciting and now today I'm sort of thinking, are we out of our minds? For those of you who may not live here in Los Angeles, the Skyslide is a new attraction in downtown Los Angeles. It's a glass (more like a very thick plexiglass) slide that is attached to the outside of the tallest building in Los Angeles, the U.S. Bank Building (formerly the Library Tower).  The slide starts on the 70th floor and you slide one story to the 69th floor. Did I mention it was mounted on the outside of a skyscraper in downtown Los Angeles?

There were four of us in our party (one is disabled both mentally and physically). He's usually very game for adventure so we bought him a ticket and figured we'd see how his day was going before deciding for sure whether or not he would participate.  He woke up in a good place so off we went to DTLA. 

Our ticket was for 1:30 and we arrived a little bit before that. They have some really cool visuals as you make your way on two sets of elevators up to the 70th floor.

Once there, we got on a line that we were told was roughly a 45 minute wait before it would be our turn to ride the slide. I was a little worried that our disabled friend might not be able to stand in line that long and spoke with one of the attendants. They were so accommodating. They suggested that we could sit on a bench close by and when the line reached our turn, they would come and get us. Turns out, our friend was so excited that he made it through the entire wait without any meltdowns. 

There's a TV mounted on the wall so you can watch it and get instructions on the slide beforehand. They mentioned that they have a special sled for disabled riders so I thought I should inquire.  Again, the team there was so accommodating. They brought out the sled and it was perfect for our young rider. It allowed him to be a little more steady and had handles on the sides. Check it out here:


All in all, it was a wonderful and fun experience largely in part to the professionalism of the staff at #SkyspaceLA! Special shoutout to Blaine and Richard. 

Oh and the view? Spectacular. The ride? For a moment in time, you're on a magic carpet ride - floating high above the city of angels.