"Daddy doesn't love me as much as he loves cutting corners to save a few measly dollars."

Money talks and safety is for sissies?

I was thinking more like "The whole world is a dangerous place, and if you run about carelessly you will get hurt, so look where you are bloody going!!!".

They should put sharks in the pool to emphasise the point.

Mind you, the there-I-fixed-it job on those supports is pretty spectacular.

I see glatt's point. There are safety issues.

However, we could just outfit all the kids in these: (I hope they float)

Don't miss the 3 year old climbing the waterfall

http://cellar.org/2009/3yo.jpg

and jumping off.

http://cellar.org/2009/3yo1.jpg

Just like kids have done for a million years before anybody built swimming pools.

It seems crazy but after considering this for far too long, and studying the pics, I think those slide supports are that way on purpose. This guy is an ultimate perfectionist, to the point where all those boulders are artificially created so they have just the right amount of grip to them. They visited the rock factory to make sure these were the right rocks for the project! After the slide watering system didn't work the way he wanted, he practically re-engineered it.

Thank goodness for the pools, then. They've been going splat onto bare rocks for far too long.

IMO kids aren't allowed to live anymore. Most parents act like they're afraid their kid will get dirty. And a skinned up knee? GOD FORBID! Maybe that's why adults are so soft these days. Just make them sit on the couch all day where they're nice and safe. Add a video game to keep them quiet.

I've got absolutely no problem with the kids climbing the rocks and jumping off the cliff. In that instance the dangers are obvious to anyone, even a toddler, and the kids will be using their instincts and gaining strength and coordination. If a parent is visiting with their kids, they will see that cliff and go over to supervise their toddler climbing it if they think it might be too much. I think the rocks and cliff are awesome and I think they will teach the kids to actually be responsible. There appears to be a taller rock at the top that keeps the kids from falling off the back. The kids probably won't try to climb that barrier, because they are drawn to the pool they are about to jump into.

The playground equipment has the feeling of being self contained and safe, but it is neither. It is tricking the kids (and a couple posters here) into thinking they are in a safe environment when they are not. Their instincts won't have a chance to save them, and they will only learn to be careful there after they fall out of the 10 foot tall tower onto the concrete footers below. Kids should have the chance to learn about taking risks in a location where the penalty won't be a broken neck. Here, they risk breaking their neck, but are not even provided the chance to learn about risks.
What exactly is the benefit of the rope railings over a safer kind? Why would a wooden railing with balusters be so offensive?

What, Kids don't know when they're 10 ft in the air?
It's not a playground, it's a backyard, and no more dangerous than the woods behind it, with trees from vertical to horizontal, rocks sticking up everywhere, and rabid mutant killer snakes.

Did you ever see anyone walking the plank, with railings?

If you pad the footers, when they fall off, they just break their arm or leg, and end up in a cast for a couple months... whining, demanding to be waited on, and being a royal pain in the ass.