Can't say enough good things about Emler. In only three individual lessons, our three year old has…read morealready done more in 75 minutes than in all combined pool efforts before. A confident paddler with a floatie on, he is not as sure of himself without the training wheels. Staff members at Emler are flexible, nurturing, and understanding about comfort levels and have put him at ease in the water. Our main reason for signing him up for lessons was for pool safety and individual confidence, not necessarily strokes or technique at this point. Our coach has already instilled a strong sense of safety and provides skills for him to swim back to the wall and pull himself up in case of a fall in emergency. They offer both individual and group sessions ranging in prices and value. As our little one grows, we'll look to the group instruction as an option. We're headed on vacation this summer and I have no doubt our child's swim skills will be top-notch after his time at Emler. Thankful for everything they do and provide for everyone's precious cargo.

My step kids swim at Emler swim school now and they love it! Great place for your kids to learn a…read morelife saving skill!

$10 for non-residents (which I am) will get you entrance into an awesome water park. There is…read moresomething for everyone here from toddlers to teens. Water slides, lazy River, diving boards, lap pool, and dedicated kids area with a little slide and lots of water features. There are chairs all around to sit on and some grass for sitting too, though finding chairs in the shade is more competitive. This place is such a good deal!! If you are visiting Shawnee during the Summer it's definitely worth a stop.

Such an awesome pool to go to! Very kid friendly! The staff does kid friendly games like water…read moreballoon toss and guess how many tootsie rolls are in a jar. The bathrooms are clean and spacious! Only downside is I feel like the staff is very young so management maybe needs to encourage more professionalism and communication skills to the cashiers and have all staff informed about different promotions going on. For example I called twice to confirm if I could bring a canned food to get half price admission (according to their website) and the girl on the other end told me no. I called again for a different employee and this girl was yelling out to anyone else who walked past her to get a answer if it was still going on. They assumed yes so I showed up with my canned good and they took it but she still wanted to charge me full price until I mentioned I brought a canned good! Besides this I'd bring my kiddo again.

When our children were young, they attended birthday parties and open gym sessions at Elite…read moregymnastics. Our children also celebrated many of their own birthday parties at Elite gymnastics as well. Our son was coached by an excellent swim instructor - our son needed to get ready for his scout swimming test. The Elite instructor had earned his Eagle Scout rank and he was the absolute best advisor and coach our son could have ever needed! Our daughter's middle name is probably "Elite" - she started gymnastics at age 4 and now she is a senior in high school. She has been part of the Elite Gymnastics family all of her life. They are a second family to us in every way. I have taught youth for 28 years, and I confidently believe: This fantastic gymn has the best team of efficient and caring mentors our children needed. The coaches expect the children to excel and encourage them effectively. Our children developed strong self-esteem and self trust while attending Elite Gymnastics and Aquatics.

This is the best gym in town, the kids are in great hands. Phenomenal coaches, wouldn't go anywhere…read moreelse.

Goldfish Swim School is fantastic. We've previously tried a couple others some lesson programs, but…read moreGoldfish Swim School's pool temperature and curriculum are utterly fantastic. My kids have gone from being scared of being cold in the water to actually progressing their swim skills.

Both of my girls are in the golden learners class at goldfish. When we first started they were both…read morevery reserved to being in the water and trying to swim on their own. We have been there over a year and their confidence is through the roof. We have loved every one of their instructors and I am so happy seeing how comfortable they are in the water now.

Jami W. (in Kansas City) was a great swim instructor for my 4 year old (who can be a little…read morestubborn!). She was the perfect mix of patient and stern, which built trust and emphasized safety. Before swim lessons he would sink immediately and not know how to get to the top, now he can swim across the pool unassisted, float, and so much more. Thank you!!!

Kathryn did a wonderful job with my 7-year-old son. She was effective, kind, and professional. My…read moreson has sensory issues and anxiety from a previous negative experience with swim class (not Sunsational), so he was not always an easy student. But Kathryn very patiently worked with him over 6 lessons to increase his comfort level and build his skills one by one. When he struggled, she brought toys for him to play with, which worked great. During the final lesson, he swam for the first time! We are thrilled and grateful. Also, Kathryn scheduled all the lessons in a short period of time because we were visiting from out of town; we appreciated her availability. Thank you so much to Kathryn and Sunsational for making it happen!

I love this pool!!!! The summer membership rate is very inexpensive. The parking is so convenient…read more I am a lap swimmer and always have a lane to myself. The staff is friendly and helpful. THANK YOU!!! Ann

This place was horrible. The staff was very rude and judgy, they kept staring and one even body…read moreshamed a girl for being too tall for trying to get on a floaty that was in the deep end. One of the staff members heard that we wanted to swim in the 13ft part, then waited for us to get into the pool to tell us we couldn't. the diving board sucked, we could only bounce on it one time. I see no point in having a diving board if you're just gonna tell people you can jump one time. the staff couldn't keep their eyes to themselves and they were just overall very rude. They made us very uncomfortable. The front desk lady was also very rude about my friend not wearing a bathing suit, which I get but you could've been nicer about it and not give us an attitude about it, honestly it was just a very bad experience and I most definitely won't be coming back.

KC swim academy is the swim lesson division of Team Unify- a club swim team. During the summer…read morethey offer swim camps M-Th x 2 weeks 30min each. During the school year they have weekly lessons on Sunday. Group lessons are $22 per lesson, and there are a max of 4 kids (but most of the time my kids were in groups of 2 or 3) also if there were 4 kids they usually had 2 instructors per group for the younger kids. I really like the fact that they did not use any swim 'backpacks' like the lessons we had at the YMCA. Suzanne is the director and is so nice and helpful. Most of the instructors are high school kids that swim on the team. They have recently added infant survival (and I believe it is one of the few places in the city that offers it). If you have an infant - I would highly recommend these lessons. They will be an expert swimmer by 3. If you kids are toddlers, you might consider private lessons first. I found we got a lot more out of the group lessons after a few private ones first. We had our lessons at the Shawnee Mission East HS pool, but I think they offer them at a few others during the summer. This is a very well run group and if you have a kid that swims and you want to improve his stroke, they'll do a great job.

I don't care what nobody says, I love the Bay, I mean I know half of it is closed but what they…read moresuppose to do with half staff. They are not only ones, a life guard shortage across all KC. Some places have been closed all summer. The lifeguards are chill, the family pool and slide are out young families favorite. Today they opened up one of the big slides which was awesome. 4$ to get in and a regular pool with a bball hoop. They open at 12:30 but some days it's closer to 1 when more life guards show up. Again I'm not bothered by it, we bring lunch and hang out all day. They have a large parking lot, a playground and splash pad that's no cost. It's not the best but from my lounge chair by the pool it comes close:)

I absolutely love it they have places for young kids to play and swim it's a very affordable and…read moreclose waterpark in swimming pool area and I absolutely love it

I've been taking my kids to Aqua Tots for about 4 years now. The lessons have up to 4 kids in them…read moreand run for 30 minutes. Each of my kids were scared to go under water when they started and each instructor has been patient and kind and now they have no fear and each swim really good, even my youngest who started not long ago. Learning to swim is such an important skill to know and I'm happy that we have been able to stay consistent throughout the year. The skills they learn could get them in a swim team, not just the basic free style stroke. Backstroke, breaststroke and even the butterfly and flip turns are taught as they move up through the levels. I feel so much better knowing that my kids know what to do in a pool to feel confident and be able to swim.

Honestly, we've been pretty happy with the quality of instructors…read more However, the amount of behaviors Aqua Tots allows to happen during classes is becoming troubling. My daughter can hardly focus because most levels always have two students playing around putting hands on each other. The "deck supervisors" either do see the behavior and don't care enough to stop the disrupted class or aren't paying attention at all. Both excuses/reasons are a major safety concern and also unacceptable when classes only occur for once a week for $100 or more. This is not right to allow other students to have their learning and swimming disrupting that love swimming and want to be there to grow. Remove students that don't and are disrupting the class. Aqua Tots needs to sit those students out until it's their turn to do an exercise with the instructor. If it continues they need to walked out and go back to their parent until they stop disrupting the class. This is becoming a ridiculous circus, as it's happening too often in multiple classes.

This gym is more interested in selling classes in addition to the membership. You don't have to…read morejoin the classes, but the problem is when the classes take up all the usable space and members are left with little to none. For example, youth swim lessons and water aerobics take up the entire pool area on Saturdays, making it impossible if you would like to swim laps. "Alpha" fitness classes have two areas that take up a significant portion of the upstairs gym, and they run classes constantly. On top of all this, the equipment that is left for members to use (i.e. benches and machines) are old and falling apart. I personally had a pin slip from an adjustable bench when I had it set to incline for bench press. I fell back with it and chipped my tooth. For the money you pay and for the money they add for extra classes and "events", they should really have better stuff for the general membership. It presents as though little regard is given to the overall members.

In Dec 2025, I filed a formal complaint regarding repeated uncomfortable interactions with a…read moretrainer after a prior documented attempt to establish boundaries. I expected discretion and proper follow-up. After reporting, I became aware of information that made me question whether confidentiality was maintained. Management attempted to discuss my complaint in public areas in front of another client rather than privately. I was passed between multiple local and corporate staff members with no clear point of contact or consistent updates. I paused my membership on December 24, 2025 and requested cancellation on February 4, 2026. After no response, I submitted a second request and ultimately canceled on February 10. Between my pause on 12/24 and my request on 2/4, I received no follow up. Between my request on 2/4 and cancellation on 2/10, a front desk employee who was unaware of the situation called to encourage me to return. I attempted to schedule an in-person discussion multiple times, but my request was not addressed. This experience caused ongoing stress and has led me to doubt Life Time's care for their members. Bottom line: Don't trust that you're valued as a member or that your voice matters.