Detroit: As the historic giant slide on Detroit’s Belle Isle makes its way around the world online, locals love seeing the city marker at the center of jokes, memes and videos that are bound to go viral .
After a two-year closure due to the pandemic, the slide initially opened its season last week and had a brief period before videos of people jumping down the slide picked up speed. It reopened on Friday but people kept coming down too fast.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources, which has operated Belle Isle since 2014, said they waxed and washed the surface of the slide to slow down riders and it is expected to reopen for a second time this weekend.
Meanwhile, those viral moments of taking a big push have been shared across all social media platforms and have made national headlines.
The slide appeared on CNN twice this week.
Guest host Lamorne Morris made the slide the butt of a national joke on “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” saying that if her daughter misbehaves, she will take her to Detroit.
“If you’re looking for an affordable activity to do with your kids, you should consider taking them to the giant slide in Detroit,” Morris said. “It’s fun. It’s only $1, but the bruises will last a lifetime.”
Detroit’s own rapper Gmac Cash, known for going viral with his hits like “Big Gretch” about Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, quickly released “Giant Slide,” which now has over 1 million views.
“You can break your back on the giant slide… I let my kids go on it once and they didn’t want to go back on it,” he raps.
Caution: explicit language.
A poster for Jordan Peele’s sci-fi horror film “Nope” released earlier this year has been photoshopped to include the giant slide that read “OPE” which hits theaters this summer.
T-shirts were made. Some sold out for between $25 and $35. These are still available.
Other moments that go viral say, “Detroit kids are just getting different.”
It’s the flight of the shoe, for us.
The video of a DNR official showing us how to properly ride the slide has also clocked nearly 10 million views on Facebook and TikTok. He could not be immediately reached for comment.
The six-lane slide will continue to operate from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday, Saturday and Sunday through Labor Day.
The cost is $1 per slide and riders must be at least 4 feet tall.
“Follow operators instructions when driving, remember to lean forward,” the DNR said.
Twitter: @SarahRahal_
Source: www.detroitnews.com