(WXYZ) — Belle Isle's infamous giant slide reopens to the public Friday morning with a grand celebration.
The slide has garnered national attention for its speed and injuries, but Detroiters say they couldn’t be happier for its return.
VIDEO: Watch report on how high speeds had people airborne on the giant slide in 2022:
New safety additions and stricter rule regulations of the iconic Belle Isle slide will hopefully avoid what we saw in 2022.
“We’ve made some safety enhancements, we replaced the landing surface on the bottom of the slide," said Tom Bissett, urban district supervisor for the DNR.
Detroiters associate the slide with only a few words, like “adrenaline" and "fear.”
But even that isn’t enough to keep people away. Even those that rode down the then-waxed slide 2 years ago. The wax is now long gone.
"We’re tough and nothing deters us," said Eva Williams of Detroit
The slide even made Jimmy Kimmel’s 2022 Clip of the Year where Detroit rapper GMAC Cash performed his song dedicated to the 40-foot-tall steel attraction.
VIDEO: Watch Gmac Cash performs Giant Slide tribute on Kimmel as 2022 Clip of the Year
But not everyone was a fan.
In 2022 a Detroit mom filed a lawsuit against the Michigan DNR and the city, claiming her children were seriously injured.
We reached out to her attorney to get an update on the lawsuit, but they told us they are not commenting on the case.
But the slide is being prepped and is nearly ready to greet eager riders.
“Would you ever go back down again?” I asked longtime rider Michael Kulpa.
“Sure even now as stealth as I am," he laughed.
Kulpa says there’s a trick to the art of going down the slide and avoiding a sore tailbone the next morning.
"Doing jumps and flying over the hurdles and stuff, mistake! You don’t lean back, you lean back you increase your speed, you lean forward,” said Kulpa.
The slide reopens on Friday and is free to ride 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. You do have to be 48 inches tall to ride, but if you’re not up for it, there’ll be food trucks and bounce houses for you to enjoy instead.
