I still found real playgrounds for my kids in rural Illinois. Can’t forget the 20’ high sliding board with real hot slippery metal to slide on.
The best part, was learning to get onto the highest pole when at the top of that slide and then gradually let yourself down. It was neat, once you learned how to do it.
Scary the first time, but after that; piece of cake and still fun.
Only at the park, our school grounds only had swings and slide with a rock/pavement block at the end which caused major damage if you hit it.....lol Only needed to hit it once to never do it again!