Bounce, party people!
My refrigerator door is bedecked with children’s birthday party invitations: hayrides, luaus, sleepovers, scavenger hunts, bowling tournaments. Every parent, at one time or another, falls victim to the desire to stage the most dazzling kids party on the block.
With my own daughter’s birthday looming, I’m thinking back-to-basics: a homespun affair with cake, streamers, balloons -- all the accouterments of a retro, life-was-simpler-back-then kind of hip scene.
Maybe even a bounce house. The inflated plastic room could accentuate the kitschy retro theme. It’s been years since we filled our yard with a blow-up red-and-blue cube; our guests entered by executing a daring leap from the back porch steps.
A few phone calls and a brief online search later, I realized that bounce houses have more than kept pace with kids entertainment. Sure, they’ve got kitsch value. They’ve also got fantasy, sporty and up-to-the-minute themes.
“Jumper” -- not “bounce house” -- I quickly learned, is the preferred term throughout the inflatable entertainment industry. And now, there are dozens of designs and shapes from which to choose -- diamond-shaped castles, trains, Dalmatians, honey bears, rockets, race cars, boxing rings, to name only a few. Every A-list cartoon character from Scooby-Doo to Nemo has his or her own personalized jumper. It’s kind of the Golden Globe of the animated set.
The people’s choice award -- at least for little girls -- would go to the Disney Princess, featuring Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Belle and Jasmine. Just over two months on the preschool party circuit and these little beauty queens are renting for approximately $90 a day, $20 more than your generic circus clown variety.
This is a far cry from the original, three-sided jumpers introduced at fairs and festivals more than 30 years ago, according to Loren Rivera, director of marketing and sales for Glendale-based Ninja Jump Inc. Now, on any given Saturday, modern jumpers, topped with turrets and dolphins, dot America’s backyards from coast to coast. Any parent who has tried to corral 20 5-year-olds for an hour and a half understands the monumental, peace-keeping contribution of the inflatable jumper. That’s what keeps the Yellow Pages full of companies like Royal Jump, Super Bounce, etc.
Ninja Jump began renting three units to the public in 1993. Today, they have more than 320, and the majority are rented out every weekend, according to Rivera.
Although there are no official figures, some in the industry estimate that as many as 500 companies and individuals are renting inflatables in Southern California, and that nationally jumper sales and rentals constitute a $1-billion-a-year industry. That’s a whole lot of jumping.
Ninja Jump, which also manufactures inflatables, says that 90% of its units, which retail from $2,400, are purchased by mom-and-pop shops looking to earn a little extra income. But the other 10%, Rivera adds, are bought by families for their own at-home enjoyment.
For $2,000 or more, Banning-based California Inflatables will even customize your jumper to look like your own house, a sort of Mini-Me type of home ownership.
The industry has literally ballooned to include 38-foot slides and 70-foot-long obstacle courses complete with 14-foot climbing walls -- these units are more typically seen at festivals or corporate events. Water slides and bungee jumps can cost as much as $275 to $595 for two hours.
For the backyard market, the trend is toward compactness: multifunction inflatables that, for example, cover no more than 18 square feet of turf and include a jumper, slide and climbing wall.
Whether renting a waterslide or a traditional jumper, heed the advice printed on the vinyl -- “Do Not Enter Unless Attendant Is Present.” Parents need to remember, according to Pasadena mom Lisa Morse, that an inflatable is not a baby-sitter. “You have to watch your kids at all times,” says Morse, who was shocked to see her rented jump house, filled with bouncing 4-year-olds, collapse.
Sam Handley, co-owner of California Inflatables., says that with demand high some people are manufacturing cheap, unsafe jumpers. Consumers also need to be careful to rent from reputable companies that maintain their liability insurance.
“Don’t buy or rent from anyone,” he says, “unless they can prove they have insurance.”