Inflatable bounce house or water slide?

[mrsbornkuntry]

I want to buy an inflatable bounce house or water slide for my kids for this spring/summer, but I can't decide which I should buy. I can only afford to get one and I'm looking at spending under $400. A few questions I'm wondering about:

-Do the water slides add a lot to your water bill?
-Would it be too hot to use a bounce house during the summer? We're in central NC where it gets pretty hot, but then again we could set it up in the evening instead.

We don't have a lot of options for summer entertainment in our area and a membership to the local pool is $350 for the summer (you can't do pay as you go, you have to buy a membership) so I want to get something the kids can do at home. And I'm anti-trampoline so I thought a bounce house would be a good option instead.

Any thoughts or experiences?

 

[summerrluvv]

I would get the waterslide. The bounce houses are fun, but too hot when it's a really hot summer day.

We have a small one...a Banzai Splash Lagoon...It was only $99 at Walmart and the kids enjoy it. My water bill did go up though. Practically doubled. Still cheaper than a trip to the waterpark for a day though.

 

[3boymthr]

We don't have either but I just wanted to comment on the water slide. My cousin has one and the kids have a blast when we go over and get to use it. The only thing you need to be wary of is that you have a solid surface to run it on if it's going to be on for a long time. She had a party and it was on for several hours and her back yard turned into a mud hole.

 

[mamaLori05]

I would recommend the bounce house. We have one and we use it in the basement during the winter as well. I've put it up in the living room as well before, but in the basement I can just leave it out. The kids love it and they use it all the time.

Everyone I know of that has the waterslides, dont' have very good luck with it. They tend to pop after just a few uses. my kids really don't like it at all, they don't like the water spraying at them at the top of the slide because it is always super cold. Plus you have to really make sure it is dry before you put it away, or it will start to grow mold...another problem a friend had.

 

[TangaroaTiki]

My kids have a trampoline to play on if they need to bounce.

When Linen's N Things was going out of business we got an $800 double water slide for 75% off!! My kids L O V E it and played on it alot over the summer. We have a well, so not sure about the water bill. As far as we are concerned it was a great buy

 

[ldo]

pros bouncer---inside or outside use. We used ours all winter in the basement and had a ball. Get the biggest one you can--don't worry about baskeball hoops, etc. We had a big square one (which we used for 2 weeks and it had a defect in the seam) and TRU didn't have anymore so the TRU manager let us pick out anything we wanted and then got an obstacle course one--fun for little kids, but no room to do flips, etc.--in hindsight, I would have gotten a big square again.
Slide--tons of fun and you can get 2 summers out of it--again, get a big one--all you need is a good slide, don't worry about anything else on it.
For both, after 2 years, they start to leak air and only kids under 50 pounds can use them--with the bouncer, if we attached 2 motors, bigger kids could use it---so, just figure you will get 2 years out of it.
For NC, I would get the slide---I got it right before a Bday party and used it for that 1st. FYI-I got my slide at a TRU on sale in May for under $200.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

Thank-you for your experiences, I'm still weighing the pros and cons.

One thing with the bounce house, though, we won't be able to use it indoors, our rooms are all just too small. Maybe in the garage...if I clean it .

 

[leight]

what about one of the pools that has the inflatable ring and rises as you fill it? You can get one well under $300 and then spend a little more to get a 'spa cleaner' -which is basically a spa vacuum that works great cleaning these pools. You leave it filled all summer like you would a reg pool- some even come with filtering covers so the water gets warm but you keep bugs out when not in use. They come with a small filter and you would treat the pool with clorine/ph test it like a reg pool. My kids loved it when we were up north and we got 6 summers out of it before we sold it when we moved to FL. I recommend having water bed patches on hand for any holes- they worked perfectly. Its great and using less water bec ause you fill it once and water isn't flowing during every use. For additional fun- we added a slip n slide for the kids to go back and forth from the pool to the slide.

 

[Swimalie]

We got the Little Tykes Jump and Slide bouncer for our 4 year old son for Christmas and he loves it.
http://www.littletikes.com/toys/jump-slide-bouncer.aspx

Ours is actually covered on the top since we have hot summers here and we thought the cover, while more expensive, would help with the heat and sun. We've had a lot of kids in it so far and it's held up great. We haven't tried it yet but it will fit in our basement, too so this is something we can use all year round.

 

[connie1042]

I run a daycare and I have both. we use the bounce house all the time. I can not put it in my house, it is to big. I use it on the driveway with a tarp under it. Have had it for 3 years. Still works great. Got it on line from Wal-mart.

I have had one large water slide. Great fun, but after awhile the seems wore where the kids landed. It was always the same place. But they loved it. You have to dry it very well after each use or it molds.

I now have a large slide and pool by little tykes. super fun, same problems. Mold if you do no dry it well. Higher water bill, and can really tear up the lawn.
We only use it for special parties, and for my grand kids.

 

[talulabelle]

I would personally go with the pool membership. We belong to one in the summer and get so much more out of it then just swimming. The kids have kids to play with, I get to hang out with other moms - there is always some sort of weekend party or event...we entertain friends by taking them there as guests. You don't have to worry about maintenance...my brother has an inground pool and pays more on chemicals to treat the thing in the summer than I spend on my pool membership..and after all is said and done, his kids would rather belong to the pool because they don't have anyone to play with in their backyard pool.

I haven't owned a water slide or a bounce house, but either one is going to kill your grass, and I have rented a waterslide for a birthday party once, and my yard was once big mud hole afterwards (and that was just one day). All that mud will get tracked in your house too. I think $350 sounds like a bargain for a pool membership, all the pools around here are $550 and over for the summer.

 

[lovebuzz]

I would go with the bounce house. We have the large waterslide that goes into a pool and it is a PIA. You have to make sure it is completly dry before storing or you will have a moldy/mildew smell. In fact you can have mine. We never use it.

 

[JennMouse32]

i would saw waterslide.. cuz really a bounc house is kinda age limited.. where as a water slide is good for all ages​

 

[mamaLori05]

The bounce house we have is by Blast zone. It's a thicker material than the fisher price ones sold at Toys R us. Not quite as thick as the commercial grade ones, but pretty darn close. Not that much more in price than the fisher price ones either. I just ordered ours off their site and it was wonderful!!!

The Fisher price ones are more like a sheet material and can rip pretty easy if not careful. We have had our Blast Zone bouncer for 3 or 4 years now and it is still like new. The kids use it almost daily as well.

 

[labdogs42]

We got the Little Tykes Jump and Slide bouncer for our 4 year old son for Christmas and he loves it.
http://www.littletikes.com/toys/jump-slide-bouncer.aspx

Ours is actually covered on the top since we have hot summers here and we thought the cover, while more expensive, would help with the heat and sun. We've had a lot of kids in it so far and it's held up great. We haven't tried it yet but it will fit in our basement, too so this is something we can use all year round.

This is the same one I have. It is great! My son and the enighborhood kids love it. We take it to friends' houses for birthday parties, too. I got mine for less than $200 at TRU.

I keep thinking about one of those waterslides, but the mildew/mold thing always stops me.

 

[Schachteles]

We got one of those huge slides off of Amazon last year for about 600, it was AWESOME. The girls love it and it can kill HOURS of a day. One thing to know, so that if you get a big one, there is no packing it up when you are done and bringing it back out the next day, they are HUGE and heavy. So we just left ours out there and just brought the blower in and out. So with that said, it killed the grass in the back yard, but they had SO much fun it was WELL worth it. We also have a trampoline, I would do that before I would do a bounce house.

 

[MickeyMomOfThree]

We have that same Little Tykes ne too. I got it as an "open box" (nothing was open but the box) for $50. We got it 2 years ago and use it often in the summer (basement is not tall enough for year round, wish it was.) The kids have really enjoyed it. They also enjoyed the water slide at a friend's house, but the mud and mold were too much for me to be willing to get one.

 

[mrsbornkuntry]

what about one of the pools that has the inflatable ring and rises as you fill it? You can get one well under $300 and then spend a little more to get a 'spa cleaner' -which is basically a spa vacuum that works great cleaning these pools. You leave it filled all summer like you would a reg pool- some even come with filtering covers so the water gets warm but you keep bugs out when not in use. They come with a small filter and you would treat the pool with clorine/ph test it like a reg pool. My kids loved it when we were up north and we got 6 summers out of it before we sold it when we moved to FL. I recommend having water bed patches on hand for any holes- they worked perfectly. Its great and using less water bec ause you fill it once and water isn't flowing during every use. For additional fun- we added a slip n slide for the kids to go back and forth from the pool to the slide.

WE have one of these actually, we bought it last summer, but we didn't realize that because our entire road is sloped and we're at the top of the slope there is not one spot in our yard flat enough for it so it will go up on Craigslist this summer. We rent so we can't flatten it, add fill dirt or anything.

I would personally go with the pool membership. We belong to one in the summer and get so much more out of it then just swimming. The kids have kids to play with, I get to hang out with other moms - there is always some sort of weekend party or event...we entertain friends by taking them there as guests. You don't have to worry about maintenance...my brother has an inground pool and pays more on chemicals to treat the thing in the summer than I spend on my pool membership..and after all is said and done, his kids would rather belong to the pool because they don't have anyone to play with in their backyard pool.

I haven't owned a water slide or a bounce house, but either one is going to kill your grass, and I have rented a waterslide for a birthday party once, and my yard was once big mud hole afterwards (and that was just one day). All that mud will get tracked in your house too. I think $350 sounds like a bargain for a pool membership, all the pools around here are $550 and over for the summer.

The membership is still a consideration and we really wished we had last summer, but my concern this year is that my 12yo son can't get his ears wet at all, he will have to wear ear plugs and a band around his head to hold them in and I'm afraid that he'll be too self-conscious to swim at the public pool. This is a new situation, though, so I'm still figuring out his reaction.

The bounce house we have is by Blast zone. It's a thicker material than the fisher price ones sold at Toys R us. Not quite as thick as the commercial grade ones, but pretty darn close. Not that much more in price than the fisher price ones either. I just ordered ours off their site and it was wonderful!!!

The Fisher price ones are more like a sheet material and can rip pretty easy if not careful. We have had our Blast Zone bouncer for 3 or 4 years now and it is still like new. The kids use it almost daily as well.

I was looking at the Blast Zone ones on Amazon, they got really good reviews and seemed like they'd be sturdy enough.


It sounds like maybe the waterslide would be a pain to deal with, I think I'm leaning toward the bounce house, but I still have some time to make up my mind.

 

[MagicMomentsMom]

we have one that is "Both" my aunt bought it for my DD last spring--it's great, because it can be both. We live in NC, so we deal with serious humidity and we had no problems with mold or mildew

if you want to see what it looks like it's here ( I hope it's ok to put the addy up)
http://www.bouncelandfun.com/product_info.php?cPath=1&products_id=55

It's one of those that she can definitely use a few years and it's super quality, it wasn't put up properly during the summer (long story) and it should have had a million holes in because of the mistreatment, but not one hole in the entire bounce house, I was impressed.

 

[Melrosgirl]

We bought a waterslide last year. It was a huge one. $300 or so, on sale. They are very heavy. Takes two people to carry it to the yard. Set up takes about 10 minutes. Tear down is a long process. You have to wait for it to be completely dry. Storage is hard to do. It barely fits in a big rubbermaid container. You must rotate it in the yard. Don't put it in the same spot each time. It does make a mud pile, no matter how nice your grass is.

Kids love it. Adults don't bc of the work involved.