Swingset review???? SAms club????

[daisy1234]

Please remind me why I need to spend 1200 on a swingset????? Is is worth it???? I have a 2 and 5 year old and we have been looking and it seems that we like tohe new one at SAms...anyone have any better suggestions? Anyone have this one????? My only worry is that it seems high...which is good for my older one.

Is this worth the money?????

 

[lostmom]

i too saw that one with the fort and everything.My kiddos are on there swingset now every day even in the snow! LOL It has seen better days. Its a smaller version of the one at sams. My dh wants to buy it. I am looking around to see if I can get a simmilar one cheaper!

 

[WDWorBUST]

Add us to the list contemplating spending $1200 on a swingset. DD is 3 and LOVES going to the playground. I hate dealing with the older 10+ kids playing tag and running recklessly through the place (no parents - rode their bikes). Now not all are that way but it seems like we're always battling it. Anyway - I figure she will get at least 6 years of joy out of it still and I will get a lot less headaches (and time - our favorite park is 30 minutes away (we don't go THAT often - but still probably once a week)). Of course I still havn't made the final decision. In our area I don't think we would beat the price though. Good luck deciding.

 

[grlpwrd]

I think it is worth the money not just because it is quality made and long lasting for years, but think about the gasoline that will be saved.

I bought one and I also bought some used playground equipment off of Craigslist. I think if you factor in how much gas costs to actually drive to a park even if it is in your neighborhood it is significant, especially when gas costs about $2.50 per gallon now.

 

[kate0305]

we just bought the playset Friday night. Sams Club was offering 6 months same as cash. I figure if I can shave 200 dollars a month off frivolous spending it will be paid off without interest. My kids are almost 2 and 4- so I figure that they will get some use out of it.

My DH is already planning on shingling the roof to make it rain proof, and building a talk tube to speak to each other from different sections of the playset.

So perhaps it is just not my kids who will get use out of it. . . .

 

[karinbelle]

Toys R Us has some similar sets for less money. In yesterday's paper, there was a nice one for around $700. I think when I was in there last week, they had one for $600 (it had a chalk board in the top).

WalMart also sells a set for about $300 this time of year, but it is not as sturdy as the one at Sams Club.

 

[dismom24]

After looking all around town - we dove in and went to Sams yesterday afternoon to pick one up. We looked all over and you just couldn't compare the value for what you were getting. The same set (not sure about manufactuirer) at Lowes would be over $1700 to include eveything that come with this one. We started putting it together last night. I'll be glad to post on how it goes.

 

[brymolmom]

I researched and put off the final decision for 2 years because I couldn't see forking out $1000 plus for a swingset. And the bottom line I came to is that in order to get a great swingset today - that's your only choice.

I even researched metal ones, but really - at least in my research - manufacturers aren't making them really well these days because of the huge demand for wood. All I was able to find were cheap A frames with gliders and swings and cheap slides. No nice monkey bars....no forts....

We found one option for a few hundred less than the $1000 we ended up spending (on the Sams model from 2 years ago) - but it was a shorter version and wouldn't have lasted them as long. I'm not sure if that TRU or Walmart one is like this - but be sure to compare the heights of the sets.

So - my advice is bite the bullet and go for it if you can afford it. The kids will love it and it will practically make its money back in the first summer.

One other piece of advice - IF you can wait, I know that SAMS around here puts their sets on clearance in the Nov/Dec timeframe. The same one I got for $1000 2 years ago someone here got for half price that next winter....so if you can't afford it - be on the lookout next winter for deals.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

I think we spent $1395 last year for the Costco version of the Rainbow wooden set.

Was it worth it?

YES YES YES YES YES YES


That is, if you enjoy tired children who go to bed.

 

[daisy1234]

tHANKS...WOULD LOVE TO HEAR HOW IT GOES! WE THOUGHT THE SAME...SO MUCH SET FOR TTHE $. WE HAD THE WALMART ONE AT OUR OLD HOUSE...THE DURANGO AND AFTER A YEAR IT LOOKED TERRIBLE....THE SAMS LOOKS SO MUCH BETTER QUALITY WISE! i AM SO ANXIOUS TO HEAR HOW IT GOES UP! THANK YOU!

 

[Genieklone]

I really think it is cheaper to go to the park. Kids get bored of things very easily and I prefer them to get bored of something cheap vs. something expensive. Kids can get tired from a game of hop skotch, kick ball or flying a kite...they don't need the swing set.

Case in point, my brother bought a gigantic swing set for my niece. She played with it every day for a month. Then the novelty wore off and she stopped playing outside.And she lives in FL! Kids also outgrow the swingset after 8 or 10 yrs of age and only have about 4 good months out of the year when they can use it. The other months it collects dust...or breaks down. Not a good use of money, even if you can afford it. And I hope there aren't folks thinking of financing this either....that would be an even greater waste of money for something that loses value when you exit the store.

Go to the park and make it a special once a week treat. If you're dead set on a swing set, try craigslist or freecycle.org (but not during the spring /summer months when everyone wants a swing set). Some other person who overspent is dying to get rid of theirs.Even if gas was 7/a gallon it would still be cheaper than the headache of trying to figure out what to do with the thing when your kids no longer want to play with it.

 

[tuckerkeys]

we just got the one from costco for 1100 this year. there as a 250 off coupon so we went for it. it will be here in @ 3-4 weeks! we looked around for @ 1 yr and this was the best deal for the quality. we even looked at rainbow systems in the fall when they go on sale & they were still near 2k...

 

[summerrluvv]

I really think it is cheaper to go to the park. Kids get bored of things very easily and I prefer them to get bored of something cheap vs. something expensive. Kids can get tired from a game of hop skotch, kick ball or flying a kite...they don't need the swing set.

Case in point, my brother bought a gigantic swing set for my niece. She played with it every day for a month. Then the novelty wore off and she stopped playing outside.And she lives in FL! Kids also outgrow the swingset after 8 or 10 yrs of age and only have about 4 good months out of the year when they can use it. The other months it collects dust...or breaks down. Not a good use of money, even if you can afford it. And I hope there aren't folks thinking of financing this either....that would be an even greater waste of money for something that loses value when you exit the store.

Go to the park and make it a special once a week treat. If you're dead set on a swing set, try craigslist or freecycle.org (but not during the spring /summer months when everyone wants a swing set). Some other person who overspent is dying to get rid of theirs.Even if gas was 7/a gallon it would still be cheaper than the headache of trying to figure out what to do with the thing when your kids no longer want to play with it.

I think it's a great use of money! If I had a backyard I would buy one! Going to the park once a week isn't nearly enough for kids in the Summer. Playing on the backyard swingset is one of my fondest memories growing up as a kid. We lived on that thing. Of course my parents made us play outside. Sitting inside on the computer or watching TV just wasn't an option.

 

[jillyjoey]

Someone already mentioned it -- but we got ours at the end of the season and got it for 1/2 price. This is our 2nd one. (We had to leave the 1st at our former house when we sold -- part of the sale).

Our DS used the swingset constantly until he was 8 then his use tapered off. DD is just getting started however.

We are fortunate to have HUGE trees -- we spent $10 on a Little Tykes circular swing seat (don't know proper name) & a couple hundred feet of "rope" (it's nylon coated ??) and DH threw it over a huge tree limb -- now we all have fun on that thing.

That said -- I'm so glad to see parents buying things kids can play on!!! instead of video games. I spent $5 the other day on a hula hoop and my kids are constantly fighting over it. That makes a mom

 

[caribear]

We just bought the Sam's club swingset this weekend also! My dh almost passed out when he saw how many pieces of wood were involved! Most of the wood pieces are missing the number tags, so I am in the process of going through each piece and re-labeling them. Our instruction manual was also missing.....so they are overnighting one to us today. My dd is so excited about the swingset and keeps asking when it will be ready........according to my dh it should be finished by dd's birthday in August!

 

[jillyjoey]

I forgot -- if you have an 84 Lumber nearby -- check them also. The first one we bought DS was from there -- (this was 7 years ago -- but it was about $850-900 -- this was before my town got a Sam's Club -- but it was the same that Lowes has)

 

[Toby'sFriend]

Case in point, my brother bought a gigantic swing set for my niece. She played with it every day for a month. Then the novelty wore off and she stopped playing outside.And she lives in FL! Kids also outgrow the swingset after 8 or 10 yrs of age and only have about 4 good months out of the year when they can use it. The other months it collects dust...or breaks down. Not a good use of money, even if you can afford it.

excuse me? Not a good use of my money even if I can afford it?
Darn, I thought that would be for me to decide.

BTW, our set has a little rock climbing section, a raised platform/fort, a place for a sandbox, a tireswing, a slide -- as well as the swingset. I have an extremely high energy boy and it just isn't practical for me to drive him 20 minutes (one way) to the park every evening before bedtime to run off the energy. I bet he was on it 3 hours a day last summer and he has shown no inkling of getting bored with it yet.

The swingset has been MORE than a worthwhile use of my money, and no I didn't finance it.

 

[katerkat]

I think we spent $1395 last year for the Costco version of the Rainbow wooden set.

Was it worth it?

YES YES YES YES YES YES


That is, if you enjoy tired children who go to bed.

Does your youngest like it? All of them say "ages 3+" but Russ is pretty fearless on the playground - he goes down the three story slides while Mommy has a heart attack. I was going to get a Little Tikes "mini" playset for this summer, but he's really too tall to enjoy it. But this will probably be our last summer in Washington so I want to get something that can be dis-assembled and tossed on the moving truck. I've been checking Craigslist.

And when I was a kid, my dad built our playset and we used it almost year round (snow fort in the winter) and far past the age of ten! We have parks within walking distance on the base, but during the summer, the older kids can be a problem. And Mommy has to be more presentable looking than going out in the backyard to supervise.

 

[Toby'sFriend]

yes, and actually the two teens like it also.

I was a little concerned with the little guy on it at first. It has 2 sets of ladders, one metal and one wooden. He'd go running through his little splashing pool and get his feet wet and the go running for that metal ladder and I'd be 20 feet behind screaming "Waaiiiiiittttttttt your feet are slippery!!!!!"


He's never fallen though and his Daddy calls me "overprotective."

 

[RayJay]

I think we spent $1395 last year for the Costco version of the Rainbow wooden set.

Was it worth it?

YES YES YES YES YES YES


That is, if you enjoy tired children who go to bed.

Yes, that is what we just did, way worth it! Itwas $1199 on sale but a virtual dup. on a rainbow. It is very nice and both my 4yo and 8yo love it.

Later
RayJay