Private Home Party Rentals vs. Park Party Rentals

Looking to book a Bounce House Rental for your next event but are stuck between hosting it at your private home or a public park? Are you worried your private home will not suffice for the Bounce House Rental? Here are some key things to help you with making that decision before you book! 

Booking a Bounce House Rental at a Private Home vs a Public Park
•    Additional Bounce House Rental costs with public space location type
•    Different power for Bounce House Rentals
•    Bounce House Rental time slot differences
•    Pre-approval for Bounce House Rental before booking your order
•    Insurance requirements for Bounce House Rentals
ADDITIONAL BOUNCE HOUSE RENTAL COSTS WITH PUBLIC SPACE LOCATION TYPE

Most Bounce House Rental companies will have additional charges for location types outside of a private home. You wouldn’t want to be sitting up at the park all day long waiting for us to deliver your Bounce House Rental, would you? Of course not! The additional charge is mainly due to your Bounce House Rental delivery and pickup window needing to be tighter so we would have to accommodate routing for you. With private home events we can deliver your Bounce House Rental at any time during the day since it would be at your private residency. Insurance and generators are another additional cost for Bounce House Rentals at public parks which we will dive into further in this blog! 
DIFFERENT POWER FOR BOUNCE HOUSE RENTALS

When booking a Bounce House Rental at a private home, you more than likely will have an outdoor GFCI outlet to use for power. A lot of public parks do not have a reliable power source for your Bounce House Rental. A generator will more than likely be required with any Bounce House Rental taking place at a public park. Five Little Monkeys automatically requires a generator for any park setups due to their power not being very reliable and/or if there are any issues no one is on site to fix it which leaves our customers with a deflated Bounce House Rental. Generators are an additional cost.
BOUNCE HOUSE RENTAL TIME SLOT DIFFERENCES

The time slots for your Bounce House Rental at a public park will have to be a same day drop off/pickup. Overnight time slots for your Bounce House Rentals are not allowed in a public space due to lack of adult supervision being present to monitor the Bounce House Rental as well as theft. The Bounce House Rentals are very heavy and staked into the ground so due to liability reasons, the customer cannot and should not move the Bounce House Rentals.
PRE-APPROVAL FOR BOUNCE HOUSE RENTAL BEFORE BOOKING YOUR ORDER

Before booking your Bounce House Rental it is important to call the Bounce House Rental Company prior to placing your order to make sure that you have a full breakdown of all the costs, further discussing specific delivery and pickup windows, and going over how to obtain the insurance the city needs. This will help with assuring that the company you are booking through can try and accommodate everything needed for your Bounce House Rental
INSURANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR BOUNCE HOUSE RENTALS

When booking a Bounce House Rental at a public park, insurance is required. The city where you received the permit for you to host your event at will require to be listed as an additional insurer underneath the Bounce House Rental Companies insurance plan for liability reasons. This will factor in as an additional charge for the Bounce House Rental total. 
Inflatable Rental Safety 101 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

Safety First Always

1- Watchdog Series 2 Blower Siren: This blower siren was designed in 2018 to detect air loss caused by power loss to the blower, child mischief, or even a major rip/tear in the bounce house or other inflatable rental, sounding a loud alarm to make sure attendants are immediately aware. ASTM (American Society of Testing & Materials) requires these for any inflatable with a slide platform over 8’ tall, given the tip-over risk associated with the unexpected deflation of an inflatable slide unit, but we offer them - free of charge - with all of our inflatable slides, obstacle courses, and other larger inflatable rentals.

2- Non-Slip Safety Mats: ASTM (American Society of Testing & Materials) and SIOTO (Safe Inflatable Operators Training Organization) recommend that, even on grass setups, all bounce house and inflatable rental entrances/exits have 2” foam non-slip safety mats extending 4’ in each direction, as slips/trips/falls are most common here. The surfaces of these mats should be non-slip, especially in the case of water slides. All of our bounce house and other inflatable rentals include these safety mats - free of charge!

3- Sufficient Ground Anchoring: ASTM (American Society of Testing & Materials) has written highly technical guidelines for manufacturers regarding the anchoring of inflatables, and almost all manufacturers now abide by these. However, some party rental setup crews take shortcuts here, by skipping some critical anchor points to save a few minutes. ALL anchor points on EVERY inflatable should be secured using at least 18” steel stakes – do not accept shortcuts!

4- Safe Entrances / Exits: Many older inflatables have unsafe entrance ramps, or none at all. Always look for bounce house and other inflatable rentals with entrance ramps, and ensure that these ramps have safety rails or, better yet, tunnel entrances like the one shown in the picture. Even with entrance/exit ramps that feature tunnels or safety rails, always ensure that 2" foam non-slip safety mats are placed to cover 4' in every direction of each entrance/exit - we include these - free of charge - with all of our ride-in/ride-on inflatable rentals.

5- Finger-Safe Mesh Windows: To better supervise your little jumpers, it's important that your bounce house rental has sufficient meshed window walls. More importantly, the mesh utilized in these window walls (and in other areas such as covered slide platforms) should be finger-safe; that is, small enough to not allow little fingers to get caught/tangled in the mesh, which could result in broken fingers or sprains.

6- Covered Roofs with Egress Ports: Bounce house rentals (and other inflatable rentals with bounce areas) without covered roofs can be tempting for little ones to climb up and out of – almost all new designs now have covered roofs. Also, ensure that the roof has an egress port (emergency exit) in the unlikely event the unit unexpectedly deflates and a secondary exit is required.

7- Covered Slide Platforms: ASTM (American Society for Testing & Materials) has issued guidelines requiring that all slide platforms be covered, and for good reason! Many older designs had open slide platforms where kids could fall (or more adventurous kids would attempt to jump) from the slide platform. The simple fix of having a covered slide platform is now the industry norm – all of our inflatable slide rentals feature enclosed slide platforms!

8a- Soft and Contained Slide Landing Area: Inflatable slides should have a soft, 18-24” deep inflatable slide landing area base, surrounded by inflatable containment walls, to ensure a soft landing for participants and keep them from sliding off the end of the slide and onto the ground.

8b- Inflatatable Water Slide Landing Areas: Our newer (safer) water slide designs keep water accumulation in the splash landing area to a maximum of 4" deep, instead utilizing an inflated base as a cushion (to reduce the potential for a drowning risk). Some states have already started to crack down on deep landing pools, such as Ohio.