Giant blow up waterslide

[pumpkin456]

I have a question I am thinking of purchasing one of those really big blow up water slides like this http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2918314 . I wanted to know how hard it is too take down. Set up looks pretty easy but, I am worried about how to take it down and how durable it actually is. If I am going to spend $400 I want to make sure it last at least a couple of seasons. Thanks

[hpowers]

I bought a bounce house about 4 years ago and it has held up really well. If the seems start to come apart I can use clear duct tape on it and it holds fine. Our biggest problem is storage. It's heavy and large so you have to have a large rubbermaid tote bin to store it in. With the water slide I'm sure your going to have to make sure it's really dry, inside and out before storing. Ours is always used indoors so we don't have to worry about the sun breaking it down, but you will. I bet it will last a couple of seasons. Have fun!!

[siczlo]

We bought one 2 years ago. Bonzi or something like that. My kids were 10 and 6 at the time. The WHOLE neighborhood was over!LOL But, being boys, they soon got bored with just slidding down. They started doing flips and things. It got hard to control! So we put it away for a few weeks. When we took it back out, it didn't work as well. The air didn't stay in it. You could hear it leaking from the seams. Then the part that holds the hose broke. So we had to tie it around. It never made it to a second season. I don't know if the construction has improved since then.... But $400 is alot of $$. If they were $99, I might consider another one. But not for $400. Edited June 3, 2008 by siczlo
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[pumpkin456]

We bought one 2 years ago. Bonzi or something like that. My kids were 10 and 6 at the time. The WHOLE neighborhood was over!LOL But, being boys, they soon got board with just slidding down. They started doing flips and things. It got hard to control! So we put it away for a few weeks. When we took it back out, it didn't work as well. The air didn't stay in it. You could hear it leaking from the seams. Then the part that holds the hose broke. So we had to tie it around. It never made it to a second season. I don't know if the construction has improved since then.... But $400 is alot of $$. If they were $99, I might consider another one. But not for $400.

That is exactly what I am worried about. If it lasted atleast 2 years I could probably justify spending the money. My kids are younger so I don't think they would be too too crazy on it but you never know. How hard was it to put away and get all of the water off off it?

[anita341]

I bought a blow up waterslide and this is the 2nd year we have had it. We have used it plenty of times and everything is still working fine. It came with a bag to store it in and it is easy to put up and take down. We use it in the winter as just a regular slide and in the summer when its hot. Even our friends have asked us to use it for their kids Birthday parties and we have had no problems. I think our money was well worth it.

[mom2monkiesx3]

We had the big first version and we hung it out to dry and it ripped. I am hoping they are made better by now (this was 3 yrs ago) I'd love to have another one because it was lots of fun while it lasted!!

[pumpkin456]

I bought a blow up waterslide and this is the 2nd year we have had it. We have used it plenty of times and everything is still working fine. It came with a bag to store it in and it is easy to put up and take down. We use it in the winter as just a regular slide and in the summer when its hot. Even our friends have asked us to use it for their kids Birthday parties and we have had no problems. I think our money was well worth it.

What kind do you have??

[jerseygirl]

Buy it w/a few people ~ this way the expense is divided

[JackJack]

We had ours for a season and a half. We were so careful not to poke a hole in it, then it ended up getting "broken" down by the sun. The interior plastic cracked and broke up. Ours was only $149, it was the first year they came out and they really only offered, the basic model. There are some really fun looking ones now. BUT that sucker got used, daily, by every kid that came near the house!! Well worth the money, as a matter of fact, we bought a new one as soon as the old one broke!

[rogueleader]

We bought one 2 years ago. Bonzi or something like that. My kids were 10 and 6 at the time. The WHOLE neighborhood was over!LOL But, being boys, they soon got board with just slidding down. They started doing flips and things. It got hard to control! So we put it away for a few weeks. When we took it back out, it didn't work as well. The air didn't stay in it. You could hear it leaking from the seams. Then the part that holds the hose broke. So we had to tie it around. It never made it to a second season. I don't know if the construction has improved since then.... But $400 is alot of $$. If they were $99, I might consider another one. But not for $400.

I don't know what went wrong with yours but the air is supposed to leak out of the seams. There are warnings on it to not try to seal them. It would explode if you did!

 

The thing that I find humorous about all of the slides/ bouncers sold by TRU is that the ads are always so obviously Photo Shopped. The size of the kids in proportion to the size of the slide makes the slide look huge!

[Ninasnewborns]

My grandmother has had one for the kids since they came out. She has a double one now from walmart. Last year the seams were coming apart and she called the manufacturer and they sent a new one out for free. The kids have a blast on it!

[brynnfromtheblock]

We had a Banzai 2 yrs ago... it didn't last very long (one season if that) it got lots of holes in the seams that we couldn't seem to repair and it wouldn't stay blown up.... maybe they've improved but I'd be cautious about spending that much.

[AcLaramie]

My neighbor bought a $299 one from Walmart last year. It lasted less than a month. She took it back, happened again. The third time she took it back she told them to keep it. This was a problem with the seams. This was never with any rough play and all the kids on it were light, under 70 pounds, and she was very disappointed. She said she is going to rent one this year.

[smjrm]

Wow, I'm surprised with all the people having trouble with these slides. I bought the one that was on clearance at Kmart a while back for about $120 (I think). We haven't had any problems with it at all. It does leak at the seams but it's supposed to (so it doesn't blow up with all the air constantly being blown into it). We used it on concrete once (just the steps, not the slide part) and it rubbed a couple of small holes in it. Even with those it still works fine, probably because the holes are on the bottom and covered once it's inflated. I'll have to check and see what brand it is, I can't remember off the top of my head.

[love a deal]

We had one that cost somewhere around $300. It lasted about one and a half summers. My kids are young(3,4,6) I figured it would hold up longer for them. I will not buy another one unless they were alot cheaper. If you are goinging to get one, I would really read as many reviews as you could.

[anita341]

I am not sure what brand or the name of it is sorry but I got it from Sams.

[nat1jen]

They have them at Costco. With Costco's awesome return policy, you could take it back if it got ripped.

[pumpkin456]

I just wish I could find one for $200. I really am afraid of spending alot of money and then it not working any. Here is the impossible question. Have you seen any for $200

[littlesdcen]

http://www.amazon.com/Banzai-26365-Blast-Water-Slide/dp/B000BZ6EXQ/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1212602570&sr=8-16

 

Found this one.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Ocean-Blue-960001-Searcher-Water/dp/B000RYKOCS/ref=sr_1_34?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1212602713&sr=8-34

 

http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=5623443

[littlesdcen]

Sorry the link to the one at walmart did not work. It says out of stock online but you could check your local store. I also saw that toysrus and sears had that one so maybe you could price match. Good luck to you and let us know how it works. I have been holding back on getting one too. And have been keeping up with this thread to try and make my mind up.

[siczlo]

I just wish I could find one for $200. I really am afraid of spending alot of money and then it not working any. Here is the impossible question. Have you seen any for $200

Aldi has one in their paper for $199.

Edited June 8, 2008 by siczlo

[pumpkin456]

Aldi has one in their paper for $199.

Got one Yesterday. I will let you know how it works. That was an awesome deal

[pumpkin456]

Sorry the link to the one at walmart did not work. It says out of stock online but you could check your local store. I also saw that toysrus and sears had that one so maybe you could price match. Good luck to you and let us know how it works. I have been holding back on getting one too. And have been keeping up with this thread to try and make my mind up.

Just to let you know used it yesterday and my kids love it. In my opinion only worth 200$. Glad I did not spend more I would be very disappointed

[chrisjuvers]

Be sure to get a tarp and put it at the bottom of the slide. We had a double slide and it kept the water in pretty good but by the time we put it away, there's a big mudhole where grass is suppse to be. A tarp is great!

[littlesdcen]

Just to let you know used it yesterday and my kids love it. In my opinion only worth 200$. Glad I did not spend more I would be very disappointed

Thanks for the update. Guess I will be off to aldi.

[pumpkin456]

Be sure to get a tarp and put it at the bottom of the slide. We had a double slide and it kept the water in pretty good but by the time we put it away, there's a big mudhole where grass is suppse to be. A tarp is great!

 

found that out yesterday. By the way if any one is going to Aldi's they are probably all sold out I went to 4 stores and they said they only each got 3. I had mine price matched at another store

[AndreaInNC]

I saw a big one at Big Lots yesterday for $200.00