Monsoon season

    Wow, it has been a while since I posted on this blog. I am sorry. The purpose of blog is less to do about self promotion and all to do about ensuring you get the best party experience.  I will make sure that I do a better job giving you hints and tips that help you choose the best equipment and activities for your party.
    Arizona has over 300 days of clear sunshine. Most of the summer is just plain HOT, but those that say "at least it is a dry heat" are obviously forgetting about monsoon season. Humidity, early evening thunderstorms, flash floods and haboobs. All of these are issues that trump the heat in my book. You can always beat the heat. The kids keep cool on the waterslide, parents (that don't go on the waterslide) keep cool in the shade with an evap cooler or go inside with the air conditioning.  Monsoons though, can threaten the success of your party. Those storm clouds build up and before you know it, a haboob is on its way. With winds over 40 mph and enough force to damage roofs, push over trees and yes, even send an inflatable flying. When the wind picks up or a haboob rolls in, the inflatable must be put down which will hit the pause or even stop button on your party. 
     Most people book an inflatable for their party about 2 to 3 weeks in advance and there is no way to predict the weather that far out. But the easiest way to beat the monsoon weather is start and end your party earlier.  Here are a few reasons why starting your party at noon and ending at 4 pm is a good idea.

  1) Most monsoon storms or haboobs occur in the early evening. In our experience, if a storm is going to pick up, it will occur at +/- 5 pm. Having your party end at 4 will ensure you and your guests have had adequate time to enjoy the inflatable before a storm hits.
  2) If there is no storm, this will maximize your time with the inflatable. Most companies, like ours, will add extra time both before and after the event which benefits both you and the inflatable company. It allows you plenty of time to enjoy the inflatable and allows the company to create the most efficient delivery and pick up schedule. 
   3) The 4-5 o'clock hour is the hottest part of the day.
   4) The temperature can remain above 100° until the 10 o'clock hour. Although it dark out it is still hot.

    If the weather does turn for the worst, it is better to not risk it and turn off the inflatable. Bounce houses, waterslides, or any inflatable is not able to be used in winds of excess of 20 mph.
    Although the weather it is unpredictable, we at Dreamland Bouncers constantly watch the weather and will help you make the best decision as to what the weather may be like for your party. If you are considering an inflatable for your party during monsoon season and have questions or concerns about the weather, please give us a call. We will be happy to help you find the best equipment, time frame or even back up ideas to ensure your child's party will be a successful one.

Featured product

The first featured product is.......the Snow Cone Machine!  What?!? Snow cones in January? Are you serious?  Yes, yes I am. The snow cone machine is awesome for 3 big reasons. First, it's snow cones. They are fantastic anytime of the year. Sugar filled snowy goodness that leaves kids' mouths, teeth and tongues bright red, blue and/or purple. They taste great. Sure it may be January but it is Arizona. This weekend has a high of 78°. We have it pretty good here and what would better than a nice frozen treat to celebrate this perfect weather.
       Second, there is an activity that is highly underutilized...the snow ball fight. The snow cone machine isn't just for eating, it's for throwing. What would be better than watching your kids run around throwing snowballs at each other? Now I am sure you may think that they can become an ice ball but rest assured that is not so. Once the ice is ground down the shaved ice doesn't freeze together as a frozen ball rather it is a ball of slush.  Depending on how much you make, the snow ball fight can last anywhere from 10 to 30 minutes. If you do not want them throwing snow balls at each other, then take a piece of chalk and draw a target on your back wall. If you are an artist, draw Prince Hans on the wall to throw at. Or do what I do, emphasize no throwing any snow balls at "kids". Soon they will realize you are not a kid and have them chase you around throwing the snow balls at you. Make sure you have a good clear path to run once they figure that out though.
   Lastly, any left over syrup is yours to keep. Anytime you want a treat or reward for your kids, just throw some ice in a blender and BAM! Snow cones. The syrup also has another very useful purpose. Are you familiar with the movie Mary Poppins? Well, a spoonful of sugar (syrup) makes the medicine go down in the most delightful way. If you kids are anything like mine, they hate the taste of the medicine no matter what the flavor is you buy. The snow cone syrup is just sugar, flavoring and water, so you can add it to any of your kids' liquid medicine for a better taste.
   I hope you consider adding the snow cone machine to your next rental. It is a wonderful addition to party and when used to its full potential, it will leave a lasting memory for you and your child.

Flu bug strikes again.

    For many of you that have used our services for your party, you may know that I am a full-time paramedic. I love my job. I have always wanted to be a paramedic and it is a calling that I was happy to answer. I enjoy being there to help and I take a great amount of pride when I make a difference in someone else's life. We are in the middle of Flu season and boy, it is going around fast. I have been on countless flu-like emergency calls and my wife has been fighting a cough and congestion for weeks now. I have been fortunate not to have caught it. That is until today. As a paramedic I am exposed to sick people daily and my immune system is normally very efficient at keeping me healthy. But today, the flu has gotten the better of me and it came on FAST. You would think as a healthcare professional I would've been able to prevent this or at least hit it hard before it decided to come on strong but alas I am just as susceptible to the flu as anyone else. It also went from a minor irritant to making me a full blown cry baby in the matter of hours. Yes, like most grown men I am kinda of a cry baby when I am sick. Stuffy heads, runny noses, coughing, headaches, that overall funk that we feel, it is just unbearable at times. No one likes being sick or even seeing their loved ones being sick. No matter how hard we try to prevent it, we just cannot escape the flu. You may also notice it comes at the worst possible time. I can't tell you how many times either the parents or kids get the flu just days before your party. Almost as if the flu knows you have something big coming up.
        If anyone understands the flu and how it effects your party, it's us. That is why we don't require deposits and why we spent so much time cleaning our inflatables. You cannot predict the weather, your families health or events that will lead to you needing to cancel or postpone the party. While some companies require deposits and then have all kinds of rules as to how much you get back if you cancel, we don't do that. We are parents as well and we know the stresses of planning a party. That is why we don't want to add any stress. We watch the weather leading up to your party so we can give you the best options. We call 3-4 days ahead to make sure everything is on track and your kids are healthy. If not we work with you to find your best option. And if that means cancelling or postponing the party so you and/or your kids can get healthy, then we support that. We are here to help you and do what's best for you.
         I also want to touch on our cleaning. We pride ourselves on our quality and cleanliness of the inflatables. We spend quite a lot of time ensuring our equipment is wiped, vacuumed and sanitized after every party. We spent countless hours cleaning every square inch of the inflatables with a anti-bacterial cleaner, both inside and out. We will never let our equipment sit for weeks at time, waiting for it to be rented again so we can clean it "on-site". Although due to it being rented the day or 2 before, we will clean it on site, but it is definitely not what we try to do. If we can clean it at our warehouse with a commercial vacuum and and all our best resources, we will. You can also rest assured that if we need to clean it at your party site, we will do so just as diligently as we would at our warehouse. I would never let dirty inflatable or a "good enough" inflatable be rented out to you and your family.
     When you make a reservation with Dreamland Bouncers, we will do everything in our power to make your party as stress free as we possibly can. You can bet our equipment will be clean and sanitized. You can also know that no matter what life throws at you, we will be here to help you with your party.

January Slide Month

     I am sure it is obvious that I am not much of a blogger. I only have a few posts and they are pretty spaced apart. I find it hard to write articles that I think people would be interested in. I was never much of an author but I am passionate about our products and parties. I hope to change our minimal posts to frequent ideas, quick tips and highlighting a products. So to kick off the new year, I will write about our current special. 

     January is Slide Month here at Dreamland Bouncers. I know what you are thinking, "But Steve, aren't your slides waterslides? It's winter, won't the kids freeze?" The answer is, of course not. Almost all of our slides are wet OR dry. They can be used year round and to be honest, I think they are just as fun dry as they are when wet. We chose January because of the weather. The vinyl is much stiffer and the kids are usually wearing fleece products which make the slides faster. We also use a product that decreases the friction and really makes the kids fly down the slide. I call it my Griswold spray, those of you that love Christmas Vacation will understand. All these things combined make the slides super fast and incredibly fun. 

      Kids will also gravitate to the slides more often. When we have public events, the kids always want to be on the slide. They can ride it over and over and over again. Slides have a high output of riders so it doesn't take very long to climb up and slide down, and it also means the wait time really isn't very long as well. 

      We also extended our special to include our interactive inflatables. Our obstacle courses, bungee cord run and Volcano Rock Wall are great for all ages especially the bigger kids. Again, at public events, these inflatables always have the longest lines and most repeat riders versus combos & bounce houses. The best part of having these inflatables for your private party is the amount of times you can ride them. You can ride these inflatables all your hearts desire. The obstacle course is my favorite inflatable we have. It is high intensity, great for younger kids, older kids and the young of heart adults. They are incredibly fun and your kids will not want to get off it. 

     If you are interested in reserving a Slide, Obstacle course, Bungee cord run or the Volcano Rock Wall, give us a call and mention the slide month special and we will take $50 off your order. This is good for private parties in the month of January. No matter what the age, an inflatable brings excitement, fun and memories that will last a lifetime to your next party. 

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The holidays are coming upon us so fast and wow, it's already Christmas time. Well, Thanksgiving did get pushed in there right after Halloween. How many aisles of Christmas stuff is there already at the store?  The Turkey kind of got pushed aside!

With the holidays, comes time with friends, family and those we hold dear. Many celebrate with food or football where as some spend their time planning the best Black Friday sales and deals.  However you choose to spend your time this holiday season, it will be good no matter what you do.

This week, I am thinking of Thanksgiving at our house.  We host the family dinner each year and I really like looking forward to having everyone at our house.  I don't do the cooking as my husband does, but I do go crazy making sure the house is clean and organized.  I know that our family does not care if my bed is made, but for some reason, I only make my bed when people are coming over.  And I put away the toys and tidy up the rooms as if family cares if the toys are out. Everything is going to be played with as soon as the cousins come through the door!  I guess I feel that I need to put on my "best" when guests are coming over so I will spend my morning running around and making sure everything is just so. Whereas my husband will be in the kitchen making the turkey and mashed potatoes with everything single pot we have.  Oh, but it tastes so good!

After dinner, we will sit around and look at the specials and deals for shopping and watch football. Usually we will have a bounce house or slide up in the backyard so the kids can burn off some of that energy and turkey.  Then of course, there is always the second go around of the turkey and pie a few hours later when you have just a little bit more room in your stomach.

I am looking forward to this week with the food, family, fun and then putting up Christmas decorations too.  I wish you all a wonderful week!

What kind of party are you having?  A baby shower, child's birthday party, graduation party, wedding?  There are so many reasons to host a party that sometimes we miss having people over just because.  In today's world of scheduling and play dates and online calendars, do we often make the time to just get together?  Everything seems to be so scheduled around activities, work, and well, stuff.  The best nights we have is meeting up with the neighbors in the driveway and end up talking for a few hours because we can.  And we didn't have to clean the house, load up the car or plan a fancy meal.  I understand that there are responsibilities and commitments we all have and I am not saying to toss those out the window but sometimes the best things are unplanned.  I think that putting the camp chairs in the driveway is a great way to get together and have a party too.  Bring out the grill and burgers and there you go!  Now, if you know a neighbor who happens to have a bounce house or a waterslide, well that can't hurt either but you know, one thing at time!

Upcoming Party

So your child is having a birthday soon, what kind of party do you throw?  Well, I think there are many questions to ask yourself first such as: Who will be coming? When can we have the party? Should we invite friends and family?  What is our budget?

Our daughter is turning 9 in a month so we asked ourselves some of those questions.  The biggest question for me is who will be coming.  Now that she is in school, there are many classmates that she would like to invite. There are friends in her class and friends in other classes so we have to figure out how many to invite. We do not want to hurt any feelings nor be selective but I am not sure if inviting all fourteen girls from the third grade class is a good idea.  But then I am reminded that only ten percent of that fourteen with RSVP and maybe half will actually come.  So that isn't so bad. Plus there are other friends that she would like to come so if ten girls came, that would be great.

In counting up party guests, we have to add our family too. With cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandmas coming, our guest list has just grown exponentially.  We know that our family will come to the party because they are family and that is just what we do for birthdays in our house.  Now adding 25 more people with children has gotten a guest list of almost 50 people.

Having a party for 50 people is not too hard in our family where hamburgers on the grill and soda in the cooler works just fine.  But what if classmates' parents decide stay?  Now we have to think about their food and drinks, chairs, tables, etc.  So should I plan for 60?  But wait, I didn't even invite the neighbors and their kids too.  Okay, maybe now I'm up to 75 or 80 people?

My husband thinks we should do a party activity like a large movie screen or have a magician come.  I am entertaining the magician idea because for a total of one hour, he walks around showing tricks to the party guests then provides a show and interacts with the kids.  Magic is always fun no matter the age.  Whether you can catch the magician in his act or just be entertained and wonder, magic is always a good time.  And for one hour to ninety minutes of entertainment, that might be a good idea.

We will have an inflatable obstacle course up for the kids to play on too. I think that we do need to have something else going on during the party before the magician comes. With the obstacle course, then various ages can play and race a friend to see who has the fastest course time. Maybe I should give prizes away for that?

In looking at all that would go on for this party, I am thinking that I may not want to prepare all of the food as it is a lot of work and money in the end. I saw an advertisement for a hot dog vendor to come to your party.  How fun is that?  They bring the cart, food and serve it during your party. No prep work for me!  Just sit back and eat a hot dog.  I need to look into this further but a hot dog cart may be coming to my backyard soon.

I am not sure what we will decide in the end, but the goal is to make our 9 year old (middle child) have a fun and special birthday party.  Now onto planning her 10th birthday party huh?