Go ahead, jump around: The world’s biggest bounce house will balloon to soaring heights in Boca Raton this weekend, and it’s packing basketball hoops, a nightclub and other bounce-worthy diversions.
At 11,400 square feet, this candy-colored behemoth of inflatable ingenuity will rise March 22-24 at Burt Aaronson South County Regional Park in Boca Raton, and again for two weekends March 29-April 7 at Miramar Regional Park.
Even adults are allowed to bounce around. Along with the bounce house, there will DJs spinning music and firing confetti cannons, a 900-foot-long obstacle course and an alien invasion-themed play area, organizer Cameron Craig says.
How much to bounce?
Tickets cost $19 for one-hour bounce castle sessions, $16-$28 for a three-hour all-access pass and $28 for adults-only sessions via TheBigBounceAmerica.com.
Come on. It’s seriously the world’s biggest bounce house?
It is. Verified by Guinness World Records as the “largest inflatable (bouncy) castle” last May, the bounce castle comes from the Big Bounce America co-founders Cameron Craig and Grahame Ferguson.
So massive is the bounce castle that it can takes 28 industrial air pumps to inflate, and supports a capacity of 200 simultaneous jumpers, Craig says.
Craig says he and Ferguson felt inspired to build the world’s largest bounce house while producing a United Kingdom music festival, which featured a children’s play area. Once the children left at sunset, Craig and Ferguson finished their beers and hopped around the bounce house.
“It was a blast, and we thought, ‘How cool would it be to make a bounce house for adults, too, and why not make it the biggest one in the world?’ ” Craig says. “Adults think they’re too old and aren’t supposed to bounce and do backflips, but it’s even better when you’re grown up.”
Adults won’t be able to jump around with younger visitors, Craig says. Bouncers younger than 16 must register for day sessions while those 16-and-older must jump during the evenings. Go to TheBigBounceAmerica.com/tickets for the full schedule.
Fine, but what if I’m too busy “adulting” to go?
Then shame on you. Go ahead and stare forlornly at all the shrieking youngsters backflipping off inflatable sofas, diving into ball pits and dunking two-pointers. Go ahead and gaze at millennials snapping Instagram selfies on the obstacle course and high-fiving pandas. (Yes, there are people in panda costumes.) We’ll wait. We knew you couldn’t avoid it, either.
OK. What are the attractions?
The bounce castle, admittedly far more enormous than one might rent for backyard birthday parties, features a colorful ball pit, six basketball hoops, dance-offs, inflatable sofas and palm trees, a giant slide and a DJ booth.
The Boca Raton stop will include the debut of the Giant, a 900-foot-long obstacle course with inflatable tunnels, mazes and climbing walls. Another attraction making its premiere is AirSPACE, a science fiction-themed playground featuring inflatable aliens and spaceships, planet and moon craters.
The Big Bounce America will take place noon-5 p.m. Fridays, 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Sundays from Friday, March 22, to Sunday, March 24, at Burt Aaronson South County Regional Park, 11200 Park Access Road, Boca Raton; and again March 29-31 and April 5-7 at Miramar Regional Park, 16801 Miramar Parkway, Miramar. Go to TheBigBounceAmerica.com.