Don’t worry if the kids are bouncing off the walls with excitement. Here, it really comes alive.
The World’s Largest Bounce House is coming to Busse Forest Park in Rolling Meadows for two weekends of gravity-defying fun.
Produced by XL Event Lab, Big Bounce America travels the country with the world’s largest bounce house and other inflatable attractions.
“We have over 16,000 square feet just for our largest bounce house,” said Trisha Leach, tour manager for The Big Bounce America. “It is Guinness Book certified” as “the largest bouncy (bouncy) castle”.
There will be five other inflatable activities on site including a 900ft obstacle course with over 50 obstacles, two different types of ball pits, a large slide and a sports field.
“It’s a good time for everybody,” Leach said.
The bounce house and related activities are open to all ages, with sessions scheduled by age group.
The children’s session is for children under 3 years of age and requires the accompaniment of a parent/guardian; the junior session is for under 7s and the big kids session is for under 15s.
“And of course we can’t forget our oldest of the kids, which is our adult session, which is 16 and over,” Leach said.
Big Bounce America first hit the road in 2017, and the bounce house earned Guinness certification in 2018.
“We settled in the parks. It’s a public park so people can come and be there all day, but to be inside the bounce houses, they have to buy a ticket, a wristband,” Leach said. “But the grandmothers, the mothers, the parents, aunts, uncles, sisters and brothers who don’t want to jump, can stay on the field and watch them from outside.”
After a pandemic-related break, the house and the rest of the inflatables are on their “comeback tour.”
“You have a lot of people who waited years for it to come back to different cities and now they’re finally getting it,” Leach said. “Being able to celebrate birthdays and anniversaries with us and just being able to be with his friends again is probably the biggest thing.”
Preparing for visitors in each city takes about 36 hours, he said.
“It depends on the weather. It depends on the technical staff we have. But it’s usually a one and a half to two day build,” Leach said.
What takes so long is not what you would expect.
“It’s not necessarily inflating it,” Leach said. “It’s more important to get everything up and running, bet, make sure everything is safe and ready for customers.”
The obstacle course alone uses 200 stakes and 60 blowers to inflate. Every morning the inflatables are filled with air and, in the evening, deflated.
“We close everything the day of the event, we close everything,” Leach said. “And then we come back the next morning and blow it all up and it’s all blown in about 15-20 minutes.”
The event is rain or shine, and organizers are keeping a close eye on the weather, he said.
There are two main rules for entering the bounce house and other inflatables.
“We require everyone to have a wristband to enter the inflatables; and then they have to wear socks to get into the inflatables,” Leach said. “No shoes, no bare feet.”
Socks will be available on site for $5 in the merchandise tent.
Parents who want to enter the inflatable with their children must have a ticket.
“We have a handful of tickets available on the door, so we encourage everyone to purchase tickets via the website: thebigbounceamerica.com” said Leach.
As of press time, tickets were selling quickly on the event’s website.
Inside the bounce house, a DJ will play music and interact with visitors through games.
“They’re trying to encourage people to drink water on these hot days,” Leach said. “And one of our DJs will also go to our sports hall and play there with them.”
“Everybody can play and be a whole kid again,” he said.
The world’s largest bounce house
When: July 22-24; July 29-31
Where: Busse Forest Park, Belt and Golf Roads, Rolling Meadows
Tickets: $19 for toddlers; $32 for children’s sessions; $39 for adults only
Information: thebigbounceamerica.com/family/tickets/chicago/
Kathy Cichon is a freelance reporter for the Pioneer Press.
