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How much are you willing to pay for activities like this?

280 replies

Ohdoleavemealone · 07/05/2021 18:32

Last March we were meant to launch an inflatable theme park but thank to Covid it never opened.
We intend to open during the next half term but are having trouble deciding on a pricing structure.
For background, we have decided to use a school as our premises instead of a commercial property which means we have access only to the school hall and toilets. We can only fit in 10 tables to start with due to social distancing. This means we have to carefully balance the price to make sure we our making enough money and being good value. This is proving tricky.
Would people mind giving their honest opinion on the price structure below? If you haven't been to one of these, it is a bit like a trampoline park, but a giant bouncy castle instead.
For the prices below you will get :
1 hour bounce
A table allocated to your group (can mix 2 households) in full view of the only exit.
Table service
Everyone at the table is elligible to bounce, whether for 10 minutes or an hour.
Staff are instructed to play with and entertain the kids so the parents can drink their coffee in peace.

Numbers will also be quite low making it safer thna places like flip out.
Prices :
table of 2 - £20
table of 3 - £ 25
table of 4 - £30
table of 5 - £35
Table of 6 - 40

Would you pay these prices?
For comparison, local flip out charge £13.50 per person and £1 for spectators.
I appreciate comments.

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Spied · 07/05/2021 18:37

I'm really sorry but it doesn't sound like a very professional set-up - more like a kids Birthday party minus the cake.
I'd probably pay £8 for my DD to bounce for an hour.
I'm presuming I'd buy our own drinks.
If a drink for the adult and a juice for the child was included I may go to £11Confused

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Ohdoleavemealone · 07/05/2021 18:39

@Spied Thanks for your feedback. What makes you think it sounds unprofessional?

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flashylamp · 07/05/2021 18:40

Inflatable theme park?

You mean a bouncy castle though?

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Mama1980 · 07/05/2021 18:41

we used to (pre COVID) have something similar locally. I think it was £8 an hour, sibling discount and the staff were all dbs checked etc. And I ever there were insurance forms too parents filled out.....I'm assuming you've covered that aspect but the form filling was surprisingly time consuming sand with COVID there would have to be somewhere to stand I assume.

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Ohdoleavemealone · 07/05/2021 18:42

@flashylamp It is a 450 square metre bouncy castle.

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AnatomyJane · 07/05/2021 18:43

It sounds unprofessional as you are hiring a school hall. It emphasises that the actual bouncer thing can be set up easily therefore people will wonder why they are paying x amount for an hour to sit in an uncomfortable and unaesthetic school hall when they could probably hire it for a day and sit at home in comfort.

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Ohdoleavemealone · 07/05/2021 18:43

@Mama1980 This isn't a place you leave your kids, it is more like a trampoline park/soft play situation where you sit at a table whilst the kids play. Except most of the inflatable ones I have been too, the adults get on and enjoy it too!

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MyDcAreMarvel · 07/05/2021 18:45

You need to charge per person, I am in a wheelchair I can’t bounce, my 17 month old is too young to bounce unless supervised one to one. Grandparents may be unable to bounce. Parents may simply not want to bounce.

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SpringSparrow · 07/05/2021 18:45

There’s a travelling bouncy theme park that comes locally and that charges £8 per child for an all day ticket and adults are free. So your prices seem expensive. I would only really want to pay for the children. I don’t think it should be more expensive if I and my husband both go and neither of us would be bouncing. I would be more likely to go if your just charge for kids and would purchase a drink.

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flashylamp · 07/05/2021 18:45

[quote Ohdoleavemealone]@flashylamp It is a 450 square metre bouncy castle.[/quote]
So market it as that, not as a theme park?

Details are important.

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Ohdoleavemealone · 07/05/2021 18:46

@Anatmony Jane it is a 450sm inflatable. Definitley cannot do it at home! It fills 3/4 of the hall and then we are carpeting the rest, have built a cafe/check in desk and have paid £10k to have the hall painted and the lighting redone to allow for a better atmosphere.

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Pinkpaisley · 07/05/2021 18:46

My big question is how long are the lines to bounce. If the kids are going to spend the bulk of that hour waiting for a turn, I’m less intrigued and less inclined to spend money. If the ratios are working out that kids are basically able to play the whole hour, then those prices work for me.

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MyDcAreMarvel · 07/05/2021 18:46

Also I hate with a passion places that allow adults to join in. I don’t want a 14 stone dad falling on my tiny five year old.

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ILoveCrap · 07/05/2021 18:46

Sorry but I wouldn’t pay those prices for the product you’ve described. For that money I’d want something more ‘professional’.

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gingerbiscuit19 · 07/05/2021 18:48

I would say I'd pay £8 for my child and nothing for me. I wouldn't want to bounce and I'd be annoyed if I had to pay to

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PinotAndPlaydough · 07/05/2021 18:48

I’m going to add a link for a place not too far from me. airthrill.co.uk/visit-london/london-classes/
I get that there are probably lots of overheads and hidden costs but i wouldn’t pay any more that what that place charges. I find that good value for money for what is a relatively short activity. This place also offers a nerf wars area, has a little cafe and is in its own unit so decor etc add to the over all experience.

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ILoveCrap · 07/05/2021 18:48

Also to echo a PP, I wouldn’t want adults bouncing with small children, must be a risk surely? And I certainly don’t want to bounce...

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Ohdoleavemealone · 07/05/2021 18:49

@SpringSparrow @MyDcAreMarvel
Our original plan was to charge only £7.50 per person but as we can only have 10 tables, and due to COVID regulations, everyone has to be sat at a table, we would make no money if everyone just came and only paid for one or two children.
It is a hard call to make at the moment but what people are saying is what I expected to hear. My husband disagrees that people will feel this way.

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Whythesadface · 07/05/2021 18:49

Ok. How many people allowed in per hour?
Will you be only starting at the hour, so all out at the turn around, which will make things easier.
No parent will want to pay for bouncing, but if you offered them drinks and got cans and water bottles, with squash to add, that would help them feel they got a bargain. Remember that some will want two parents per child.

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Mama1980 · 07/05/2021 18:50

The one locally was the same but still required us to sign waivers etc. Children couldn't be left unattended but they still displayed that they had dbs checks etc. As the staff were interacting with the children.

Ignoring all that wouldn't pay that sorry not for something set up in a school. I'd rather go to a trampolining centre or climbing wall where the setting is custom made. Both of those locally offer a bouncy castle too though not on the same scale as yours.

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Ohdoleavemealone · 07/05/2021 18:51

@Pinkpaisley, no lines at all. It is a room of one giant bouncy castle. Maximum 30 people roaming over 450sm.

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bumbledeedum · 07/05/2021 18:52

Can't really see how you'd be able to justify this. Check out inflatable theme park, uk Facebook change, they have loads of bouncy castles and it's £8pp unlimited all day.

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sunflowersandbuttercups · 07/05/2021 18:53

Babies/toddlers shouldn't be allowed to bounce at the same time as 10 year olds, let alone at the same time as adults!

Every single indoor play area I've been to (that has a bouncy castle) has had age restrictions, so maybe under 5's, 5-8 and 8-12, then teenagers and adults at different, separate sessions.

If it's at a school, what happens during term time or when the school need the premises over a weekend for an event?

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Bigfishlittlefishinthetank · 07/05/2021 18:54

OP it’s the kind of thing we would go to. Perhaps run it for a 90 minute session at those prices. No adults bouncing though (H&S?) as it can spoil it for the kids. You would also need to a split out a time for little ones only to bounce and the older ones at their own time slot.

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BowserJr · 07/05/2021 18:54

How does social distancing work in a massive bouncy castle?

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