We have had this slide for just over two months now, and the whole neighborhood has had a blast!
AGES: My kids are 3 and 8, and they both really enjoy it. We have had kids up to age 14 on it, and I would say it was perfect for everyone.
When we first got the slide, we had lots of rules so that the kids didnt pop it. I was scared to death that $400 would go down the drain. However, as we had more and more kids at the house and I saw how sturdy it was, I had fewer and fewer rules. When we have a herd of older boys playing on it, they get pretty dang rough trying to dethrone someone from the top of the mountain. Somehow this thing is still standing. However, I have made a rule that they can only have two people at the top at a time. When there are more and they are rough, they have gotten tangled up in the top part, causing a dangerous situation. (BTW, the description says max of 4 kids, but there are 5 in the product picture.)
SETUP: The slide is simple to setup. We stake a tarp down (in case of sticks, dog poop, etc), then inflate the slide on top of it. It inflates in about a minute. We then stake the slide down through our cheap tarp. We leave the hose thingy connected because its kind of annoying to have to attach it every time. Note: our hose thing was manufactured incorrectly. The tube has to go down the side with the Velcro straps, and the sprayers are attached with Velco, but ours was designed to have the tube go down the other side of the slide. Because of this, we have to twist (and kink) the tube in one spot. Not a huge deal, but I need to contact the company. I would say setup from start to finish takes 10-15 minutes max.
TEARDOWN: This is the part I hate. Another reviewer mentioned that you need TWO places in your yard large enough for this slide, and they are absolutely correct. First I deflate this thing (easy to do: you just untie where the blower is attached and another outlet chute thing) and get the water out of the pool area. Then I have to drag it to a dry area of the yard (which has to be pretty far away, because our yard becomes a swap in a fairly large radius around the slide) and re-inflate it. We have to let it dry for at least a couple of hours while inflated, which is difficult if it gets dark or starts to rain. I absolutely do NOT want to put this thing up with any dampness. Next step is to fold it up and put it in its bag. My husband is the master of this, but there is no way I can get it correctly folded to fit in the little bag it came with. I actually purchased a patio furniture cushion storage bag to keep it in because it is much larger. This also fits the blower and the extension cord we always use.
SUMMARY: Kids of all ages love this slide, but I have to always be vigilant to make sure they arent so rough that they get tangled up or that the top starts to fall backwards. Setup is easy, but teardown gets pretty annoying. I am very impressed with how well-made it is other than the manufacturing error in the tube on ours. The blower is great and does its job well. My yard is pretty destroyed after hours of play on this because of all the kids running around on the super wet grass. In all, though, the kids have an absolute blast, so its totally worth it.
Well made and tons of fun
We have had this slide for just over two months now, and the whole neighborhood has had a blast! AGES: My kids are 3 and 8, and they both really enjoy it. We have had kids up to age 14 on it, and I would say it was perfect for everyone. When we first got the slide, we had lots of rules so that the kids didnt pop it. I was scared to death that $400 would go down the drain. However, as we had more and more kids at the house and I saw how sturdy it was, I had fewer and fewer rules. When we have a herd of older boys playing on it, they get pretty dang rough trying to dethrone someone from the top of the mountain. Somehow this thing is still standing. However, I have made a rule that they can only have two people at the top at a time. When there are more and they are rough, they have gotten tangled up in the top part, causing a dangerous situation. (BTW, the description says max of 4 kids, but there are 5 in the product picture.) SETUP: The slide is simple to setup. We stake a tarp down (in case of sticks, dog poop, etc), then inflate the slide on top of it. It inflates in about a minute. We then stake the slide down through our cheap tarp. We leave the hose thingy connected because its kind of annoying to have to attach it every time. Note: our hose thing was manufactured incorrectly. The tube has to go down the side with the Velcro straps, and the sprayers are attached with Velco, but ours was designed to have the tube go down the other side of the slide. Because of this, we have to twist (and kink) the tube in one spot. Not a huge deal, but I need to contact the company. I would say setup from start to finish takes 10-15 minutes max. TEARDOWN: This is the part I hate. Another reviewer mentioned that you need TWO places in your yard large enough for this slide, and they are absolutely correct. First I deflate this thing (easy to do: you just untie where the blower is attached and another outlet chute thing) and get the water out of the pool area. Then I have to drag it to a dry area of the yard (which has to be pretty far away, because our yard becomes a swap in a fairly large radius around the slide) and re-inflate it. We have to let it dry for at least a couple of hours while inflated, which is difficult if it gets dark or starts to rain. I absolutely do NOT want to put this thing up with any dampness. Next step is to fold it up and put it in its bag. My husband is the master of this, but there is no way I can get it correctly folded to fit in the little bag it came with. I actually purchased a patio furniture cushion storage bag to keep it in because it is much larger. This also fits the blower and the extension cord we always use. SUMMARY: Kids of all ages love this slide, but I have to always be vigilant to make sure they arent so rough that they get tangled up or that the top starts to fall backwards. Setup is easy, but teardown gets pretty annoying. I am very impressed with how well-made it is other than the manufacturing error in the tube on ours. The blower is great and does its job well. My yard is pretty destroyed after hours of play on this because of all the kids running around on the super wet grass. In all, though, the kids have an absolute blast, so its totally worth it.