There are a few places in Jacksonville that can instantly turn a bad day into a good one—and Pump It Up is one of those magical places. I can honestly say that I have never seen a child sad about walking (OK, running) from slide, to bounce house, to obstacle course, to air hockey—you get the point; it just doesn’t happen. So when my daughter—and then my son—exclaimed that they wanted their birthday parties at Pump It Up this year, I jumped at the chance!
I will admit that it is sometimes hard for this event planner to let someone else take over a party, but I can honestly say that I did not worry about one thing at Pump It Up. First of all, the online party reservation system is incredibly easy to use. To book your party date, all you need to do is pay a $100 deposit, which goes toward your final party invoice. The fantastic thing about the online reservation system is that you can choose all of your details—even down to what kind of goodie bags you want your guests to receive—right there on the website—or you can wait until the party is closer.
Almost as awesome as their online reservation system is their pricing, which is all detailed online. You’ll find no call-for-pricing message or hidden fees: everything is spelled out in black and white, which really helps parents plan and budget for the party!
The amazing party add-ons really distinguish a Pump It Up birthday party from a normal Pump It Up jump. For example, when my son saw a picture of the GLOW party add-on in the party brochure, he immediately chose it for his party. For a charge of only $2 more per child, Pump It Up provides glow necklaces, turning on special effects lighting for a truly unique jump experience. (My son is normally afraid of the dark, but he said that since he would be turning five, would be at Pump It Up, AND all his friends would be there, he wouldn’t be scared.)
The week of the party, I called Pump It Up a few times—once to add a Subway sandwich platter for the adults (which was a huge hit), once to change my RSVPs, etc. Every time I called, the person who answered the phone immediately assisted me, without giving me the-party-coordinator-isn’t-available runaround. The staff was super-friendly, accurately communicating my event updates to everyone who needed to know. (As someone who does event planning for a living, I was extremely impressed by this efficiency!)
The day of the party, we arrived 15 minutes before guests were scheduled to be there. The staff reviewed all the details with me, and we were all set. As the guests arrived, they watched a one-minute safety video (while my son sat in the big Pump It Up chair). Then it was off to bounce in the dark!
When we entered the first arena, the kids squealed with excitement: The lights were out! Their socks and shirts glowed! As you can imagine, it was an exciting and fun time for everyone. The staff even customized a playlist for my son—so we were not only jumping (and glowing), but also doing it to “Uptown Funk” and the “Cha Cha Slide.” After 30 minutes, we moved into the second arena for more jumping, air hockey, and fort building. Before we knew it, an hour of jumping had passed, and we were ready for the “Ice Cream and Cake Dance”! (I dare you to listen to this song on YouTube and NOT sing along!)
We then moved into the party room, where everything was ready to go; I didn’t have to do a thing! The staff had the pizza ready for the kids, and the adults helped themselves to the Subway platter and sodas. I didn’t even need to bring napkins, plates, or cups, which were all included. I brought my own awesome Monster Truck cake but I could have ordered a birthday cake directly from them—that is another option!
Most amazingly of all, we walked out of our 90-minute Pump It Up session happy and content, rather than exhausted and irritated. There was nothing for me to do at the end, since the staff takes care of the clean-up, bagging birthday presents and even boxing up leftover pizza and cake. I am normally accustomed to the half-day clean up that follows my at-home birthday parties, so this was one of my most favorite Pump It Up perks. In retrospect, I cannot say enough about how impressed I was with my Pump It Up experience. I highly recommend it to anyone who’s looking for a private, well-organized, super-fun birthday party for her child.
Thank you Pump It Up for sponsoring this post. All opinions are my own.
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