When I asked my youngest, Andrew what he wanted to do for his 7th birthday he almost didn’t let me finish the question! PUMP IT UP! I called the Plymouth, Mn location the next day. They helped me find a date and time. I was worried about not having enough time in the end so she had me schedule the last one of the day. This way you have a few minutes extra in the party room without feeling the need to rush out. Just don’t forget the employees are probably ready to go home by then! I sent out invites and the RSVP’s came in very slowly. When I asked Andrew who he wanted to invite he looked at me so confused and said, “My whole class. I don’t want anyone left behind.” My sweet boy! So, 24 invites went out. We had 14 friends RSVP, which I knew would happen as it was the start of spring break. I booked the Classic 15 Go Glow Party with pizza, cake and ice cream.
A week before the party one of the staff calls and finishes up the details. What kind of pizza, cake, color of frosting, soda and so on. They were so helpful and I hung up the phone knowing I didn’t have to do a thing but show up! There’s something new! I might have been more excited than my son!
We arrived 15 minute early. Small snacks and cake or cupcakes are allowed to be brought in by almost all locations. The cost is no different then if I had went and purchased one myself. I went with the Pump It Up Goodie bags, also. At Andrews last party, I ran around trying to find cheap but cool items to put in it. It cost me $5 a goodie after I bought everything. At Pump It Up, you can add goodie bags for each child for as little as $3.50 and save yourself the time of putting them together.
As every parent drops off their child they must fill out a waiver. The waiver is basically to acknowledge the risk of injury and not hold PIP responsible. Once that’s done, move over to a side seating room and the kids watch a quick video on safety and rules. The staff have them walk silly to the first bounce arena after giving them all glow necklaces. We had the Glow party which create much more of a party atmosphere. After 40 minutes in the first arena, we moved to the second one which is just as fun but different bouncers. Even the adults we invited were having fun and loved it! I was pulled aside and brought into the party room to go over what would happen in the remaining time and make sure everything was right.
Into the party room to sing happy birthday, the staff helper served the pizza, soda and then the cake and ice cream. Once everyone was finished Andrew got to sit in a giant inflatable chair and open his presents. He had a blast! The wonderful helper wrote every present and who it was from down for us. Packed it all up and had it in a cart to bring out to the car!
Picture above is with flash.
Each kid received their goodie bag and balloon as they left. A very successful party, a happy boy and a mom that had to do nothing but take pictures!
A few notes Pizzas and cakes are usually brought in from other companies. For instance, our pizza was from Domino’s and cake from Dairy Queen. What we had was a hit. Also, although I loved the glow party a lot, it was much harder to take pictures. If the flash wasn’t just right it was fuzzy or just too dark. I am sure if you know your photography you’d be fine but most of us don’t. Here’s what several of my friends pictures turned out like….
If you ask the staff to turn on the lights 5-10 minutes before the end to get some better pictures they will. I got several great pictures but you would never know that it was a glow party from them.
We had an amazing staff. Very attentive, fun and on top of it. They don’t expect it but you can tip them and the split it between the 4 of them. We had such great service and it will be a party my son won’t forget so we made sure to tip well.
**some links are for a specific location. Enter your zip code and see what your location offers**
All About Vacations - A Minnesota Mom 