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World’s Largest Bounce House brings family fun to Santa Barbara KENNETH SONG/NEWS-PRESS PHOTOSBig Bounce America’s colossal inflatable bounce house is elevating the fun at Elings Park.ress)
Pop music blared. Countless bubbles floated through the air. A cacophony of children’s shrieks and giggles carried throughout the park.
In the middle of a warm Friday afternoon, the shoeless kids in Elings Park were having a ball.
Or rather, a bounce.
Big Bounce America, along with its Guinness record-holding World’s Largest Bounce House, leaped into Santa Barbara this weekend, offering children and adults alike the chance to take off their shoes and play.
People race in an obstacle course at The World’s Largest Bounce House, which is at Elings Park today in Santa Barbara.The bounce house continues today at Elings Park, which this weekend turned into a kaleidoscope of neon and bright bounce houses, slides, obstacle courses, a climbing wall and ball pits.
The 32 foot-tall main castle, affectionately dubbed the Big Bounce by tour manager Dex, featured a DJ booth, a miniature zoo of inflatable animals, endless bubbles and a seemingly unlimited ball pit sprawling more than 16,000 square feet.
Aside from the main castle, fan favorites included the towering striped multi-lane slide, a pink alien standing sentry over her cascading tiers of ball pits and a new “Sports Slam” arena with tetherball, goals, nets and a “battlezone.” And that’s not to mention the obstacle course stretching across the perimeter of Elings Park.
Sitting in a shaded tent several yards from any inflatables, 2-year-old Conor continued to bounce on his dad’s lap as they took a break from the bright playground.
The bounce house sprawls over 16,000 square feet.Eli Coats, of Goleta, said Conor was initially hesitant to go into the massive bounce house. But the best part of the afternoon, Mr. Coats said, was watching Conor overcome his initial fear and enjoy the bubbles and snow billowing from one of the inflatables.
Across the park, 2-year-old Mia rolled around a picnic blanket, seemingly impatient to get back in the action. Mia was particularly a fan of the slides, said her mother, Vicki Villegas.
“It’s a fun family afternoon,” Ms. Villegas, of Santa Barbara, said during their bouncing break. “But we’re tired.”
While walking the News-Press around his bounce house domain, Dex said each session — there are three per day for different age groups — can hold up to 900 people, and he expected each session to reach capacity.
About 20 people travel with Big Bounce America as the inflatables tour the country. The workers guide kids and adults alike through the houses, wrangle wayward children, monitor the inflatables and blow up an endless supply of balls — among many other things.
People bury themselves in one of the bounce house’s ball pits. People enjoy live DJ music inside The World’s Largest Bounce House. Fun can take all sorts of turns.“We need more fun in the world. After the times we’ve just gone through, we invite you to kick those shoes off and let loose for a while,” Josh Kinnersley, the chief operating officer of Big Bounce America, said in a statement. “We have the perfect event to allow kids and adults alike to get out of the house and enjoy an outdoor event like they’ve never experienced.”
According to Dex, no children have been lost yet.
Big Bounce America is produced by XL Event Lab. This weekend marked the company’s fifth visit to Elings Park in Santa Barbara.
Where will Big Bounce America be next? According to its schedule, it will hop up to Sacramento from April 1-3. Then the inflatables will hit Las Vegas from April 8-10.
But Dex said his favorite stop on the tour, of course, is Santa Barbara.
email: kschallhorn@newspress.com
FYI
The World’s Largest Bounce House is in Santa Barbara today at Elings Park, 1298 Las Positas Road. All-access tickets, available online, include a timed session on The World’s Largest Bounce House as well as unlimited access to Sport Slam, The Giant and airSPACE. Tickets start at $19. To purchase, go to
www.thebigbounceamerica.com/tickets.
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