Trampoline Parks - Fuelling the trampoline boom
The Latest Craze in Trampolining
Trampolining has seen an enormous increase in popularity over the course of 2014 fuelled, in part, by the meteoric rise of the trampoline-park and partly by parents reacting against the domination of electronic children’s games and seeking healthier alternative play for their children.
With the ever-increasing problem of over-weight children, many parents are happy to encourage their kids to exercise and it seems children don’t need much convincing when it comes to trampolining, which is reflected in the 2 million homes in the UK that now have a trampoline in their garden.
The “all new” trampoline park is riding high on this wave of popularity, brought over from the US, and is the latest craze for young people wanting to take part in a social activity with their friends having grown tired of the more traditional bowling, ice-skating, swimming et al offerings of the past. They offer children the experience of bouncing over 100 different sized and positioned trampolines joined together by padded obstacles and platforms from which they can (literally) fly on and off and deep trampoline-suspended foam pits for them to somersault into. These trampoline parks not only allow kids to bounce free but also offer dodge ball games, basket ball, and even trampoline fitness classes for adults and children alike.
The parks in the UK began with the arrival of Gravity Force in Camberley, which opened in March of this year, and have exploded throughout the country in just a matter of months. They are now dotted throughout the UK in towns and cities such as Guildford (Air Hop), Milton Keynes (Bounce) and Manchester (Jump Nation) with more being built every month. And then there is the imaginatively thought-up Bounce Below, created within the depths of a dis-used mine in Wales, where participants can bounce on the worlds largest underground trampoline made of net suspended 180 feet above an enormous dark cavern, whilst throwing multi-coloured shadows over the walls created through strategic lighting.
The parks range in size and capacity allowing between 100-300 participants to jump at any one time (normally restricted to an hour). Not surprisingly they are particularly popular for kids parties, with the staff at Air Hop (Guildford) stating that on their busiest days they can hold up to almost 100 individual parties!
Whether these parks can sustain the level of growth and popularity they have enjoyed over this year remains to be seen but they are certainly going to be a part of our leisure park landscape for some time yet!
