A giant bounce house is now docked next to the aircraft carriers and industrial warehouses at the Philadelphia Navy Yard.
The inflatable castle has landed at the city’s southern tip courtesy of Big Bounce America, an Orlando-based outfit that tours the country. A sister installation came to Delaware County a few years ago.
This time, the campus includes not only the big house, but additional blow-up architecture. Sections include the Sports Slam, with nets, goals, hoops, and balls; the Giant, called world’s largest inflatable obstacle course, complete with a giant slide; and airSPACE, an outer-space-themed setup with another slide and three ball pits.
Sessions are organized by age, so older kids don’t have to worry about mistakenly crushing a toddler, and adults can do their best to try flips without being embarrassed in front of teens.
Tickets start at $22 per person for tots and go up to $42 for adults-only time. Purchase scores you three hours in the “inflatable madhouse,” with timed entry to the central house and unlimited access to the other attractions. They’re available Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays now through Sept. 10.
Important note: Bring your socks — no bare feet allowed.
Also note the address; you might want to map it before you go. Big Bounce America isn’t on the Central Green or Marine Fairgrounds at the Navy Yard, where you might’ve attended food festivals or concerts. It’s off to the east a bit, on what’s called the Shelby Fairgrounds, at the corner of Admiral Peary Way and League Island Boulevard.
Big Bounce America says the main inflatable is the “world’s largest” of its kind, with a touted Guinness World Records certification. The record-keeping website must not have been updated, because it currently awards the honor to something in Dubai that’s slightly smaller than what we have in Philly right now.
Check out these stats.
- Footprint of the big bounce house: 16,000 square feet (a third of an acre, about the size of a hockey rink)
- Volume: 512,000 cubic feet
- Height: 32 feet (about three stories high)
- Number of people it can fit at one time: 300
- Time it takes to inflate: 20 minutes (the whole things is deflated at the end of each day, then blown up again on the next)
- Power of each blower: 22 horsepower (about 16 kilowatts)
- Length of the giant obstacle course: 900 feet
- Number of obstacles: 50
- Next stop on the Big Bounce America tour: Portland, Oregon
- Random trivia: During the United Nations Climate Change Conference in 2021, London-based architect Marco Poletto introduced a bounce house that produces microscopic algae that feeds on carbon dioxide.
