Living in East Bristol without a car can present challenges at times. While most of the time I can easily get the bus, train or walk to most places, as my children have got older there’s been a rise in party invitations to places like Air Hop and Ninja Warrior.
And by the time Play Space in St Philips closed down, there were few similar places to take the children suitable for over fives. But with the opening of Jumpin Fun, such problems may become a distant memory.
We can walk to the new soft play, which is certainly a much more pleasant experience than navigating two buses to Cribbs Causeway. Jumpin Fun is also more affordable – standard child tickets are £10 and with early morning, toddler and midweek discounts available for £8.
Another pleasant surprise I discovered was that although socks are essential, nobody is forced to buy overpriced branded socks. I took a risk when I turned up on a Saturday afternoon without booking but was pleasantly surprised to see there were no queues.
A member of staff directed me to a digital booking form, where I had to sign a waiver as it was our first time. Given that I had turned up with a couple of my children’s friends, I had to fill out the form for four children but it was fairly straightforward and didn’t take too long.
As the children hadn’t eaten I enquired about the ‘Eat & Bounce Deal’ I had discovered online. But clearly I hadn’t spent long enough reading about the deal because the £10 offer of a two-hour bounce plus half a margherita, chips and refillable squash is only available midweek during term time.
The children were given paper wristbands and we were invited into a small room for a short (less than 5 minutes) video induction.
Although the large building appeared to be quiet at first, we soon discovered that there were several children’s parties taking place. I imagine for this reason, alongside the timing of our visit, when we headed up to the cafe to order pizza ahead of the 4pm jump we were told that there was none left.
I ordered them kids’ meals instead, which consisted of four chicken or vegan nuggets or fish fingers with chips and beans for £6. Drinks are sold separately and start at £1.50 for cartons, £2.50 for bottled soft drinks, £3.50 for a regular Slush Puppy and £4 for a milkshake.
With just under 20 minutes before their session start time, I was being optimistic ordering the food in advance so by the time the food arrived they were already bouncing. Sitting at the cafe gave me a bird’s eye view of the children, who were happy bouncing to come and get their meal but despite it being cold by 5pm they were hungry enough to eat it.
I would definitely return but due to everything closing up at 5pm, the mid-week deal would only ever work for us on an inset day. Next time I would probably either book in advance or get there closer to the session start time and would probably not eat at home or get food elsewhere.
It definitely looked like a lot of fun and I’d like to have a go myself next time. All the children had a great time and my energetic eight-year-old son said: “It’s better than Ninja Warrior and just as good as Air Hop.”