Jump around at Bouncelandia amusement park in Milford

Spencer resident Ankit Narsi had plans to take his kids to a massive traveling bounce house in Minneapolis in 2020.

"But then the pandemic happened and they canceled and I just couldn’t get it out of my head," Narsi said. "So we designed the world's biggest bounce house...My inner-kid thought it was really cool."

Before that summer had even ended, Ankit and his wife, Dana, debuted a bounce house and inflatable obstacle course of their own and invited people of any age to come and jump on. 

Now in their third season, which they aim to begin in May, Narsi said there's a whole lot that will be new to returning bouncers including: a soccer ball game, a jousting game where kids try to knock each other off pedestals and a wrecking ball area. If all of those additions aren't enough, Narsi said there will also be a VR section of the Milford-based entertainment center and a place for folks to shoot "gellyballs" at one another (they look a little like paintballs but without the sting).

"There’s a specific age requirement for the VR and the gellyball," Narsi said.

There's no age limits for how old or old young someone has to be to come and enjoy Bouncelandia. "We have adults that come. We have teenagers who come on a date. We’ve had older couples come too and try it out. We’ve had all age groups come and try it out," Narsi said.

Though there are plenty of new things customers can check out, Narsi's clear about what the main attraction still is.

"I’d say the bounce house is," Narsi said.

At 14,000 square feet, the main bounce house could hold at least 100 kids without any problems whatsoever, he said. To inflate the piece, and all of the other bounce equipment, it takes 50 blowers working a total of five minutes. Deflation at the end of the day takes longer. 

"It’s a big cost. It’s not cheap but it works," he said.

If parents come with their kids and don't feel like jumping themselves, Narsi said there are concession stands for food and drink.

Blain Andera, the CEO at Iowa Great Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, said he's glad to see another place in the region for entire families to go to and have fun at. "It’s just one more thing to draw folks here and have something different to do. Not everyone goes on the lake when they’re on vacation," he said.

Providing something for the entire family to do is the whole reason Alexcia Boggs, co-owner of Just Bounce in Sergeant Bluff, started her business.

"We noticed there weren’t a lot of options in the area...We realized there’s a huge market for this in the Siouxland area," Boggs said.

The party rental company, which has been going for five years now, offers 10 bounce houses ranging from a standard 15-feet-by-15-feet-by-15-feet option ($100 a day) to an obstacle course for $200 for a day (which includes the costs for set up and take down).

"The No. 1 clientele is parents and grandparents," Boggs said. However, Just Bounce does do business with schools, churches, banks and stores too.

Once Bouncelandia is up and running for the season, Narsi said the plan is to be open every single day of the week after Memorial Day. If things follow 2021's path, around Labor Day the schedule will likely dial back to weekends only before the jumper's paradise closes down in October