What happens if it rains? Our weather policy, explained.

Every Indiana parent who has booked an outdoor party in June knows the feeling. You check the forecast on Wednesday and it is perfect. You check on Friday night and there is a 40 percent chance of storms sitting directly on top of Saturday afternoon.

Rather than paraphrase, this page quotes our published weather policy directly, including the part that costs you money if the weather turns after setup.

The two hard limits

That is the policy as published on our FAQ page, word for word. The homepage states the same limits: "Units cannot operate in winds of 20+ mph or in rain."

Wind is the real danger, not rain

Rain ruins a party. Wind is the one that actually hurts people, and most customers have it the other way around in their heads.

Think about what an inflatable physically is: a very large, very light object with a lot of surface area, held down at the corners. That is not far off the description of a sail. When wind gets underneath one, the anchoring is the only thing between a bounce house and the neighbor's fence.

It is worth knowing that "bounce house blew away" is searched roughly 170 times a month in the United States, and the figure climbs through the spring. Those searches exist because it happens, and it happens on days when somebody decided the wind was probably fine.

What actually happens on your event day

Our published policy is: "If unsafe conditions are forecasted for your event, our team will contact you to discuss canceling or rescheduling." The FAQ says the same thing about timing: "If the weather looks like it will be unsafe prior to delivery, we will call you and discuss whether we should cancel the rental and reschedule your event."

Two things follow from that wording. The contact happens prior to delivery, not on arrival, and the outcome is a conversation about canceling or rescheduling rather than an automatic decision. If your fallback is indoors, note that our FAQ also states: "We can set up on grass, pavement, or indoors."

What happens to your deposit

This is the part people worry about most, so here it is in our own published wording.

From our FAQ: "Deposits are 50% of the total order. A credit card is required for the deposit." And on cancellation: "Your deposit is non-refundable. You will be able to apply your deposit to a future event." The homepage puts it as: "The 50% deposit is non refundable but is applicable to a future event, so your money stays with us if we need to reschedule."

Those two statements do different jobs. Non-refundable is about getting money back. Applicable to a future event is about the money still being yours to use. The homepage summarises both in one line: "Weather change? Your 50% deposit applies to a future event."

There is one case where that does not apply, and you should know it before you book rather than after. Quoting the FAQ in full: "If we set up the unit, and the weather later turns inclement (rain or higher winds), we will pick up the unit according to schedule. However, in this event, no refund will be given."

• Winds of 20 mph or more: bouncers cannot be used.
• Rain: bouncers cannot be used.
• Our team contacts you when unsafe conditions are forecasted for your event.
• Your 50% deposit is non-refundable but applies to a future event.
• After setup: the unit is picked up according to schedule and no refund is given.

How to protect the day before it arrives

A few things genuinely help, and none of them require checking the radar every hour for a week.

• Have a plan B space in mind. A garage with the cars pulled out, a basement, a church hall or a community room. Knowing your fallback before Saturday morning turns a cancellation into a change of venue.
• Consider a tent. Tents start at $100 and cover the food, the tables and the grandparents. A tent does not make an inflatable safe in high wind, but it saves the rest of the party from a passing shower.
• Consider an indoor setup. Our FAQ states that we can set up on grass, pavement, or indoors, so an indoor space may be a workable fallback depending on the unit and the room.
• Be reachable that morning. The policy says our team contacts you when unsafe conditions are forecasted, and that contact happens prior to delivery.

Where to read this yourself

Every policy statement on this page is published on our own site. The weather limits, the deposit terms and the after-setup rule are on our FAQ page, and the weather policy and deposit summary also appear on the homepage. If anything here ever disagrees with those pages, the FAQ and homepage are the authority.

Common questions