Ryan’s Trip to the New Skyzone Trampoline Park is an Exhausting Good Time [REVIEW]

Evansville's newest playground is unlike anything the city has seen, and a total blast for kids and adults alike!

Opening this past Tuesday, Sky Zone Indoor Trampoline Park is located on the corner of the Burlington Coat Factory building at the intersection of Green River Road and the Lloyd on Evansville's east side. It features a variety of trampoline related activities for young and old looking to have some fun and get a solid workout in at the same time whether that was their plan going in or not.

SkyZone is essentially one large room decorated in an orange and blue color scheme that my 9-year-old son instantly loved since it matched the colors of his favorite team, the Denver Broncos (he's a Manning guy). To the right are the check-in counters where you complete a waiver form using a touch screen computer that essentially says you won't sue them if hurt yourself while using the facility. Upon completing the waiver, the computer spits out a receipt you take to the cashier so you can pay.

Having never been to a place like Sky Zone before, I'm not sure what a reasonable price is for such a facility, but I can tell you for a family of four, it wasn't cheap. Sky Zone offers four levels of play time. For $12 per person you get 30 minutes, $15 per person for 60 minutes, $18 for 90 minutes, and $21 for two hours. My family and I opted for 60 minutes, costing us $60 total.

After payment, each person receives a pair of special ankle socks you must wear to jump. These offer rubber pads on the bottom to prevent slipping on the trampolines, and are yours to keep when you leave. I learned that you are welcome to bring them back and reuse them for any subsequent visits, however it will not change the amount you pay for those visits. Essentially, there's no discount for reusing the socks.

After paying, each member of your party will receive a sticker with a start and end time printed on it you'll need to wear somewhere on your person. After all that (which doesn't take as long as it sounds), now you're ready to jump. However, let me offer a tip for planning your trip (rhyme unintentional); try and get there 10-15 minutes before 30-past an hour or right at the start of a hour. That's how Sky Zone keeps things from getting too crowded. We showed up right around 6:30pm, but by the time we filled out the waivers and paid, it was about 6:40 which was left us waiting 20 minutes before we were allowed to jump. There are digital clocks all over the facility so you'll know when your time is up.

There are four different activities available; a large pit filled with orange and blue foam bricks where you simply dive in from one of the three small trampolines lined up along the edge; the Sky Slam area featuring three different basketball goals of various height, each with a long, rectangular trampoline giving you room to live out your NBA dreams; two dodgeball "courts" featuring two sides of eight trampolines each; and finally a large free jump area featuring 20-30 small trampolines (roughly six feet by six feet square) where you can jump, flip, whatever.

Both dodgeball courts and the free jump area feature angled walls that are also trampolines allowing you to bounce off of them as part of a combo jump (if your fancy like that), or to cushion the blow if you find yourself on the receiving end of an errant jump.

All in all, Sky Zone is a great time, and somewhere my family and I will visit again. Although considering the cost of admission it will be more of a special treat a few times a year opposed to perhaps a monthly trip. It also provides a quick reminder of how out of shape I am considering my legs felt like jelly after only 15 minutes of jumping.

If you decide to give Sky Zone a try, let me offer these tips: in addition to properly plan your arrival time as I mentioned above, wear proper attire such as a t-shirt and athletic shorts as you WILL work up quite a sweat. Footwear is irrelevant as you'll be issued the socks upon payment. I also suggest springing for the 60 minute session, as there will be some waiting in line for your turn at the foam pit, basketball goals, and dodgeball courts. I'd estimate that 10-15 minutes of our total hour session was spent standing and waiting (not to mention bathroom and water breaks, and stopping just catch our breath). With a 60 minute session, that still left us 45 minutes of play, however that would obviously cut a 30 minute session in half.

Sky Zone is certainly geared toward kids, but my wife and I also really enjoyed our time as well, as did other adults I observed. I definitely recommend giving it a try, just be prepared to be a little sore the next day, and the next day, and probably the day after that.