Pricing is a unique process with regards to soft contained indoor playgrounds. The first thing you need to know is that 90% of the work playground manufacturers do for fun centers and childrens entertainment centers are custom designs. There is no charge (or should NOT be a charge for this process) as each design should be different from the next.... your business goals differ from say McDonalds and the Jumpy Jimmy place down the road - so too should your playground design.

Indoor playground pricing is based on a two factor formula.

1) The first factor is Capacity. How big of a playground do you need to handle all of the traffic you expect on your busiest weekend day? ( Need help trying to figure out your potential traffic/revenue? -- try Startup Academy )

and factor 2) Play-a-bility. This second factor; play-a-bility is the more important of the two, as play-a-bility will determine how much fun it is for your guests and that is driven by the kinds and amounts of activities within the playground. The more activities you have the more "playable" and the more fun your playground will be. Ultimately play-a-bility, not only in your contained playground, but in your entire center's activity mix, drives a high repeat desire for children to return and play again and again.

On a sliding scale based on play-a-bility, we see from $700 - $1,200 per child capacity. For example, if you need a playground that can handle 50 children at one time, on the lower, inexpensive end it could run $35 - $40,000 and on the higher end $55 - $65,000. In this price example, the playground would be exactly the same size, the same color - the only difference would be the play-a-bility factor or the amount and kind of activities contained within the playground.

That price range ($700-$1,200) typically does not include any major themeing. Although there are many types of and levels of themeing (3D relief, painted murals, air-brushed foam core, etc.) offering a wide variety of price points, themeing can be expensive and can very quickly eat up 20 - 30% of your playground budget. Frankly, unless you are in a high traffic area like Florida or California where there is lots of competitive 'eye-candy' themeing can be an added expense you may not need.

In addition to the added expenses - if you are community-centric focusing on a local repeat customer the challenge with themeing is once a Castle, always a Castle, and as a child grows from 4 years to 9 years old, he eventually tires of the same themed play. Whereas if the playground is loaded with play-a-bility and brightly colored, one visit it can be a castle, during the next visit he could be flying a spaceship, and the next he could be fighting off dragons... thats hard to do if he is always playing in a treehouse.

However, like the play-a-bility factor, themeing can help you brand-out from your competition by allowing you to develop a story-line and characters based on your theme. Look how Disney nurtures their characters in the retail revenue stream. Adding a retail component to most any fun center is a great idea - having a themed story-line to help you develop and build a solid brand along with additional sales from your characters and mascots has been a winner for many large and small fun center operations.

As you surf around and explore designs and ideas from different companies you may be thinking - it would be great to have this design, but i don't want this or that, and would really like to have that thing instead.... and that's exactly how the SmartPlaygrounds design process works. We start with your ideas, goals and concept developing a sense of which activities and layout features can best help support those goals.

Then, from an analysis of your site plan we help you discover hidden opportunities within the play-a-bility factor that can help you maximize your floor plans, traffic projections, marketing opportunities and your budget.

As discussed above, play-a-bility is central to the success of your activity mix and ultimately your overall facility. Not just for the playground, but for all aspects of games, rides and any programs you may look to offer, including your birthday party packages. The more fun both child and parent can have, especially through coordinated efforts such as your party strategy, the better the chances for a high repeat play desire and your long term success.

SmartPlaygrounds is a master at creating highly playable, creative playground designs. We appreciate the opportunity to help you create yours.