Inflata Nation Birmingham Now Open

Location: Inflata Nation, Stechford Retail Park, Flaxley Parkway, Birmingham, B33 9AN

Opening Times: Monday to Sunday 10am – 9pm

Prices: One Hour: Under 4s are £5.95, Ages 4 and over (including adults as it isn’t just for kids) are £9.95.

Two Hours: Under 4s £9.95 and 4’s and over are £16.95

Spectators entry is FREE of charge.

Website: www.inflatanation.com

Last night we were invited along to the pre launch night of the opening of Inflata Nation. We arrived at 6:30pm, signed our waivers, handed them in to the staff at the counter and headed into the locker area to put our things away. Make sure you take a pound coin when you go for use of the lockers.

We jumped onto the equipment and spent the next 30 minutes bouncing around, sliding down, whacking each other, climbing and generally having a great time being big kids around the park.

My favourite piece of equipment was the slide which went straight into a ball pit. So much fun. The ball pit was so deep of balls that it was easy to get lost under them.

Within the ball pit were some Wipeout style balls. I couldn’t climb up on top of them, but hubby was much better at this and managed to get to the top of one of them. Although I have no photo evidence of that.

My husband enjoyed the large duel Lane slide which I have to admit as a wimp, I wasn’t too keen on, but had promised my husband I’d give everything a try, so HAD to go on. I’m sure people in the centre of Birmingham probably heard my screams on my way down. It took me a good 3 minutes sat at the top to muster up the courage to go. It’s quite a drop (and I’m quite a wimp) and I do not recommend wearing silky leggings as you go very fast down the slide in those.

My husband took a video whilst going down the slide. Not even a sound from him and he sat up right. I had to lie down on my slide down.

There was an assault course where you can race someone around it to see who is the winner, with things to climb through, under, over, up and down. My husband won and I was so into the race I didn’t stop for any close up photographs. Oops. It’s the section in the top right of my picture below, by the side of the slide.

Another firm favourite (which also made me squeal) was the gladiator style game. You had to hit each other and try to knock each other off the inflatable bar. We played twice and as you can probably guess, I lost both attempts.

There was a giant rounded section for people to bounce on. Me and my husband bounced around quite a bit on this – it was definitely a work out. I wonder if this will be the section where the fitness classes will be running (yes, Inflata Nation run fitness classes too).

This is probably the least flattering photograph that I have ever seen of myself, but, I can’t just show you the best all of the time. Ha. I think that’s my version of a star jump. Maybe.

There are many other parts to Inflata Nation including a climbing wall, wrecking ball, hungry hippos game and a section dedicated only to toddlers. Conveniently located right by the cafe, so parents can watch the children play in an enclosed space and see them enter and leave the toddler section.

Pre-book Sessions

Inflata Nation do a number of different sessions that you could book onto, including;

Inflata Tots: £5.95 for a weekly pre-schooler session. The whole inflatable arena is opened, full of activities just for little ones. Finished off with a cordial and a snack in Café Nation.

Inflata Fit: £6.00 for a structured exercise class open to ages 16 and above. Check online for more info www.inflatanation.com/classes/fitness

Disability Friendly Sessions: Weekly Sessions designed primarily for those on the autistic spectrum, however are also suited for anyone who feels that they would benefit from a calmer and quieter session. The number of people allowed in is halved, music is turned down, a parent/carer can enter the arena for FREE with every participant and complimentary juice and biscuits for all participants following the session.

Grown Ups Only: Designed for ages 16 and over. No kids allowed.

Café Nation

The café area was well stocked with drinks and food.

You could have hot meals including adult portions of burgers and chips (£6.50), hotdog and chips (£5.50). Children’s portions of chicken nuggets and chips are £4.50 or £5 if you include a drink.

There’s a hot dog family deal for £12.50 which includes two adult hot dogs, two kids hot dogs and three portions of chips.

Paninis are available from £4.95 or £6.45 if you have chips with it.

A selection of handmade cakes at a reasonable £1.95 and various snacks including crisps, raisin bags and sweets.

Inflata Nation are keen to keep children happy and this is mirrored not just in the inflatable equipment provided but also in the cafe area where they have a Tot Station. A place where parents can help themselves to the amenities to make their little ones more comfortable. They had a bottle warmer, colouring paper and crayons and IKEA plates, bowls and cutlery.

You can either sit opposite the toddler soft play area in the cafe, or upstairs they had a viewing platform with more tables and chairs where you can see across the whole of the inflatable arena.

Who owns Inflata Nation?

The Stechford Franchise is owned by brothers Navnit and Harshad Sanghani. They were born in India and relocated with their families as young boys to Kenya. It was only when they grew up with their own families that they decided to move to London.

Starting working in a DIY store they soon advanced to setting up a convenience store in Manchester, quickly expanding over a course of 8 years to having three stores across the area.

These business minded brothers then went to a kids party where they decided they wanted in on the action and before they knew it, they’d embarked on becoming the first franchise owners of Inflata Nation.

I think it is safe to say that these brothers are going from strength to strength and I’m exited to see what their next step will be.

Overall verdict

It isn’t cheap to attend Inflata Nation, but it is definitely worth it. An hour is more than enough time on the equipment before you are exhausted and have no energy to jump any more. We jumped for thirty minutes went for a drink and sit down and returned for another twenty minutes or so.

The equipment is well placed and there’s a good selection of items for people to play on of all abilities.

If I could be slightly critical, it seemed like the equipment might need slightly more inflating. As it seemed just a bit less firm as some of the other inflatable places. But it was launch day and that’s the time that these things are noticed. I’m sure by the time people go today (it’s first day of opening) it will have a bit more air in. Not that it impacted our fun in any way.

We really did have a great time.

You may be wondering where the pictures of my girls are, but as it was a launch evening, we decided to leave the tired girls at home with my lovely mother in law and we would have the fun ourselves. And fun we had indeed.

Disclaimer: We were invited along to the launch event in return for an honest review. All views are our own.