How Far Ahead to Book for Summer Weekends and Graduation Season

Book as early as you reasonably can. That is not a sales line — summer Saturdays and graduation weekends are the busiest dates on our calendar across Chicagoland, and they fill first. You can reserve online 24 hours a day, and holding a date costs a deposit, not the full amount. If you know the date, take it.

///Which dates disappear first

Availability is not evenly spread across the season. A Tuesday in August is easy. The Saturday of graduation weekend is not.

• Late May and early June: graduation season. School and family parties stack onto the same two or three weekends.
• Every summer Saturday: the default party day, and consistently the tightest.
• Holiday weekends: Memorial Day, the Fourth of July and Labor Day all run heavy.
• The last two weeks of the school year: field days across the South Suburbs cluster here.
• Church festival season: summer weekends, often booked months out by parish committees.

Rough lead times that work

• Peak summer Saturday or graduation weekend: reserve as far ahead as you can, the moment the date is fixed.
• School field day or church festival: as soon as the school or parish calendar is approved.
• Ordinary weekend in June or August: a few weeks is usually comfortable.
• Weekday party: much more flexible, often available on shorter notice.

Same-day and next-day bookings do happen based on availability — call us and we will tell you honestly what is free.

///How the deposit works

You do not pay the full amount up front. Booking online takes a deposit to lock in the date: 35% for inflatable orders, or a flat $175 for Video Game Truck bookings. The remaining balance is due for your event. That means holding a summer Saturday months in advance is a small commitment, not a big one.

Inflatables and yard games are priced per day, and you can extend a booking up to seven days when you reserve online — worth knowing if you would rather have the unit over a whole weekend than for a single afternoon.

///What to have ready when you book

Booking is quicker when you already know these. Most of them are things we would ask on the phone anyway.

• Your event date, and a realistic start and end time.
• Delivery address and zip, so we can confirm you are in our service area.
• Setup surface — grass, concrete, turf or indoors.
• Yard width, depth and gate opening.
• Whether there is an outdoor outlet near the setup spot.
• Guest count and age range, so we can sanity-check the unit size.

If you are unsure about any of those, our size guide and access checklist cover them in detail.

///Booking two attractions

If you want an inflatable and the video game truck at the same party, two calendars have to line up, so book earlier than you would for a single unit. The truck runs on fixed session slots of 1.5 or 2 hours with extra hours at $250 per hour, so the session time needs to fit your day as well as the date. More on that in combining an inflatable and a game truck.

///If your first choice is taken

It happens, particularly in June. There are usually three ways out of it.

• Shift the time or the day. A Friday evening or a Sunday afternoon is often wide open on a weekend that looks full.
• Pick a different unit. The specific themed unit may be out, but there are usually similar options — the bounce house range and combo units are broad.
• Change the format. An obstacle course or a dry slide often has availability when the classic bounce houses do not.

///Booking early also protects you from the weather

This sounds backwards, but it is true: the earlier you book, the more room you have to adapt if the forecast turns. A date held two months out gives us time to talk options with you. A date booked on Thursday for Saturday gives everyone none. Read what happens if it rains for how to build that flexibility in.

///Where we deliver

We are based in Oak Lawn and deliver across Chicago's South Suburbs, the Southwest Suburbs and Northwest Indiana, including Midlothian, Tinley Park, Orland Park, Evergreen Park, Alsip, Burbank, Bridgeview and Hammond. If you are not sure whether you are in range, check the service area page or call us.

///Reserve your date

Book online any time, or call 708-223-7900 during business hours — we are open seven days a week, 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM. The date is the part you cannot get back; everything else can be adjusted later.