**Please note: Jumpin’ Jonnies has permanently closed.**
So, my two and a half year old still can’t jump. I guess it’s a milestone they should reach around this age, or at least by age 3. We’ve been working on it for a while now and he still isn’t quite getting the hang of it. At the suggestion of a few people, I decided to take him to a place with bounce houses so we could work on this skill.
Jumpin’ Jonnies is only a few years old, having opened in 2012. But they have built quite a name for themselves as being a fun place for kids to play, as well as a great choice for birthday parties. The play center is over 12,000 square feet in size, with two party rooms, ticket redemption games, a cafe, and of course, 6 different inflatables for playing and bouncing. I have been adding Jumpin’ Jonnies Open Bounce hours to my weekly calendar for a couple months now, so I decided this was a great place to finally check out and help show my child how to jump.
Many years ago, the husband and I called Vernon our home. So I know my way around pretty well. However, Jumpin’ Jonnies was not there back in our day; if I recall correctly, the building used to be a gym. But the design of this building stands out, so once I realized their location, I knew exactly where I was going!
If you are unfamiliar with the area, the building I am referring to is this one, located on Rte 83. It’s hard to make out from this angle, but the front of the building is round. It really is quite unique and it stands out on Rte. 83. They are also located right next to two delicious restaurants: Pancho Loco and Little Mark’s Big Barbecue.
As you can see from the above photo, Jumpin’ Jonnies has a huge parking lot! So parking will not be an issue here. We visited on a Wednesday morning, after a little overnight rainfall. It was not too chilly out but it was grey and dreary, so I think many people were staying in. That was okay with us, we had the place to ourselves!
Jumpin’ Jonnies has open jump hours during the weekdays and sometimes on the weekend, unless there is a party scheduled. They post the open bounce hours on their sign, but it’s important to check their website and if you really want to make sure you can jump, you can also call to confirm.
From this angle, you can see the interesting design of the front entrance.
When you enter Jumpin’ Jonnies, you’ll notice right away the super cute amphibian theme they have going on. Lots of greens, trees and vines, frog pictures on the wall. You’ll spot the front desk right away, since it is straight across from the doors. There are also a few games located right near the door, as well as cafe seating.
At the front desk, you will be asked to sign a waiver for your child to play at Jumpin’ Jonnies. They also collect admission at this time, which for unlimited open bounce is $9 $10 per child (including tax) ($10 as of November 2017). Parents are free with a paid child. Children under 2 are also free; however, this is because they are not allowed in the bouncers. This is for safety reasons – as bigger kids can be a lot wilder and crazier than the little kids. They do have a cute little under 2 play area complete with a train table and ride on toys.
It is important to note, socks MUST be worn while in the bouncers. If you do forget your socks that day, you can buy a pair at the front desk. But since I’m reminding you now, you should be good!!
The front desk is also a small cafe, and they have a few items on their menu including pizza, drinks, coffee, chips and more.
They also offer some nice little seating for you to sit and enjoy your food!
Once we paid our admission, we dropped off our coats on the coat rack, and put our shoes and bags in the shoe cubbies. 
Right above the cubbies, you’ll find the bounce arena rules for Jumpin’ Jonnies.
Finally, we reached the bouncers!! There are three bounce houses, a giant slide, an obstacle course and a baseball inflatable. The space is HUGE! And these bouncers are MASSIVE. It is really hard to grasp just how big they are in the pictures. When you see in person that they basically reach the ceiling, you’ll be amazed.
We decided to check out the big slide first.
I was pretty impressed at my child- at first he needed some help to get up the stairs but once I showed him how to grab onto the strap on the side, he was going up that thing without any help at all. In fact, I only went up with him twice, after that he was doing it all by himself! It is pretty steep to climb, and even I struggled! And once you reach the top, you really have to crouch down since it’s technically build for little people.
Of course, what goes up, must come down. And down you go! It is a big drop!
We checked out the two “smaller” bounce houses next (and I use that term loosely because really, none of these bouncers should be described as “small”!). Both had slides build into them, which are always fun!
I know, I know, the rules say don’t go head first… but that’s just how he rolls.
Yes, mom and dad, you can fit in there. Trust me, I was a little nervous too but it is surprisingly a larger hole than you realize!
I did NOT attempt to do that though!
Again, with the head first! Please don’t try that yourself. My child is a daredevil!
The third bounce house is enormous.
And again, the entrance is the teeniest hole possible but you will fit, and it is so worth getting inside there! It’s a lot of fun!
The rock wall inside the bounce house was super challenging! I ended up getting to the top, and of course, my child wanted to try too… except he can’t climb rock walls yet. So I had to do some serious boosting to get him up to the top. But he made it and was so happy when he got to go down the slide! 
What really caught his attention for a good while though, was the baseball bouncer. This one is not actually for jumping in. Instead you want to get the balls into those little holes.
But that was not what caught my child’s eye. Oh no. Instead, he was fascinated by the little puff of air coming out of the inflatable that made the balls “float”. His laugh, every time one of those balls would get caught in the air and start flying up, was too much. He probably could have spent the whole day making those balls float.
When I finally pulled him away from the baseball bouncer, we still had one more inflatable to check out. This is one crazy obstacle course, but I made it a lot more complicated than it had to be. I nearly killed myself, and it was my own stupidity.
So apparently, THIS is the exit.
Yet, I did not know that so we headed in…
And all was good, until we reached this impossible to climb wall.
Which was really not a wall. It was the slide. And my child is looking at me like, what is wrong with you mom?? it wasn’t until I lifted him up and dropped him over to the other side that I realized… oh this is a slide!
And this was the entrance, where there was an easy to climb wall to get to the slide. So when you visit, and you decide to try the obstacle course, make sure you enter at the right end!!
At that point, I was thoroughly exhausted, so we decided to head over to the under 2 play area. They even had some seating over in this area, so I took a much needed rest!
And he discovered…. the train table. Oh boy, I was in trouble.
He had a good time playing with those trains while I took some more pictures and scoped things out. We probably spent more time with the choo-choos than we did in the bouncers. He was having a good time though, so that’s all the matters!
I did finally draw his attention away so he could try out some of the arcade games! He’d never played games like this before so he actually got quite into them, even though he didn’t understand the rules, or the fact that these games require money to work!
The tickets are the best part!
He collected a few tickets after playing five games, and he was able to cash them in for a prize!
As I mentioned, he was having a grand old time with those trains, so I took the opportunity to check out a few things around the place.
Jumpin’ Jonnies is a great place for parties, and they have a couple packages to choose from that range from $250 to $370 for up to 25 children. They have two party rooms that are located upstairs. Unfortunately I did not get to scope the party rooms out, but they do have pictures on their website.
They also have a family bathroom and men’s room, both with changing tables, on the bottom floor. The ladies room, which also has a nursing lounge, is upstairs, which is accessible only by stairs. Again, we did not poke around upstairs to check out the ladies room.
We ended up staying for an hour, and honestly I would have stayed longer but we arrived later than I planned (since I was stuck at BJ’s Wholesale Club for way too long while waiting to check out!). He spent a lot of time with the train table, and when I told him we had to leave, he tried to go back into the bouncers. He was pretty upset when I told him our time was over. So, I think it’s safe to say we will be going back to Jumpin’ Jonnies on the sooner side!
Besides, he still didn’t nail down the whole jumping thing after that visit, so that alone is a good reason to go back!
This about sums it up…
234 Talcottville Road – Vernon, CT
Hours:
Sunday – Thursday: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Friday & Saturday: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Parties can be booked any day of the week.
Open Bounce is usually on weekdays (and weekends only when available). Please visit their calendar online for up to date information regarding open bounce hours.
Prices:
Open Bounce: $10 (updated November 2017) $9 per child, ages 2 to 12. Parents are free with a paid child. Children under 2 are free, BUT can not use the bouncers.
Features:
- 6 Bouncers including 3 bounce houses, a slide, an obstacle course and a baseball game
- Lots of climbing, lots of slides
- Arcade Games available for very minimal costs (most games cost only a quarter) – tickets awarded and prizes available
- No shoes allowed – socks needed to play
- Parking is available for free, in large lot
- Bathrooms available, including changing tables
- Nursing lounge available upstairs in ladies room
- Food available for purchase
- Party rooms available for rent
- Food and drinks are not allowed inside the play area
A few additional tips:
- Wear comfortable clothes and plan to get a good work out! I definitely regretted wearing jeans that day!
- Remember socks!
