We chose this waterpark because it had the slide, the bounce house and a large "pool" area for our 3 year to splash around- it seemed like the best of all worlds combined. I was thrilled that they can slide and play and never have to get out of the inflatable and drag grass and dirt back in with them. The slide isn't so tall that it would be scary, but not so small as to be underwhelming for our 5 year old. The crawl through tunnel to the bounce house is a plus for the kids as well. I meant to time how long it took to inflate, but forgot to look down when it was done. It couldn't have taken more than 2 minutes- it was SUPER fast. The kids love playing on it dry, although they don't slide very well. We tried towels, pillow cases and satin sheets and I think the material is just too sturdy/rigid for dry sliding. (Which is a good thing!) It doesn't stop them, though. With the water on, the kids absolutely have a blast for hours. We barely have to turn the water on at all and it sprays more than sufficient to keep the slide wet and fill up the pool area. We turned the water down so low that it was barely on, but there was still a good stream coming out of the top of the slide and the water cannons still sprayed, but weren't getting them right in the face, at the bottom of the slide anymore. We hosted a birthday party and had 10 kids playing on from ages 2-12 and it held up fine. It didn't sag or deflate or fall over. There was plenty for everyone to do and they all loved it. (It impressed some of the parents, too) We even got a friend to purchase a similar slide because of our positive praise of Blast Zone. When we're done, we turn the blower off, pull up one side to get all the water over to the opposite side, stand on the bumper to flatten it enough to let the water drain out and then reinflate it to allow it to stand in the sun and dry. It dries CRAZY FAST! It deflates within a couple of minutes as well, and with some patience and purpose, we are able to get it rolled up very small again. We fold it over in layers and one of us lays on it to smooth all the air out, then do another fold and lay on it, and so on and so on until it's where we want it. Then, we store it back in the bag that comes with it. Considering commercial rentals can be upwards of $300- this was a very sound investment and I am so glad that we chose this company and this waterpark. I would highly recommend it to absolutely any family.