What to ask before you book any party rental in Los Angeles
Six questions that separate a rental that turns up and works from one that becomes a job you have to manage on the day.
Most party-rental disappointments are not about the thing you rented. They are about something nobody asked about on the phone. These are the six questions worth asking whoever you book — us included.
1. Is delivery and setup in the price, or added later?
Ask for the total, not the rate. A quote that looks cheap and then grows a delivery line, a setup line and a fuel surcharge is not cheaper, it is just later. Ours includes delivery, setup and pickup in the number we send you.
2. Does someone have to run it?
This is the question that decides whether you get to enjoy your own party. Some rentals need an attendant, and if the company does not supply one, that attendant is you. Arcade basketball needs nobody: we arrive about fifteen minutes early, set up, walk you through the games, and leave. Nothing about it requires supervision, and there is nothing to hand out.
3. Is there anything for guests to pay or queue for?
Tokens, wristbands, tickets and change machines are all friction, and at a school or church event they are also a volunteer standing at a booth for four hours. Free play removes the whole conversation.
4. What does the deposit hold, and when is the balance due?
A date is not yours because you talked about it. Ask what actually reserves it. Ours is a 50% deposit, non-refundable, with the balance due within seven days of the event — and until that deposit lands, the date is still open to someone else.
5. What happens if the weather turns?
In Los Angeles this matters less than people fear, but ask anyway. Our play area is shielded by the lift-up door, so we come rain or shine. If the weather is bad enough to threaten the whole event, talk to us early and we will look at the calendar with you rather than after the fact.
6. Can you send a certificate of insurance?
If your event is at a venue, a school, a corporate campus or an HOA common area, someone is going to ask for one, and they will ask about ten days before you were planning to think about it. Raise it in your first message. Paperwork is almost always the slow part of a booking — never the calendar.
If you are comparing options for a Los Angeles event, ask us these six and hold whoever else you are talking to to the same standard.
Check a date
Send the date and the address. We reply with availability and a price.
- Two hours minimum, seven days a week
- Delivery, setup and pickup are in the price
- 50% holds the date, the balance seven days before