Jump On In is one of the latest bounce house places for kids that have opened up in the area.  Kids love these places and they’re celebrating their anniversary this month too apparently.

The Boonton NJ location is a bit hidden amidst a set of commercial buildings, but it’s relatively close to the exit off Interstate 287.  Just take Mrytle north about 1 miles and then it’s a quick left onto Fulton and you’ll veer left into the commercial zone.  85 Fulton St, Boonton NJ.

The facility is not huge, but it’s big enough if your kids are in their sweet spot, which I’d say is between 4 yrs old and 7 or 8 yrs old.  There’s basically, two large rooms.  If you’re having a birthday, they also have two party rooms.  So if you can imagine it, they can run two parties at once, each one taking turns in one of the large bounce rooms and then switching and then party room to end.

Because it’s a relatively new facility, it’s clean and modern.  You can take a look at the photos below to see what they have in store for the kids.

They have OPEN JUMPS which are open to the public, $10 per child — which is reasonable for the 1 1/2 hour sessions. Parents don’t pay anything here.

Not much for parents to do there – they do have some chairs on the side of each room for seating.  No free wifi available, couldn’t find any open signals at all.

QUESTION: WHAT AGE IS THE UPPER LIMIT FOR YOUR CHILDREN AND THESE JUMPING FACILITIES?

It’s located right off the NJ Turnpike at the Mt Laurel Marriott (attached on the same property).  Most times you can book a “Water Package” stay at the Marriott for $200 or so that includes one night and water park passes for the entire family for *both* the day of arrival and the day of departure — two full days of water park fun.  The park is open from 10am to 10pm most days, so you’ll have plenty of water time.

Here’s what the seating area inside the water park area looks like:

But wait, there’s more!  On the second floor over part of the facility . . .

There’s a pirate ship wading pool for toddlers!  See that pirate ship sail? It’s a projection screen tv that plays continuous movies and kids tv programming.

The “main” water park area is really made of a large water play structure.  If you’ve been to Hershey Park or Sesame Place in PA, it’s basically the same concept — but indoors in a climate controlled setting where it’s basically 84 degrees year round.

There are 2 tiny water slides (left side yellow) for small ones.  And there’s a orange and blue slide (right side) for older toddlers.  To the far right is a lazy river that has both single and double inflatable tubes.  If you get tire of the lazy river, there’s another pool with basketball hoops all round where you can swim around with the little ones as they try to grab some basketballs and shoot.

To the far left rear, there’s a indoor-outdoor hot-tub pool which is restricted to 18 and over – they do come around and kids the little ones out periodically.  There’s also a water lily pad obstacle and in the far back of this main play structure above there’s 3 water slides that’s several stories high (4 stories? a LOT of stairs is all I can say).  There’s a regular tube and a completely dark tube.  And there’s also a single rider body slide (no tube, just you jetting down inside the slide).

While they do sell day passes for the park at $22 and $32 per day (weekday / weekend), if you stay at the Marriott, it is physically attached.  I don’t recommend staying on the bottom floor — which *is* the closet the park, but basically you’re in a walk-out basement setting and ALL the hotel traffic going back and forth to the park goes down that hallway.

They are going through a renovation of the property.  We’ve stayed in rooms before and after and were pleasantly surprised this time.  Here’s some photos of the guest rooms at the Marriott Lt Laurel:

On the desk, next to the flatscreen tv is a neat little media box:

You’ll notice the various connection options available so you can hook up your laptop, portable DVD player, iPod, etc to the flat screen TV.  Here’s a close-up shot of the connections for the techies reading this post:

There’s an outdoor pool, but I don’t know who would use it, unless you didn’t have a Water Package stay:

And the hotel gym on the 1st floor is small, but adequate:

And ah-yes, there’s a decent arcade if your kids get bored of the water.  We usually venture across the street to Bob Evans for a meal after coming out of the water in the evening, come back and hit the arcade for a bit before ending the day.  Overall, it’s a nice little getaway for families with little ones.  There’s a competitor indoor water park just minutes away — Sahara Sam’s.  It’s not quite the same — there’s not hotel connected to it, so it’s more of a day-park local scenario and the facility is not as nice.  (Local hotels do have similar “stay and play packages” like the Mt Laurel Westin, Alot hotel, etc).

Coco Keys is no Great Wolf Resort, which our family prefers (larger, nicer, better themed experience) — but two days at the indoor water park is a nice little break for the kids, especially when the weather isn’t showing any immediate signs of letting us all outside to play anytime soon.

QUESTION: Have you *every* been to an indoor water park?  Which one and what was your experience like?

Backyard Igloo Construction Time-lapse Video from Aaron on Vimeo.

How about a “field trip” to the museums?

Here’s a quick list of free admission deals to NYC Museums:

American Folk Art Museum
Free Admission on Fridays from 5:30 – 7:30 pm

Asia Society and Museum
Free Admission on Fridays from 6:00 – 9:00 pm

Brooklyn Botanical Garden
Free admission for Seniors on Fridays

Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Target Free Friday Family Jams from 5:00 to 7:30 pm from July 10 – August 28

Bronx Museum of the Arts
This contemporary art museum is open late on Wednesdays (from 12:00 noon – 9:00 pm), so
visitors can explore the exhibits for free.

International Center for Photography
Admission to the frequently changing exhibitions is available with your voluntary contribution
on Fridays from 5:00 – 8:00 pm

The Morgan Library
Admission is free on Fridays from 7:00 – 9:00 pm

Museum of Modern Art (MoMA)
Free Admission on Target Fridays from 4:00 – 8:00 pm

Museum of the Moving Image
Free to gallery Fridays from 4:00 – 8:00 pm (does not include film screenings)

New York Historical Society
Free admission Fridays, 6-8 p.m. courtesy of American Express Company.

Noguchi Museum
First Friday of every month, Museum admission is pay what you wish

Whitney Museum of American Art
Pay what you wish on Fridays from 6:00 – 9:00 pm

South Street Seaport Museum
Third Friday of every month beginning July 17, 5:00 – 9:00 pm

Hey what about other days of the week? Check out this list of other free admission ticket days in NYC.

If you have kids hanging around the house, bored to death with only indoor options for playing and/or causing trouble, what can you do?

Especially knowing that 1/2 the summer is yet to pass by before you ship them off to school again, how about the movies?

Well. . .The Spiderwick Chronicles is playing at AMC Lowes Theaters tomorrow – Wednesday for ONLY A BUCK movie ticket admission! plus the Kids Snack Pack (drink, popcorn, candy) is only $3 or $4 each.

My favorite kids movie review site for parents says this movie is appropriate for 8-year olds and up, although 5-year olds may express interest in the story.

Here’s the local theaters where it’s all happening at 10am.

Next WEDNESDAY is Nim’s Island, the Next Wednesday is Star Wars: The Clone Wars. . .

You’ve got your Wednesdays covered now — but what to do on Thursday? How about…THE MOVIES AGAIN FOR FREE!!