Disappointing mess
Received the slide the third week of July, and immediately had problems: the slide was unable to maintain the necessary firmness for kids to climb. Upon closer inspection, discovered that there were stitch marks running alongside every single seam where the operator had obviously sewed the slide without thread in it, resulting in literally thousands and thousands of little holes.

Obeying the somewhat frantic warnings on the box, manual and on the slide itself (Store will not refund money, you must call us, may not return to store, etc.), I called Banzai's 800 number and related my problem. At first the rep advised me to try to repair with the patching kit, and if problem was larger, buy a tent repair kit. When I told him of the scope of the problem, he said that I could ship it to Banzai for replacement. He then continued, saying that Banzai was out of this particular slide for the season, but they would be happy to send me a different model: Splash Blast Lagoon, a much smaller, less expensive model. No mention was made of refunding my purchase for the difference in price. I refused this smaller slide, and was informed then that my name would be put on a list to receive a replacement BF Original Water Slide when they next manufacture/distribute them: in May of 2009!!!! When I said this was unacceptable, the rep said that was the only option as Banzai doesn't make refunds and the store would not accept the product back for a refund either.

eToys proved him a liar, thank goodness.

Isn't there any slide that isn't a total hunk of junk out of the box? Even half inflated and dangerous as heck, my kids couldn't wait to get on it. Was a real disappointment all the way around.

I would be on a list to get a replacement slide

Great slide, very durable, a lot of fun!
I bought this slide for my 5 years old last summer. We just moved into a new neighborhood and my son was lonely, I thought if I have something like this in our yard it will attract the neighborhood kids and make it easier for my son to make new friends - and yes, it did the job, we have kids over every weekend and my son made a lot of friends. It made my life easier too - all his friends are in our backyard now and I don't have to worry what my son is up to anymore, I am sure he is having fun.

I looked at the reviews before I bought it and was not sure that second summer it will still work, there are a lot of reviews that say that next year it does not hold the air anymore but we don't have this problem, this is the second summer we use it - still looks like new. The box says it holds up to 220 pounds, so I used it myself together with my son couple of times - holds up great. We had up to 5 kids age 5-7 on it at a time during the parties - no problems and the way it is going I expect it to perform next year without problems as well.

I would only point out that it takes couple of hours to dry it up before you can put it away. Setup is easy, it is up in 5 minutes, but after you are done, you need to make sure it is dried up before you put it away. Some water gets inside, so you have to get it out - we hang our slide off the deck and wait until the water gets out. Then we run it without water for an hour or so and keep one of the ties open - this way it dries out from inside. Before the winter I ran it like this for about 4 hours to make sure there is no moisture inside before we store it for 6 months. This would be the only inconvenience. But looks like it does the job - 2 years and still like new. This is the best summer toy ever!

great outdoor fun
We have used the slide for several events this summer and have really enjoyed the ease of owning an outdoor attraction like this.

bad seams
Well, the reviews didn't lie. We got this out of the box on a Monday night at 6pm. I had 2 boy's, 5&8 yrs old on it for 3 hours. The following day, they went on it for 1 hour, and it tore at 1 of the seams. 4 hours worth of fun and a bad tear. However, I had NO PROBLEM getting ahold of a customer rep at Banzai. They had it replaced within 2 weeks. It was not the same slide, b/c we were told they do not make this particular slide anymore, but they still replaced the defective product with no problems and got it to us promptly, no questions asked. I was pleased with their customer service, though my boys do not enjoy the new slide as much b/c the slide itself isn't as steep as the original banzai falls slide. So far, new slide is holding up, but we baby it only letting 2 kids at a time on it. I will not purchase another Banzai product. Too expensive for the type of material's used to make the slide's.

great toy for summer
I use this product for 12 children twice a week. They love it and very excited every time, I have to make sure they don't bouce too hard and don't jump. They are having a lot of fun.