Two things to think about:

1. The weather in DC (hot/mosquitoes; cold/snow) - how much time would they really be outdoors?

2. What will it do to the landscape of your garden? I have a friend who bought a large (not as big as you're looking at) playset and she was disappointed that it took up almost all of her yard and left little room for kicking a ball.

I don't think you should do it. My kids are about the same age. While my younger ones like to play at the park (yes we all go, isn't that hard) the older ones (10,9,8) have really outgrown the play equipment. Get a set but just get something cheaper.

You're not rich but can spend $14K+ on a playscape?

Shoot, we balked at $2500 for something our child might get a 3 years out of - and wound up getting a used one for $500+some refinishing and small repair.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My chikd is 8 - playgrounds and park have lost their once strong aappealand she spends way lesss time climbing and playing and gets bored quicker no matter how big or sophisticated the structure. Slides stopped being fun a couple years ago. In general, at parks and playgrounds, I have observed less kids over 5 and 6 in general. I woulld discount years of use from the older kids and for the younger kids realize that the set is too large and spphisticated for them to use without your constant and direct supervisionm. he set you selected seems more appropriate for commercial use not home. For home use, I would select something smaller, that is geared towards kids under 5.

I'd pay attention to this, OP. If the older ones aren't impressed and the younger ones need hands-on assistance, what have you really purchased? The longevity of the playset is its selling point. Without that...

But as teens, they might become re-intrigued by the secret hiding places

Anonymous wrote:My chikd is 8 - playgrounds and park have lost their once strong aappealand she spends way lesss time climbing and playing and gets bored quicker no matter how big or sophisticated the structure. Slides stopped being fun a couple years ago. In general, at parks and playgrounds, I have observed less kids over 5 and 6 in general. I woulld discount years of use from the older kids and for the younger kids realize that the set is too large and spphisticated for them to use without your constant and direct supervisionm. he set you selected seems more appropriate for commercial use not home. For home use, I would select something smaller, that is geared towards kids under 5.

I'd pay attention to this, OP. If the older ones aren't impressed and the younger ones need hands-on assistance, what have you really purchased? The longevity of the playset is its selling point. Without that...

i say go for it if you can afford it though

thats more then my rent for a YEAR.

My chikd is 8 - playgrounds and park have lost their once strong aappealand she spends way lesss time climbing and playing and gets bored quicker no matter how big or sophisticated the structure. Slides stopped being fun a couple years ago. In general, at parks and playgrounds, I have observed less kids over 5 and 6 in general. I woulld discount years of use from the older kids and for the younger kids realize that the set is too large and spphisticated for them to use without your constant and direct supervisionm. he set you selected seems more appropriate for commercial use not home. For home use, I would select something smaller, that is geared towards kids under 5.

Anonymous wrote:1. You can afford it.
2. You have 5 kids - 9 years old and younger.
3. If you can handle the maintenance of the play set, expect it to last ten years or more, and there's a good warranty, go for it!

I agree with this. Go for it. I cannot imagine herding 5 kids to a park all the time.

Eh, we spent $1k for a small Creative Playthings set and it's held up great. Gets lots of use. I'm sure if we had more space and more money we could have and would have spent more, but I would question whether the marginal returns on such an incredibly expensive set are worth it. I would imagine that for $5k, you could get something very nice, and then spend the other $9k on something worthwhile...

We bought one and love it. We are not close to a park so our kids wouldn't go out as much. The cheaper stuff is just that, cheap.

I chuckle, because to me, you are rich. There's no way in heck I'd be able to afford anything remotely like that. I take my kids to various local playgrounds.

However, if it buys you some time alone in the house while the kids play safely outside, that alone would make it worthwhile to me. I'd make sure it had the playhouse like thing for imaginative play. Sometimes they get tired with just using stuff as actual slides, etc.

And it has the added bonus of attracting the neighborhood kids. Something I like, because I like to know my kids' friends. That might be a drawback for some, though.

You can have birthday parties in the backyard without tons of effort at entertainment, too.

So bottom line to me, it's an investment in lifestyle. Will it be worth it in that respect? My brother's kids got a lot if play out of a much humbler playset, so I think your will be a hit for years to come.

Anonymous wrote:1. You can afford it.
2. You have 5 kids - 9 years old and younger.
3. If you can handle the maintenance of the play set, expect it to last ten years or more, and there's a good warranty, go for it!

+1

1. You can afford it.
2. You have 5 kids - 9 years old and younger.
3. If you can handle the maintenance of the play set, expect it to last ten years or more, and there's a good warranty, go for it!

I would love to know if anyone has any regrets about spending alot of money on a playset. I am very close to buying a huge redwood playset from woodplay. I have also looked at Rainbow, Cedarworks, and playnation but like woodplay the best. The playset is huge with two seven foot decks, and another smaller set attached. It has a playhouse,crawl tunnel, bridge, spiral slide, 14 ft slide, 10 ft slide, and big spiral slide. I can afford the money but I am not rich. I am supposed to go pay a deposit today but I feel really bad about the price. I have five kids age ranges from 17 Months to nine years olds so I know I would get lots of use. I have been looking for about a year and this one has everything and is perfect for the kids of diffrent ages. It was a custome design so I can not find an exact one but one of the sets looks exactly l it looks as nice and similar to this

http://www.rainbowplay.com/index.php/swingsets/package/27b-original-king-kong-castle-supersized-package-v-grand-slam/

Then there is a bridge and crawl tunnel connecting it to another set that looks kind of like this


http://www.rainbowplay.com/index.php/swingsets/package/43a-original-king-kong-clubhouse-package-ii-with-dual-lower-level-playhouse/

The only diffrence is the second pic I will only have one 10" slide off the smaller deck and the playhouse is om the top bottoms are open. What I want to know is for those pf you that spend $8000 or more on a playset do you have any regrets? Do you feel you are getting your moneys worth out of it?