We bought a nice Rainbow set for $5K (wish we'd negotiated more) when my kids were 2 1/2 and almost 5.

Almost 6 years later, we're still glad we did it. We did put down thick mulch (that was very expensive!) - and you do need to add to the mulch every few years.

We added monkey bars a few years ago, and that has seen less use. It was a year too late for my older girl, who loves monkey bars, and my younger one has a fear of heights (we made them high, just so they would last longer... joke's on us...).

Girls have played a ton on it. Less recently (age 8 and 10 now), but friends still like it, as do younger cousins. They'll read in the playhouse area and rig things with jump ropes. They also love going down the slide into the snow.

No regrets at the $5K level, but I can't imagine $14K. I'd rather spend that $ on killer vacations.

We bought and installed one for about $400. It's lasted 8 years and the kids are done with it now. Maybe I'd understand $1000. $14,000 is crazy.

Yes, you're rich.

And no, to me it's not worth it.

OK, may as well share a funny story. My next door neighbors have what appears to be a professional, $10K+ playground with wooden slide/swing set, giant trampoline, etc. all in a mulched in area. However their kids never, ever use it. We can them "inside kids". Only time they go near it (or even outside) it to pick weeds out of the mulch. They also have NO TRESPASSING signs all over it since the dad's an IT guy for a law firm and says his friends at work said that letting other kids play on it is a big liability (which i guess it is but come on).

So, if you get a playset like you're describing, be sure your kids will actually use it (and possibly be friendly with the neighbors kids unless of course they abuse the use of it.

Anonymous wrote:You can get a pretty awesome used set for free off of Craigslist. Some dummies on there are asking tons of cash for theirs. But, many friends (and also us) got decent, large sets for either free or nearly free. We just had to p/u, disassemble and do the moving. We looked over a period of a couple weeks and found something pretty easily. We ended up replacing some of the old swings and a couple of boards (didn't "have to" but we chose to). Ours has a slide, a "fort", a climbing ladder, monkey bars, trapeze bar, gliding rider thing and two swings.

Why anyone would spend that much on a set is incomprehensible to me. But if you have the money and you want to do so, have at it. In a couple of summers, yours will look just like mine does now. Only, mine is free.

How much did you and your firends pay? Thanks!

If you purchase a set that is as high off the group as the Monster or King Kong I would invest in deep mulch. I'm actually surprised that all the pictures of the big ones are just on grass. There is risk on all sets without mulch but most of the sets that I've seen are much lower. These are bigger than they appear in the picture not smaller!

We've been to the showroom and I can understand why the OP is considering this. When DC #1 was 18 months, we went out to a showroom and he ended up designing a 12K set. He kept adding on things,then needing a bigger base, then deciding that since he was spending so much that he should get the level up set so the children would use when they are older etc etc. Luckily, he researches more than he executes. We were also lucky that Costco later that year sold a set for about 2K. DH would buy gold plated shit from Costco.

While I'm sure that my kids would have enjoyed the mega set they have fun on the normal one. As they get older we've also found lots of other fun outdoor stuff. Stomp rockets, lots of sports gear (soccer net, balls, grass hockey, tennis), water balloons, a garden, a climbing dome and we have a EZ fort set where I let them take old sheets outside and build forts. A picnic table and some tables that can get messy are great. I let them do messy art projects outside. After a big storm, they collect all the branches and build forts.

The playground is free

Anonymous wrote:Another option if you want to have white northern cedar:
http://www.triumphplaysystems.com/index.html

The triumph is a lot prettier.

OP, I would get a nice playset. They would love it. You can later sell off components or keep a small section when the kids grow up for nostalgia or the grand kids. Go for it. You never regret letting kids play a lot and especially outside.

Anonymous wrote:I can't imagine spending $14,500 on a playset.

Me either. I just can't rationalize that purchase.

Another option if you want to have white northern cedar:
http://www.triumphplaysystems.com/index.html

this summer I bought a new set from Creative Playthings. I think it was around $3K? not sure, but it certainly wasn't anywhere close to the montrosity the OP is looking at. I did see some nice used ones on craigslist, but it was very hard to get people to email me back and the few I looked at needed a lot of work to get them in nicer condition and, more importantly, would have been a complete bitch to disassemble and then move and then assemble again. For me, not rich, it was worth it to get a new one to have them come over and install it. I have a 4 year old and a baby, so I will get at least 7 years of use of it.

Anonymous wrote:OP, you are either a liar or an idiot.

me thinks OP is liar and with one of the playset manufacturers.

You can get a pretty awesome used set for free off of Craigslist. Some dummies on there are asking tons of cash for theirs. But, many friends (and also us) got decent, large sets for either free or nearly free. We just had to p/u, disassemble and do the moving. We looked over a period of a couple weeks and found something pretty easily. We ended up replacing some of the old swings and a couple of boards (didn't "have to" but we chose to). Ours has a slide, a "fort", a climbing ladder, monkey bars, trapeze bar, gliding rider thing and two swings.

Why anyone would spend that much on a set is incomprehensible to me. But if you have the money and you want to do so, have at it. In a couple of summers, yours will look just like mine does now. Only, mine is free.

damn link

Here's another:

Anonymous wrote:Jesus

These worked for us. What? not good enough for OUR kids?

Anonymous wrote: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?