The Plunge - Banzai, is it Worth $350? The Instant Inflatable Water Slide and Pool.

I don't know why I haven't reviewed this sucker yet!
The Plunge - Banzai, was actually purchased by my sister about 3 months ago for her kids. I was there helping her set the thing up in her back yard, so I figured I may as well review it right?
What is The Plunge - Banzai?
The Plunge is actually a gigantic instant blow up water slide/sprinkler for children. When fully blown up it stands at 9.8 feet tall.
The The Plunge - Banzai comes with an airflow blower motor, which you have to keep on while in use. This ensures that the The Plunge - Banzai stays up. Once the blower is turned off, the air is slowly released, and the The Plunge - Banzai falls flat to the ground.
This is good and bad...which I will discuss later.
Set Up:
Setting The Plunge up was a freaking cinch. First of course you are going to want to find a more level area in your yard. Have an extension chord ready, plug in the included airflow blower motor, insert the air blower into the slide and wait for it to fully blow up. It will seriously be fully blown in a matter of just a few short minutes. It's fast!
Appearance:
Now on the box The Plunge - Banzai looks gigantic, but as soon as it blew up to it's full potential size, I honestly was not impressed, especially after she told me the price tag on The Plunge - Banzai.
Once fully blown up you have a 12.2 foot small kiddie pool which is meant to catch you as you come down from the slide.
The slide itself is made of Heavy duty Dura Tech, which when touched it feels pretty durable from any scratches or nicks the slide may take. So it is safe to say that this slide will last quite a few years if you pack it up after summer use properly.
The slides ladder is not a standard separate ladder. There are small circular shaped grooves built directly into the slide in order for you to hold on to, get a good grip, and climb up. The hike to the top is not a big deal at all. Small children will easily be able to climb to the top without assistance (although with younger children I recommend you stay below and help them up).
Now with all of that technical mumbo jumbo out of the way, I feel like I have to discuss this products major, major flaws!
1. After the plunge is fully blown up, you than attach a hose to the slot built into the slide. You then turn the house on and water will come flowing out of the top of the slide from the yellow arch that is located at the very top of the slide. The water pours from this top area down onto the slide to ensure a slippery ride down to the bottom.
The water is not recycled through a filter though, it simply keeps pouring out down into the bottom pool. If you have already filled the pool prior to plugging the house in, it will overflow.
2. Filling the bottom catch pool could take hours!!!!! The biggest flaw with this pool is the fact that the pool fills with a ton of water, and once you turn The Plunge off, the slide deflates and the water goes pouring all over the yard. To me, its just a huge waste of water!
3. The sides of the pool are not tall enough or sturdy enough to support you if you go flying down the slide too fast. My nephew actually flew off of the slides side rails, luckily the slide is not tall enough to pose any threat to older children...however if he were a smaller child injury could of been quite significant. ALWAYS SUPERVISE YOUNG CHILDREN ON THE PLUNGE!
4. Mosquito's Lair!!!! You have to make sure that when you turn The Plunge off, you actually let all of the water drain out, and then you have to dry off the pool where any water my be left behind in small puddles. Over time if not used, these small puddles turn into mosquito larva lairs. It's pretty gross, so if you want to avoid it, dry the pool out.
5. The kids played on the slide for around 2 hours. It looked like good fun, but it's flaws stuck out instantly. However the biggest flaw of all is the fact that once they played on it for the day they no longer were interested in blowing it up the next day. In fact I don't think they have turned it on but more than 3 or 4 times all summer long. My sister doesn't like the fact that it drains all of the water from the pool onto the lawn.
Overall:
The Plunge is simply a waste of space, a huge waste of money, electricity, and mainly a waste of water. Save your $350.00 and take the kids to a water park for the day.