With a new year comes new attractions that you can bring to your event! This year we are especially excited about our brand new 30 foot tall thrill ride called the Momentum Drop Tower. Also new for 2025 is Cruisin’ Classics, a kiddie ride that accommodates up to 26 riders at once under a colorful 26 foot umbrella. We are also introducing a few new inflatables like Arctic Plunge, Soccer Fever, 30′ Obstacle Course and Dual Axe Throwing. Carnival games are also joining the lineup with the Mad Dog Dash midway game trailer, Basketball Toss, Snake Pit, Mega Fish Bowl Toss and Mega Plinko. Finally we are adding multiple new mini golf courses to the lineup including a glow in the dark mini golf course!
Check out all of the new attractions below. What new attractions will you bring to your event in 2025? We look forward to another spectacular year of Memorable Events!
New Website!
First and foremost, you may or may not of recognized our brand new website! With better navigating functions and an overall updated look – this is sure to be a much more friendly browsing experience when you’re planning your next event!
Rides
Momentum is a 30 foot tall drop tower that is brand new to the market! This drop tower attraction not only drops riders faster than the speed of gravity, but it also sends them flying up into the sky! Momentum is a great attraction for tweens, teens and adults alike.
Cruisin’ Classics is a kiddie ride filled with motorcycles and classic cars that spins around under a giant 26 foot colorful umbrella. This attraction is being completely refurbished in house by our incredible maintenance team and is set to be completed in March of 2025. This attraction can accommodate up to 312 riders per hour and is built for kids only.
Games & Activities
While not totally new for 2025, Mad Dog Dash made a late arrival in 2024 and so for many of our customers this is the first time they are seeing it. Mad Dog Dash is a one of a kind game trailer (only one ever made!) with a scoreboard that’s analog in function by featuring dog balls that drop from the ceiling. Each ball acts as a point. To score points, users will roll another dogs ball up the alley and into the dogs mouth. Every time they score, they gain more points! Mad Dog Dash is unique in the way that it is a “center” trailer, meaning it opens up from all sides and is commonly placed in the center of an event.
Lets glow golf! Introducing out brand new glow mini golf- a portable blacklight 9 hole mini golf experience. Every hole of golf comes equipped with battery operated UV LED strips that illuminates the UV reactive carpet, golf balls and putters. We also will position black lights around the room for additional ambient UV rays to make everything glow! This attraction is for indoor use only and is best suited for adults.
With the smashing success of our first Gem Mining Experience setup, we decided to add another! Now you have the choice to choose between the double sluice or single sluice (this one) gem mining setup. Kids can find their treasure from a bag of “rough” filled with dirt and sludge but only when mixed with water will they discovered the diamonds in the rough! See what we did there?
We are also debuting our Putt Putt Mini Golf Challenge, a complete 9 hole mini golf course with pop up obstacles. This mini golf course is great for all ages and is great for indoor or outdoor events.
The Mega Fish Bowl game is a 4 foot by 4 foot square that multiple players can be using at the same time. This game has rotating fish bowls so that when a ball gets into a fish bowl, you simply just turn the entire row of fish bowls over. Pretty neat! This mega game has a total of 42 fishbowls on it-plenty of chances to win a prize!
4-Way-Fairway is a new golf experience that you’ve never seen before! 4 players putt the ball at the same time down the lane, up the ramp and into the square section where there is one singular hole. The player to score first wins! Or if you don’t want it to be as competitive, just a single hole of golf with 4 lanes in an X or + layout is just as fun.
Rounding up the new games for 2025 is Snake Pit, Mega Plinko and Basketball Toss. On Snake Pit, players will navigate a marble through a maze with the hopes of getting the marble all the way to the end of the track. Mega Plinko stands almost 6 feet tall and challenges users to pick a lane that they think the puck will land in. Will it land in their chosen slot? If so, they win! Basketball toss is a fun mini basketball game that’s more challenging than it looks!
Inflatables
Race your friends through this 30 foot inflatable obstacle course, a perfect size for smaller kiddos but still a great attraction for teens, tweens and adults. This 30 foot inflatable obstacle course features blue, grey and orange marbled vinyl making it an extremely unique and one of a kind attraction.
Can you score a goal on Soccer Frenzy? Players will kick the soccer ball towards the backdrop with hopes of getting the ball into the labeled holes valued at different points. It’s a lot harder than it looks!
Slide with an adorable polar bear and his companion penguins down the slide-what an arctic rush! This very attractive slide will surely to be a hit at your event with the size and design alone, not to mention the 2 individual slide lanes. This is a dry slide only and is not made for use with water, snow or in below freezing temperatures.
Embrace your inner lumberjack with our Dual Lane Axe Throwing. This axe throwing inflatable is the same design as our other inflatable axe throwing games but two lanes in one. Now we have a total of 4 axe throwing lanes for your event! As always, these are not real axes but yet foam axes wrapped with final and velcro to make it stick on the target.
We’re excited to bring you so many amazing attractions for 2025 and we hope to speak to you very soon about your event! Remember, we book up fast so please do not delay in getting your events planned.
Are you wanting the feel of a Las Vegas casino at your next party or event but don’t have the budget to fly your entire guest list to Vegas? Bring the casino party to you with our casino party rentals! Now we obviously can’t bring the total atmosphere of Las Vegas to your event, but we can sure bring the casino games and the dealers directly to you.
At ACP Entertainment, we offer casino party rentals to the tune of a variety of casino game tables, the dealers to operate them and of course setup and delivery. Our event specialists will work with you to determine what and how many casino tables to bring to your event that fits well with your guests and your budget.
The games that we offer include Poker (Texas Hold ‘Em), Blackjack, Craps, Roulette and Money Wheel. Poker and Blackjack are the most popular games in terms of people who know how to play them. After that, Roulette is the next favorite and understood followed by Craps. Many people don’t understand the odds of Craps and Roulette, but especially Craps. Craps has what seems like a million different payouts which is difficult to learn and understand. Roulette has many different payouts as well but the player will typically only bet on what they understand. The most pictured games by far are craps and roulette. The giant roulette wheel and then pictures of someone throwing red clear dice across the table are iconic! Money Wheel is an alternative game to all of the others because it’s very easy for new players to understand and it takes very little math and no skill. It’s a great add-on if you think that you may have guests that may not be interested in learning other casino games.
Generally we recommend booking tables in this order: Blackjack, Poker, Roulette, Craps. For example, if we were to book 5 tables for an event, we’d probably recommend 3 Black Jack, 1 Poker and 1 Roulette table. If you had 8 tables, we’d recommend 4 Blackjack, 2 Poker, 1 Roulette and 1 Craps. These recommendations vary but as you can see, we recommend leaning heavily on blackjack as it’s the game most are familiar with and it’s fun to play.
Why should you consider booking a casino party?
Fun for All Adults: Casino parties are not just for the experienced gamblers. With games ranging from poker to blackjack and roulette to craps, there’s a casino game for everyone. Whether your guests are casino aficionados or novices looking to try their luck, the inclusivity of a fun casino party atmosphere is attracting for most any partygoer.
Social Interaction and Networking: Casinos naturally foster social interaction. The dynamic and engaging nature of casino games encourages guests to interact with each other, fostering a lively atmosphere. This not only enhances the overall enjoyment of the event but also provides an excellent opportunity for networking in a relaxed setting.
Themed Decor and Atmosphere: A casino-themed event offers the opportunity to decorate in a glamorous and sophisticated way. The classic red and black color scheme, along with iconic casino decorations, instantly transforms any venue into a high-energy entertainment hub. The immersive atmosphere created by the thematic decor ensures that guests are transported to a world of excitement and luxury.
No Gambling Risks: Casino parties operate with no real money, just chips. Having no real money elements involved eliminates the financial risks associated with real gambling and thus relaxes your guests and makes them more apt to learning and trying something new. It’s all about the entertainment value, making it a safe and enjoyable experience for everyone involved.
Professional Dealers: To enhance the authenticity of the casino experience, our professional dealers run each game for you. These experienced dealers not only ensure that the games run smoothly but also provide guidance for those who may be less familiar with how to play. Our dealers are fun too, not stingy boring and serious dealers like you may find at the casino. Just like there’s no stress on the players end, there’s no stress on the dealers end-it’s all play money!
In Michigan, casino parties are completely legal when those events do not involve actual gambling with real money. This distinction ensures compliance with Michigan’s gaming laws, allowing individuals and businesses to host casino-themed events without running afoul of any legal restrictions. There are ways to play with real money but that involves getting the Michigan Gambling Control Board involved. The only events that the MGCB grants temporary gambling permits is established 501C3 organizations. For more information about legally retaining permits for a casino event with real money, visit https://www.michigan.gov/mgcb.
In the world of event planning, the key to success lies in creating experiences that leave a lasting impression. Casino parties offer a winning formula by combining entertainment, social interaction, and a touch of glamour. Whether you’re aiming to impress clients, celebrate a milestone, or simply provide a night of fun for your employees, a casino party is a sure bet for an unforgettable event.
Tis the season to spread joy and merriment, and what better way to do so than by planning an unforgettable Christmas party? Event planners, get ready to elevate your holiday celebrations with unique and engaging ideas that will leave your guests in awe. This year, consider adding a dash of excitement to your festivities with arcade game rentals, casino party rentals, and the cool charm of a synthetic ice skating rink.
Arcade Game Rentals: Fun for All Ages Kick off the festivities with a blast from the past by incorporating arcade game rentals into your Christmas party. Classic games like Pac-Man, pinball, and air hockey provide nostalgic charm, while modern options like skee-ball and driver games add a contemporary twist. Arcade games offer a fantastic opportunity for guests of all ages to compete, collaborate, and, most importantly, have a jolly good time.
Casino Party Rentals: Roll the Dice on Elegance Transform your Christmas party into a glamorous affair with casino party rentals. Create an atmosphere of high-stakes excitement with professional dealers, authentic casino equipment, and a variety of games including poker, blackjack, and roulette. Guests can try their luck with play money, adding a touch of thrill without any financial risk. The sophistication and social interaction fostered by a casino-themed event make it a surefire way to make your Christmas party stand out.
Synthetic Ice Skating Rink Rental: Glide into the Holidays Dreaming of a white Christmas? Bring the magic of ice skating to your event, regardless of the weather, with a synthetic ice skating rink rental. Perfect for indoor or outdoor settings, synthetic ice rinks offer a realistic skating experience without the need for freezing temperatures. Guests can twirl and glide amidst a winter wonderland, creating lasting memories and capturing the essence of a traditional holiday season.
Trackless Train: All Aboard the Festive Express Renting a trackless train ride that mirrors the enchanting allure of the Polar Express is a great addition to a Christmas or holiday event looking to create a magical and festive atmosphere. The whimsical charm of our train creates an immersive experience that transports guests of all ages into the heartwarming world of holiday wonder. Imagine the joy on children’s faces as they embark on a journey reminiscent of the beloved storybook and film, complete with festive decorations, cozy seating, and perhaps even a visit from Santa himself (there’s another idea for you!). Such a unique and memorable addition adds a touch of nostalgia and excitement to the festivities, creating lasting memories for attendees.
This holiday season, let your creativity shine as an event planner by incorporating these unique and festive ideas into your Christmas party. From the nostalgia of arcade game rentals to the elegance of casino parties and the enchantment of synthetic ice skating, your guests are in for a treat. Unwrap the magic of the season, foster joy and camaraderie, and make your Christmas event a cherished memory for years to come. Happy planning!
AHH! You were just tasked on planning an event, why you said yes-you have no idea, but now it’s all on you! THE PRESSURE IS MOUNTING!!! Ok, now take a deep breath…and relax. You’ve got this! Be honest with yourself, you can do this because you’re not alone. You have a company or multiple companies that will do the hard work for you. Do you know what that means? They do the hard work and you take the credit! Boo ya!
Now let’s get down to business. This article is the guide you need to start planning your event, a checklist if you will. A checklist with a load of information from a guy with over 16 years of event planning experience. My name is Ryan Strayhorn, founder and president of ACP Entertainment. I’m going to give you a semi-deep dive into the event planning process giving your tips and tricks that I’ve learned over the years with the more than 7,000 events our company has produced. Now this list is definitely catered towards outdoor events, but indoor events can take note of these points too. Ready? Let’s go.
Budget: What’s your budget? Before you even start to plan, get a budget. Don’t have one? Make one. This is crucial! Without a budget, you’re throwing darts in the dark after spinning a circle 10 times.
End Goal: What is it you’re trying to accomplish and who are you catering to? Are you planning a company picnic, festival, school event? What’s the main demographic-adults, teens, kids? Obviously this determines where you go, what time the event is, what food you serve and what activities you bring in for the event.
Location: Where is the event going to be? Will it be outside at a park? In your parking lot? Or possibly inside? When choosing a venue, there’s many things to keep in mind. We won’t go into detail here because it deserves it’s own blog article…which we have! Check that out by clicking here.
Venue: Depending on the venue, you may need a tent because some sort of shelter is a must. Not just because of rain, even though that’s a great shelter for rain, but also sun. There’s nothing worse than having an outdoor event in the middle of Summer when it’s 85 degrees out and there’s no shade. Not to mention, you want some tables and chairs for the food you’ll serve so a tent is a must if you don’t have a shelter. Regarding tent sizes, you don’t need to have enough seating in the tent for everyone that signed up to come to your event. Let’s say your event is 4 hours long and you have 100 people coming. Seating for between 40-60 people (depending on how many people each size of tent holds) is just fine. If you plan on having everyone in the tent for some sort of ceremony though (which is totally not recommended, people generally don’t care), then yes you’ll need enough seating for all of those people. Some great tent vendors in West Michigan that we often use are B-n-T Tents, Alpine Events, Kentwood Rental and Baker Tent Rentals.
5. Catering: Determine what food and beverages you will serve. This is a loaded question and quite possibly one of the most fun things to do but don’t get caught up in it. Instead, trust what the experts recommend and don’t micromanage. Remember, these vendors you choose are professionals and they have a good idea of what may best fit your event. If you’re in West Michigan, some caterers to check out would be Distinctive Catering, Gilmore Collection, Maddalena’s Catering, Catered Creations and many many more. One big note, food trucks are NOT catering service. We love food trucks and aren’t hatin’ on them, but they aren’t made to cater large scale events. If you have 20-30 people at your event, yea a food truck or two may work. However, if you’re planning any event larger than that, use a catering company that is very familiar with serving a lot of people in a small amount of time. The last thing you want is angry attendees because it took 25 minutes in line waiting for food. Where food trucks would be ok at larger events is in the dessert category. We love Kona Ice and always recommend them as a desert option!
6. Activities: This is the fun part because it’s all the fun stuff! It’s also our specialty, obviously. So you have your date and time, a budget, your venue and food. What else are people going to do but come, eat and leave? Time to plan the activities! Your attendee demographics plays a pretty big role here as well in determining what kind of activities you should bring into your event. There are entirely too many activities to talk about here, but some ideas are as follows; Games, Inflatables, Carnival Rides, Band, DJ, Casino Tables, Arcade Games, Juggler, Magician, Dunk Tank, Side Show Acts and Yard Games. You should also adding at least one take-away item activity in which your guests will actually leave with something, besides food in their bellies. Some takeaway ideas are Caricature Artists, Face Painters, Balloon Artists, Gem Mining, Wax Hands, Photo Booths and Fun Food items. Your activities is another area in which you should rely on the professionals for, like us! We recommend that our customers give us the information above (date/time, budget, location, demographics) and let us propose some options for your event. Use our experience and knowledge to your advantage in planning the best activities possible for your event and within your budget. Having ideas to bring to the table is great too and if we don’t have it, we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction or find it for you.
7. Power: Now on to the necessary, but boring stuff. First up is power; where is the electricity coming from to power everything for your event? It’s very possible that your venue has some of the power available, but sometimes that falls short to your actual needs. We have an entire blog article written about power if you’d like to get into more detail, read that article here. An average venue will have 110v power, if any, but it will be on a building most likely and potentially limited in quantity. If you have rides and inflatables out in a field, you’ll need a generator. In fact, you may need a generator for other activities and entertainment as well. There are different types of generators you can use but we typically recommend using larger diesel powered generators because they are ultra quiet. This compared to the small portable generators that are extremely loud. Click Here to watch a comparison video of the two different types of generators.
8. Trash and Restrooms: People generate trash and need to use the restroom, your event is no exception. Make sure you’re providing plenty of trash cans and restrooms for your event. The amount of trash cans and portable restrooms depends on a few factors. To mention a few, will there be alcohol served? Will there be food served? How long is the event? How many people will be in attendance? These questions will be asked when talking with the trash/restroom company so make sure you’re ready with those answers. The best company in the West Michigan area, and the only company we refer our customers to, is Plummers Disposal. Plummers provides the best and cleanest portable restrooms, restroom trailers, trash cans, dumpsters and hand washing stations in West Michigan.
9. Music: Have you ever been to an event where there’s no music? Just the sound of people talking, generators running, cars passing by on the street? Blah! Get some groove going! The music doesn’t need to be blaring, it doesn’t even have to be a band or a DJ, but music is pretty important to the atmosphere of events. You can absolutely bring in a DJ to spin some tunes or a band to play live music, but those options are fairly expensive. Unless the music is a focal point to your event, then you may want to consider just having a small sound system with music playing off an iPod or something similar. PLEASE don’t use your phone, it’s so embarrassing and awkward when your phone rings or you get text message, email or any other sort of notification. The notification plays over the loud speaker and everyone can hear it. Feel free to ask us about sound system rentals, if we can’t help then we can point you in the right direction depending on your needs. Please note, your everyday Bluetooth speaker is not big or loud enough. It may sound loud enough inside, but outdoors for a large group, it’s no good outside of a 20 foot radius.
10. Clean Up: This is definitely the worst part, but it’s not so terrible if you have a plan going into it. Making sure your event is cleaned up afterwards is crucial. If you’re at a venue where they do it all for you, great! But you don’t have that luxury everywhere. Put together a cleanup crew to help you tear down and clean up the event when done. Make sure you have a line item in your budget to cover clean up costs, even if it’s just little thank you gifts for your volunteers that stayed to help.
11. Spread the Word!: Or in other words, marketing. Get the word out to your guests about the event! How to do this is completely dependent on your situation. Posters, emails, web pages and Facebook event listings are all potentially good options to promote your event, again depending on your situation. Another thing to consider is if you want your guests to RSVP. In most cases for private events, RSVP’s are pretty crucial to know how much food and seating you’ll need. You’ll have a pretty good idea of what you’ll need depending on the type of event and how many people are in the company/school or organization. But a RSVP definitely helps you plan a little better. Don’t get fully tied up in that RSVP number, we find that usually only 70%-80% of the people that RSVP actually show up. Don’t take it personal when it happens, just be ready for it.
“We only take what we know we can accommodate while maintaining the highest level of quality possible.”
If you’re getting a quote from us or have booked an event with us in the past, you may have heard us say something like, “We recommend booking as soon as possible, we book up quickly.” Sounds like a sales pitch line right? Shoot (said in the best western accent possible), it’s a fantastic sales pitch for a company looking to get the sale as quickly as possible. However at ACP Entertainment, it’s completely true. We really mean it, we don’t have unlimited availability for all dates. It breaks our heart to have to tell literally hundreds of customers a year “Sorry, we’re booked up that date,” so don’t let that be you!
On average we service about 600 events a year. A good 75% of those events are between the months of May and October which we consider our “in season” time. We slow down quite a bit for the Winter but we still do a fair amount of business in the cold months. Going back to that line of “we book up quickly,” it’s highly possible that the date you are looking for is on a weekend day. Weekends are the most popular time to host an event, so as you can imagine we’re pretty busy on the weekends. If your event isn’t on a weekend, fantastic! We love servicing weekday events. However, some weekdays book up just as fast as weekend days. But why is this that we book up so early and so fast?
In 2023 we celebrated our 15th anniversary and so as we go into our 16th year of business, as you can imagine, we have a lot of repeat customers and events. Some of those repeat events call us just a few days after their event took place to book us for their event next year. This doesn’t happen all of the times, but we do have a handful of customers that do. Most, however, will call 4-8 months in advance to book. With all of those events booking, days fill up pretty quickly and unfortunately we’re limited on what we can do based on available staff and equipment.
If we had unlimited staff, we’d be able to take on 4 times the amount of work that we are doing right now-it’d be fantastic! However the reality is we have a limited staff and they’re all really good at their job. In fact, we get some of the most amazing feedback from our customers bragging about how incredible our staff is, so we brag on them too! Anyways, back on track here.
Another reason we book up quickly is because we don’t take any and every event that comes away. We literally have to say no to hundreds of events a year. We only take what we know we can accommodate while maintaining the highest level of quality possible. In other words, we don’t skimp out. This is just one of the reasons that makes ACP Entertainment the best amusement rental provider in the state of Michigan-and the biggest!
To sum it all up, please book your event early. It’s not a sales pitch and it’s not a scare tactic. We want you to be able to book your event on the date that you want with the attractions that you want.
If you’ve already booked your event with us, you may have seen in an email or your contract that we require you to call MISS DIG 811. You then probably thought to yourself, “well why do I have to do that?” In this article we’ll explain the reason for MISS DIG 811, why you have to call them and what it is they do.
MISS DIG 811 is a non-profit corporation that consumers and contractors alike can utilize at no cost to identify underground utilities before breaking ground. MISS DIG has a network of over 1,700 utility companies that they work with to identify underground gas, communication, water, sewer and electric lines. MISS DIG does NOT identify your sprinkler lines or any buried cable that you put underground yourself.
You may not realize it, but most likely there are multiple pipes and wires below the outdoor surface that you walk on. In a 10×20 foot space, there may be gas, water, telephone, sewer and electrical lines-all right there! Now imagine hammering a large metal stake into the ground and hitting an electrical line….ZAP! Or worse, hitting a gas line….KABOOM! This is why MISS DIG 811 exists. In fact, in Michigan identifying underground utilities before digging is the law!
When you hire ACP Entertainment, or even another inflatable or tent rental company, and you plan for us to be on grass and use stakes to anchor the inflatables, identifying buried lines is a must. The good news is, it’s free! MISS DIG does not charge contractors or consumers for it’s services because the utility service providers are the ones doing the on site surveying.
Make sure you call MISS DIG 10 -14 days before your event, but not any longer than that. MISS DIG will send out the companies with underground utilities in your area to mark your property what’s underground.
When you contact MISS DIG, whether by phone or online, they will ask you for a list of details about where the “Dig Site” is and what you’ll be doing. The “Dig Site” is where you’ll be breaking ground. Keep in mind, MISS DIG mainly works with contractors that are digging holes in the ground, not driving tent/inflatable stakes. So to keep it simple, just use their terminology and everyone will be on the same page. Let them know where you’re “digging” (putting stakes into the ground) with as much detail as you can and possibly attach a drawing. After your submission is made, and about 3 days before your “dig” date (event date), the utility companies will come and mark your yard.
Now you know what you need to do and why, but how about what NOT to do? Well the two things that you do not want to do is tell them the details about the event and who is doing the work. Not that you’re trying to hide anything, but it’s just unnecessary details for them. Use the term “digging” or “dig date” and keep it at that. Why do we recommend not telling MISS DIG who’s doing the work? Well, this is where 811 and us have our differing opinions.
Often, but not all the time, customers will call us and say that MISS DIG told them that we (the contractor) need to call to request the survey. This may be their rules, but quite frankly it’s just not feasible. For one, we do over 500 events a year. We quite literally don’t have the resources to call 811 for every single event that we do. But the biggest reason that we have you (the customer) call MISS DIG is we don’t know where you plan to put the inflatables/stakes in your yard. If we were to order the survey, we’d have to have them mark your entire property which means flags and paint everywhere, including on the sidewalks and driveway. Quite frankly, we don’t want to upset you by having contractors tramp all around your yard and spray painting your driveway. With you submitting the request for a survey, you can identify exactly where they need to identify underground utilities in your yard.
So when you call in to MISS DIG or submit your request online, do not name us as the contractor company, instead say you’re doing the work yourself.
We’ll probably get flack from MISS DIG for this article because it’s “not the rules,” but sometimes policies and rules just don’t make sense and this is one of them. Whether the contractor or the customer calls to request a survey, the outcome will be the exact same.
So in summary, YES you need to call MISS DIG if we are using stakes to secure inflatables on your property. YES you still need to call if you think you know what is and what isn’t underground on your property. And as mentioned, tell them that you’re doing the digging yourself.
We hope that this article helped better explain 811 and the need for their services in the preparation stages of your event. As always, if you have additional questions please do not hesitate to give our team a call at 616-826-8220.
(Updated December, 2023) For about 3 weeks in May and into June every year, ACP Entertainment services over 20 post-graduation parties, or was we call them “Senior All Nighters.” We see the process of planning these all night parties usually take anywhere from 10 to 13 months in total with parents from the incoming senior class usually attending the previous class’ party. Sometimes those incoming senior parents are heavily involved with setting up the event on the day of so the current senior parents enjoy the graduation ceremony.
As you begin to plan your event, there is no doubt that there are many things to think about! Some of the biggest things to consider is 1) Where your event is going to be held, 2) What your budget will be, 3) What food offerings you plan to have and 4) What entertainment do you plan to bring in? We’re going to breakdown some explanations and suggestions for those consideration points.
Venues
The very first question we will ask you is “What is your venue?” Most of the time that question is met with hesitation since the venue location is a secret. Trust us, we know it’s a secret and it goes without saying. However, we really need to know your venue because the space that each venue has for entertainment and activities varies. For example, we know that the YMCA downtown Grand Rapids has their gyms on the 3rd floor and the only way to get to them is via stairs or a regular elevator. This limits what we can bring to that venue because everything must fit into an elevator or be light enough to carry up the stairs. In the same matter, GVSUs fieldhouse has a large garage door that we can load everything into. We can even set up our adventure or carnival rides in the fieldhouse.
You’ll also want to take into consideration what the venue itself has to offer in terms of activities. For example, Davenport University has an indoor rock climbing wall that can be used but no pool, while the SpartanNash YMCA has a pool but no rock climbing. Also, does the venue offer a kitchen that you can use? Do they require you to use their food services? Do they allow food to be brought in at all? Also, what will the venue allow in terms of games and attractions? For example, some venues will not allow casino games.
Searching for a venue can be difficult and daunting, so we’ve compiled a list of venues that have previously hosted grad bash parties. To see the list, scroll to the bottom of this blog post.
Budget
The second question we will most likely ask you when calling to book your senior all-nighter is, “what’s your budget?” We aren’t asking this to get every last dollar in your budget, we’re asking to get an idea as to what you are working with. Is your budget $3,000 where you’d be looking for a couple/few attractions or is it $10,000 where may want to bring in a dozen or more attractions and entertainers? Come to us with your vision of what you’d like to do but make sure to have your budget numbers in mind. This helps us determine what we can do within those guidelines.
Another thing to take into consideration with budgeting is the different areas in which you plan to spend your budget dollars. Budget line items to consider would be venue, food, prizes, entertainment, decorations and miscellaneous. Always put a little flex room in your budget for the little things that are easily forgotten!
Food
The number one thing that your graduates are thinking about after graduation is, “WHERE’S THE FOOD?!” So what should you do? You definitely want to have a main meal at the beginning of the evening and then snacks throughout the night. Some events will opt to have a breakfast at the end of the night, however that’s not often recommended. They just want to go home after a long fun night, plus they will be full on snacks and sugar!
The big deal for food is the main dinner and there’s many different ways to provide food to the graduates after their graduation ceremony. One option is to go to a restaurant after graduation and before the entertainment venue. If you decide to go this route, you must pre-arrange this with the specific restaurant to make sure they have the seating for your group. Most of the time you can work out a special deal for the group to eat at the restaurant as well. Another option is to have a buffet line (or just pizza and sides) at your venue. A somewhat wide selection is recommended because even graduated high school seniors can be picky eaters.
Attractions & Entertainment
Ahhh our favorite part, and what we’re the best at-the fun stuff! There are three main categories for the entertainment; activities, novelty and live entertainment.
Activities include inflatables, rides and games. Our most popular inflatables for post grad parties are in our inflatable interactive and obstacle course categories. Here’s what we most recommend: J-Course, Zap a Mole, Fire Ball, Speed of Light, Hippo Chow Down, Leaps and Bounds, Shooting Stars, Inflatable Axe Throwing and Bobbing for Apples.
While most venues can’t fit them inside, carnival and adventure rides can easily be placed just outside of the venue and make a big impact on your event! Some of our favorite rides for all-nighters are mechanical bulls, the mechanical unicorn, Ballistic, Mind Winder, Face to Face and the Velocity Super Slide. The mechanical bull takes the cake-by far-for the most popular ride at all night parties!
The last activity category is games which is non-inflatable and non-take away (meaning they can’t take something from the experience). Our top games for all-nighters are our Strike a Light, Chaos!, Bounce-a-Ball, 4 in a Row, and casino games like Blackjack and Poker. Regarding casino games, they are for recreational play only and no prizes or money can be given away at the table or in result of game play.
Novelty Entertainment consists of something that results in a take away for the grads. Our most popular novelty options include our Photo Booth, Caricature Artist and Glitter Tattoos. Most of these options are staples for senior all night parties, however they commonly have a lower throughput per hour than other attractions.
Live Entertainment is often performers like a Magician, Hypnotist, Stilt Walkers and Jugglers. The most common live entertainment at a grad bash party is a hypnotist. Hypnotists are usually the finale of the evening but it doesn’t have to be that way! A common misconception is that the kids have to be tired in order for hypnosis to work-not true! It’s good to have the hypnotist show either before or after the main activities but not right in the middle.
The entertainment part of the night should be no more than 4 hours. Any more than 4 hours will be a waste of your fundraising dollars. After 4 hours of playing in the middle of the night, the grads are exhausted and are more interested in sleeping than playing games.
Give them lots of options and have a loose schedule! Your graduating class will be very diverse in their interests. When planning your event, provide a wide variety of activities for them to do and know that not everyone will want to partake in each activity. Also, keep a limited schedule. This is their party and they just want to have fun, not be managed by a strict agenda. Now obviously there has to be some sort of schedule, but keep the time slots down as much as possible.
Lately it’s been a common trend to have food trucks provide all of the food for post grad events. While this is a neat idea, you have to have a lot of food trucks in order to make this work efficiently. For an attendance of around 200, you need at least 4 food trucks in order for them to keep up with the demand of hungry teenagers. We highly recommend having a buffet line of some sort for your main food and then bring in food trucks as a source for snacks or as a secondary source of main food. We promise, we aren’t hating on food trucks, we love them too!
We hope that helps a little bit with your planning! If you have any questions or would like to start planning your all night party, give our team a call and we’d be more than happy to help. As promised, here is a list of (some not all) venues in the West Michigan area in which all-nighters can be, and have been in the past, held. Check them out!
The entertainment part of the night should be no more than 4 hours. Any more than 4 hours will be a waste of your fundraising dollars. After 4 hours of playing in the middle of the night, the grads are exhausted and are more interested in sleeping than playing games.
Give them lots of options and have a loose schedule! Your graduating class will be very diverse in their interests. When planning your event, provide a wide variety of activities for them to do and know that not everyone will want to partake in each activity. Also, keep a limited schedule. This is their party and they just want to have fun, not be managed by a strict agenda. Now obviously there has to be some sort of schedule, but keep the time slots down as much as possible.
Lately it’s been a common trend to have food trucks provide all of the food for post grad events. While this is a neat idea, you have to have a lot of food trucks in order to make this work efficiently. For an attendance of around 200, you need at least 4 food trucks in order for them to keep up with the demand of hungry teenagers. We highly recommend having a buffet line of some sort for your main food and then bring in food trucks as a source for snacks or as a secondary source of main food. We promise, we aren’t hating on food trucks, we love them too!
We hope that helps a little bit with your planning! If you have any questions or would like to start planning your all night party, give our team a call and we’d be more than happy to help. As promised, here is a list of (some not all) venues in the West Michigan area in which all-nighters can be, and have been in the past, held. Check them out!
A couple other considerations for your senior all-nighter event:
The entertainment part of the night should be no more than 4 hours. Any more than 4 hours will be a waste of your fundraising dollars. After 4 hours of playing in the middle of the night, the grads are exhausted and are more interested in sleeping than playing games.
Give them lots of options and have a loose schedule! Your graduating class will be very diverse in their interests. When planning your event, provide a wide variety of activities for them to do and know that not everyone will want to partake in each activity. Also, keep a limited schedule. This is their party and they just want to have fun, not be managed by a strict agenda. Now obviously there has to be some sort of schedule, but keep the time slots down as much as possible.
Lately it’s been a common trend to have food trucks provide all of the food for post grad events. While this is a neat idea, you have to have a lot of food trucks in order to make this work efficiently. For an attendance of around 200, you need at least 4 food trucks in order for them to keep up with the demand of hungry teenagers. We highly recommend having a buffet line of some sort for your main food and then bring in food trucks as a source for snacks or as a secondary source of main food. We promise, we aren’t hating on food trucks, we love them too!
We hope that helps a little bit with your planning! If you have any questions or would like to start planning your all night party, give our team a call and we’d be more than happy to help. As promised, here is a list of (some not all) venues in the West Michigan area in which all-nighters can be, and have been in the past, held. Check them out!
We are often asked to bring our carnival rides and midway games to festivals and fairs. While we’re happy to do so, we work in a very different manner than carnivals do. Carnivals come out to your location and directly charge patrons to ride their attractions, play the games and purchase food. This type of operation is called “Pay to Play” or P2P. An operation like ours, called “rental” for ease of term, does the exact opposite. We charge a set amount to the organization as a whole to come out and operate completely pre-determined dates, time frame and rides/attractions. If the organization that hires us wants to charge for tickets, they absolutely can. Ticket sales and facilitation would be on the organization. Simply put, although both a carnivals operation and our operation is similar in the way that we both carry carnival rides, we operate very differently.
Full carnivals have an incredible operation, they basically move a small city to every location they operate at. A modern day carnival will move between 15-30 rides, 6-8 food trailers, 6-10 game trailers, 2-4 massive generators and 15-30 Bunkhouses and RV’s to each location. Not only is that a ton of equipment, it’s a lot of staff. In fact, a Michigan based carnival can travel with anywhere between 50-120 employees.
So besides a lot of people and equipment, what’s the big difference? With such a massive operation, the carnival companies have to make worth their while especially with them taking all of the financial risk. Currently, every carnival in Michigan has been in business for decades. If the company itself hasn’t been around for decades, the owners of the carnival have been in the business for decades if not their entire life. They know exactly what fairs and events will draw the larger crowds and bigger dollars needed to make it an enticing stop for their show. Unfortunately, not every festival, fair and event is big enough to support a carnival for more reasons than just the size of the community.
Frankly, your event may just not be big enough financially to host a full fledge carnival. In today’s world, an average Michigan carnival has to be able to bring in at least $60,000 to even consider going to a festival or fair. There are hundreds of events across Michigan that don’t have carnivals and this is most likely the reason; not enough people = not enough revenue.
There’s also an incredible supply and demand issue in the Carnival industry in present time. The industry has lost hundreds of carnivals in the last 10 years alone. Factors in those carnivals closing down are commonly contributed to rising costs, transportation regulations and labor shortages. These are all factors that carnivals still in operation have to face every year. Most carnivals now rely on legally sourced immigrant workers to staff their carnivals because getting reliable local labor is next to impossible. Cost of diesel has gone through the roof which is what powers the trucks to move everything from location to location and the generators to power the show. Buying new rides is three to four times more expensive than it was just 10 years ago and it takes 2-5 years to take delivery of a new ride. The list goes on, but needless to say, owning and operating a carnival in 2023 (and beyond) is not for the faint of heart.
For those hundreds of festivals and events across Michigan that aren’t big enough to host a carnival, that’s where we come in. We “rent” rides to events that can’t attract a carnival which is a complete 180 from what carnivals do and how they operate. Now we say “rent” because you as the customer would pay us to bring in the rides. We still setup, staff, operate and tear down the rides and attractions but we are only bringing in what you order.
Our average event is 4 hours long but we’ve operated as long as 4 days in a row. Since we generally only operate for a day, our team comes in the same day and leaves the same day. On occasion we’ll come in the day before or stay a day after depending on the circumstances, but the team will just stay in a hotel. We aren’t carting around an entire village with us when we go to an event like a Carnival does which is just one reason we are able to accommodate smaller events unlike a carnival.
We love our fellow carnival operators in Michigan, in fact we have great relationships with most of them. We wanted to take the time, for our sake and theirs, to explain the differences between the two types of operations. We hope that this article has been informative and thought provoking. If you have any questions, as always please reach out to our team and we’d be happy to answer them for you.
As a reminder, please go and support the carnival at your local festivals or fairs. They work really hard to bring you quality and safe entertainment for the entire family!
To the average Joe, plugging into power is an everyday occurrence. You plug in your phone to charge, the vacuum, blow dryer or something similar every day. But what is that power outlet and will it work for our the equipment you’re renting from us? We’re here to break that down for you. You most definitely won’t be a certified electrician after reading this article, but you will certainly have a better understanding of the type of power we will need you to provide for us for your event.
If you’re looking for a quick summary to this article, scroll to the bottom of the page. If you’re looking for more of an in depth understanding of power needs, keep reading!
Going back to the type of power you use every day (phone, vacuum, blow dryer, etc.), in most cases that is called a 110v/120v outlet on a 20 amp breaker. Now to break that down a little more, the “v” means volts. When we say 110v that means one hundred and ten volts and same thing for 120v, one hundred and twenty volts. You may even see 115v but frankly, think of them all as the same. The reason that there are multiple sets of voltage numbers listed above (110v/115v/120v) is frankly preference to reflect the load capability of an outlet, plug end or cable. The normal operating range for this type of power is 110 volts and can go up to 124 volts. As long as the power is in the advertised/listed range of 110v-120v, you’re all set.
Horizontal photo of female hand inserting power cord receptacle into electric wall outlet
Now the 20 amp breaker portion refers to the “master switch” for the outlet(s) on that breaker. Here’s the tricky part, there can be multiple outlets on one breaker. So for example, if you look at a wall and see 4 outlets running down the length of the wall, it’s highly probable that they are all on the same breaker. That being said, when we say you need 2- 110v/20 amp circuits to run the equipment you rented, we’ll have to plugin to power on that wall and another wall to avoid popping the breaker. No, there is no fuse anymore. It is simply just a switch that you have to reset. In some cases, each outlet is labeled with the circuit number which makes it incredibly easy to identify what outlets are on what circuits. Circuit boxes are typically located in the garage or basement for a residence and in a storage, maintenance or electrical room for a commercial building. If you do not know where your circuit breaker box is, we’d highly recommend locating that and making sure you have access to it before the day of your event.
Now that we’ve gotten past the most common power, it’s time to go a little bit bigger; Single Phase 220V. The similar situation rings true when it comes to this voltage range, it may be advertised as anywhere from 220v to 240v. The difference here over the power mentioned above is there are two hot/positive legs instead of one like in 110v power. These two 110v hot legs combine to make 220v power, see what happened there? Same rings true when we talk about 120v, take two of those hot legs and put them together to make 240v which brings us back full circle to the rang of 220v to 240v. Typically 220v-240v will be on a 50amp breaker, frankly it’s very rare for that not to be the case. We use 220v/50 amp power for our some of our rides.
The final type of power is 3 phase. This is rarely found in any buildings, frankly only industrial buildings have 3 phase power and most of the time the voltage is out of range for our needs. We operate 208v 3 phase while most manufacturing facilities operate 480V 3 Phase. Expo centers will likely have have the type of power we need like in the DeVos Place in Grand Rapids. There’s an immense difference between single phase and three phase and frankly, we just aren’t going to go into great detail about it. If we need 3 phase power, we will most likely have to bring our own generators to power those rides. This leads us beautifully into the final portion of our power talk, generators.
We are often asked, “Isn’t it just easier for you to bring your own generators for power?” The short answer is yes but don’t give up hope just yet! If you are bringing a few inflatables to your event and the setup location is near a building, there’s a good chance you’ll have enough power to run 2-3 inflatables if not more. Typically there are only 1-3 circuits outside of a building but that’s not the standard across the board either. Again, please refer back to your building manager or maintenance department as they will definitely be able to tell you that your power situation looks like. In some cases we can use a generator that you provide but please contact us first before assuming your generators will work. Not all generators are equal and not all of them will power our equipment.
If you do need to rent one or multiple generators from us, we have many different options to choose from. Our smallest generators, what we call Class A generators, are able to power up to 3 inflatables and are pretty loud. These Class A generators are roughly 94 decibels at 3 meters away. Class B generators can power 1- 220v/50amp ride or up to 5 inflatables and is about 99 decibels at 3 meters. Our largest generators, Class C, are actually the quietest generators in our fleet ranging from 68-72 decibels at 3 meters. Our Class C generators range anywhere from 20KW to 60KW. To put it into perspective, the 60KW Generator will power your house and 5 of your neighbors houses running the entire house like normal-that’s a lot of power! You can hear the differences of each generator by watching this video, click here. Our event specialists will be able to pair the right generator for your event.
In Summary, which is what you may have been wanting this entire time:
A 110v/20amp circuit is a regular outlet that you have in your home or business
A circuit is what the individual outlets are wired to, be aware that in most cases multiple outlets are wired on the same circuit. Please know where the circuit panel is and have access to it on the day of your event in case a breaker is blown.
Most of our rides take 220v/50amp or three phase service and in most cases we will have to provide the power for these
Of the generators in our fleet, the large Class C generators are the most powerful and the most quiet and can power both rides and inflatables all at the same time
If you have any further questions about power requirements for your event, give us a call and we’d be more than happy to assist you
Every year at ACP Entertainment, we introduce multiple new and exciting attractions, this year is no exception! In 2023 we are thrilled to introduce over 20 new attractions (with more on the way) and activities and we are also celebrating 15 years of amazing entertainment.
Let’s talk about our rides to start our ‘New for 2023’ list! Lost Treasures is a play port/funhouse for the little ones and was introduced late last year-it’s a smash hit at every event! We also have a brand new swing ride called Cyclone which is a 20 seat chain/chair swing ride. Cyclone will now be our largest capacity swing attraction. Additionally we’re excited to introduce a brand new Classic Train from Wattman Trains, the Rolls Royce of Trackless Train Rides. This train is absolutely gorgeous with moving train wheels, smoke, sound effects and even a 4th car for maximum capacity.
We have quite a few new inflatables for 2023 as well, first up is the Rainforest KidZone and Barnyard KidZone. These two inflatables have a similar layout but a completely different theme with beautiful and vibrant graphics that will definitely wow your crowd. We also have a new game similar to Krazy Kones and Speed of Light that is called Zap a Mole. This time instead of using your hands, players will use a giant foam hammer like the classic “Whac-a-Mole” arcade game. Three new obstacle courses will hit our line up this year; High Voltage, Radical 30’and Radical 40’ Obstacle Courses. We also added, by popular demand, a second dual lane slide called the Wacky Double 18’ Slide. Finally the Big TopGames inflatable, which has 4 games in one, and the Grand Carnivalwhich is an inflatable carnival booth tent.
Two new digital games were added to our lineup in 2023, Four in a Row and Chaos!The digital Four in a Row game is an arcade version of Connect 4 and will have your guests engaged all night long! Chaos! is a game similar to Strike a Light but allows for 4 players instead of 2. Players will also have to cross over into other players area to tag lights of their color too. To say it’s chaotic is an understatement!
We’re extremely excited to introduce an entire new lineup of Midway Carnival Game trailers in 2023. Jungle Chase is a roller derby game, similar to skee ball, that has a jungle theme with racing monkey characters that up to 14 players can play at a time. The Water Race has racing dolphins that move according to how long the players can hit the moving bullseye targets. The Water Race game can also accommodate up to 14 players. Both of these game trailers will come standard with plush prizes in which one prize will be given away every 4-5 minutes. We also introduced a few new regular individual carnival games which includes Alien Pinball, Ricochet,Leaping Lizards and the Kiddie Hi Striker.
Last but definitely not least, we are introducing an entirely new attraction that we introduced in late 2022; Synthetic Ice Skating Experience. The 36’x40’ ice skating rink includes the synthetic ice, rental skates, carpets, chairs, fencing and lighting to your event space. No freeze time needed!
Wow, that’s quite the lineup for this year! We’re thrilled to be able to bring you these incredible new attractions and activities and we hope you are able to incorporate some of them if not all of them into your upcoming event(s). If you have questions about any of the new attractions for 2023, please don’t hesitate to give our team a call at 616-826-8220.
