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.

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.

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.

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.

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 4^th 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 Top Games inflatable, which has 4 games in one, and the Grand Carnival which 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!

In 2023 ACP Entertainment is celebrating its 15th Anniversary. In the 15
years that ACP Entertainment has been in operation, we have serviced
over 7,000 events and have had a hand in creating memories for hundreds
thousands of kids and families alike. We feel like we have an incredible
responsibility to continue creating safe, memorable and fun experiences for the now over 700 events that we service each year alone-and we intend to do just that.

At the age of 12, a very young Ryan found a passion in DJing and “opened” a DJ business called Amplify Christ DJ Services performing at school events, chili cook offs and prayer at the flagpole events. After doing the sound and lighting for a middle school talent show, Ryan changed the unofficial company name to Amplify Christ Productions. In the midst of these years, Ryan and his dad twisted balloons at school carnivals which is where he saw inflatables that were rented to the schools. Seeing potential, Ryan once again changed the still unofficial company name to Amplify Christ Productions & Entertainment. Quickly realizing how long of a company name it was, he shortened it to ACP Entertainment which is still the name today.

In 2008 and at the age of 15, Ryan finally convinced his parents to allow him to sub rent inflatables from another local company to start doing events. After only a couple short months of sub renting inflatables, obvious potential was seen by Ryan’s parents and they agreed to allow him to buy his first 3 inflatables in June of 2008. Later that Fall, the second batch of inflatables were purchased bringing the total count of inflatables to 6 and also severing ties with the sub-renting company. In August of 2008 Ryan turned 16 and could finally start driving to events himself instead of having to rely on his dad and in October of the same year, the company was legally incorporated.

As years moved on, more inflatables were purchased along with concession machines and carnival games. By 2013, ACP Entertainment had started producing company picnics and other events of large scale for thousands of people. Dad’s Classic Catering, ACP’s then in house catering division, was established in 2014 to better service company picnic events as a ‘Turn Key’ event planning company. In 2016, the first two real carnival rides were added, Ballistic and Pirates Revenge, which started the company in an entirely new trajectory.

ACP Entertainment was the first to introduce many rental-only attractions for events across Michigan and even outside of Michigan. The following attractions were the first rental only attractions of their kind in Michigan; Velocity Super Slide, 40′ Ferris Wheel, Carnival Funhouse, Lost Treasures Funhouse, Frog Hopper, Midway Carnival Game Trailers and the Synthetic Ice Skating Experience. Although ACP Entertainment mostly stays in Michigan, we have also been a part of events in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Florida.

ACP Entertainment is excited to announce the arrival of our newest Winter attraction; the Synthetic Ice Skating Experience. This new skating rink rental attraction is indeed an experience like nothing we’ve ever offered before with a 36’x40′ skating rink rental, adirondack chairs for skaters to take a break from skating, benches to put on/take off skates, ice skate ‘rental’/distribution station, music, lights and fencing.

Our Synthetic Ice Skating Experience makes its debut in November of 2022 and will be available for events all winter long in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio. For more information and details about the ice rink rental, Click Here.

The very first ferris wheel opened at the Worlds Columbian Exposition in Chicago in June of 1983 and was invented by George Washington Gale Ferris Jr. As you may have guessed, the name Ferris wheel comes from his last name and has stuck as the generic name of all attractions like his original 250 foot Giant Wheel ride.

Today, portable ferris wheels are trailer mounted which is much different than the original “Big Eli” wheel that had to be taken apart and transported in a trailer. Jerry Wisdom is who we have to thank for that incredible invention. In 1957, Jerry dismantled the family carnivals ferris wheel and mounted it to a trailer, a tank hauler trailer to be exact. And thus, the trailer mounted ferris wheel was born.

The manufacturer that we chose to build our Ferris Wheel is Wisdom Rides, ironically founded by Jerry Wisdom who first mounted a ferris wheel on a trailer. Wisdom is making history once again with the creation of the “Rental Wheel,” a portable ferris wheel specifically designed for the ride rental industry. ACP Entertainment will be the first company with this ride in the country and we’re incredibly excited to bring it to the Midwest market. Wisdom has designed this ferris wheel to setup and tear down within 2 hours with 2 people and can be transported with a 5500 pickup truck. This 10 seat ferris wheel can accommodate up to 30 riders and stands 40’ tall. It will feature a beautiful LED light show and even have pre-built sign channels for branding overlays.

Outdoor venues are most common for picnics, festivals, fairs, family reunions, graduation parties and birthday parties. When choosing an outdoor location, it is ideal to have a backup spot in case of inclement weather (even though the weather is for sure going to be bright and sunny on your event date). Most of the time if your event is planned to be outdoor, a backup indoor location will most likely not be able to fit everything you planned to be outside. If that’s the case, like it is for most backup venues, that’s alright! Make the best of it by squeezing as much into the venue as possible while still making it fun.

Another major component of a venue is parking. You would think that if the venue can hold 500 people that it would have enough parking for at least half of that number, right? That’s not always the case. Make sure that the venue you choose has enough parking for 30% of the total guest count of your event. For example, if you’re expecting 500 people, make sure to have enough parking for at least 150 cars.

Theme Parks and Family Entertainment Centers (FEC) are often considered as a potential location to host your picnic because on paper it sounds great since everything is already provided at the venue. However, unless you have the entire park closed off to the public and just for your event, there is no sense of community or fellowship between your guests and their families. Take a theme park for example, in order to rent out the entire park and shut it down for the day, the buy out price is astronomical and 99% of the organizations in West Michigan cannot afford it for their event. So the only other option is to keep the park open to the public and give your guests a park ticket and a food ticket. The same goes for smaller FEC’s, if you can’t afford to rent the entire center out, the park is open to the public so the venue is filled with people from your organization and random strangers. Another disadvantage to a large Amusement Park or FEC is that everyone is so spread out that your guests won’t really get to spend a good amount of time talking to each other or getting to know each others families. Our recommendation, if you were to go this route, is to fully rent out a FEC for your event that is closed to the general public.

Bungee Runs: The point of a traditional bungee run is to run to the end of the 30 foot inflatable, while attached to a bungee cord, to see how far you can get until the strong bungee pulls you back. The danger in this attraction is within the bungee cord itself. The most dangerous scenario is when the rider gets to the end of the inflatable (while connected to the bungee cord) and then jumps instead of running backwards. When the rider jumps, the bungee cord reels the player in uncontrollably until the player hits the back wall of the inflatable. How the player lands is where the injury can come into play. In 2007, a boy in Denver was injured on a bungee run and later a “judge awarded nearly $6.9 million to the family of [the] teenager who suffered a permanent brain injury,” according to the Sokolove Law firm on April 18, 2011. The second most common cause for injury is from the bungee snapping due to a faulty bungee cord, old age or excessive extension of the cord. A snapping bungee cord will hit the player in the back and can also hit spectators.

Sumo Suits: Sumo Suits is an attraction in which players climb into either an inflatable or foam-filled suit that is made to resemble a sumo wrestler. The players will also put on a foam helmet that is sometimes made to look like a sumo wrestlers hair in a bun. Once the players are dressed, they step onto a thin foam mat that has a ring in the center. When instructed, the players run towards each other to tackle one other resulting in one or both of the players falling almost immediately. Commonly, the player still standing will then jump on the player that fell as a sign of victory. The suits are very restrictive in movement for the players and don’t allow them to move freely. Since they can’t move like they would without the suit, they often will lose control of their body and fall easily. When they do fall, if they hit their head it could cause temporary or serious damage damage to their skull or brain. In Colorado Springs, a participant fell while wearing a sumo suit and caused her to have permanent brain damage. A Denver jury awarded her $2 million for her injuries that she sustained while playing in the sumo suits.

Even if inflatables are properly anchored, there is always a chance that high winds could still rip anchor points off of the ground which is why both guidelines absolutely must be followed. Weather is unpredictable and sometimes winds may increase during an event. If that is the case and winds exceed the maximum ratings, then it is crucial to shut them down immediately.

With over 4,000 events under our belt, ACP Entertainment has never had an inflatable go airborne and we will never allow it to happen in the future. We value the trust that you put into our team at ACP Entertainment and will always make safety our number one priority and concern.

In conclusion, we strongly recommend calling as soon as possible to at least get your event date on hold with us. Although a hold doesn’t confirm your date, it at least gets the ball rolling and we can let you know if someone else is interested in your date. Calling early will not only guarantee that we can service your event, it also allows you to have first pick at the attractions for your event. So please, do yourselves and us a favor and start planning your event early. We promise-it’s worth it!