Northern Air Family Fun Center, also known as Trampoline World, provides an intense cardiovascular workout and lots of entertainment for children and young adults.

The center consists of 10,000 square feet of trampoline walls and floors, two dodgeball arenas, a basketball court, a foam pit, several inflatable obstacle courses, a concession stand and an arcade.

I heard of Trampoline World from a group of friends and decided to tag along with them Sunday afternoon. I was expecting it to be busy, but we got there right when they opened and had almost the whole trampoline side to ourselves.

Before you can go into either side of the center you have to sign a waiver. It was time consuming and asked questions that didn’t seem necessary, but I understand this is a necessity for safety reasons.

There are some strict rules — no back flips, only one person per trampoline and no diving. This seems like a bummer for young adults, but it’s reasonable for the amount of children there.

Within 20 minutes of jumping, I was out of breath. I hadn’t been on a trampoline since high school and didn’t realize how much energy was required. Sadly, I had to take several breaks throughout the hour to get water, and I thought I was a wimp, but everyone else was taking breaks too.

My favorite part was the foam pit. It was small and only allowed two people at a time to use, but the line wasn’t long, and I took nearly 10 turns. I did several flips into it, and sunk straight to the bottom every time. It took a lot of energy to climb back out, but it was worth it — even with the small blue foam flakes getting in my eyes and sticking to my clothes.

My friends and I didn’t play dodgeball even though we were looking forward to it. One of the arenas was closed, and the other was full of people already playing a game. It looked fun, and I was disappointed they didn’t have enough staff to open both arenas.

I did get to dunk for the first time ever on the basketball court. The goal sat at a normal height, but the trampoline helped out. I was happy to claim I dunked the ball and hung on to the rim for five seconds.

We all competed for who could make the best dunk and jump the highest during our basketball game, and even though I didn’t win any of the challenges, it was a good friendly competition.

It costs $12 per person for one hour, which I thought was pricey at first, but, after the hour was up, I was worn out and ready to leave. So, the price is a reasonable amount if you only go for an hour.

However, on the Family Fun Center website, Trampoline World and the inflatables were both advertised, but the inflatables cost extra. This was a bummer, and I decided to just stick with the trampolines because the inflatables were packed with children.

Even though I didn’t pay to use the inflatables, I peeked in and saw that they offer a wide variety of inflatables for children of all ages. There was even an electric train that children could ride around the center in.

Overall, I had a blast and would gladly go again. I was disappointed I couldn’t use the inflatables unless I paid more, and I didn’t get a chance to play dodge ball, but there is so much to do it makes up for it.

I would give Trampoline World a 4 out of 5 stars and recommend it to anyone who has enough energy to jump on a trampoline for an hour. They take reservations Monday through Thursday but have open hours Friday, Saturday and Sunday. They even offer special prices for birthday parties.

Misti Meads is a staff writer for The Dakota Student. She can be reached at [email protected].