Eleven questions, asked at booking, prevent nearly every day-of surprise: surface, slope, water source, power, gate access, pets, guest count and ages, HOA or venue rules, parking, the on-site contact, and the neighbor situation. None of them are awkward to ask, all of them are awkward to discover at 1:15 on Saturday with a loaded truck at the curb.
The eleven questions
1. What's the surface? Grass, turf, concrete, or gravel changes footing, cleanup, and sometimes whether the package works at all. Artificial turf and foam get along; a gravel driveway and forty barefoot kids don't.
2. Is the area level? A slope sends foam and water downhill, sometimes toward a door, a garden, or the neighbor's yard. "Mostly flat" from a client means "walk it on arrival" for your crew.
3. Where's the water spigot, and does it work? Distance to the spigot decides hose length, and "does the spigot actually turn on" is a real question, especially at rentals, venues, and houses where nobody has used the outside faucet since fall.
4. Is there an outdoor outlet within reach? Within 75 to 100 feet, on a circuit that works. The answer decides whether the generator rides along, which you'd rather know at booking than at load-out.
5. How wide is the gate, and is there another way to the backyard? The rig, the cannon, and the hoses have to get from the truck to the yard. A 32-inch gate has ended more setups than rain has.
6. Any dogs or pets? For the crew's sake during setup and the pet's sake during the chaos. "Can the dog be inside during setup and the party?" is a normal, welcome question.
7. How many kids, and what ages? Guest count and age range shape supervision expectations, the rules briefing, and whether the littles need a low-foam corner. It also catches the "backyard birthday" that's quietly become a 60-kid neighborhood event.
8. Any HOA, venue, or park rules we should know about? Noise limits, vendor insurance requirements, permit needs, water use rules. Parks and HOAs both love paperwork, and both prefer it before the event.
9. Where can we park the truck and trailer? Close enough to run hoses and haul gear, legal enough to stay there. Street parking on a busy road with a trailer is its own adventure.
10. Who's the on-site contact, and what's their cell? Sometimes the booker is not the host: the aunt books, the grandmother hosts. Day-of, your crew needs the phone that will actually answer at that address.
11. How close are the neighbors, and do they know? Foam, music, and shrieking joy carry. A client who gives the neighbors a heads-up, or invites their kids, converts the noise complaint into the next booking. Suggesting it is a service.
Ask once, at booking, in the flow
These questions belong in the booking form, not in a phone call you have to remember to make. Asked in the flow, they take the client two minutes while their motivation is peak, the answers attach to the booking, and the crew reads them on their phone Saturday morning. Asked by phone across three voicemails, half get answered and none get written down.
The answers should trigger action, not just sit there: no outlet flags the generator, a far spigot flags extra hose, a 60-kid count flags a package conversation. A question whose answer changes nothing was small talk.
The line to remember
Every question on this list is one your crew will otherwise ask at the curb, with the meter running and the kids arriving. Move the questions to Tuesday.