Inside IAAPA 2025: How Shock Trampoline is shaping the future of play

By Luke Schueler, Co-Founder, Shock Trampoline

IAAPA Expo 2025 is where our industry goes to think bigger. It’s where operators, builders, designers, and dreamers pressure-test ideas, try new tech with their own hands, and trade notes about what’s working in busy parks on Saturday at 2 p.m.

This year, we’re bringing something different to the floor: a working, full-scale slice of a Shock park! Built to be touched, jumped on, measured, and interrogated.

If you’re coming to IAAPA 2025, consider this your insider tour of our booth, our launches, and (most importantly) our operating philosophy.

Why We Show Up: Operators First, Always

People sometimes mistake us for “just” a manufacturer. We build, yes, but we also operate. That distinction matters when you’re making equipment that will be used by real guests, run by real teams, and maintained on real budgets. The short version: we design every element for durability, throughput, safety, and ease of supervision because we live those constraints every day. We run our own trampoline parks in cities across North America.

IAAPA is our chance to meet new operators, catch up with seasoned teams, check out amusement park trends for 2025 and answer the operational questions that actually run a park:

• How long will this last under medium vs. high traffic?
• What weekly check prevents a Saturday emergency?
• How should I staff in order labor percentages in line while supervision stays tight?

If you stop by our booth, you’ll get the playbook. Form maintenance schedules, cleaning procedures, inspection checklists, replacement ordering guidance, and real-world benchmarks for lifespan based on traffic profiles.

We love the gritty questions.

A classic one we often get: “How do you clean a foam pit?” (If your park is five years old and no one knows how to clean the foam pit, let’s talk, and please bring an 80,000-gallon garbage bag.)

Jokes aside, the point is serious: if a vendor can’t hand you operating procedures on day one, that’s a red flag. You’re buying more than steel, foam, and fabric, you’re buying a system that must be run well for years. Our commitment is to equip you to do exactly that.

A Booth You Can Operate, Not Just Admire

In past years, trade-show realities forced the industry to display miniatures. These scaled-down examples looked pretty but did not behave like the real thing. This year, we built our booth the way we build parks: full-scale, over-engineered, and honest.

The centerpiece is a true-to-life Shock trampoline structure. You’ll see (and feel) the real bed-rail geometry, the shock absorbers we spec for longevity, and the stout structural posts we over-design on purpose. No imagination required this is the product we would install if you ordered today.

Premium Trampoline Padding—Every Color, Every Layer
Padding is where people immediately feel the difference. We’ll have full samples in every vinyl color we supply so you can step on them, compress them, check the stitching, and compare foam quality against anything else on the floor. Yes, Shock is often the more expensive option. Stand on the pad, peel back the layers, and decide if the value is obvious. (Most operators tell us it is.)

Battle Arenas & Soft Goods, Built to Be Cleaned
Our in-house battle jousts are durable. They’re also machine-washable. That means you don’t throw them out when they’re dirty; you wash them and put them back in service. The same story can be said of our dodgeballs and other soft goods: designed for longevity, and cleanliness in mind from day one.

Air-sealed Systems—Walls, Rooms, and Sport Surfaces
This year, we are proud to introduce air-sealed wall modules that snap together to create laser-tag and gel-blaster arenas, kid mazes, pop-up rooms, and creative event spaces. You’ll see a live wall section that demonstrates how units connect into a freestanding layout. We’ll also have our air-sealed sport “air track” on the floor. Step on it, jump on it, feel the rebound, and ask us what maintenance actually looks like.

Jump Ringz® Time Management Frees Your Team to Focus on Safety

If you’ve ever seen a Court Monitor squint at timestamps on blue wristbands while a kid keeps bouncing past their paid time, you know the pain. Jump Ringz replaces guesswork with an LED band that flips to a clear “expired” color when time’s up. No more mental math, and no more scanning boards. Even your youngest staff can simply watch for red and spend the rest of their attention on coaching, rule enforcement, and great guest interactions.

At IAAPA we’ll have four fully functional sets you can interact with, activate sessions, observe the timing, see how end-of-time visibility changes behavior, and ask us about throughput and labor impact. Spoiler: when staff members stop chasing timestamps, safety and guest experiences improve.

Partner Spotlight: Big Hoops—“Topgolf for Basketball,” Now in the FEC Lane

We’re proud to be the exclusive distributor for Big Hoops in trampoline parks, adventure parks, and the broader FEC space. Big Hoops a regulation-distance basketball experience with a moving, interactive hoop, full scoring logic, multiple game modes, and dynamic lighting effects. Compact, addictive, and built for replay, it shines a revenue per square foot scale. We’ll have a live unit at our booth. Come shoot your shot, compare scores with your team, and chat about payout per square foot.

Why we’re excited about Big Hoops: basketball participation cuts across ages and skill levels, so the addressable market is large; the footprint is small; and the tech makes it a sticky anchor that pairs beautifully with party packages and leagues. If you’ve been searching for a fresh skill attraction that isn’t a maintenance headache, put a pin in this one.

Proof Beats Promises: Durability That Holds Up in Busy Parks

We’ve never asked you to “trust the brochure.” Bring your numbers, and we’ll talk durability in operational terms:

• Throughput vs. lifespan: If your current pads fade after two years in medium traffic, let’s define “medium” together, then show you five and eight-year photos from our parks at comparable counts.
• Failure modes, eliminated by design: Tired of spring connections ripping at the weld? We re-engineered that interface to remove the weak point. Fewer emergency welds means fewer Saturday shutdowns.
• Weekly checks that actually matter: Beyond the manufacturer’s baseline, we give you the two or three extra inspections that extend component life. This is the distinct difference between “it lasted as long as it could” and “it’s still going strong at year seven.”

Why IAAPA Matters (and How to Use it Well)

For operators, IAAPA is the time for due diligence. The best use of your time is to ask every vendor the same set of questions, then compare answers. Here’s the shortlist we recommend:

• Show me the five-year version. Pictures or video, same product line, same or higher traffic.
• Show me your maintenance manual. Weekly, monthly, and annual tasks; cleaning agents; replacement part numbers; expected labor time.
• How does this design reduce Saturday emergencies? If the answer is hand-wavy, keep walking.
• What are the staffing implications? Sightlines, supervision ratios, and reset time between rounds make them quantify it.
• What happens when it fails? What does field repair look like, who can do it, and what’s the lead time if you need a part?
• And a bonus question we wish more people asked: “Will you train my staff on all of the above?” If the vendor hesitates, that tells you everything.

The Operator’s Corner: Bring Us Your Problems

Some of our best product improvements started as hallway conversations at IAAPA. An owner vents about a chronic failure, or a GM admits their team spends too much time chasing expired wristbands, and we start pulling the thread. This year, you’ll see products that on display born from operator headaches:

• Jump Ringz: time management reduced to a digital color, freeing attention for safety and guest experience.
• Air-sealed walls: reconfigurable arena layouts without construction crews.
• Machine-washable battle jousts: cleanliness without replacement waste.
• Re-engineered spring interfaces: the weld that doesn’t rip because we designed the force path differently.

IAAPA also shows us what products are stagnant. Certain products continue to sell despite preventable safety, maintenance, or experience issues. Our view is simple: if you can make it better, you should. “It sells anyway” is not a strategy in a family-facing industry.

How We’ll Support You After the Show

When you work with Shock, you get:

• Operating manuals that are actually usable, plain language, photos where it helps, and the extra checks we’ve learned as operators.
• Maintenance calendars, what to do weekly, monthly, quarterly; what you’ll need to order and when.
• Training procedures for managers and floor staff, including supervision tactics, rule enforcement coaching, and time-management best practices.
• Spares and replacements, clear part numbers, reorder pathways, and realistic lead times.
• A real point of contact, you’ll know who to call, and know that they’ll answer.

Ready to Talk?

If you’re coming to IAAPA 2025, swing by and say hello. You’ll spot us by the full-scale trampoline structure and the Big Hoops unit lighting up the aisle. Try the gear. Bring your questions. Tell us what’s been frustrating with your current setup, and we’ll provide you with the fix or build it for you.

We’re operators who build, not builders who hope. That’s why IAAPA is our favorite week of the year: a floor full of ideas, a crowd full of straight-shooters, and a chance to help parks run cleaner, safer, longer, and more profitably.

See you at the booth.

Luke Schueler, co-founder of Shock Trampoline and Flying Squirrel Sports with his twin brother Cody, is a leading voice in the industry who pioneered patented, safety-first designs. His work has created high-quality, innovative trampoline and adventure parks that raise industry standards.