Rainbow v. Cedarworks Playsets

[annasmom]

Welcome to my new obssession!! I am thinking that this Fall may be the perfect time for us to get a playset for our yard. We will have a new baby so I will not be wanting to drag everyone off to the playground, and supposedly there are sales in the Fall.

So, needless to say I would love your input. I have begun looking at the sets (and the prices, OUCH!!). Any general feedback would be appreciated.

Also, some specific questions:

Does anyone regret making this purchase?

How did you decide on your package?

If I go to a salesroom, will I end up spending more money (because of pushy salespeople?

If choosing between Rainbow and Cedarworks, why did you choose one over the other? (They seem comparably priced?)

Have you been pleased with your purchase? Specifically, quality and safety?

What would you have done differently??

Thank you SO much. I know this is going to be a process for me to convince my dh so I have really want to be armed with lots of great information.

[dules]

Well, once my DH saw the sets IRL he was off and running so I think you have a good chance if you can get your DH to a Rainbow showroom. :)

We just chose our set and it's due to be delivered so I can only answer the "decision" parts of your post but we *just* ordered so this will be long as it's all still fresh in my mind.

We looked at Rainbow and Cedarworks, and one set by Childlife that a friend has in his backyard. Childlife was ruled out immediately on price - the same small set that this friend has (starter set that probably will not last past 6-7 years old according to the sales guy I talked to) was over $4K installed.

We liked the Rainbow ones a lot. You can see my post on the pricing stuff though if you do a search. They can wheel and deal like car dealers and I really loathe buying cars. The sales people were *really* good when we came to look, though. They left us alone to play and waited for us to come with questions.

This is a personal thing but the Rainbow "store models" shook, even the big ones, when I or DH got up there with DD. DD is about 30 lbs and DH and I are about 175 and 150, so not huge people. I know we were in no danger at all but the shaking feeling kind of threw me off a bit. This could definitely be because floor models see so much use and abuse. DD absolutely loved them though and would have been happy with any of them. :) She had me a little scared, running right to the top of the biggest sets.

We looked at the partially assembled (boo!) Costco set and if we had decided to go with Rainbow we would probably have gone that route for the number of features for the price. We don't need more than 2 swings so the possibility of kids bumping if 3 swing at once didn't bother us.

We knew we would not want to do the maintenance on a Rainbow (staining and sealing) and we loved the idea of the modular designs of Cedar Works. We also were just really sold by their brochure, DVD, sales staff and website marketing/tools. We're also excited that we can play too. :) Cedarworks was very up front, no nonsense, pricing is what it is and includes shipping. DH and FIL want to assemble so there was no concern about assembly cost (Rainbow has a $99 install special that looks great if you don't want to do it yourself. Cedarworks will recommend contractors local to you but it's not included.).

We spent HOURS poring over all the threads here and on the Toddler boards, the options in the catalog, online, and going back and forth with our fabulous sales consultant (Dee) until we finally came up with a design that (we think) will challenge DD appropriately now and still has lots of room to grow. We upsized one side from a box tower to a regular tower for that reason - it was a significant cost up front but manageable when we put it in a perspective over years to expand and play rather than immediate cost.

Overall I think both are great choices but one will most likely speak to you over the other (or someone else might suggest something totally different). Watch the DVDs and really read the catalogs - IMO they are really useful and not just "salesware".


Have fun choosing!

Best,
Mary

ETA a couple of other things that made me choose Cedarworks, now that I've read some other replies. We like the Sure Step system that lets DD climb up inside the towers (safer) and the fact that we can add safety fences around the tops ($35 each) of the structures so she won't fall when she's young but they can be removed to allow access via the vertical ladders and the monkey bars when she gets older. We chose a rock wall to access the climber with slide (and sure step system) and the tower just has the ramp for now - much as we wanted to we could not justify two slides for one child, lol.

I won't let her play "alone" at 2.5 but as I mentioned above, seeing her jumping around up on those Rainbow platforms that were wide open really kind of freaked me out, felt like she could fall (though realistically I know she would probably stop before the edge). So I guess my own fear of heights played into my personal feeling on this too. :) Rainbow has some that are more enclosed too but I liked that we could remove the fences on the Cedarworks set to make it more "daring" as she gets bigger.

[sidmand]

Well we ended up with a Rainbow set. We thought they would be way out of our price range, but after looking at many many different kinds, realized that one of the smaller sets (which was all we could fit anyway) was pretty much the same price as the others.

We were actually on our way to look at another type (which we ended up not being able to find) when we accidentally passed the Rainbow showroom. We were completely blown away by their catalog (the most amazing catalog I've ever seen!). And unlike the PP, the models they had were so completely sturdy and so much sturdier than anything else we had seen that that just about convinced us there.

I had a ChildLife set growing up and really thought I was going in that direction. Particularly the maintenance free aspect. But also, like the PP said, it ended up being very very expensive for the same things.

I actually don't think we looked at a Cedarworks, just because that wasn't as easily available. We ended up choosing between a Creative Playthings set and the Rainbow one. We also had the consideration of a very uneven lot. Creative Playthings basically said we would have to level the yard before it could be installed while Rainbow had options to work with it.

We've only had it for a couple of months, but so far I'm very happy with it. DS can't use a heck of a lot of it yet, but his cousins have been over to play on it and had a lot of fun too.

We chose basically based on size. We don't have a huge yard, and it's uneven, so I think we ended up buying the Sunshine Castle. It seemed to include everything we'd want for a long long time. And it's sturdy enough that I've been up there with my nieces (and I'm not small!).

No regrets yet...

Debbie
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[KrisM]

We're waiting for our Rainbow to be delivered in a few weeks. I have 2 friends that just went through these decisions with me and we all ended up with Rainbow, but different sizes.

At our showroom, the models didn't shake, but the floor on the Castle series does deflect some. It does this on the newly installed (by Rainbow) sets my friends have as well. But, with a lifetime guarantee, if it wears out somehow, we're covered. I don't think it's a safety issue at all.

The sales people were very good and didn't push us at all. Just showed us the basic stuff and let us look around and play ourselves.

I looked into Cedarworks, but didn't like how the ladders that are included are all vertical. I like the inclines better. Also, to get what we wanted, the Cedarworks cost more than the Rainbow by about $1000.

[AmyZ]

AHHHHHH... this is bringing back some lovely memories! :-)

We just went thru the same process a few months ago. We now have the Rainbow Carnival Cottage model 304 (page 120) in my backyard.

I loved both Rainbow and Cedarworks. I found the Rainbow saleslady to be somewhat annoying and we did not have any luck shopping around for a better price. We called a bunch of different Rainbow places around here, spoke to different sales people, and no one was negotiating.

I liked the Cedarworks was very straightforward and not "sales-ish" at all. However, the issue kept coming down to monkey bars. DH really wanted the monkey bars to be separate from the swing bar, and every combo that we designed with Cedarworks was over $4000! Yikes!

With Rainbow, we were able to get the swing bar separate from the monkey bars and all the other good stuff for a little over $3000 installed. I swapped out the disc swing for the baby bucket swing (DD's favorite).

So far we have been very pleased. It is very sturdy, (DH goes into the clubhouse often) and it is actually staked into the ground -- this thing is not going anywhere.

All is good!

Amy Z

"Ma!" to Eliana 2/04 - She's 2!
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[annasmom]

I wanted to thank everyone for their input. It is a LOT of money, so I want to gather as much information as possible, so I really appreciate it. But the more I think about it, I think it would be a good purchase for our family. Both of my dc LOVE the playground, and with a 3rd dc on the way, I know we will get years of use. I have a question for you though.

Costco is currently selling a Sunray set (I know at least Mary looked at it). It really has everything I want for our swingset (rock wall, at least 3 swing positions, slide, monkey bars, etc. - although I am still torn between castle v. clubhouse), is there anything I should know about the Sunray sets? Are they in some way lesser quality, or smaller??

I think ultimately we will have to take the trip and see these things IRL. Does anyone know for how long Costco carries the swingsets? We belong, but don't live anywhere near a Costco anymore. For all I know they may have already stopped carrying them.

Thanks again!!

[dules]

They had them last weekend near us (which I think is near you too). If you're in N NJ visiting family this summer you're also invited to come see and play on ours (OK, pg maybe you won't want to but I bet your DC will, lol). Just email me.

I got the sense the Costco set was like the Fiesta boxed sets, which the price sheet refers to as "Rainbow quality for the DIYer." The sales lady at Rainbow did say that the three swings are so close together that they may bump if the kids don't all swing perfectly straight, just an FYI on that. I couldn't tell at our Costco because the set was only half-assembled, on a shelf (!) and the first swing was actually ON the deck. Grrr on them for not setting it up so people could see. The pics of it online are pretty good and the shipped price is great too ($1599 and you don't have to schlep it home from the store).

So here I am wanting to be your Cedarworks referral but pointing you toward the Costco set. Guess that shows you how much I liked all of them, eh? LOL!

Best,
Mary

[3girls4me]

I just wanted to say that if you have a Costco near you might what to check it out. I bought a Rainbow playsystem from them for $1,000 and my girls LOVE it. My friend bought the same one (only one minor thing different) and she spent $2,000 for it. They are both Rainbow brand so maybe check it out!
Charlene Hill

[3girls4me]

I just replied on your first e-mail and didn't realize you posted this. I was suggesting the Costco Sunray set. I have 3 girls and they just love this set! My friend bought almost the same one from Rainbow directly and it cost her $2,000 the one from Costco is 1,000 the one difference is you have to put it together. I did call my local Rainbow dealer and I had their installer contact me and I paid him directly $300.00 to move it to my new house because my kids wanted it to come with us. I believe they charge you more for installation.

[annasmom]

Thanks, once again! I actually was just talking to a bunch of moms this morning at the playground, and one just installed the Costco set this Spring, so we may stop by this afternoon to check it out.
The Costco set is so appealing because it has everything I want, but when I priced it on Cedarworks and Rainbow it was close to $4k!!

And another mom suggested Childlife, but mentioned that it is pretty expensive. So, now I have another swingset to check out as well!