Moon Insurance Managers, Inc. · TDI license #5595

Amusement and Recreation Business Insurance in Texas

Rides, parks, go-kart tracks, animal attractions, arcades and the other places people go to play are insured class by class, and Texas law reaches some of them and not others. A ride is an amusement ride under Occupations Code chapter 2151; a petting zoo, a mini golf course or a paintball field is not. That one line decides most of what a policy has to do.

This page sorts the businesses that run all year. If you are hosting one event and hiring the rides or animals for it, your side of it is on the special event insurance page.

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Find your class

The pages in this line

Each class page carries the Texas rules for that kind of business and nothing else. A class without a page yet goes to the form at the foot of this one, and the first call starts from the same rules.

Class pages

Inflatables rented out by the unit — bounce houses, combos and inflatable slides — have their own page: bounce house and inflatable rental insurance.

The test the state uses

What counts as an amusement ride

Chapter 2151 defines an amusement ride as “a mechanical device that carries passengers along, around, or over a fixed or restricted course or within a defined area for the purpose of giving the passengers amusement, pleasure, or excitement.” The statute then leaves four things out of that definition:

a coin-operated ride that is manually, mechanically or electrically operated, is customarily placed in a public location, and does not normally require the supervision or services of an operator — all three conditions, not one;
nonmechanized playground equipment, “including a swing, seesaw, stationary spring-mounted animal feature, rider-propelled merry-go-round, climber, playground slide, trampoline, and physical fitness device”;
a challenge course that meets § 2151.107, described below;
a vinyl waterslide under 200 feet that “is not mechanically inflated using a continuous airflow device”.

TDI, which administers the chapter, names what it treats as rides: “go-karts, rock climbing walls, bungee jumps, zip lines, mechanical bulls, trackless trains, continuous air-flow inflatable rides or devices (bounce houses, inflatable slides), and various simulators”, and most theme park and water park rides. Its own list of what is not a ride adds three items the statute does not name: public conveyance devices, live animal rides and motorsports. Those three are TDI’s reading, not the statute’s text.

Zip lines and climbing walls are rides by default. A challenge course — a ropes, team building or obstacle course built and used for educational, team and confidence building or fitness purposes — falls outside the chapter only when its operator also carries the limits § 2151.107 sets. An entertainment zip line at a fun center is not built for those purposes, so it stays a ride.

Sources: Tex. Occ. Code ch. 2151 (§§ 2151.002, .107); TDI — amusement ride FAQ. Verified 26 October 2026.

Four shapes, not one figure

Each ride type has its own limit

The minimum liability policy depends on the ride. The statute states each one in its own shape — split or combined, per occurrence or in aggregate — and a policy written to one shape does not match the wording of another.

Class A ride: A ride with a fixed location, designed mainly for children younger than 13. $100,000 bodily injury and $50,000 property damage per occurrence with a $300,000 annual aggregate, or $150,000 per occurrence combined single limit with a $300,000 annual aggregate.
Class B ride: Every other ride, other than an inflatable or a qualifying train. A kiddie ride that travels is Class B. $1,000,000 bodily injury and $500,000 property damage per occurrence, or $1,500,000 per occurrence combined single limit.
Inflatable: A Class B ride kept up by a continuous airflow device, for bouncing, jumping or an enclosed play space. $1,000,000 per occurrence, combined single limit.
Trackless or motorized train: A Class B train that meets all six tests in § 2151.1011(a): a motorized vehicle towing passenger cars, no faster than five miles per hour under its own power, safety belts for every passenger, no elevated track, seating enclosed by guardrails or doors, and no cars that rotate on their own. A train that fails any test takes the ordinary Class B limit. $1 million in aggregate for all liability claims occurring in a policy year.

A park or center running several ride types needs each one’s limit, scheduled ride by ride. A contract with a school, a city or a venue can ask for more than the statute does, and when it does, the contract sets the number.

Source: Tex. Occ. Code §§ 2151.002, 2151.101(a)(3), 2151.1011, 2151.1012. Verified 26 October 2026.

Whatever the ride

The inspection, the filing and the sticker

Every ride the chapter reaches is inspected at least once a year by the insurer or a person the insurer has contracted with, not by TDI. The inspector completes one Form AR-100 per ride. The policy and the inspection certificate are filed with TDI with a fee of $40 per ride per year, and the approved ride carries Form AR-101, the compliance sticker, where riders can see it. The operator also owes a copy of the certificate and the policy to each sponsor, lessor or landowner responsible for the ride being offered to the public, which is why venues and organizers ask for them.

Operating without meeting those requirements is a Class B misdemeanor, and each day is a separate offense. Injuries that need medical treatment are reported to TDI quarterly, and a lawsuit over a ride is a reportable event in its own right.

Sources: Tex. Occ. Code §§ 2151.101, .103, .1022, .153; TDI — 28 TAC §§ 5.9003, 5.9004, 5.9007 (Order 2024-8909); TDI — amusement ride FAQ. Verified 26 October 2026.

Fixed sites with many rides

Amusement parks and centers

A theme park, a water park or an amusement center is the same law applied many times over. Each ride is filed and insured at its own class’s limit: a fixed ride designed mainly for children under 13 can be Class A, and most of the rest are Class B. The chapter gives a park that drew more than 200,000 customers the previous year one carve-out, and it is narrow: law enforcement’s power to stop its fixed rides on the spot does not apply. The insurance, inspection and filing duties apply to that park like any other.

A center that mixes rides with games is judged attraction by attraction. Go-karts, bumper cars, bumper boats, motion simulators, zip lines, climbing walls and inflatables are rides. Trampolines and nonmechanized play equipment are outside the definition, video and redemption games carry no passengers, and a coin-operated kiddie ride is outside it only when all three of the statute’s conditions are met. A go-kart fleet counts as a single ride for TDI’s fee.

A park is quoted as a whole operation — premises, crowds, food, staff and every ride — which is a conversation rather than a form. The form below starts it.

Sources: Tex. Occ. Code §§ 2151.002, .052(b), .1525(e); TDI — amusement ride FAQ. Verified 26 October 2026.

A different law, or none

Animal attractions and recreation venues

Animals. Pony rides, saddle horses, rodeos and petting zoos carry riders or visitors on animals, not on mechanical devices, and TDI lists live animal rides among the things that are not amusement rides. The Texas law that reaches them is Civil Practice and Remedies Code chapter 87, which limits liability for injuries that result from the inherent risks of farm animal activities. It covers horses, ponies, mules, donkeys and hinnies, cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, ostriches, emus and rheas, chickens and other fowl, and managed honeybees. Llamas, alpacas, camels and exotic species are not on that list. Nor does it reach faulty tack, a rider whose ability was not assessed, a known hazard on the land, or willful or wanton conduct — the claims a liability policy is still there for.

Venues. At an arcade, a mini golf course, a driving range, an ice rink or a paintball field, nothing carries passengers, so chapter 2151 does not reach the course or the game itself. A ride on the same site is judged on its own, and a laser tag arena kept up by a blower is the inflatable case: “an enclosed space for the purpose of amusement”. Whether the chapter reaches a canoe, kayak or boat livery is not settled by anything we have read, and this page does not guess; TDI’s amusement ride unit answers on 512-676-6750.

Sources: Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code ch. 87 (§§ 87.001, .003, .004); Tex. Occ. Code §§ 2151.002, .1012; TDI — amusement ride FAQ. Verified 26 October 2026.

Other pages own these

Who this page sends elsewhere

A one-time host — a wedding with a rented ride, a school fun day, a town celebration — is buying event liability for a date, not insuring a business. The special event insurance page is written for that host, and for the organizer who has to collect the ride operator’s paperwork.

Inflatable rental operators have the bounce house and inflatable rental page, with the inflatable limit, the filing and the venue’s paperwork in full.

Concession stands and trailers are a kitchen and a vehicle before they are an attraction; the food truck insurance page covers them.

No obligation

Tell us what your business runs

Moon places these classes through a market it does not name: amusement parks and centers, arcades, canoe and boat rentals, circuses, concessionaires, driving ranges, exhibits, family entertainment centers, go-karts, ice skating, independent ride operators, laser tag, miniature golf, paintball, petting zoos, rodeos, saddle horses, zoos. Being on that list is not a promise that any one business will be accepted, and it decides nothing about what the law requires.

Moon Insurance is an independent agency on FM 1959 in southeast Houston. Send the list of rides or attractions, where they operate, and any contract’s insurance clause with the inquiry. The phone is fastest: (281) 484-8320, or use the form below.

Monday to Thursday, 9:00 to 5:00; Friday, 9:00 to 4:00. Our Houston office is at 360 FM 1959, Houston, TX 77034.

Amusement and recreation insurance questions

Do amusement rides need insurance in Texas?

Yes. Occupations Code chapter 2151 says a person may not operate an amusement ride without a liability policy in effect at the limit set for that ride type, an inspection at least once a year by the insurer or a person the insurer has contracted with, and a filing with TDI. The limit differs by ride type: Class A, ordinary Class B, inflatables and qualifying trains each have their own.

Is there one liability limit that satisfies Texas for every kind of ride?

No. The statute sets four different shapes: split or combined limits with an annual aggregate for Class A, split or combined per-occurrence limits for ordinary Class B, a per-occurrence combined single limit for inflatables, and an aggregate per policy year for a qualifying train. A park or center that runs several ride types needs each one’s limit.

Does TDI inspect amusement rides?

No. TDI says in its own FAQ that it does not inspect rides. The inspection is done by the insurer or a person the insurer has contracted with, on one Form AR-100 per ride. TDI reviews the filing and issues the AR-101 compliance sticker.

Are pony rides and petting zoos regulated like amusement rides?

No. TDI lists live animal rides among the things that are not amusement rides, and a petting zoo carries no passengers. Farm animal activities have their own Texas law, Civil Practice and Remedies Code chapter 87, which limits liability for the inherent risks of listed farm animals. It is a defense to some claims, not a substitute for a liability policy.

Is amusement park insurance different from insurance for a single ride?

The law is the same, ride by ride: every ride a park runs is inspected, filed and insured at its own class’s limit. What changes is the account. A park adds the premises, the crowds, the food and the staff, which is why a park is quoted as a whole operation rather than as a list of rides.

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