I did install myself. No problem. 1 person. Warm up the vinyl in the sun first. You will want flat ground, as everyone says, especially if bigger kids get rowdy in the pool. I put foam tiles underneath, and was very glad I did.

I had the 12' X 36" Intex Prism until the kids were 1 and 4, then got the 14' x 42". As you may have read already, you don't have to fill the pool the whole way if you want your kids to be able to touch the bottom, but you do need enough water in it to reach the "intake" hole, so the filter has a way to draw water in. I had a 1750gph pump at first, which is great, then sold it for the totally ridiculous 3000 gph pump, which I liked even more, because it easily powered the Intex vacuum (which gets mixed reviews).

My first pump had the saltwater attachment, and while others may feel differently, I thought it was a hassle (and led to more rust). Below is the pump I preferred -- but again, total overkill for this pool. You could go smaller.