Theme & Amusement Parks in Asheville

Sixty-five feet above The Track Family Recreation Center, participants bungee toward the earth below, while one to three airborne attendees sample the buzz of skydiving at once by leaping into an oversize safety cushions on the SkyFlyer ride. Down on the ground, drivers in single- and double-seated go-karts hug the turns of a three-story, spiraling wooden track. Bumper cars smash into each other on land and water cannon–equipped bumper boats soak other vessels at sea. On the miniature fairways, putters aim to sink holes in one while avoiding waterfalls, tunnels, and mock jungle animals. Finally, thumbs test their reflexes in the arcade with video games, and youngsters can mosey over to Kids Country to pilot kiddie and rookie go-karts or make pet ponies jealous by riding the carousel.

Each pass is valid for multiple visits or multiple children. Passes can be redeemed during all open-bounce hours, excluding Parent’s Night Out. Parents can join their kids in the play structures at no additional cost.

[[m:####Leaping Lizards Family Entertainment Center

Leaping Lizards Family Entertainment Center’s inflatables range from rainbow-striped complexes of slides and obstacles to a wave-riding shark feasting on a boat. Youngsters—and parents, if they want—can bound across the bouncy surfaces during regular hours, or add some bounce to a birthday party, complete with pizza, drinks, and a private room. Alternatively, staffers who have undergone rigorous safety training supervise tots on Parents Night Out, a Friday-night event that replaces babysitters with bounce-house fun and gives parents an opportunity to check out the local fight club.

A statue of Old MacDonald himself greets visitors to Ripley’s Old MacDonald’s Farm Mini Golf, a floppy straw hat casting a shadow across his overalls. His arm is locked in a neighborly wave in front of a gauntlet of animated farm animals and barnyard scenes surrounding three 18-hole mini-golf courses. Ceramic pigs sun themselves alongside a winding stream and wily rabbits poke their heads out of burrow holes. A classic red barn serves as the clubhouse, where players can discuss highlights of the round and arcade games release happy digital chatter like a calculator dreaming about pi.

Ripley’s has enthralled audiences for more than nine decades with its dedication to revealing odd and unexplainable rarities from around the globe. But it all began with one man: Robert Ripley, a wildly successful and eccentric character who rose to fame during the first half of the 20th century. After selling his first cartoon to Life magazine at age 14, he set out on a quick-paced career of drawing sports cartoons for the New York Globe. During a slow day at the office, he sketched nine unusual sporting events and finished his work with a title: “Believe It or Not!” It became immensely popular, allowing Ripley to travel the world in search of more bizarre stories to put into his comic strips. While visiting relatively unknown areas in locales such as India, China, and the inside of his neighbor’s chimney, he picked up a slew of unbelievable souvenirs that later became fixtures in several of Ripley’s museums, or as they’re affectionately called today, Odditoriums. Ripley’s now encompasses publications, attractions, a television show, and a blog, all of which carry Ripley’s tradition of reporting on the world’s curiosities.