Theme & Amusement Parks in Asheville

Tropical Gardens Miniature Golf strips away the cartoonish aspects of the game found on many courses, instead situating its 18 putting greens amid a diverse landscape of ponds and blooming floras. As a waterfall trickles nearby, a flamboyance of fake flamingos perches under the shade of a tree, silently observing golfers' mannerisms to use in their upcoming novel. Aside from navigating the miniature fairways, players can swing at baseballs in the batting cages or reunite quarters with their captive brethren in the video arcade.

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.

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.

The days of dragons, princesses, and magic wands are revived at MagiQuest, an interactive medieval quest experience for all ages. The course takes visitors through a live-action game that creeps through dungeons, a village, and a fairy forest as players encounter myriad characters, sneak through secret doors, defeat a goblin king, and return jewels to the princess. The fun doesn’t stop when the game ends, as MagiQuest also has an on-site black light mini golf course, a laser spy challenge, and a mirror maze.