Aurora, IL Indoor Activities

The designers of Funway Ultimate Entertainment Center built the interactive, 5-acre playground to give friends and family access to engaging activities any time of the year. During warmer months, kids and energetic adults transform into watery pinballs at the bumper boats and pilot speedy go-karts on a 700-foot outdoor course. Batting cages let guests knock the covers off balls and the rust off their swings, and soccer cages give footy fans the chance to test their kicking and trapping skills. Guests can also soak in rays while putting around a wagon-trail-themed mini-golf course sporting 16 tricky holes, and the trampoline-enhanced game of Jump Shot creates a whole new way to enjoy basketball. When the weather is not as favorable, guests can head to the indoor area at Funway, which is packed with a plethora of activities for family daycations, including a modern 20-lane bowling alley and an old-fashioned roller rink with a choice of quads or inline skates. Bumper cars provide a dry alternative to the wet-and-wild bumper boats, and Rock & Roll indoor mini golf glows under black lights. Rounding out the rollicking activities is the arcade, boasting more than 75 video games and pinball machines, along with the laser maze and hunger-quenching Big R Corner Bar.

At Luigi’s Pizza and Fun Center, no belly goes unfilled, and no guest leaves bored. Between bites from a menu offering hamburgers, hot wings, and pizzas, kids and adults alike can explore Luigi’s entertaining confines. An arcade with more than 100 games entices with flashing lights, cheery sounds, and whispered advice on how to get to the kill screen, and a mini-bowling alley hosts frames. Nearby, a three floor, 4,500-square-foot laser-tag arena glows with friendly beams, and ghostly black lights transform the space into an otherworldly battlefield.

Johansen Farms started more than 85 years ago, when Hans Johansen and his family immigrated to Illinois from Copenhagen. Upon their arrival, the family started to grow and sell flowers and vegetables, slowly transforming their business from a roadside farm stand into a flourishing plant empire.

Today, sunlight filters into Johansen Farms’ 24 greenhouses, illuminating scarlet petals and verdant tendrils as they rise from beds of moist earth. Within these humid growing centers, gardeners cultivate more than 2,000 varieties of plants and flowers, from blooming annuals to hearty grasses. Guests meander at will, stopping to sniff baby flower buds and eye appetizing fruits and veggies.

Designed to mimic the French palace of Versailles, Rialto Square Theatre's magnificent interior awes showgoers with its gilded opulence. In the regal inner lobby, a 20-foot, 250-light chandelier—dubbed The Duchess—illuminates a circular series of delicate reliefs that depict allegories of man triumphing through labor and scenes from Greek mythology. A scaled-down replica of Paris's Arc de Triomphe leads from the lobby to the rotunda, adding to the space's grandeur and commemorating miniature Napoleon's victory at the adorable Battle of miniature Austerlitz.

In its more than 12 themed play areas, Kids Town not only entertains little ones, but also helps them develop skills for creative self-expression and social engagement. Kids explore the indoor pint-sized city, wandering through the central market with a kid-sized grocery cart before paying a visit to the princess palace, sheriff's office, fire department, and pet clinic. Afterward, youths can cozy up to the pretend-only fireplace to read a book on the petite plaid sofa or enter the dramatically lit party room, with its galactic carpet and Earth-bound walls. All the while, the facility keeps kids safe with careful sanitation—aided by a strict socks policy and nontoxic, all-natural BabyGanics cleansers—and by forbidding all peanut products.

Although Toula Smith found that running helped calm her anxiety, she still felt like something was missing. She didn't feel like she ever had complete control over her problem until she tried yoga. She fell head over feet for this discovery, eventually opening Breathe, The Art of Yoga. At this studio, she welcomes students of all ages and skill levels to experience the physical and mental benefits of yoga during 60-minute Vinyasa Flow and guided meditation classes. During yoga sessions, she keeps the temperature inside the studio at a cozy 85 degrees to help each student stretch their muscles to the fullest, detoxify, and melt any accidentally swallowed ice sculptures.