Theme & Amusement Parks in Baltimore

At Adventure Park USA, visitors amble, shriek, and laugh through a sprawling 17.5 acres replete with Old West–themed rides and attractions such as the Wildcat roller coaster, which dips and curves around a track in order to elicit screams of joy akin to Steven Tyler on Christmas morning. Outdoor diversions such as bumper boats and go-karts stoke competitive fires, and a collection of little tykes rides invite pintsize riders to spin in teacups or gallop on carousel horseback. Open year-round, a 22,000-square-foot indoor playzone thumbs its nose at inclement weather with laser tag, an arcade, a ropes course, and a climbing wall. Owner Larry Stottlemeyer continues to expand this already extensive list of family-friendly diversions.

Inspired by visits to museums and amusement parks with their own kids, Thrill-O-Rama's owners Buki and Bibie mustered together an array of activities that entertain youngsters without skimping on education. Each of the facility's nine play zones features its own creative pastime, such as science experiments, educational computer games, age-appropriate reading, and a video-game lounge stocked with a Wii and an Xbox 360. A semi-enclosed toy-filled play space boosts toddlers' motor skills, and a multilevel indoor playground lets older kids shed their wiggles in a bounce castle or on a 15-foot inflatable rock mountain, which formed when an air mattress was stored under tectonic plates. Staff members guide kids through exercise, cooking, and filmmaking classes and adhere to strict safety guidelines to yield a secure play setting. The on-site café fuels romps with a selection of finger foods, drinks, and desserts.

Inflated structures, slides, and games fill the climate-controlled environs of the numerous BounceU locations that speckle the nation. At each site, staff members closely monitor all activities as little ones traverse obstacle courses or pull on oversized inflatable boxing gloves. The crew also invites parents to join in on the fun, letting them bounce alongside their kids or make sweeping edicts from atop a bouncy-castle throne.

In addition to open sessions, the indoor-play haven sets the stage for Preschool Playdate programs, where instructors lead games and activities. Special events include parent's night out, which lets parents spend an evening away from their kids so they can do grownup things, such as eat marshmallows with a knife and fork.

Top Flite Super Range golf balls hurtle toward laser-measured targets on Westminster Island Green’s lighted range, where players practice their drives from 50 hitting stations. Guests continue to enrich their golfing skills during lessons with PGA-certified golf instructors, summertime junior clinics (with 7:1 student-teacher ratios), and ladies or couples golf clinics held every other Thursday. Westminster Island Green also accommodates putters with a fully lit 18-hole miniature golf course, with island-themed landscaping and goldfish ponds. Alternatively, baseball buffs can watch their homers fly through an open-air batting park unobstructed by nets. There, pitching machines launch softballs at up to 60 mph and baseballs at up to 70 mph, while batters control the height of each pitch and the speed at which they spit out sunflower seeds.