Theme & Amusement Parks in Beaver Dam

Knucklehead's Bowling & Indoor Amusement Park's 80,000-square-foot facility is bursting with a dozen family-friendly attractions. In the bowling alley, a light show illuminates pins and balls to the tune of festive music and a black light adds an eerie neon glow to cosmic bowling. You can also bowl under conventional lighting, of course, opting for automatic bumpers to prevent gutter balls and marshmallow pins to muffle noisy strikes. Elsewhere, go-karts zoom around a track, bumper cars collide, and visitors swing hand-over-hand through a weblike ropes course. A roller coaster zooms throughout the space, and the arcade whirs and flashes with video games such as Dance Dance Revolution and Madden, as well as traditional games that award prize tickets to their deftest handlers.

One of the reasons why Ultrazone Laser Tag's owners are so enthusiastic about the activity is for the team building it fosters among its participants—and for the chance to win. At the 4,500-square-foot facility, laser taggers track each other down through dark, narrow tunnels with glowing violet, red, and neon orange black-lit murals that change the feel from room to room.

The movie-set-like scenery places players amid such backdrops as a surreal forest or a spaceship motif that prepares gamers for inevitable teatime with aliens. As firing begins, strategy and teamwork guide players through the adrenaline-fueled game, which can help to build strong bonds during a birthday party, a corporate event, or a fun day out with family and friends.

On June 30, 1904 Col. William and Anna Vilas donated a tract of land to become a public park and free recreational space in memory of their son, Henry, who died due to complications from diabetes at a young age. They added numerous improvements over the decade and in 1911, the Henry Vilas Zoo gained its first animal exhibits. Today, the zoo covers 30 acres and features a number of creatures from around the world, ranging from the vanishing chimpanzee and endangered red panda to locals such as the great horned owl and american alligator. The zoo also remains one of the few free AZA-accredited zoos across the country.

Leading up to and following the zoo's centennial, the ReZOOvenation project has expanded the visitor areas, replacing the entrance and gift shop and adding a tropical-rainforest aviary and big-cat complex. A variety of annual events are scheduled, including Halloween at the Zoo, with costumes and stops for sustainable palm-oil candy, and earth day, when children can plant trees to help lower the global temperature just enough for icicles to form. The zoo’s many conservation projects also engage the public in protecting the environment and its inhabitants by installing solar-energy panels, sponsoring trips to save endangered orangutans, and collecting old cell phones.

At Bouncy Town USA, children cavort, slide, and bounce across five inflatable structures. Regular hours encourage kids to make friends across the padded bounce floor, while parties make memories out of birthdays with private rooms, pizza, and cupcakes. On some days, Bouncy Town USA welcomes kids for drop off while parents enjoy a night out.

Eight enormous inflatables tower above the sock-clad youngsters visiting Jump Zone's indoor park. Decorated with kid-friendly themes such as Batman, fire trucks, and the rainforest, inflatables accommodate kids ages 2–12 as they hop in bounce houses, slip down slides, navigate obstacle courses, and hatch plans to open up 401(k) accounts. Meanwhile, a toddler play area entices children ages 2 and younger with a pirate-themed inflatable. Along with its inflatable fun, Jump Zone enthralls guests with an arcade and offers to host parties complete with an inflatable throne for guests of honor. Parents enjoy free admission when they enter with a child, at which point they can watch their youngsters play, surf the facility's free WiFi, or join their kids for a bite in the café.

It’s a startling sight: against the backdrop of green, rolling hills, clusters of ostriches and peacocks strut across wooden-fenced pastures, their caws overpowering the lowing of nearby buffalo and elk. This motley collection of exotic animals represents a labor of love for Glacier Ridge Farm owners Mark and Michelle Schultz, who have welcomed more than 30 animal species onto their farm. For three decades now, camels, coatimundi, and a zebra have lounged near the farm's wildflower-ringed pond, debating the species classification of centaurs.

In addition to the lively menagerie, the Mr. and Mrs. Schultz populate their property with a farm store housed inside a 100-year-old barn. There, they dole out ice cream as well as fresh cuts of elk and buffalo meat as well as other Wisconsin-made treats.