Theme & Amusement Parks in Dallas

At The Gentle Zoo, youngsters feed pigs, pat ducklings, and interact with the other fuzzy residents. Elsewhere on the zoo’s 10 acres, guests can leap about on the bounce house, blast corn from the corn cannon, navigate the maze, or enjoy a leisurely ride on the tractor train. Such attractions enthrall kids at onsite birthday parties, while the mobile petting zoo’s 12–15 staff-supervised animals offer nuzzles and create memories in children's minds. The creatures also hit the road for the animal-encounters program, which combines hands-on animal contact with educational 45-minute presentations. The Gentle Zoo donates its proceeds from the program to its Creature Connection, Inc. nonprofit, which rehabilitates rescue animals before they participate in outreach programs for foster children and at-risk youth.

Water ripples behind wakeboarders as they zip across Hydrous Wake Park’s dual lakes, pulled through the waves by an overhead cable system. With the park's four separate cable systems to minimize wait times, up to six riders can grab hold of the tow lines dangling from above the dock, which pull them along at speeds of up to 18 miles per hour atop rental boards. As they skim the waters, riders can showboat on the park's numerous safe floating features, launching off ramps and rails to rival the best of waterskiing squirrels. Between rides, visitors can watch other boarders from the shaded viewing area or retire to the family play area to fuel up at its picnic tables or the onsite restaurant. To gear up for future rides, patrons can stock up at the full pro shop, which carries wakeboards, helmets, swimwear, and apparel. The Park's newest location in Little Elm will be opening late May 2013 with three different cable systems.

Zone Action Park thrills family members young and old with themed fun zones that quench thirsts for go-karting, bouncing, mini golf, and batting practice. The Speed Zone pits kids as young as 3 years old against each other for zipping go-kart action, whereas a bounce area lets them hop safely on inflatable jumps or slides. Batters practice against slow- or fast-pitch machines in the Strike Zone. Inside, the Game Zone fosters friendly competition with family-friendly games such as Guitar Hero fueled by fresh pizza from an onsite restaurant that happily houses large parties or birthdays.

How long does it take a two-person inner tube to travel 1,161 feet when it’s impeded by misting water and several altitude changes, including an 81-foot drop? Well, as proven by the Green Extreme uphill water coaster, the answer is a little more than a minute. This extreme thrill ride is one of many aquatic attractions at NRH20 Family Water Park. Guests can also zip down enclosed and open-body slides, spin around tube slides, lounge on Beachside Bay’s sand beaches, or partake in family-friendly activities such as the 660-foot lazy river and the five-level water playground. Augmenting the splash-happy structures, the park hosts monthly events that range from fireworks to movie screenings in the 12,000-square-foot wave pool, which makes it more difficult for people to reserve entire rows of seats for their friends who haven’t arrived yet.

Pump It Up's indoor inflatable arenas send sock-footed younglings high off the ground with a plethora of kid-friendly bounce pads. Trained, amiable staffers supervise fun-filled visits in which parents can leap around with their kids in gargantuan, air-filled bounce houses, skip down air-filled slides, and slither like snakes covered in bacon grease through an air-filled obstacle course. Attendees can also focus their free play for special events, such as custom birthday parties and private team parties. These themed soirees immerse children in a schedule of interactive activities befitting a pirate or a superhero while melting off youthful energy faster than ice cubes thrown into a running DVD player.

Indoor Safari Park embodies childhood dreams of the Serengeti with a varicolored landscape of tropical murals, plush jungle creatures, and both educational and entertaining activities. Cerebral toys teach little tykes the basics of numbers and colors, and wooden train sets review the basic origins of interstate commerce. Around the facility, mechanical elephants and zebras trot through a safe indoor jungle beneath giggling children, and a kid-size, primary-colored train chugs to life around a palm-flanked track. On an obstacle-flecked mini-golf course, prehistoric creatures guard the borders of each pin and avoid the ball pits that colorfully resemble the meteorites of their ancestors' demise. Age limits become obsolete with a specific play area for toddlers, and a huge retail area generously yields gift ideas to stumped shoppers.