Theme & Amusement Parks in Golden

Designed by adrenaline junkies specifically for Speed Raceway, each eco-friendly electric XLR8R kart can thrust racers at speeds nearing 50 mph through Speed Raceway's quarter-mile track. With 2 inches between you and the track below, the karts revolutionize the wind-resistant, frictional foundations of modern physics, proving once and for all that all physics is theoretical, especially gravity. Each 12-lap contest pits white-knuckled drivers against one another, and the entire field against a smug, unrelenting clock. Soon, licensed members can view an online database of their best times anytime, anywhere, and always in the presence of a disbelieving trackside crush.

Looking to put a new spin on a classic family activity, the minds behind Glowgolf decided to give the game a phosphorescent update. Incandescent courses place friends and family amid a tropical-fantasy golf world of neon orange, green, and violet surroundings. Players putt luminous orbs through vibrant treasure chests and glimmering windmills while negotiating tricky obstacles near walls portraying black-light-lit aquatic scenes. With more than 20 locations spread over 10 states, Glowgolf's fluorescent labyrinths challenge human players and traveling gnomes.

Rocky Mountain Batting Cages challenges softball and baseball lumber-luggers with six batting cages that use four semiautomatic fast- and slow-pitching machines. Once inside the cage with a free helmet and bat, batters set themselves in the new turf of the batter's box, simulating on-field experience with pre-at-bat rituals such as tightening gloves, loosening shoulders, or singing the refrain from "U Can't Touch This." For ace hurlers and infield clamberers, throwing tunnels and two pitching mounds make for a spot to hone in on an unhittable knuckleball. Rocky Mountain Batting Cages uses video analysis equipment and MotionPro! software to crunch cage-culled data and dispense digital feedback on swing technique and pitch fluidity.

Laser Quest's mazelike, multi-level arena lets up to 39 players weave through the clouded fog with the grace of a skydiving basket-maker—taking cover behind barriers, swooping around corners, and raining beam-bolts down from the upper decks. Players can compete either as friendly teams or as lone wolves. Once they are surrounded by intense crossfire rarely seen outside of stormtrooper raves, players must use strategy, stamina, and well-timed hand-mirror shields to defeat the opposition.

The screams reach out for the brave souls who venture into The Asylum Haunted House before they can see anything. Descending two levels into the darkness of Gordon Cottingham's Hospital for the Mentally Insane, they hear the tortured cries of patients who have been abused and drugged and held captive within decrepit walls and the dungeons of their own minds. Demented doctors with questionable motives and ultra-low OSHA ratings lurk throughout 15,000 square feet of damp, musty space infested with spiders, rats, and snakes. The graphic makeup and Hollywood-style effects couple with the realistic-looking environs to make the site one of the scariest haunted houses in America, according to the Discovery Channel and HauntWorld magazine. Even the seemingly fearless Bam Margera recommends it.

Those who survive The Asylum's insanity emerge into the postapocalyptic landscape of the adjacent Zombieland Haunted House. There, the living dead wander through the quarantined streets of a crumbling city, in and out of dilapidated buildings, searching for human flesh or half-eaten candy bars.

The 2,000-square-foot laser-tag arena at Shotz Lazer Tag & Billiards swallows up to 24 players in its black-lit barricades, spitting them out for tests of manual dexterity in the arcade and at pool tables. During games of tag, laser beams slice though a shroud of fog and hearts race in time to pumping music. The staff not only explains the rules of laser tag and equips players with gear, but periodically reconfigures the terrain to prevent frequent visitors from gaining a home-field advantage. Marksmen receive scorecards documenting the number of shots fired, their accuracy, and the location of any stains on their shirt after emerging from the black light. Nearby, the arcade rings with electronic yelps emitted by the gaming machines, and the crack of cue balls echoes over the felt of 9-foot Gold Crown pool tables.