La Palma, CA Indoor Activities

Witness the U.S. World Cup team banana kick and back tackle their way through an exciting new season as they face off against teams including the New England Revolution (March 20), Seattle Sounders (July 4), and their archrivals Chivas USA (October 16). Depending on the Galaxy's ability to take names and kick grass this year, fans might see the team's "big three," comprised of the blazing Landon Donovan, superstar David Beckham, and score-savvy Juan Pablo Angel, executing a human pyramid in perfect unison. With the first option, soccer zealots can check out any one of the 17 home games of the season, and those choosing the second option can cheer, clap, and streak across the stands wearing sequined shin guards in a show of support for six separate matches.

Mulligan Family Fun Center's three locations surround parents and kids with sprawling smorgasbords of kinetic entertainment. Outside, each park's sunny grounds encourage healthy activity with putt-testing miniature-golf courses and the hairpin turns of go-kart tracks. In the batting cages, aspiring sluggers test their swing while recognized major-league sluggers test their disguise against the park's do-not-admit posters. Back inside, climbers scale the rock wall’s vertical challenges and friends battle friends in laser tag’s intense light-based combat.

Each location also has its own signature activities. The Torrance location's rookie go-karts, for example, enable younger drivers to take a turn down the track, whereas the Palmdale location boasts a longer, 1,500-foot track for children and adults alike. At the Murrieta location, mini-bowling offers bumpers and kid-size balls, letting the whole family angle for strikes, and warm weather opens water slides so that wee ones can prevent their engines from overheating.

Currently hovering around second place in the Golden Baseball League's south division rankings, the Flyers roster boasts two of the league's top hitters: Jimmy Rohan and Tyler Keeble, both of whom are batting over .400 after 13 games. By coupling their power-hitting pulchritude with Manny Ayala's wormhole-producing fastballs and World Series winner Byung-Hyun Kim's cybernetic rocket arm, Orange County's finest are pining to unseat the Yuma Scorpions, who have dominated the division so far this season. Beyond that, the Flyers hope to repeat the magic of their 2008 season, when the team won the GBL Championship Series and got to hold Marissa Dulgar's hand while staring at the stars from her parents' porch swing.

Forty gleaming hardwood lanes sprawl the length of Concourse Entertainment Center's 42,000-square-foot bowling gallery. Overhead screens keep score, and lane-illuminating lights lie in wait until 10 p.m. on weekend nights, when the audio-visual spectacle of cosmic tenpin induces squirrels to temporarily suspend hibernation and just dance. Larger parties can rent out one of the alley's VIP suites, which sequester lanes and lounge areas behind giant curtains to create fortresses of bowling solitude that can accommodate up to 320 simultaneous bowlers. When not immediately engrossed in clobbering pins, bowlers can seek out snippets of a sports game on 1 of the alley's 25 sports-tuned plasma screens, or scarf a slice of house-made pizza and an amber pint at Kingpin's Bar & Grill, located just aft of the bowling action.

Calling on the alchemic knowledge of ancient mystics, Merlin's Magic & Comedy Dinner Theatre blends gut-busting comedy, jaw-dropping barbecue fare, and mind-boggling magic tricks on the Rib Trader stage. Clothed in medieval garb, Merlin unleashes a flurry of illusions, levitating water glasses and assistants and confounding minds with sleight of hand and recitations of tax manuals. While audience members attempt to make sense of their newly stretched reality, a cadre of costumed servers piles tables high with ribs and chicken—or chicken strips and french fries for wee ones—and oversees edible disappearing acts.

Merlin's Magic & Comedy Dinner Theatre Calling on the alchemic knowledge of ancient mystics, Merlin's Magic & Comedy Dinner Theatre blends gut-busting comedy, jaw-dropping barbecue fare, and mind-boggling magic tricks on the Rib Trader stage. Clothed in medieval garb, Merlin unleashes a flurry of illusions, levitating water glasses and assistants and confounding minds with sleight of hand and recitations of tax manuals. While audience members attempt to make sense of their newly stretched reality, a cadre of costumed servers piles tables high with ribs and chicken—or chicken strips and french fries for wee ones—and oversees edible disappearing acts.

One of the oldest amusement parks in southern California, Balboa Fun Zone is a harbor-sized time capsule sent from an era when carnival rides were designed with a distinctive panache. The colorful attractions have occupied the Balboa Peninsula since 1936, when the original landowner converted an old boat yard into a seaside carnival. The peninsula juts out from Newport Beach to form the storied patch of real estate that has attracted countless patrons with spinning carousels, arcades, and a ferris wheel known for its longish rides and elevated views of the Pacific's horizon.

The amusement park enjoyed a rebuilding in 1986 and today retains its original elegance despite decades of serial owners and various changes to the landscape and surrounding shops. Although the beloved merry-go-round was retired in 2011, the wooden stallions still drop in once a summer to greet old friends and nibble on cotton candy.