Theme & Amusement Parks in Lakeland

Shielded from the elements, customers at Glowgolf traverse the course’s 18 holes of indoor miniature golf amid an extraterrestrial neon glow. Vivid murals of jungle and underwater scenes adorn the course’s walls, with giraffes, zebras, and otherworldly creatures serenely coexisting. The course itself brims with potted plants and decorative treasure chests along with traditional mini-golf obstacles such as loop-the-loop ramps and water traps filled with live sharks.

To really understand what Fun Spot is all about, you only need to watch the commercial blooper reel by owner John Arie on the website. In this two-minute reel, John flubs his lines about go-karts, mishandles his props, and chides his off-camera director for being a stickler while teacups spin in the background. Despite his mistakes, the smile never leaves his face; it's not surprising that the motto of the action park is "Life is Great!"

The family-friendly amusement park has the charm of a small-town carnival, but the colorful adventure never packs up and leaves. There are activities for kids, such as a bounce castle, a fun slide, and an arcade, but where Fun Spot really makes its name is with its thrilling ride for adults. The SkyCoaster, which is part skydive simulator and part hang glider, harnesses up to three screamers and slowly pulls them up 300 feet in the air before dropping them above the park at 80 miles per hour.

Speedsters can also head over to a series of go-kart tracks that keep riders pushing pedals through banked bowls and hairpin curves on a multilevel track. The park rounds out its attractions list with bumper cars, a tilt-a-whirl, and the invisible waves at Surf's Up.

A 50-foot volcano towers above Hawaiian Rumble’s miniature-golf course, spouting rivulets of water and tears of obsolete caddies. Against this backdrop, golfers progress through 18 holes, traveling through caverns and across wobbly rope bridges. In contrast to this tropical landscape, Bonanza Golf & Gifts’ course mimics an old Western mining town. Wrinkled rock artifices create a rustic background for two-story saloons and shacks with corrugated metal roofs. Together, Hawaiian Rumble & Bonanza Golf & Gifts house three total courses, each with 18 holes of various difficulty levels.