Theme & Amusement Parks in Lancaster

Named one of America’s top 100 driving ranges by Golf Range Magazine in 2011, Broadway Driving Range & Miniature Golf invites golfers to launch towering drives under covered hitting bays toward a target field that stretches more than 350 yards. Golfers who favor a natural feel can hack through a bucket of balls at the range’s all-grass hitting areas; synthetic hitting mats cater to refined sand wedges that consider divots uncouth. Laid-back clubbers can practice pendulous putts at the complex’s miniature-golf course, where players circle around a barn built in 1932 through a farm-themed circuit of 18 miniature fairways featuring antique farm tools. Broadway Driving Range can cool down clients with soft-serve custard from Green Acres Ice Cream.

The third-oldest zoo in the United States, the Buffalo Zoo was originally founded in 1875 as a deer park in the northwest corner of Delaware Park. Since then, it has grown into a 23.5-acre home for diverse species of mammals, birds, reptiles, and fish, all under the care of the Zoological Society of Buffalo, an organization dedicated to advancing the conservation of the world’s exotic, endangered, and ordinary animals. Within its habitats, creatures ranging from Asian elephants to poison arrow frogs serve as ambassadors from far-off kingdoms, and at the Delta Sonic Heritage Farm’s 1800s-era barn, a collection of berkshire pigs, southdown sheep, and other farm animals represents the fauna that once commonly lived along the Erie Canal. To carry out its educational mission, the zoo regularly hosts programs such as behind-the-scenes workshops and Zoo Snooze, in which kids can stay over for the night and wake up alongside the lions roaring angrily at their rooster alarm clocks.

At Adventure Landing, children frolic through six completely interactive indoor and outdoor attractions. The WOW! Factory surrounds visitors with more than 9,000 foam balls, which they load into cannons to blast at moving targets or into foam geysers to knock down hard-to-reach birthday balloons. They time each other in races down a three-story slide or while traversing webbed nets and bridges. Aerial antics continue at a ropes course suspended 18 feet about the ground, but guests can channel their energy into creative activities instead as they build stuffed animals at the Teddy Bear Factory. Outside, they compete through three themed mini golf courses, where shots and curse words shouted by lawn gnomes traverse 18 holes of tunnels, waterfalls, and small mountains. Adventure Land's staff regularly coordinates kid-friendly events such as a playground-wide Easter egg hunt, charity raffles, and fundraising events, or organize fully catered and decorated birthday parties.

It is estimated that 3,500 snow leopards currently make their home in the wild, where they use their claws and predatory stealth to scale central-Asian cliffsides in search of wild goats and rabbits. These secretive cats rarely let out so much as a purr, preferring solitude to contact with humans and even each other. Nevertheless, humans have helped their dwindling population grow in recent years through conservation efforts at zoos and habitats throughout the world.

Safari Niagara counts itself among the world’s safest havens for these downy cats. In working with the Canadian Association of Zoos and Aquariums, the animal park provides a home for snow leopards and more than 500 other species of mammals, reptiles, and birds. The park’s conservationists lead educational presentations on threatened species and aim to shape children into the world’s future caretakers through up-close interactions with the park’s most social residents. Alpacas, river otters, grey wolves, and falcons are among the many animals that prowl the 110-acre facility, which also hosts an amphitheater where guests can watch musicians shimmy and shake in their natural habitat.Safari Niagara

The Sandbox Indoor Playground sends children aged 7 and younger running, rolling, and bouncing across 6,000 square feet of open play space. Colorful, imaginative doodads and structures line each wall of the center, inspiring pintsize explorers to socialize or get creative by concocting fictitious worlds or reenacting their favorite trips to the dentist. As kids venture from one themed area to the next, parents and guardians can keep tabs from anywhere in the facility or check out the new consignment shop, where lightly used clothes, baby gear, and toys help restock closets at home.

The aquatic-minded architects behind Fallsview Indoor Waterpark stocked their three-acre splash zone with family-friendly amusements that simulate the sun-soaked days of summer year-round. With both kids and adults in mind, the park's designers included two large, adults-only jacuzzis, where grownups can marinate in relaxation while the tots zip down 16 waterslides up to six storeys tall, or high enough to make Aquaman feel like a damp Godzilla. After the kids bodysurf in the wave pool or get caught in the deluge of the 1,000-gallon tipping bucket, families can refuel at Planet Hollywood Beach Club. Located on the site of the Falls Avenue Resort, the waterpark encourages families to retire to 20 acres of luxury for the night and return the next day to shake their fins beneath faux palm trees or traipse through Jungle Beach Playland, a dry indoor playground.