Theme & Amusement Parks in Murphy

Shrieks of laughter and the shuffle of sock-clad feet echo across the cavernous playroom at Royal Jump!, where tykes run freely through a lineup of cushy inflatables. The 45,000-square-foot floor houses 13 different structures, including a plush obstacle course, a double slide, enclosed bouncers for freeform leaping, and smaller areas where toddlers can flaunt their sharing skills in front of scouts from the big-kid leagues. In addition, Royal Jump! makes use of its spacious facility with four basketball hoops for kids to shoot on if they need a break. With much of the open facility visible from any vantage point, adult supervisors can keep track of their kids without sewing cowbells to their pockets. To help organize birthday celebrations, Royal Jump! arranges party packages that include a private party room, festive balloons, and disposable plates and plastic ware.

Inflated structures, slides, and games fill the climate-controlled environs of the numerous BounceU locations that speckle the nation. At each site, staff members closely monitor all activities as little ones traverse obstacle courses or pull on oversized inflatable boxing gloves. The crew also invites parents to join in on the fun, letting them bounce alongside their kids or make sweeping edicts from atop a bouncy-castle throne.

In addition to open sessions, the indoor-play haven sets the stage for the Preschool Playdate program, where instructors lead games and activities. Special events include family-bounce night, which lets parents join in the bouncing or relax in the party room and do grownup things, such as eat marshmallows with a knife and fork.

The calls of more than 100 exotic and endangered animals fill the air at Sharkarosa Wildlife Ranch, an educational, nonprofit wildlife reserve licensed by the USDA and featured on the Discovery Channel's Dirty Jobs. Knowledgeable staffers pilot a fleet of safari trams that ferry guests across the park's 126 acres of sprawling pastures, dispensing enlightening wisdom as they pass zebras, kangaroos, emus, bears, and monkeys. The staff brings patrons face-to-face with many of the exotic critters and often stops to allow guests to pet and get to know the animals. Interactive presentations and small-animal habitats further educate visitors on the menagerie of rare creatures.

Strikz Entertainment features everything groups need to fill their evenings, keeping the party alive until midnight or later with bowling, arcade games, and a full bar. The center boasts 20 standard bowling lanes with computerized scoring and automatic bumpers. Twelve more lanes wait in the Rose Room, a boutique bowling lounge with a 23-foot projection screen, high-definition televisions, and cozy couches for people to sit in between frames. Upbeat music in the laser-tag arena gets pulses racing while casual gladiators prowl throughout the area's fog-filled corridors and blacklit wine cellars. A hundred games fill the arcade area, inviting guests to rest for a bit and test their reflexes with a round of skee-ball or Pac-Man.

In between matches, Strikz Entertainment refuels patrons with hearty servings of hamburgers, finger foods, and cocktails. Servers also drift throughout the space, providing lane-side service to guests and encouraging them to purchase United States savings bonds.

Attractions such as miniature golf, batting cages, and laser tag make Adventure Landing an ideal location for getting in fun, interactive family time. Whether the kids opt for a heart-accelerating whip around the go-kart track or a few swings of the bat, the fun center gives families every excuse to band together or square off against one another in friendly competition. School, church, and corporate outings are available as well, giving groups of all ages a place to gather, nosh on pizza, and create complex victory dances.

BounceU's 10,000-square-foot indoor playground of plush and inflated superstructures was designed as an ideal place to host a party or just let kids jump and climb to their hearts’ content. With bright reds and purples kick-starting imaginations, kids crawl through cushy tunnels, climb up air-filled walls, and glide down bouncy slides. At each inflatable, kids discover fun ways to interact and exercise, burning off excess energy while developing balance, motor skills, and the ability to hold a conversation with a helium balloon. The center also makes an ideal venue for school field trips, fundraisers, or team parties. Committed to fostering childhood development, the team at BounceU organizes camps, such as Create and Bounce, where kids bounce and play before diving into creative projects such as painting or working with clay.