Theme & Amusement Parks in Ocoee

At Happy Days Family Fun, a cautious driver is the biggest maniac on the road. Seated behind the wheels of sparkly bumper cars—rather than the vintage pedal fire trucks used for everyday commutes—motorists crash into each other in a huge indoor space bordered with tinsel curtains shimmering under an overhead disco ball. Players also collide with cushioned pillars during laser-tag matches in a galactic-themed arena, housed behind a 3-D spaceship hovering over the entryway. Fender benders are discouraged, however, at the go-kart track, where patrons speed to the finish line under the influence of cotton-candy sugar highs. In the arcade, skee-balls land in target rings, triggering streams of tickets exchangeable for a variety of toys at the prize counter.

AirHeads Trampoline Arena’s wall-to-wall green and blue trampolines abound with bouncers of all ages clad in helmets and jumping shoes. In addition to open-jump sessions, the facility’s extra-large trampoline hosts pickup dodgeball matches and basketball games. Participants squat, jump, and bound during 50-minute workouts while bystanders can make note of new moves from the Flight Deck viewing area. The concessions area sates appetites with snacks such as pizza, hot dogs, and chicken wraps, and the full arcade reacquaints jumpers and astronauts with gravity's awkwardly relentless grip.

Run by a staff of alligator gurus that has been featured on Animal Planet and The Learning Channel, Gator Golf combines the civilized sinking of putts with the visceral carnage of live alligator feedings. Glass walls line the 18-hole mini-golf course, which sees putt-putt posses walking over turbulent waters churned by the chomping jaws and thrashing tails of more than 200 live alligators. To foster interspecies harmony, players can purchase special gator food to toss into the gallery of scaly spectators, who express their gratitude by passing on ancestral tales about life on earth 20 million years ago.

A fearless coterie of gator wranglers enter the lagoon during shows and impart wisdom about how to handle the predacious reptiles in Alligator Academy classes, during which students can personally grapple with the gators. Guests of all ages can pose for pictures with smaller gators whose snouts have been taped shut to prevent biting and to preempt quips about players' putting form.

Yolonda Tyler loved spending time with her daughter Amaya, but she found it near impossible to find a place with age-appropriate equipment and an inviting atmosphere for grownups. Undeterred, Yolonda took matters into her own finger-paint-covered hands and opened Amaya Papaya, a business dedicated to and named after her daughter. Here, she and her staff help kids from birth to 5 years old bond with their parents, interact socially, and build cognitive skills.

Wrapped in bright-green walls, the play lounge sets the stage for laughter and fun activities. Seven themed areas fend off boredom, with a creativity corner allowing kids to color and a construction corner letting them design cost-effective skyscrapers out of wooden blocks. Comfy seats relax parents as their children play with toys that help build skills such as spatial awareness.

Yolonda's staff also leads classes for both parents and adults, such as story time and CPR training. To keep things fresh, they constantly rotate toys and pull out their etch-a-sketches to plan special events such as meetings with children's authors.

Glowing monkeys scamper toward a neon waterfall, and a knight bearing a radiant yellow lance rides past a bright orange octopus emerging from the ocean. What appears to be a time-traveling session gone awry is really the evolving environment within Putting Edge’s indoor black-lit mini-golf course, which whisks players to deep seas, Aztec jungles, and medieval times. Since opening its original location in Canada, Putting Edge has now expanded to 18 North American locations, all of which invite guests onto its challenging 18-hole courses to seek victory over opponents and the forces that keep their teeth from not glowing as brightly as they could. Elsewhere, the facility houses private party rooms, concessions, and an arcade filled with gamer favorites such as air hockey.

At ASR Indoor Motor Sports Raceway, drivers of all ages control miniature high-speed chases on a 1/8-mile slot-car track that snakes around a spacious room. Models of classic Fords and ad-emblazoned stock cars calibrated at 1:24 or 1:32 scale zip around the course as drivers wield controllers on the sidelines. Miniature car parts and add-ons are available to personalize each driver’s ride, as are tune-ups from miniature mechanics. In addition to a regular schedule of weekly racing programs, ASR Indoor Motor Sports Raceway rents out real estate along its miniature highway for birthday parties and corporate team-building activities.