Theme & Amusement Parks in Richmond Hill

Established more than 40 years ago, Goodwood Kartways covers more than 20 acres of rolling hills with a 0.75-kilometre professional racecourse geared toward first time drivers and advanced roadsters alike. Current owners and professional racers Daniel and Marco Di Leo continue Goodwood Kartways' legacy of mentoring racing stars with the rookie Arrive and Drive program. Participants race on a biweekly schedule, and consistently excelling drivers qualify for scholarships that grant them entry into competitions throughout Ontario and a kart with wheels dipped in gold. A pro shop equips drivers with all necessary parts and accoutrements, a dyno shop inspects engines and ensures their quality performance, and the garage examines and heals broken machinery. Boasting more than 15 years of experience and more than 35 Canadian National titles, Goodwood Kartways personnel supply abundant kart maintenance and aid through trackside support, private group events, storage facilities, and deep-tread massages for weary tires.

Russ Bond knows a thing or two about go-karts; after all, he's dedicated his career to them. As own of Canadian Karting League, he offers kids and adults the opportunity to take to the tarmac with race-prepared karts, comprehensive safety training, and a battalion of professional mechanics at their backs. Russ explains to motoringtv.com that through years of training and racing cars professionally, he “always wanted to give back … so kids could get involved in karting,” In addition to boosting adrenalin and making for memorable afternoons, karting can teach kids and tweens how to pass other cars, handle turns, and harmonize by punching their horns. Giving kids the experience of maintaining their own kart “can only help them when they get a licence,” Russ says.

The beaming, barky face of 16-foot-high Trevor the Tree greets youngsters as they scamper into Kin-R-Gee's storybook-themed play structure. After clambering through tubes and obstacle courses, tykes can return to terra firma by racing their playmates down a two-storey projection waterfall slide. Elsewhere, toddlers can explore the Three Bears Garden and Sprouts Patch, an area full of age appropriate treats like toy cars, building blocks, and action figures.

In between sliding and block building sessions, kids can refuel with tasty treats at Kin-R-Gee Café, where parents can likewise lounge with a latte while keeping an eye on their whippersnappers in the play area. Parents also barely move a muscle during Kin-R-Gee birthday parties, whose packages and supplies—built around themes such as create your own teddy bear and create your own surveillance cameras for teddy poachers—ensure a stress-free celebration. Along with open playing and partying, Kin-R-Gee educates children with a wealth of classes and programs geared toward enriching tots aged two-and-a-half to six through such activities as sports instruction and day camp.

Enormous waterslides twist like snakes above Wild Water Kingdom's acres of landscaped grass and open pools. All in all, 17 aquatic attractions dip, dunk, and douse visitors in torrents of water as they whip down slides with names such as Corkscrew and Sidewinder. Though tykes frolic on the semi-submerged playsets of Dolphin Bay, older visitors scream in delight as they hurtle through the twisting pitch-black tunnels of the Night Rider. Elsewhere, sun-soaked volleyball courts and dual miniature golf courses—one themed after a shipwreck, the other an enchanted forest—provide entertainment that keep suede swimsuits perfectly dry.

Despite the ample outdoor fun, several attractions offer respite from the sun. The Wild Water Drive-In Theatre allows families and couples to enjoy an excursion without leaving the comfort of their car or motorized couch, and to the east of the main park, a 60,000-square-foot indoor arena hosts soccer games and athletic summer camps.

The minds behind Ultimate Laser Tag have developed leagues, parties, and day camps around the game of laser tag, as they've learned from experience that it’s a fun way to interact with friends and family. Leagues accommodate laser cowboys of all skill levels and 10-gallon-hat designs, and parties let kids slink through the space-age-rainforest ruins of the laser-tag arena before monkeying around at the facility's colourful playground. Day camps pack in the activities, highlighting Ultimate Laser Tag's goal of getting people off the couch, with laser tag and rock climbing alongside imagination-boosting events, such as talent shows where kids can get on stage and lick their elbows for a wider audience.

Replete with a five-level jungle gym and rock-climbing walls, Lil’ Monkeys Indoor Playgrounds’ 15,000-square-foot fun center has won more than 15 best of awards from the Burlington Post, the Hamilton Spectator, and the Flamborough Review. In the play area In this environment adorned with palms and a green turf floor, kids slip down the swirl slide, dive into the foam-building-block pit, and navigate the boo balls and punch-bag forest. As parents lounge in plush leather chairs with a complimentary coffee, kids bounce from mechanical-horse rides to the enclosed basketball court, their smiles leading the way. Alternatively, parents can get into the action, joining their youngsters at the twisty slides and monkey ropes to relive their college-dorm days. Additionally, the center’s staff accommodates 2.5-hour birthday parties with a choice of four private-party-room packages built around pizza, ice-cream cake, and kids having fun climbing and running through the playground.