Theme & Amusement Parks in Rochester

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.

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.

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.

On 134 acres of farmland outside of Fairport, the dedicated staff and volunteers of Lollypop Farm, the Humane Society of Greater Rochester care for thousands of stray animals each year. The open-admission shelter adopts animals of all breeds and species—including cats, dogs, rabbits, birds, horses, and pigs—and holds programs to educate visitors on the issues that contribute to the animals' overpopulation and difficulty in attaining advanced degrees.

The staff encourages families to visit the animals and enjoy the outdoor farm petting area, and oversees younger visitors as they build bonds with animals through education programs such as basic pet care for 3–5 year-olds. The Future Vets program teaches aspiring veterinarians in fifth–eighth grades how to conduct basic exams and begin working toward careers in animal care or pig-to-horse translation services. Summer farm camps also provide a hands-on experience as young visitors have fun feeding animals and caring for their own designated camp pets.

Floating slides, trampolines, and wobbling islands transform the waters of Westlake into Westlake Willy Waterpark, where guests of all ages find a cool and fun respite from the summer sun. As visitors approach the beach, eyes move to a staircase that ascends to a platform 25 feet above the water, from which patrons plummet onto a gigantic blob, using their landing impact to launch a friend off of the other end of the pillowy inflatable in a mutually symbiotic relationship equalled only by teeter-tottering during a monsoon. Muscles weary from climbing the 15-foot iceberg slide can rest at the beach, where picnic tables, umbrellas, and grills facilitate picnics for those who brought their own snacks or purchased them at the lodge. Waverunners, pontoons, and fishing boats are available for rent, and the Waterpark sits near camping grounds for those hoping to enjoy a weekend in nature or prove, once and for all, that it is possible to start a bonfire without a flamethrower.

Perched at the bow of the pirate ship, the captain's parrot braces for stormy weather. But in the case of the pirate-ship inflatable at Pirates Plank, the feeling of choppy waves isn't generated by water below, but by the youngsters hopping on it. Kids can also jump around on a _Pirates of the Caribbean_–themed bounce house before navigating around the tranquil ponds decorating the 18-hole miniature-golf course.

Elsewhere, Pirates Plank hosts races on its go-kart track, gamers in its video arcade, and players in its batting cages aiming for homers or to hit balls back into the machine they came from. The snack bar keeps visitors reenergized with tasty treats, and birthday parties entice attendees with unlimited soda and popcorn, arcade tokens for each guest, and mini-golf passes for future visits.