Theme & Amusement Parks in Sarasota

It’s not uncommon to stumble upon fake alligators as you make your way around a mini-golf course. But at Smuggler's Cove's locations, live American alligators snap their jaws in exhibits nestled amid the miniature fairways—including a self-contained enclosure at Sarasota for Pearl, one of an estimated 40 albino alligators in the world. With an old-fashioned bamboo pole or a meat-scented golf club, players can dangle a piece of fried meat above 20–50 alligators, which leap from the water to snatch their treat. Between feeding frenzies, games take place across on Smuggler’s Cove’s 18-hole outdoor courses, where balls roll past rushing waterfalls, into caves, over mountainous terrain, and into a hole atop a pirate ship.

Shielded from the elements, customers at Glowgolf traverse the course’s 18 holes of indoor miniature golf amid an extraterrestrial neon glow. Vivid murals of jungle and underwater scenes adorn the course’s walls, with giraffes, zebras, and otherworldly creatures serenely coexisting. The course itself brims with potted plants and decorative treasure chests along with traditional mini-golf obstacles such as loop-the-loop ramps and water traps filled with live sharks.

Whether furry, feathered, scaly, or smooth-skinned, the residents of Big Cat Habitat are all family. Founder Kay Rosaire is an eighth-generation animal trainer, and her father, Derrick Rosaire Sr., appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show with his companion Tony the Wonder Horse. He also trained Gentle Ben, the bear from the show of the same name.

Along with their human relatives, the Rosaires preside over a household of more than a dozen tigers, eight lions, two ligers, a troop of lemurs, and several tortoises. With their nonprofit wildlife sanctuary, the Rosaires hope to educate the public about the importance of habitat preservation and to help foster an appreciation for these animals.

They do this with guided tours and training sessions, which allow visitors to watch the big cats respond to verbal commands from the trainers and receive a tasty treat in return. Training takes place in the cooler months, which ensures the animals don’t overheat and the snow cone treats they are rewarded with stay frozen. Guided tours of the facility are scheduled year-round.

Saturn 5’s intergalactic theme seeps into every corner of its 20,000-square-foot fun center, which encompasses an 18-hole mini-golf course illuminated by black lights, a laser-tag arena, a 400-square-foot bouncy obstacle course, an arcade with more than 70 games, and a billiards room. The indoor mini-golf course takes after its fresh-air counterparts with diminutive greens and obstacles, but it replaces the sun with black lights that illuminate holes lined in green, red, and blue. A rainbow of hues also embellishes the behemoth bounce house, where kids careen down slides and scramble around cushy pillars to get to meshed-in areas for jumping.

At the arcade, the perimeter of an air-hockey table glows a space-age green, and retro pinball machines exude a vintage air akin to the black-and-white makeup worn by ‘50s-era TV stars. In the billiards room, a 40-inch TV and an 80-inch projection screen are emblazoned with the day's games, which can be watched atop bar stools with snacks, beer, and wine from the concession bar.

Face off in rousing matches of beam-blasting and firm handshaking. With today's Groupon, $9 gets you three 15-minute light-slinging, laser-tag showdowns at Q-Zar, an $18 value. Serve and volley laser bolts across a darkened, fog-filled court in a tense match to see who is master of the laser and has the firmest handshake.Follow @Groupon_Says on Twitter.

Tampa Bay Grand Prix puts you behind the wheel of a true European-style electric OTL Pro-Kart. These easy-to-handle, durable, and reliable karts were designed specifically for rental and can reach speeds of up to 45 miles per hour—packing enough excitement to make the family sedan feel like a golf cart tethered to a mountain by a chain made out of iron recovered from a shipwreck. The OTL Pro-Kart's unique steel-tube frame provides security from red koopa shells and banana peels, while the track's state-of-the-art barrier ensures extra safety.