Theme & Amusement Parks in Taylor

Today's Groupon will send thrills down your circusy spine with $38 for a two-hour trapeze class at Trapeze Experience, the touring circus act that made a permanent home in Austin. Grab this deal and climb up to the platform to see the world from a whole new perspective: the perspective of a person who's about to jump off a giant platform.At first, Declan is unable to control his time-leaping, often randomly trapezing into medieval castles or the Triassic Period. As he becomes more confident in his abilities, Declan learns to control his time-jumps and has now time-trapezed his way into our hearts. The 1970s sitcom How About That? was based on his past future adventures.

Austin's Park regales youngsters and adultsters alike with 50,000 square feet of indoor attractions and 22 acres of outdoor entertainment. While inside the park, zap your friends with a rousing, hair-removing round of laser tag, scale simulated peaks on the rock-climbing wall, or prepare to call in sick due to incurable Nintendo thumb from the video arcade. Al fresco entertainment includes mini golf, bumper boats, go-karts, and oversize teacups designed to teach etiquette by spinning small ones to orbital-escape velocity. To stay energized between montages of merriment, you and your clan can carbo-load at the all-you-can-eat pasta, salad, and pizza buffet.

Scattered across the globe like so many building blocks in the playpen of a toddler architect-to-be, Gymboree Play and Music provides wee ones up to five years old with a safe place for enriching, educational play. At more than 500 facilities across 30 countries, grown-ups come along to observe art, music, and sports classes for toddlers up to five years old, as well as their signature Play and Learn sessions.

Laser Legend's black-lit arena surrounds players in a scene that seems straight out of a science-fiction movie. Glowing planets and stars backdrop the 5,000-square-foot space, where fog creeps out from behind neon-blue walls and 14 robots guard bases. Up to eight teams fire lasers across two levels, competing during match types such as capture the flag or tickle the flag until it says uncle. The phosphorescent ambience also extends to the Glo Golf course, where alien forests and caves surround golfers as they line up putts. The course employs a multi-hole system that allows Laser Legend’s intergalactic greenskeepers to change the cup locations each week. Elsewhere, more than 40 games, such as Sno Cross, Dirty Driving, Doodle Jump, and Juke-n-Box, create a symphony of electronic beeps in the arcade.

The aromas of fresh-baked breadsticks lure visitors into the onsite restaurant, Noble Roman's Pizza, where chefs fry chicken wings, assemble italian-beef subs, and slide pepperoni pizzas into the oven. This casual Italian cuisine also fuels stomachs within Laser Legend's party rooms, where guests can watch satellite TV and birthday kids eat a breadstick for every year they've had teeth.

More than 500 animals inhabit the grounds at Capital of Texas Zoo, a haven for wildlife education and a breeding ground for more than 14 endangered species. The zoo's residents include zebras, ringtail lemurs, and a rare white tiger, not to be confused with a ghost tiger. Other appearances from the animal kingdom include peacocks, kangaroos, turtles, and lions.

Educational animal shows highlight a specific member of the zoo, such as the Wings show, which stars eurasian eagle owl Hedwig, who has made appearances on Late Show with David Letterman and in the movie Furry Vengeance. The zoo also takes to the road with traveling animal shows that involve a cast of six exotic reptiles, mammals, and birds, which makes appearances at birthday parties, schools, or events. With lessons catered to the age of the audience, the animals teach children to respect other living things and remind adults why they can’t keep falcons as pets.

[[m:####Pump It Up

Voted No. 4 in the Top 10 Birthday Chains for Kid Birthday Parties in 2010 by Parents magazine, Pump It Up unfurls imaginative indoor playgrounds and party rooms teeming with inflatable fun. A stalwart staff oversees the neighborhood of bounce houses and air-filled playthings that populate the arena, including a regal throne for celebrating birthdays or announcing edicts mandating dessert for breakfast. The ascending wall of the Vertical Rush challenges climbers with a hump-shaped obstacle, whereas attached dueling slides send victors careening into fun. A calendar of events details dates and times for open play and lectures on refinancing mortgages on family treehouses.:m]]