Torrance Indoor Activities

Witness the U.S. World Cup team banana kick and back tackle their way through an exciting new season as they face off against teams including the New England Revolution (March 20), Seattle Sounders (July 4), and their archrivals Chivas USA (October 16). Depending on the Galaxy's ability to take names and kick grass this year, fans might see the team's "big three," comprised of the blazing Landon Donovan, superstar David Beckham, and score-savvy Juan Pablo Angel, executing a human pyramid in perfect unison. With the first option, soccer zealots can check out any one of the 17 home games of the season, and those choosing the second option can cheer, clap, and streak across the stands wearing sequined shin guards in a show of support for six separate matches.

Pacific Park’s attractions celebrate Santa Monica Pier’s history with classic rides that run with modern technology. The Pacific Wheel uses solar energy to circle 130 feet into the air, where fist pounds from the man in the moon and scenic views of the coastline await. The energy-efficient attraction is 1 of 12 rides, which include classics, a roller coaster, and a four-story tower drop. Visitors can earn prizes at midway games, refuel at the food court, and get their adrenaline pumping on the rock wall or beach bounce.

Each year, more than 60 galleries and artists from Los Angeles and the intangible web of the art world beyond flock to Art Los Angeles Contemporary like butterflies in migration. During their stay, they display their colors in Santa Monica's Barker Hangar, which hosts 40,000 square feet of exhibition space with 40-foot ceilings ideal for extra-tall installations or human pyramids made of Shaquille O’Neal sculptures. In addition to paintings and functional furniture from emerging and established artists, Art Los Angeles Contemporary also hosts a programming series of talks, curator-led panel discussions, and film screenings. This year, the exposition will spotlight Ceci n’est pas… Art Between France and Los Angeles, a cultural-exchange program culminating in more than 30 French-American collaborations.

The Dinner Detective's renowned troupe of talented actors engages audiences with an evening of laughs, intrigue, and suspense as mock murder accompanies a four-course meal where everyone in attendance is a suspect. A dressed-down cast of professional Hollywood- and Chicago-trained sleuths circulates through the crowd, sniffing out phony alibis and asking the hard questions to solve the mystery of each whodunit. Before the night is over, the fictional criminal is cuffed and the most accurately detecting diner takes home a prize package. The Dinner Detective leases out its gumshoes to clean up crime during private events such as fundraisers, family reunions, or embezzlement hearings. The thespians have sharpened their entertaining chops by performing for such Fortune 500 companies as Universal Studios and Walt Disney Imagineering.

Today’s side deal offers an opportunity to experience soothing melodies without camping out in an elevator or doctor's waiting room. For $20, you get one orchestra-center ticket to one of two performances from the New West Symphony: East Meets West on Sunday, April 18, at 4 p.m. or Soiree Romantique on Sunday, May 16, at 4 p.m. (a $78 value for either show). Both performances take place in Barnum Hall at Santa Monica High School. Your Groupon is only valid for the performance date purchased from the links above.

Mulligan Family Fun Center's three locations surround parents and kids with sprawling smorgasbords of kinetic entertainment. Outside, each park's sunny grounds encourage healthy activity with putt-testing miniature-golf courses and the hairpin turns of go-kart tracks. In the batting cages, aspiring sluggers test their swing while recognized major-league sluggers test their disguise against the park's do-not-admit posters. Back inside, climbers scale the rock wall’s vertical challenges and friends battle friends in laser tag’s intense light-based combat.

Each location also has its own signature activities. The Torrance location's rookie go-karts, for example, enable younger drivers to take a turn down the track, whereas the Palmdale location boasts a longer, 1,500-foot track for children and adults alike. At the Murrieta location, mini-bowling offers bumpers and kid-size balls, letting the whole family angle for strikes, and warm weather opens water slides so that wee ones can prevent their engines from overheating.