Things To Do In Wixom

Putting requires intense concentration, which is especially difficult when you have an elephant watching over your shoulder. At Sport-N-Fun, miniature golfers putt their way through three 18-hole courses adorned with statues of exotic wildlife such as gorillas and giraffes. These distractions are one of the many obstacles on the terrain, where bank shots and undulating hills stand between players and holes-in-one.

Sport-N-Fun's other exhilarating activities likewise vie for visitors' attention. Thrill-seekers zip around the curves and down the straightaways of the Go-Kart track, or leap skyward while securely harnessed on the bungee trampoline. In seven batting cages, machines pitch balls toward batters at speeds of up to 85 miles per hour, offering a range for different skill levels. Inside, classic games blip and bleep as players smash buttons at the arcade. Amidst all the action, GG's Pizza renews energy with servings of pizza and fountain drinks.

Dipson Theatres celebrates a reputation as a regional movie institution with a network of 12 locations lighting 57 silver screens across Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania. Though the company now spreads across the northeast United States, it began in the small city of Batavia, NY, in 1939—a time when movies were called “picture shows,” Roosevelt was in the White House, and everybody could only see in black and white. Today that tradition underlies the cinematic experience as patrons chomp popcorn and sip sodas, marveling at modern 3-D visual adventures, summer action movies, family-friendly features, or even indie art flicks and footage from world-renowned opera performances.

Chris Laske and Mike Dowdy started wakeboarding when they were teenagers. Years later, after countless rides and competitions, they are far from bored with the sport, and at Wake Sessions they’ve branched out from wakeboarding into water skiing and other means of flying behind a motor boat. During the duo’s private and group lessons, their 2013 Malibu Wakesetter tears across Loon Lake, pulling veteran athletes and complete beginners alike. Like pretending to be a construction worker, wakeboarding is impossible without the proper gear, so the crew stocks equipment from high-caliber brands such as Hyperlite.

Fitness-minded visitors sweat their way through The Sports Club’s more than 100,000 square feet of equipment, group exercise classes, and workout-enhancing amenities. Patrons who thrive on camaraderie can get energized during group classes in one of five practice rooms, and lone wolves can try their hands, limbs, and cores at weight machines by Cybex, Hammer Strength, and Life Fitness. Seventy cardiovascular machines fill the rest of the floor space, each equipped with a personal television that can play any home-brought DVDs, CDs, or flip books. During the warmer seasons, staff members uncover 2 of the 3 pools and 5 of the 14 indoor tennis courts, creating open-air recreational opportunities that earned the facility Hour Detroit magazine's award for Best Outdoor Tennis Court in 2008 and 2009. Employees can keep an eye on guests' youngsters in the childcare room, which brims with age-appropriate activities for toddlers and stuffed-animal focus groups.

Voted No. 4 in the Top 10 Birthday Chains for Kid Birthday Parties in 2010 by Parents magazine, Pump It Up pulses with inflatable play sets and actually encourages kids to bounce off the walls. Within the indoor playground, a stalwart staff oversees the neighborhood of bounce houses and air-filled playthings, such as a classic bounce castle and slick inflatable slide that cushions children's heartfelt reenactments of Cool Runnings. Throughout the week, families can pop in for open play, or tote along their own mini entourage for birthday-party packages complete with private rooms and complimentary invites. Parties come as straightforward packages or as themed events that place the birthday child in structured story adventures where they take on the role of a mighty and clever superhero or pirate captain that drank too much saltwater.