Amusement Parks in Vacaville

Walking onto one of Scandia Family Center’s two award-winning golf courses feels like traversing a quaint corner of the Scandinavian countryside. Shingled houses and windmills dot the landscape, which kids of all ages eye from atop a rock wall or while zooming past in a go-kart or bumper boat. Inside, toddlers climb, crawl, and slide in the three floors of the clubhouse, and up to 25 players take aim in the Lasertron-designed laser-tag facility. Before leaving, kids and adults face off at more than 200 arcade games or grab a bite to eat at the snack bar.

Jump Highway is constantly in motion. The "trampoline sports arena" is filled with more than 10,000 square feet of nearly custom-built, steel-frame trampolines that cover the floor and climb partway up the walls. Here, visitors of all ages bound across the room and into foam pits large enough for use by professional gymnastics teams or a giant's naptime. In addition to freestyle jumping sessions, the center also hosts group dodgeball and basketball tournaments. The gym's Airobics class treats the trampolines as a whimsical track and field during its cardio-focused, low-impact, and low-gravity workouts.

Each piece of equipment is carefully inspected each day and the staff regulates the number of jumpers to prevent overcrowding. They also monitor the different trampoline zones, which include a separate jumping area just for smaller children. When guests are ready for the world to stop shaking, a cafe and on-site lounge feature leather furnishings and wireless internet.

Paint flies all weekend long at Antioch Paintball Park, as teams of players vie for control of two fields littered with hay-bale obstacles or Sup'Air bunkers. Large nets next to the field protect observers and wayward butterflies from paintballs. The field boasts a large grill area for teammates to tell colorful war stories while eating grilled hot dogs and gulping down energy drinks after a quick rinse in the onsite showers.

Maxwell Fun Center gathers families together for hours of memory-making fun on a picturesque 18-hole course. The miniature greens evoke a sense of local pride, featuring shrink-rayed townsfolk bustling amid lifelike replicas of Sonoma's historical mission and city hall. Though today's Groupon is only valid for golfing, putters can celebrate a successful outing with a tasty ice cream at Maxwell Fun Center's snack bar or regain lost mojo after an astronomically high stroke count by heading to the nearby arcade to play skee-ball and air hockey or flirt outrageously with Ms. Pac-Man.

Blanketed in wall-to-wall trampolines, Sky High Sports delights barefoot fun-seekers with springy terrain and an exclusive court for jumpers 8 and younger. Guests can hone front flips, back flips, and belly flops during intense free-bounce sessions. Each trampoline comes equipped with a specially designed spring-loaded frame and thick, 2-inch safety pads that grant patrons a landing cushier than a corner office at a marshmallow factory. Stuffed with blocks of spongy, body-molding material, a foam pit dares treasure-seekers to fling themselves in or scour its depths for the lost contents of bygone pockets. Pintsize aerialist posses can safely practice their synchronized Salchows on 360 degrees of trampoline walls while court supervisors watch from the sidelines and award hard-earned praise with oversize scorecards.

Sky High also offers AIRobics fitness classes and monthly dodge-ball tournaments to help jumpers explore the outermost stratospheres of trampoline possibilities.

Laying a hand on a piece of the ornately carved fauna that chase each other around Funderland’s carousel, one can nearly hear the gleeful shouts of the innumerable happy riders who have graced the attraction since it is was built in 1947. A happy chorus of youthful shouts brings the present day back to life, drifting from rides such as the log flume and the Funderland train ride, which chugs slowly past diminutive rustic cabins under the shade-giving arms of evergreen trees. The Red Baron ride whisks youngsters off the ground, granting an improved view of the 2-acre playground as the tiny crimson planes pirouette through the air. Current owner Sam Johnston pays almost daily visits to the family-entertainment emporium and takes pride in the role the park plays in supporting local causes and helping families spend time together amid constant distractions such as work, TV, and the disco dancers that refuse to leave one's living room.