The northern frontier of New Hampshire [1] has been transformed into the western frontier of the United States at Six Gun City & Fort Splash (1492 Rte. 2, Jefferson, 603/586-4592, www.sixguncity.com [2], 9:30 a.m.–6 p.m. daily July–Aug.; 10 a.m.–5 p.m. daily late May–June and late Aug.–early Sept., $2 adults and children 4 and up, $17 seniors, free children under 4), a family amusement park and waterpark centered around a Western-movie-set main street. Not sure the laser-tag arena is authentic to the period, but it’s all great fun anyway.
Also competing to reel in the family demographic is Santa’s Village (528 Presidential Hwy./Rte. 2, Jefferson, 603/586-4445, www.santasvillage.com [3], 9:30 a.m.–6 p.m. daily late June–late Aug.; limited hours weekends late May–late June and late Aug.–Dec., $24 adults and children 4 and up, $22 seniors, free children under 4), a North Pole theme park complete with Yule Log flume ride, Rudolph Rollercoaster, and live reindeer petting zoo. Parents might have trouble explaining why Santa summers in New Hampshire [1], but the kids will be so psyched to see him outside the mall they won’t care.
Links:
[1] http://www.moon.com/destinations/new-england/new-hampshire
[2] http://www.sixguncity.com
[3] http://www.santasvillage.com