
Lifelong friends Josh Oboler and Joe Henry have been in business together for almost a decade.
After developing area Montessori preschools, managing commercial properties, and running camps and after school programs for children, the pair was ready for something new. In 2016, they opened their indoor adventure park, ZavaZone, in Rockville, Maryland, offering open play, birthday parties, teen nights and adult nights. Ensuring that the area is a safe space, equipment is inspected daily and coaches scattered throughout the venue enforce roles and offer guidance.
After abundant success, the dads recently opened a second ZavaZone location in Sterling.
Below, co-owner Joe Henry shares some background information as well as his hopes for the new location.
How did you come up with the idea to create ZavaZone?
A few years ago, Josh called me from a family entertainment center. We were commiserating about how often we went to these types of places for birthdays and play dates and how miserable an experience we were having.
Inevitably, at least one of the children [would get] bored with the one trick [the venue] had (i.e. bouncing, jumping, climbing … ) and we—the parents—were always bored and always uncomfortable—there was no place for us to watch, no place for us to wait, and no activities for us. Our kids were [also] bombarded with junk food and video games.
We started to speculate about why someone did not do it better. That was the genius of our idea. It wasn’t just the child that was the customer; it was the whole family.
Why did you decide to open another location in Sterling?
We knew the first day we opened in Rockville with a line out the door that we would have a second location. We looked at a number of locations and Sterling fit everything we were looking for.

What can families expect to find at the Sterling location?
We have 8,000 square feet of trampolines including dodgeball courts, Bungee Jump and a Battle Beam over a foam pit. We have a high-ropes course, a four-lane Ninja Warrior course, zip line, Giant Slide Drop, Parkour Course and climbing walls. In Sterling, we have a trampoline Stunt Jump Air Bag and the “Zipinator,” which is a cross between a zip line and a roller coaster.
Why do you think there is such a need for an indoor adventure park today?
Families want a place to go where they can feel good about their experience … they are looking for healthy, fun activities that they can enjoy together. At ZavaZone, adults and children can participate in a variety of activities and non-participants are welcome to come in and either cheer on their family and friends or enjoy a comfortable place to sit and read the paper or get some work done on their laptop.
In our Parent Zone we have free tea and coffee, a good Wi-Fi connection, and big-screen TVs with the news or local sports [on]. We charge only for participants and our rates are based on one price for every activity we have to offer.
How do you encourage parents to get involved at ZavaZone?
Adults as well as children enjoy everything from the high-ropes course to the trampolines to the climbing walls. The activities are both fun and a good workout. Parents that choose not to participate feel comfortable cheering on their kids. We do not bombard our guests with loud music or flashing lights. Our facility is a comfortable, friendly place to hang out in any kind of weather.
What else would you like our readers to know?
We want families to have a place to go that they can feel good about where they can have fun and wear the kids out without hyping them up. Our tagline, “Fun In Motion,” is our guide in choosing equipment and activities.