Photo TR (with some video): Adventureland on Cinco de Mayo

[steel]

This was just about the most pointless day I've had at an amusement park. It was cloudy, humid, and packed full of people. Seriously, Iowans don't have any sense of weather. It was supposed to be empty yesterday.

 

So I got into the park and headed for Space Shot, which, to my great surprise, had a twenty-minute wait (worth it, of course).

 

Then, to my great surprise, I rode Inverter. I cannot understand why I insist upon torturing myself with this ride every time I visit Adventureland.

 

I started to the back of the park and rode Lighthouse, which is under-rated, IMO, and a great family ride that only gets you a little dizzy.

 

I then walked back to one of the three best rides in the park, Sidewinder, only to find that its queue was full. I decided to come back later and, in the mean time, ride the other best ride in the park, Outlaw. This ride has really improved over the last three years. It was running perfectly. Not too smooth, not too rough, with tons of lateral airtime. Awesome.

 

Sidewinder's line was still ridiculous, so I headed over to Tornado, which, unlike Outlaw, has really lost a lot of it's spark since this time last year. It's still great fun, but the airtime has stopped inspiring wonder in my heart.

 

For lunch, I had a slice of pizza and some water, but that's not the point. Mini donuts were right around the corner. Adventureland basically has the best mini donuts in history. And for the first time ever, there was actually a pretty big line.

 

Full of pizza and small, sugar-coated, circular lumps of fried dough, I got in line for G-Force, which is always a good laugh.

 

After a considerable amount of spinning on that ride, I rode the wonderful Sky Ride and snapped some nice ariel photos of the park. I walked over to Outlaw Gulch, saw that Sidewinder still had a big line, and retraced my own steps, grabbing another awesome ride on Outlaw. After that, I took one last stab at Sidewinder. The line was even longer than before, but I thought "What the heck, it's worth it" and stepped in line. IMO, Sidewinder is a lot more fun than giant frisbees like maXair. I don't really know why, but that's how it is.

 

At this point, I was seriously considering leaving. It was humid, windy, cloudy as anything, and Adventureland doesn't have a lot of attractions. So I rode the Sky Ride back to the front of the park and sat down in the Bingo hall. To my immense pleasure and surprise, I won on the third try. The bingo prizes are almost frightening at Adventureland. For three tickets (that's three wins (or $1.50 in most cases)), you can get a full sized inflatable swimming pool. After much deliberation, I decided on an individual pancake cooker (like the waffle makers you see in hotels).

 

I called my ride and they said it would be about an hour, so I got a locker and rode Der Flinger, which is a great diversion and a nice little family ride.

 

I had about twenty minutes to kill, so I got in line for Space Shot (the other other best ride in the park). It was running very well yesterday. Lots of glorious airtime, just like we all love.

Adventureland 5-5-07 021.mpg

I have something of a fetish for trains leaving stations.

Hi Robb!

And this is a goose.

This is a picture of some rope. And a brick.

Sidewinder.

Oooh, artsy.

If you squint, you can sort of see what Underground (which I also skipped) looks like from above - one big tunnel. Honestly, it doesn't even go underground. Yeesh.

What a gloomy day...

Whee...

The beginning of my Sky Ride adventure.

Yep, that's the line for the mini donuts. And it was totally worth every second.

I happen to value my life, so I skipped Dragon.

Don't you love solarizing your pictures?

Delicious airtime.

Taken from the queue line. Right next to me, there was a piece of graffiti that read "I'm a sexy beast." I really, really wanted to take a picture of it, but my judgement got the better of me.

*dizzy*

If you've ever wondered how Lighthouse works, the operator pushes the big silver button to make it bounce.

Lighthouse.

Entering the parking lot.

[steel]

This should be a lot easier to view now.

[bigstevet07]

I haven't been to this park in years. I am glad to hear Outlaw is still running well, I think that coaster is underrated. I totally agree with you on the underground, it is simply a waste of space and time. Maybe I can get out there Saturday when TPR invades it!

[PKI Jizzman]

You aren't alone with that fetish

[steel]

Woohoo!

 

BTW, I'm planning to repost the other videos as soon as I can. It was just too much for one little post to handle.