MisterP Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 The wife, baby, and I stopped at Adventureland in Des Moines last week on the way to see her family in Minnesota. I've not seen or heard much about this park on TPR, so I figured it would be a good park for my first ever Photo TR. Its a small park, but very pleasant. The architecture is very Disney-influenced (right down to an eerily similar entry/Main Street area). Plus they have beer...and we got waffle fries, which were bar-quality (i.e. awesome). A couple of fun coasters.....well, here are the pics: And finally a pig with a fan blowing out of its butt...insert fart joke here The Tornado was a surprise....some good pops of air, good speed, not rough The family takes a train ride... Their rapids ride looked really nice Dragon is a run-of-the-mill looper, but it looks nice... You can see all 3 coasters here Outlaw is fun, but there could be more airtime, and it doesn't seem to keep up its speed in spots the tube ride Its a nicely themed little area with a coaster and a tube ride The area that contains the coaster of the same name... There are some little lakes in the middle section that are quite picturesque... ...and looking down at my family unit ...some good overviews of the log flume... ..like this... This ski-type lift gives you a few cool views... Here are some dudes to get to look at...and you get a good look at them because the train moves sloooowwww ...it looks like a coaster, but this is pretty much what it did the whole time ... I was under the impression that is was an indoor coaster.... I love parks that let you walk around with beer The trees obscure the fact that there is no castle at the end of this street The carousel is the centerpeice of the front plaza This character works the box office at the Palace Hot Main Street action Cute little train. I only wish it toured more of the park Looks familiar? There are entry "doors" on either side of this open area that lead to Main Street....exactly like the MK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Vampire Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 Thank you for the nice pictures, looks like a nice park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olsor Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 Great stuff, MisterP! Adventureland has to be one of the most overlooked parks out there. It's trip reports that these that make me scratch my head trying to figure out how I can cram Des Moines into a bigger trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RenegadeFan Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 Thanks for the TR! I've always wanted to go to Adventureland since I moved to South Dakota. My family has tried to plan a trip there, but we seem to move it to the side every year for the last six years. Glad to see the Main Street doesn't look like Dreamland! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRapidsNerd Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 That last pic is so Roller Coaster Tycoon. Looks like a fun little park. Thanks for including the rapids shots. Always appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sticky Nicky Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 The reason the entrance area looks a lot like Disneyland is because Disneyland actually helped design this park. Adventureland then went on the help design Wild West World. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterP Posted June 29, 2008 Author Share Posted June 29, 2008 The reason the entrance area looks a lot like Disneyland is because Disneyland actually helped design this park. Adventureland then went on the help design Wild West World. I'm pretty sure Adventureland used Disneyland as a model, but even though I don't know any history of the park, I would bet all my money that Disney didn't "help" design a non-Disney park... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECZenith Posted June 29, 2008 Share Posted June 29, 2008 I was gonna say it looks like Disneyland and Knott's (and the mailman) had a baby... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MisterP Posted June 30, 2008 Author Share Posted June 30, 2008 ^ Its definitely not the most original place, but it was very pleasant with good theming and an extremely nice staff (a lot of good-natured retiree-type folks work there). And with all the floods in the area, there was almost no one there, yet EVERY ride was open, and there was an employee at every single midway game and snack stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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