thrillrider Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 So we decided to check out Adventureland in Iowa this past week. I have been wanting to check out this park for some time now. The drive to the park has to go down as one of the most boring drives I have ever had to do. They have corn and more corn. Nothing much to see while driving. Once we arrived at the park, we had a hard time finding the parking lot due to the lack of signage. After driving a mile past the park and getting turned around, we finally found the entrance. The park looks like they were trying to look like Disneyland when they built it. It also looks like it is stuck in the 80's. But beyond that, we enjoyed the park and had a great time. The crowds were light and the weather was perfect. We were able to hit all the coasters several times(once on the dragon was enough). The new attraction this year was storm chaser. There must not have been any storms in the area because the ride was not operating. The ride looks very nice and towers over the park. The rest of the park is very well landscaped and kept up. I have to say that the employees were all beyond friendly and helpful. The food selection was decent and so were the prices. My favorite attraction in the park has to be the tornado coaster. A close second would be the underground just because it's so uniqe. I thought the underground had a waterfall in it? Either it is no longer there, or was not operating at the time. Onto the pictures..... Look at all the scenery there is to look at in Iowa They do have the biggest truck stop though. They have this as well..... We made it! This is the main entrance Hmmmm....I can't put my finger on it, but it seems like I have been here before. Here, you enter a place.... Instead of posters of attractions, Adventureland has signs from 2008 This was the view as soon as we were in the park. The first ride in the park is the ferris wheel And hidden away inside the arcade was the g force ride. Our first ride was the chair lift From the chair lift, you can get a great look at the parks log flume ride You actually get pretty close to it The lay of the land Inside the saloon where the magic show is held. Our first coaster was the dragon But first you must go up these ramps A look at the station and train The ride starts out with a bunny hop over the water before reaching the lift hill Here is the lift The ride has two loops And yes.....they are painful The rest of the ride consists of this figure 8 track At the exit of the ride, they have these silly fun house mirrors Up next is the outlaw coaster What line? This must be an outlaw This is the track just before the lift The first curved drop It was a fun ride, but herd to get a good shot of the layout Right next to outlaw, was this fun little water ride Next, we were able to check out the circus show Inside the tent The show was great, and recommend checking it out Some of the theaming in the park The underground coaster/ dark ride Glad that the park was not buisy Inside the loading area They also have some pretty advanced animatronics Inside the station Here is a shot of the seats The parks new attraction is storm chaser Not sure what this is for. The entrance to my favorate coaster in the park Inside the station This ride has lots of hills The coaster still has skid breaks and buzz bars The park had some awsome looking buildings This will look really nice in a few years The park has plenty of spinny rides The parks train ride There was a lot of Disney in this park Train controls Lets take a look at a few of the Disney touches inside adventureland Just missing the castle Just like at Disneyland, they have a stage that rises out of the ground The park had some decent prices on food Found some interesting items for sale in the gift shop A view of the gift shops in the front of the park. More pictures coming soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveH80 Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Great TR, thanks for posting. I'll be visiting this park for the first time next month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
booink Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 That's looking like a nice little park ! Thanks for the pics! BTW, what did you think of the indoor woodie ? I've always been curious to hear about that ride (pretty much all I knew about the park until reading your TR ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 That's looking like a nice little park ! Thanks for the pics! BTW, what did you think of the indoor woodie ? I've always been curious to hear about that ride (pretty much all I knew about the park until reading your TR ) It was more like a dark ride rather than a coaster. The ride has a few scenes that go with the storyline that the freaky animatronic tells you about in the loading platform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
larrygator Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 It's nice the see the rebuilt Main Street, was very empty looking with it missing during my visit a few years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 Yea, the main street area looked great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterkyle Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 The metal thing in the middle of Storm Chaser is to keep the cables from slamming the tower. It rests on top of the gondola when it reaches it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 The metal thing in the middle of Storm Chaser is to keep the cables from slamming the tower. It rests on top of the gondola when it reaches it. Thanks for that info. I don't recall seeing this on the other windseekers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Geauga Dog Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Thank you so much for posting these photos. Adventureland has long been a park that has been close to the top of my list of parks to visit due to the fact that it's rare to see a park the size of Adventureland still being an independently owned property. Some rides look better in smaller sizes and I think Storm Chaser looks better than its larger cousins at the CF parks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rollercoaster Rider Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I went in 08 and it was an OK park. I'd take Underground over SFGAm's Dark Knight any day of the week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Thank you so much for posting these photos. Adventureland has long been a park that has been close to the top of my list of parks to visit due to the fact that it's rare to see a park the size of Adventureland still being an independently owned property. Some rides look better in smaller sizes and I think Storm Chaser looks better than its larger cousins at the CF parks. I have to say that the park was bigger that I expected it to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Outlaw and Tornado are good coasters, and the Underground just has to be experienced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Tornado is a under rated coaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 A few more pictures.... The rattler They have a decent waterpark It seemed quite popular with the locals One last look at the water park This is what the outside of the underground looks like The teacup ride A shot of the underground that is very dark.(and yes, I asked if I could use my camera) The inverters large station. The ride itself is behind the trees The entrance to the train station The animal show Here are a few of the animals in the show Yet another area that looks like Disneyland Now this was awsome A look at the dragon getting ready to crest the hill. I believe that this ride was a hopkins built coaster You can rent this gazebo for your next outing The park is very well maintained and very clean Tea cups station A few random park shots I love that the rides here have shaded q lines The parks drop tower We took the tunnel on the train A not so good shot of the bumper cars Yep....even more Disney The parks games area One last look at the back midway The parks merry go round at the front of the park One last look at the park Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Outlaw and Tornado are good coasters, and the Underground just has to be experienced. Didn't the underground have a waterfall at one point? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 ^I don't recall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shavethewhales Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 This park looks awesome. Another small independent park that's slowly growing to be pretty large. I never realize the extent of their Disney "influence". I always new they had a similar entrance, but I'm surprised they have the stage that pops out of the ground as well. It's unfortunate that they chose to get a Mondial Windseeker instead of the Funtime counterpart. I hope they don't have as many problems as the rest of the mondial rides. I'm really thinking I'll have to try to hit this park up next year. It's just far enough that I'd have to make a fairly major trip out to see it and probably combine some other parks with it as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterchitchat Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 How was the ride experience on Strom Chaser? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillseeker4552 Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 Great photos! Sometimes I forget about this independent park in a state almost nobody talks about. They also seem to have a decent ride selection. However, I'm just gonna be honest, Dragon looks awful. Not just the faded away paint, but the ride itself just looks rough and unattractive. Maybe one day we'll see a decent replacement (but of course, I haven't ridden it, so my judgement probably doesn't matter). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 How was the ride experience on Strom Chaser? It was closed when I was there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thesman Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 Great trip report. Didnt think much of it until now. It was much bigger and nicer than I expected. I might acutely have to check this place out now. Also looks like it has some great rides and coasters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 I was surprised as well. I just wish they had a good steel coaster, I think it would really boost the park. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cfc Posted July 13, 2014 Share Posted July 13, 2014 ^A good steel coaster would help. Dragon is pretty bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thrillrider Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 Yea, the dragon was brutal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spongey Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 You should of called up no fun Thad to hang out...he couldn't stop talking about his local park on the Scandi trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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