Adventureland - Long Island - Labor Day Weekend - Saturday, September 3, 2022

I went with my adult son to Adventureland in the middle of a sunny Labor Day Weekend. I anticipated a lot of crowds, long lines and a big hassle. I was pleasantly surprised.

Other than the traffic, which was insane, parking and entrance lines were very reasonable.

The park was hopping, but not as crowded as you would think. This is probably because many people were there for the kiddie rides - leaving the main rides more open. The lonest wait of the day was for the train and that was only about 20 minutes.

Despite that...we didn't go on too many rides. When I go riding with my son, we tend to take it slow and just chill...and at a park like Adventureland...that's ok.

The flume ride got us quite wet, yet not soaked. There was a puddle of water in the boat already and that meant wet shoes and sox for the rest of the day. It also cooled us down quite a bit. The ride traverses a course peppered with old props from their former mini-golf course. There is no water on the top of the trough, but two nice splashdowns and you're done.

The boat ride did it's thing and the cycle was fine. Not too long...not to short. I forgot who told me this, and I'm sure I'm going to get feedback on this but, I was told despite the direction of where the boat is swinging, breathe in going up and breathe out going down. This lowers your mass and allows you avoid motion sickness. It's supposed to be like timed breathing when a woman is giving birth. I mistimed a few swings, but I was getting into the rhythm and thankfully, nothing was dilating. In any case, so many parks have these rides and for a good reason. They don't take up too much space. They handle a lot of people. It's easy to load and un-load. Everyone wins.

Speaking of space...space is at a premium at Adventureland. There is nowhere to really go and Route 110 is a main commercial strip. There is also an airport nearby, so height must be an issue too. Adventureland does its best to remind you that you are at an amusement park, but every height ride shows you the sights of the Target roof and the fast food restaurant next door. The key word is that they try.

The train is far from fancy. Once around the park. I noticed that the engineer pushes buttons on reachable posts along the way to signal the next crossing that the train is coming. There are also hidden "Alphie" plush dolls along the way and you are supposed to see how many you can find. Alphie is the mascot of the park and he's a bit unusual and a little creepy. Is he a hero? Is he a character? I don't know. But some of the Alphies along the way are in very sad shape. Some must have been rained-on and waterlogged, and have dried in a not too straight position. Those Alphies needed some medical attention.

Another thing you will see on the ride are signs telling you about the the parks history. This is nice. There are also detailed signs inside the restaurant about the park's history by decade. I was amazed to see the Top Scan mentioned. That ride tossed a rider up and out of the park in 2005. OUCH! At Adventureland, certain rides get replaced by newer models such as the Music Express, the swing ride and the kiddie boats. Unfortunately, the real ducks that were in the park were replaced with plastic ones. (Bummer!)

The food area was very noisy and chaotic. The food prices were not so bad, (About $15 for a chicken strip combo), but the quality was very poor. In one strip there was some actual meat, (maybe from one of the former ducks that I mentioned) and a gelatinous globule that appeared to be shape shifting. It just was not good. Nothing that anybody had looked good...and that's sad. Maybe that's why it too so long for us to eat lunch. I would have gladly paid a little more for something better...but that's just me.

The employees seemed to be doing their thing well and security was checking bags. Speaking of bags, I won a shopping bag from a local radio station promotional tent. Yay me!

Before covid, anyone could walk into Adventureland and hang out for free while the kids went on rides. Now-a-days, even spectators have to pay to get in.

Adventureland will never be Disney...or Six Flags...or even Rye Playland. They do provide a nice place to go for the locals and near-by city folk for a few hours and that's their target audience. They are especially active with birthday parties and camp / school groups.

They also have a charitable foundation that raises money for various causes and I'm sure they will be around for another 60 years. It's another local park that I'm happy to support.

Thank you for reading this.