Adventureland Iowa, 6/1/2018

This was my first time back to Adventureland in three years. Living in Omaha, I guess you can consider this my home park. I was anxious to add one more roller coaster, the Monster, to my coaster count and spend some time at this charming park. The older I seem to get, the smaller this park becomes.

We (my family and I) arrived to the park at opening; we knew hitting Monster early in the morning was a good idea. However, my sister and father wanted to ride the Tornado first as a “wake up” ride or appetizer ride before Monster. I really didn’t have a problem with this because the park was still very dead. I have got to say, Tornado back row is more forceful than you would think. This coaster pleasantly surprised me for how well it is running in regards to its age.

Monster was next and it was only a station wait! This was my first time going up a vertical lift and going down a beyond vertical drop, and I enjoyed both of those aspects. My overall thoughts on the ride are very, very good. It is smooth, fast, provides great hangtime on slow inversions, and did not feel super short or anything like that. I think most issues with the ride stem from the fact that the ride is down often. This problem did not occur the day I was at the park. In my head, I kept debating whether to give this ride a 4 or a 5 on my track record. After deliberation, I went with the 5. I went with the 5 because I really cannot find anything wrong with this coaster. It was great! It is definitely in the Top 3 of my track record (my coaster count is only 33). If you come to ride Monster, you will not be disappointed.

After Monster, we headed to Outlaw Gulch and rode Sidewinder and Outlaw. Sidewinder is a mini frisbee type ride, and Outlaw being the CCI. As much as Tornado impressed me, Outlaw did not. Going into the day, I had remembered enjoying Outlaw more than Tornado. I can now officially declare that thought false. Outlaw was rough, jerky, and not as fun as I recall (RMC? 😂). Also Saw Mill Splash is in this area of the park, but was not operating the day we visited.

Following our organ-bruising ride on Outlaw, we decided to ride some gentle and classic rides. This includes the TeaCups, Galleon, SkyWheel, and the A-Train. These rides are nostalgic to my family, so it was comforting to ride them again.

Lunch came next in the form of overpriced tacos and company of Brad Weston, a juggler unicyclist type entertainer. I was more so appreciating the shade in the 95 degree weather than paying attention to the show, but he seemed like a fine performer.

After lunch, we rode the Underground, which is nothing special. We headed over to SpaceShot, where my sister and I enjoyed our thrusting up to the top of the tower to view some corn. Windseeker, I mean Stormchaser, appealed to us next. It gave a great view of the park and surrounding area, but I suppose the other Windseekers do as well.

At this point we started to do everything again, but with longer waits: Tornado, Monster, Sidewinder, Outlaw. We did hit the Dragon up for two laps at some point. Going into the day, I remembered this ride to be rough; well, it still is. The loops are fun though!

Something I did find interesting is that Adventureland is home to the oldest-running magic show. The magician in Sheriff Sam’s Saloon has been the same guy for 31 years. It was the magician himself who claimed this statistic.

To end our day, my sister and I rode two of our favorite flat rides, which are Falling Star and SpaceShot. I wish I could have marathoned Monster for part of the day, but that probably would have ruined the family vibe and positive energy of the day, assuming my parents would not want to leave me there as they did other things. Adventureland is definitely a smaller park, and I wanted to return because I had gone there ever since I was little. For the average coaster enthusiast not living in the Midwest, I am sure this is a park where you come for the five credits and leave. My visit in a way was a progress point for me, not officially but kind of officially saying to me “Hey, you have done everything you can at this park. Although this is the park you went to as a child, the time has come to start actually going to some big name parks.” Holiday World is probably the biggest name park I have been to. As life advances and I find my way to the Cedar Points and Magic Mountains of the world, I can thank Adventureland for making me the coaster enthusiast I am today.

I have to say that I am really glad to read a review from a park that is rarely ever discussed. I'm being absolutely serious, by the way. It's a park that has actually moved up a bit on my list of parks I want to go. It's somewhere different and I'd like to check it out soon. Thanks for your report!