Adventureland (Iowa) - The History

The History

Construction of Adventureland Park began in the spring of 1973. According to park operators, the Disney company assisted with some early park planning. Years later, Adventureland gave advice to the operator of the Wild West World Park in Wichita, Kansas, and even allowed them to use photos taken at Adventureland in early promotional materials while that park was under construction. These photos could still be seen on the park fliers and website just before opening. The newly created park was to open in July 1974 but damage from the tail end of a tornado delayed the opening until August 19, 1974. The first full season for Adventureland began in 1975. Attractions such as the "Skyride" from the World's Fair in Spokane, Washington along with several others were added to the ride roster that year.

In 1978 construction began on Adventureland's largest wooden roller coaster, the Tornado, which opened on July 4, 1978. The Tornado was soon listed among the top ten wooden roller coasters in the world.

Two years later the "County Fair" area, with its games of skill, was added. Also in 1979, Adventureland purchased the aging Riverview Amusement Park in Des Moines, and moved some of the attractions to their own themed area just south of the park. Some of these attractions included the infamous weight guessing booth, Kiddie Boats (fun little boats that circle around in a trough of water), Mirror/Funny Maze (found upon exiting the Dragon roller coaster ride at Adventureland), The Scrambler, Umbrella (children’s ride that went around and had different vehicles to choose from complete with horns), Skee-ball games, as well as other well-known and loved attractions. However, you can still find the original Riverview carousel close to its original home now located in the Union Park in Des Moines, restored and maintained to its former glory. In 1990, the "Riverview" theme area was transformed into the "Dragon Island," home of Adventureland's double-looping upside-down steel roller coaster, which opened on May 12, 1990.

1993 brought the largest park expansion since Adventureland was built. "Outlaw Gulch," a western themed area, was built on 12 acres (49,000 m2) at a cost of approximately 5 million dollars. "Outlaw Gulch" consisted of three rides: The Wrangler, The Chuckwagon, and The Outlaw roller coaster. Reaching new heights in 1999 Adventureland announced the addition of the Space Shot. The Space Shot is a 235-foot (72 m) structure that towers over Adventureland launching riders up at 4.5 G's and ending with a free fall of negative 1 G.

In 2002, Adventureland undertook an 8 million dollar project that nearly doubled the size of the hotel, adding a second courtyard, new pools with interactive water features and new poolside rooms and suites. It also added a new water ride in the park, a spinning white water adventure, called Saw Mill Splash. The ride is themed around an old saw mill, and fits into the western motif of Adventureland's Outlaw Gulch area.

In 2006, Adventureland added two more rides. The “Splash Over” is a new dimension in rides combining the high flying thrills of a traditional park ride with the fun and excitement of a water ride. The “Frog Hopper” quickly “hops” young riders up 20 feet (6.1 m) in the air, then bounces them gently back down.

In 2008 Adventureland has embarked on its most extensive addition yet – a new water area named Adventure Bay. The first water attraction in this area is Kokomo Kove.

On February 20, 2010 (about 4:00pm), a fire broke out in the toy store of main street after its roof collapsed due to the weight of ice and snow. The collapse caused an electrical fire. The fire went out of control and engulfed the corner portion of Main Street and destroyed the "hotel" section that encompassed the bingo parlor, restaurant, toy store and arcade. The fire was brought under control about an hour later and was completely extinguished an hour thereafter. None of the adjacent structures or rides were harmed and no one was injured. Initial discussions with park officials state that the park intends to open on schedule for the 2010 season and they plan to have all the destroyed structures replaced by the 2011 season. The buildings were destroyed so quickly because, due to their age, sprinklers weren't required to be installed. The park opened as planned on April 24, 2010, with the half side of Main Street completely cleared to dirt surrounded by a chain link fence. Banners on the fence stated that "Plans are well underway to build Main Street back better than ever." Sure enough, all of Main Street was rebuilt and looking better than ever when the park opened in April 2011 and featured an even larger arcade with an indoor ride, the G-force. The park's scrambler known as the "wrangler" was brought out of storage and moved to the G-forces' location when the G-force was moved into the main street arcade.